Narrow Results

Synchrotron radiation microprobe XRF analysis has been used in the multielements analysis of human gastric cancer tissues. Elements of P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Se, Br and Rb were detected. The relative concentrations of P and K in cancer are higher than in normal tissue, but it is contrary for Cl, Ca, Se and Br.

In this paper, we present evidence that the red ginseng powder from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer inhibits the recurrence of AJCC stage III gastric cancer and shows immunomodulatory activities during postoperative chemotherapy, after a curative resection with D2 lymph node dissection. Flow cytometric analyses for peripheral T-lymphocyte subsets showed that the red ginseng powder restored CD4 levels to the initial preoperative values during postoperative chemotherapy. Depression of CD3 during postoperative chemotherapy was also inhibited by the red ginseng powder ingestion. This study demonstrated a five-year disease free survival and overall survival rate that was significantly higher in patients taking the red ginseng powder during postoperative chemotherapy versus control (68.2% versus 33.3%, 76.4% versus 38.5%, respectively, p < 0.05). In spite of the limitation of a small number of patients (n = 42), these findings suggest that red ginseng powder may help to improve postoperative survival in these patients. Additionally, red ginseng powder may have some immunomodulatory properties associated with CD3 and CD4 activity in patients with advanced gastric cancer during postoperative chemotherapy.

We have previously shown that pachymic acid (PA) inhibited tumorigenesis of gastric cancer (GC) cells. However, the exact mechanism underlying the radiation response of GC was still elusive. To evaluate the effects of PA treatment on radiation response of GC cell lines both in vitro and in vivo, a colony formation assay and xenograft mouse model were employed. Changes in Bax and HIF1$\alpha$ expressions were assessed in GC cells following PA treatment. Luciferase reporter and chromatin immune-precipitation assays were carried out to investigate the regulation of Bax through HIF1$\alpha$. Stable HIF1$\alpha$ knockdown was introduced into GC cells to further study the mechanism underlying PA-enhanced response to radiation both in vitro and in vivo. PA greatly enhanced the sensitivity of GC cells to radiation in vitro and in vivo, upregulated Bax expression and inhibited hypoxia. Bax expression was under hypoxia inhibition, and PA increased Bax expression through repressing HIF1$\alpha$. Stable HIF1$\alpha$ overexpression in GC cells abolished the sensitizing effect of PA on GC cells to radiation both in vitro and in vivo. PA functions as a radiation sensitizing compound in GC. PA treatment induces the expression of pro-apoptotic factor Bax by inhibiting hypoxia/HIF1$\alpha$, supporting the therapeutic potential of PA in radiation therapy against GC.

Gastric cancer is a common malignancy worldwide and is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. However, very little is known about the underlying mechanism in human gastric cancer cells. Baicalein (BAI), a widely used Chinese herbal medicine, has shown anticancer effects on many types of human cancer cell lines. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying BAI action on gastric cancer cell proliferation and migration. The results showed that BAI can expressively inhibit cell proliferation, colony-forming ability and migration ability in a dose-dependent manner, while in the meantime inducing cell apoptosis. Additionally, we found that BAI can suppress FAK and the phosphorylation of PI3K, AKT and mTOR in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, BAI significantly inhibited tumor growth in a xenograft model. Also, BAI can inhibit the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells and the expression of the pathway by downregulating the expression of FAK. In short, we demonstrated that BAI inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation and migration through FAK interaction via downregulation in AKT/mTOR signaling, which signifies that BAI may be a latent therapeutic factor for the treatment of gastric cancer patients and that FAK might be a hopeful therapy target for the disease.

To investigate the effects of magnetic fields and variously structured nanoparticles in narrowing, stenosed arteries, an arterial flow model is incorporated. The aim of this study here is to achieve more realistic results by modeling and simulating the arterial blood flow system with the nanoparticles and shape factor of the nanoparticles. The study of blood flow in tapered stenosed arteries with nanoparticles involves understanding the dynamics of blood circulation in vessels having application in drug delivery. Nanoparticles with specific shape factors can enhance imaging modalities like MRI, CT or ultrasound diagnosing tumor. Metallic nanoparticles in various shapes utilizing water as the base fluid have not yet been considered. Imagine a symmetrical radially but axially nonsymmetric constriction for the blood flow. Along with taking into account the regularity in the sequence of distributing the wall shear stress as well as resistance impedance, the study also takes into account a rise in these readings as the stenosis worsens. For speed, resistive impedance, wall shear and shearing forces at the stenosis throat, results have been computed in exact form. For various Cu-water-relevant parameters, the visual results of several types of converging tapering arteries have been assessed.

We present a rare case of a 72-year-old woman who had a metastatic bone tumour on the fifth metacarpal of the left hand from gastric cancer. It had occurred in the patient, two years after subtotal gastrectomy and partial resection of a liver for advances gastric cancer with metastasis to the liver. A number of investigations and the needle biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of the metastatic malignant tumour of fifth metacarpal bone and an amputation was performed. Although our patient died 12 months after hand surgery, amputation was effective in providing relief from pain in the affected hand for the remainder of her life.

It is necessary to consider rare acrometastasis to the hand if a patient complains of swelling and pain of the hand without a trigger if there is a history of malignancy, including gastric cancer.

AUSTRALIA — Dietitians Warn against Self-diagnosed Food Allergies.

