Tumor Markers Reflect Tumor Burden of Pseudomyxoma Peritonei

Background: Accurate assessment of preoperative tumor burden contribute to formulate a scientific surgical plan and improve the prognosis of patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). Present study aimed to assess whether preoperative serum tumor markers could reflect tumor burden. Methods: A total of 198 PMP patients were included, the peritoneal cancer index (PCI) was employed to reflect tumor burden for PMP patients. All participants were divided into low (PCI ≤ 19) and high (PCI ≥ 20) tumor burden subgroups according to PCI. All serum tumor markers (carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), CA 19-9, CA 724, and CA 242) were compared between the two subgroups. The correlation between tumor markers and PCI will be calculated and compared with each other. Two-sided P value less than 0.05 is considered statistically significant.Results: The level of CEA (ng/ml), CA125 (U/ml), CA 19-9 (U/ml), CA 724 (U/ml), and CA 242 (kU/L) between low and high tumor burden subgroup were [3.35 (1.64, 16.31) vs. 23.12 (8.80, 67.62), Z = -5.381, p<0.001], [19.10 (7.61, 56.95) vs. 72.75 (40.41, 130.55), Z = -5.978, p < 0.001], [6.17 (3.26, 16.22) vs. 45.50 (13.95, 123.61), Z = -5.413, p < 0.001], [7.89 (1.57, 45.10) vs. 84.61 (33.87, 236.93), Z = -5.898, p < 0.001], and [13.32 (3.39, 96.50) vs. 150.00 (102.13, 308.88), Z = -5.166, p < 0.001], respectively. The Spearman correlation between tumor markers and PCI were 0.415 for CEA (p < 0.001), 0.372 for CA 125 (p < 0.001), 0.466 for CA 19-9 (p < 0.001), 0.379 for CA 724 (p < 0.001), and 0.317 for CA 242 (p < 0.001), respectively. Conclusions: Preoperative serum tumor markers could moderately reflect tumor burden for PMP, which may contribute to develop a better surgical plan before operation.

Overexpression of 14-3-3δ Predicts Poor Prognosis in Extrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma Patients

The protein 14-3-3δ interacts with Trp53 to maintain G2 arrest and thus regulates the cell cycle. Though dysfunction of 14-3-3δ caused by hyper-methylation of CpG islands was reported in several carcinomas, the exact role of this protein in the development of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma has not been fully elucidated. Here, we aim at investigating the clinical relevance between 14-3-3δ and human extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. We collected extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma specimens of 65 patients in Beijing Chao Yang Hospital and evaluated their 14-3-3δ expression using immunohistochemistry. We categorized the patients into different subgroups according to clinic pathological factors, such as sex, age, tumor size, pathological classification, lymph node metastasis status, tumor stage, and serum markers including CEA, CA-242, or CA19-9, and further evaluated the correlation between 14-3-3δ expression and these potential prognostic factors. As a result, we detected 14-3-3δ expression in 53 out of 65 specimens (81.5%), and the expression was positively correlated with TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and overall survival. Our results suggest that 14-3-3δ serves as an oncogenic driver in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma tumorigenesis rather than a cell cycle regulator; the overexpression of 14-3-3δ might be frequently acquired by tumor cells to escape appropriate cell cycle regulation. Thus, 14-3-3δ could be a potential target for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma diagnosis and therapy.

Recovery of lacustrine ecosystems after the end-Permian mass extinction

The end-Permian mass extinction (EPME; ca. 252 Ma) led to profound changes in lacustrine ecosystems. However, whether or not post-extinction recovery of lacustrine ecosystems was delayed has remained uncertain, due to the apparent rarity of Early and Middle Triassic deep perennial lakes. Here we report on mid–Middle Triassic lacustrine organic-rich shales with abundant fossils and tuff interlayers in the Ordos Basin of China, dated to ca. 242 Ma (around the Anisian-Ladinian boundary of the Middle Triassic). The organic-rich sediments record the earliest known appearance, after the mass extinction, of a deep perennial lake that developed at least 5 m.y. earlier than the globally distributed lacustrine shales and mudstones dated as Late Triassic. The fossil assemblage in the organic-rich sediments is diverse and includes plants, notostracans, ostracods, insects, fishes, and fish coprolites, and thus documents a Mesozoic-type, trophically multileveled lacustrine ecosystem. The results reveal the earliest known complex lacustrine ecosystem after the EPME and suggest that Triassic lacustrine ecosystems took at most 10 m.y. to recover fully, which is consistent with the termination of the “coal gap” that signifies substantial restoration of peat-forming forests.

