Objective To investigate the characteristics of cognitive function and its correlation to neuroendocrine status in patients with refractory depression. Methods A total of 41 patients diagnosed by ICD-10 as depression onset who have been treated with more than two antidepressants drugs, fulfilled the criteria of refractory depression. Another 40 patients diagnosed by ICD-10 as depression onset but who have not been treated, or have been treated with only one antidepressant drug were selected as controls. Patients in both groups were evaluated by WAIS-RC, STROOP, VF, TRAILS A, B, TOH and M-WCST, and the concentrations of CORT, ACTH, T3, FT3, T4, FT4, TSH were also determined. Results A significant difference was found in VF between the refractory depression group and the control group. This showed that the damage to short-term memory, attention and interference rejection capability was much more serious in the refractory depression group. The ACTH concentration in the refractory depression group was significantly different from that of the control group, which indicated that the damage to the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis was more serious in the refractory depression group. In particular in relation to memory and attention defect. Conclusion Changes in the levels of CORT, ACTH, TSH, FT3 and T4 may be correlated to cognitive function damage in patients with refractory depression.
Objective To summary the pathological classification， clinical manifestations， diagnosis， and treatments of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors （GE-NETs）. Methods Domestic and international literatures were collected to summary the status of clinical researches and treatments of GE-NETs. Results GE-NETs derived from enterochromaffin cells throughout the gut which had the function of amine precursor uptake decarboxylase （APUD）. These tumors secreted discrete bioactive substances and produced characteristic immunohistochemical patterns， making patients to manifest endocrine syndrome. But there were no unified standards on the diagnosis， grade， TNM classification， and prognosis of GE-NETs. Early diagnosis rate of GE-NETs was low， and most of tumors were asymptomatic and detected at late stage， with a tendency to metastasize to the liver. Imaging examation was important in early diagnosis of GE-NETs. Surgery was the traditional first-line therapy and the only possible curative approach. Somatostatin analogues， such as long-term-release （LAR） octreotide， could relieve the hormonal symptoms， slow down the tumor growth， and had shown synergistic antiproliferative activity in combination with biological agent everolimus. Conclusions The lack of standardized classification and an incomplete understanding of this disease are some of the impediments to the progress of treatment. Individualized comprehensive therapy is the aim of the future treatment.
Objective To investigate the clinicopathologic features and effect of surgical treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma（PNEC）. Methods Clinical data of 31 patients with PNEC treated from Jan. 2008 to Mar. 2012 in our hospital were analyzed，and the expressions of protein CgA，Syn，CD56，CK，VEGF，and Ki-67 were detected by immunohistochemical method. The differences of survival rate and time between radical excision group and palliative surgery group were analyzed by log-rank test. Results Of the 31 patients，22 patients received radical resection and 9 patients received palliative surgery. The positive expression rate of protein CgA，Syn，CD56，CK，and VEGF was 64.52%（20/31），100%（31/31），77.42%（24/31），90.32%（28/31），90.32%（28/31），respectively. According to the percentage of Ki-67 positive cells， 14（45.16%） patients expressed less than 3%，7（22.58%） patients expressed between 3% and 20%， and 10（32.26%）patients expressed more than 20%. The survival rate and time of radical resection group were significantly higher and longer than palliative surgery group（P＜0.001）. Conclusions PNEC is a high potential malignancy and demonstrates aggressive biological behavior. Radical resection can improve the prognosis of patients with PNEC.
Objective To evaluate the imaging features of pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma （PNEC）. Methods The imaging data of 7 patients with PNECs proved by surgery and pathology in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from Jul. 2007 to Dec. 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The boundary， density， and strengthening features of tumor were observed. Results Seven tumors were found in all patients with 2 in pancreatic head， body， and tail， respectively. There was 1 tumor in pancreatic body and tail too. Five tumors were with unclear boundary. Five tumors had hypodense enhancement and 2 had isodense enhancement. Two cases had distal pancreatic duct dilation. None of them had liver metastases or lymph node involvement. Conclusion PNEC has certain characteristics on imaging. It is difficult to distinguish diagnosis from pancreatic cancer.
