Autophagy is a programmed cell degradation process that is involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes including malignant tumors. Abnormal induction of autophagy plays a key role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We established a prognosis prediction model for hepatocellular carcinoma based on autophagy related genes. Two hundred and four differentially expressed autophagy related genes and basic information and clinical characteristics of 377 registered hepatocellular carcinoma patients were retrieved from the cancer genome atlas database. Cox risk regression analysis was used to identify autophagy-related genes associated with survival, and a prognostic model was constructed based on this. A total of 64 differentially expressed autophagy related genes were identified in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Five risk factors related to the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients were determined by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, including TMEM74, BIRC5, SQSTM1, CAPN10 and HSPB8. Age, gender, tumor grade and stage, and risk score were included as variables in multivariate Cox regression analysis. The results showed that risk score was an independent prognostic risk factor for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HR = 1.475, 95% CI = 1.280–1.699, P < 0.001). In addition, the area under the curve of the prognostic risk model was 0.739, indicating that the model had a high accuracy in predicting the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. The results suggest that the new prognostic risk model for hepatocellular carcinoma, established by combining the molecular characteristics and clinical parameters of patients, can effectively predict the prognosis of patients.
Objective To study the effect of Huaier granule on the recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and immune rejection in the postoperative patients with liver transplantation for HCC. Methods Twenty-eight patients of liver transplantation for HCC who had taken Huaier granule orally for more than 6 months from September 2001 to March 2007 in West China Hospital were included as treatment group, and other 56 patients of liver transplantation for HCC who didn’t take any Huaier granule in the same time were included as the control group according to the same stage of TNM, degree of tumor differentiation (Edmondson grading) respectively with the treatment group. The method of retrospective cohort study was used to compare the incidence of immune rejection and the 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year recurrence and metastasis of HCC, disease free survival rate, and survival rate between two groups after 2 years’ follow-up beginning from the date of surgery. Results The 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year tumor recurrence and metastasis incidences in treatment group were 14.3%, 32.1%, and 39.3% respectively, which were 23.2%, 32.1%, and 50.0% respectively in control group, and the 2-year tumor recurrence and metastasis incidence of the treatment group was lower than that of the control group. The 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year disease free survival rates in treatment group were 85.7%, 67.5%, and 60.0% respectively, which were 76.7%, 67.6%, and 49.3% respectively in control group, and the 2-year disease free survival rate of treatment group was higher than that of the control group. The 6-month, 1-year, 2-year survival rates in treatment group were 92.9%, 78.6%, and 67.9% respectively, which were 89.3%, 75.0%, and 62.5% respectively in control group. But the 2-year tumor recurrence and metastasis incidence (P=0.353), 2-year disease free survival curve (P=0.386), and 2-year survival curve (P=0.620) were not significantly different between two groups. The incidence of immune rejection was 14.29% in the treatment group and 16.07% in the control group, which was not significantly different between the two groups (P=0.831). Conclusions Huaier granule can increase the 2-year tumor-free survival rate and restrain the recurrence and metastasis of HCC, and does not increase the incidence of immune rejection. Huaier granule as a treatment of HCC in patients with liver transplantation is safe and effective.
At the end of December 2019, some hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei, China found unexplained pneumonia cases one after another. On January 12, 2020, World Health Organization officially named the new coronavirus that caused the outbreak as “2019 new coronavirus”. The National Health Committee of China has organized experts to compile a “pneumonia diagnosis and treatment program for new coronavirus infection” to guide the prevention, control, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. However, due to the limited knowledge of the disease, there are still many problems to be solved in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. We reviewed the researches on coronavirus infections related to severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome, combined with our own experience in diagnosis and treatment, and proposed some thoughts on several unclear hot issues such as the mode of disease transmission, the incubation period, the practical application of diagnostic standards, and the choice of treatment drugs in the diagnosis and treatment plan.