Protein Induced by Vitamin K Absence II (PIVKA-II) as a potential serological biomarker in pancreatic cancer: a pilot study

Introduction: Protein induced by vitamin K absence II (PIVKA-II) is an abnormal prothrombin increased in gastrointestinal malignancy. We aimed to evaluate PIVKA-II in comparison to established pancreatic cancer (PC) biomarkers (CA 19-9, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA 242) measured in PC patients and in patients with benign pancreatic diseases. Materials and methods: We studied 26 PC patients (Group 1) and 20 patients with benign pancreatic diseases (Group 2). PIVKA-II and CEA were measured by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay method (CLEIA) on LUMIPULSE G1200 (Fujirebio-Europe, Gent, Belgium), CA 19-9 and CA 242 were measured by ELSA (CisBio Bioassays, Codolet, France) and EIA (Fujirebio Diagnostics AB, Göteborg, Sweden), respectively. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess biomarkers’ diagnostic characteristics in both groups. Results: Median and interquartile range (IQR) in Group 1 and Group 2 were: 1749.0 (320.2 – 3921.0) vs. 31.0 (23.0 – 43.0) mAU/mL (P < 0.001) for PIVKA-II, 260.0 (158.7 – 272.0) vs. 45.2 (9.0 – 58.0) U/mL (P = 0.034) for CA 19-9, 104.0 (30.2 – 150.0) vs. 7.2 (4.8 – 26.0) U/mL (P < 0.050) for CA 242, 9.4 (5.3 – 37.5) vs. 4.5 (1.8 – 7.0) ng/mL (P = 0.021) for CEA. Areas under the ROC curve of PIVKA-II, CA 19-9, CA 242, CEA were 0.86 (95% CI: 0.71 – 1.00), 0.58 (95% CI: 0.38 – 0.78), 0.73 (95% CI: 0.54 – 0.92), 0.64 (95% CI: 0.44 – 0.85), respectively. Conclusions: PIVKA-II is significantly higher in PC than in benign pancreatic diseases. PIVKA-II shows a rather good diagnostic performance compared to CA 19-9, CEA and CA242, thus its determination could help PC management.

Evaluation of Serum Levels of LP-PLA2 and CA-242 in Adult Male Cigarette Smokers in Nnewi Metropolis

Background: Cigarette smoking is a behavioural lifestyle in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke breathed into the body system. Thus, cigarette smoking is a known public health challenge given the number of tobacco-related diseases like hypertension, lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) etc. leading to increased mortality in developed and developing countries. Notwithstanding that the effects of smoking are well documented, individuals who practice cigarette smoking are still on the increase most especially in the developing countries. Study Design/Aim: This was a cross-sectional study designed to evaluate the serum levels of Cancer Antigen-242 (CA-242) and Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) in adult male smokers in Nnewi Metropolis, as emerging inflammatory biomarkers. Materials and methods: A total of 135 subjects aged between 16-65 years were selected for this study. They were classified into 2 major groups (test and control); comprising of 85 cigarette smokers (55 and 30 as test subjects for the evaluation of CA-242 and Lp-PLA2) respectively and 50 non-cigarette smokers (35 and 15 as control subjects for CA-242 and Lp-PLA2 evaluations) respectively. A well-structured questionnaire was used for the collation of information from the participants. Results: the mean serum level of Lp-PLA2 was significantly elevated (P<0.05) in cigarette smokers (67.52±27.29) compared with the non-smokers (63.63±20.81). While the serum level of CA-242 among smokers (1.77±0.70) was of no significant difference (P=0.711) when compared with the non-smokers (1.81±0.20). More so, the mean serum levels of Lp-PLA2 correlated positively with the duration of smoking (r=0.297) and age (r=0.085) in male cigarette smokers. However, there were negative relationships when CA-242 were correlated with duration of smoking (r = -0.156) and age of smokers (r=-0.155). Conclusion: The increased level of Lp-PLA2 along with its positive correlation with other traditional markers like age and smoking duration suggests that Lp-PLA2 is a suitable biomarker to predict cardiac related diseases among cigarette smokers. This is because, Lp-PLA2 is a more specific cardiac predictor compared to the non-specific conventional biomarkers. We therefore suggest that Lp-PLA2 as an independent advanced predictor of cardiovascular disease be further evaluated using follow-up studies with better sample size in CVDs related cases