Objective To summarize the application and advancement of liver transplantation for hepatic metastasis from neuroendocrine tumor. Methods Domestic and overseas publications on the study of liver transplantation for hepatic metastasis from neuroendocrine tumor in recent years were collected and reviewed. Results Liver transplantation can offer good relief of symptoms, long disease-free intervals, and potential cure in individual patients with hepatic metastatic tumor. Important selection criteria are well-differentiated tumors and a low proliferation rate (Ki67＜10%). Conclusion In carefully selected patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumors, liver transplantation is an appropriate option.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of surgical management of neuroendocrine liver metastasis. MethodsLiteratures about the surgical management of neuroendocrine liver metastasis were collected and reviewed. ResultsEffect of surgical treatment for neuroendocrine liver metastasis was confirmed, but the molecular mechanism of tumor formation was more complex, and the recurrence rate of surgery was too high, so a large number of new treatment methods had been developed and used clinically, and had achieved good results. These treatments included external beam radiotherapy, internal radiotherapy, liver transplantation, and targeted therapies. ConclusionComprehensive surgical management will be the direction of surgical management of neuroendocrine liver metastasis.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristic and treatment of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine neoplasm. MethodsFrom January 2011 to July 2015, the clinical characteristic and treatment of 74 patients with gastrointestinal neuroendocrine neoplasm in The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College were retrospectively analyzed. ResultsCases of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine neoplasm were increasing year by year. This study includes statistics of 74 patients. The number of male and female were 47 and 27, the rate was 1.74:1, the median age was 57.5 years old ranging from 24 up to 82 years. Of all the 74 cases, there were 38 cases (51.4%) in the stomach, 23 cases (31.1%) in rectum, 12 cases (16.2%) in colon, 1 case in duodenum. Of all the 74 cases with clinical symptom information, non-functional symptom accounts for 95.9% (71/74), while functional symptom accounts only for 4.1% (3/74). There were treatment data of 74 cases, including 34 cases in radical surgery, 23 cases in endoscopic excision, 8 cases in local resection, 4 cases in palliative resection, and 5cases in conservative treatment. The lymphatic metastasis was associated with gender, tumor size, tumor depth of invasion and tumor differentiation (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant between the lymphatic metastasis and tumor location (P > 0.05). Preoperative distant metastasis was associated with tumor size and tumor depth of invasion (P < 0.05). Syn had a higher positive rate than CgA (P < 0.01). The positive rate of Syn and CgA was respectively 96.1% (49/51) and 72.9% (35/48). Conciusions Cases of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine neoplasm are increasing year by year, of which men has a higher morbidity than women. Radical surgery and endoscopic resection are the main treatment methods. The Syn and CgA test are helpful to the diagnosis of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine neoplasm.
ObjectiveTo explore the clinical features and the prognostic factors of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the esophagus. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 41 cases of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the esophagus admitted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between March 2008 and March 2014. There were 37 males and 4 females at a mean age of 61.1±7.9 years (ranged from 40 to 79 years). All patients underwent surgical resection and lymph node dissection. ResultsNo severe complications occurred during the perioperative period, and no death occurred during the period of hospitalization.Thirteen patients received postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Eleven patients received simple postoperative chemotherapy. One patient received postoperative radiotherapy. The remaining 16 patients did not receive any special treatment. The patients were followed up for 6 to 61 (24.0±13.6)months. Twenty-two patients survived, the other 19 patients died. The 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, and 5-year survival rate was 80.49%, 39.02%, 21.95%, 7.32%, and 4.88%, respectively. The median survival of single surgical treatment and postoperative comprehensive treatment was 12.0 months and 25.0 months, respectively. The median survival of T2-T4 and T1 was 20.0 months and 37.5 months, respectively. The difference was statistically different (P<0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that the depth of tumor invasion, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy were independent factors of prognosis (P<0.05). ConclusionsNeuroendocrine carcinoma of the esophagus is rare and with a high degree of malignancy. It is expected to increase the long-term survival rate after surgical and postoperative comprehensive treatment.