AUSTRALIA — Stem Cell Treatment for Brittle Bones in the Womb.

AUSTRALIA — Spine Surgery “Sewn Up” before First Cut.

AUSTRALIA — Grant to Boost Unique Heart Disease Research, Australia.

AUSTRALIA — Australia's First Fertilizer Research Center.

AUSTRALIA — Queensland Technology Licensed by Billion-Dollar US Company.

AUSTRALIA — Hair Sample May Provide Breast Cancer Diagnosis.

CHINA — Omnicare Clinical Opens Offices in China.

CHINA — Controversial Stem Cell Treatment Attracts Thousands.

CHINA — Olive Ingredient Improves Eye Health.

INDIA — Indian Medicinal Plant May Combat Liver Cancer.

INDIA — Meningococcemia Claims Six in Indian Capital.

INDIA — In Vitro Fertilization Facility Now at AIIMS.

INDIA — Satyam Makes Telemedicine Available in Remote Villages.

INDIA — US-based Hollister to Set Up Unit in Haryana.

INDIA — Operation Eyesight Universal to Spend US$4 Million in India.

INDIA — Avesthagen Launches Seven New Botanical Bioactives.

JAPAN — Optimal Band Imaging and Endoscopy to Detect Early Gastric Cancer.

JAPAN — New Bird Flu Outbreak in Japan treated to H5N1.

SINGAPORE — QIAGEN Opens New Service Solutions Center in Asia.

SINGAPORE — Biomedical Research Council Awards US$29 Million to 61 Research Projects.

SINGAPORE — A*STAR Launches New Award for Young Scientists.

SINGAPORE — A*STAR Signs MOU with Six Schools to Form Technology Network.

SINGAPORE — SGH Launches First Holistic Care Center.

NEW ZEALAND — Science New Zealand Launched.

TAIWAN — Cholesterol–lowering Drug is Effective against Staphylococcus aureus.

VIETNAM — Dead Poultry Raises Bird Flu Alarm in Vietnam.

The following topics are under this section:

• ASIA-PACIFIC — Identification of Therapeutic Points for Genetically Diverse and Fatal Leukaemia
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Novel Microfluidic Processes for Drug Development
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Development of Anti-Microbial Coating against COVID-19
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Partnership between Arcturus Therapeutics and Duke-NUS Medical School to develop COVID-19 Vaccine
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Nanoscopic Insights to Proteins against Huntington’s Disease
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Unravelling the Impact of Marine Heatwave on Coral Reef Fishes
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Regulation of Plant Pores by MicroRNAs
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Discovering Clues to Longevity in Our Genome
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Repurposing Nature’s Products to Viable Materials
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Reverse Conversion of Oestrogens to Androgens
• REST OF THE WORLD — HER2-targeted Antibody Drug Conjugate Shows Promise in Patients with Non-Breast-Gastric Cancers
• REST OF THE WORLD — New Research finds Teeth as a Biological Archive
• REST OF THE WORLD — Finding Treatment for Muscular Dystrophy using CRISPR

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) screening is a genome-wide genotyping strategy that has been widely used in plants and bacteria, but little has been reported concerning its use in humans. We investigated if the AFLP procedure could be coupled with high-throughput capillary electrophoresis (CE) for use in tumor diagnosis and classification. Using CE-AFLP, a series of molecular 'fingerprints' were generated for a set of gastric tumor and normal genomic DNA samples. The CE-AFLP procedure was qualitatively and quantitatively robust, and a variety of clustering tools were used to identify a specific DNA marker 'pattern' of 20 features that classified the tumor and normal samples to reasonable degrees of accuracy (Sensitivity 95%, Specificity 80%). The CE-AFLP-based approach also correctly classified 16 tumor samples, which in a previous study had exhibited no detectable genomic aberrations by comparative genome hybridization (CGH). This is the first reported application of CE-AFLP screening in tumor diagnosis. As the procedure is relatively inexpensive and requires minimal prior sequence knowledge and biological material, we suggest that CE-AFLP-based protocols may represent a promising new approach for DNA-based cancer screening and diagnosis.

Background: RNA adenosine modifications are crucial for regulating RNA levels. N6-methyladenosine (m6A), N1-methyladenosine (m1A), adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing, and alternative polyadenylation (APA) are four major RNA modification types. Methods: We evaluated the altered mRNA expression profiles of 27 RNA modification enzymes and compared the differences in tumor microenvironment (TME) and clinical prognosis between two RNA modification patterns using unsupervised clustering. Then, we constructed a scoring system, WM_score, and quantified the RNA modifications in patients of gastric cancer (GC), associating WM_score with TME, clinical outcomes, and effectiveness of targeted therapies. Results: RNA adenosine modifications strongly correlated with TME and could predict the degree of TME cell infiltration, genetic variation, and clinical prognosis. Two modification patterns were identified according to high and low WM_scores. Tumors in the WM_score-high subgroup were closely linked with survival advantage, CD4− T-cell infiltration, high tumor mutation burden, and cell cycle signaling pathways, whereas those in the WM_score-low subgroup showed strong infiltration of inflammatory cells and poor survival. Regarding the immunotherapy response, a high WM_score showed a significant correlation with PD-L1 expression, predicting the effect of PD-L1 blockade therapy. Conclusion: The WM_scoring system could facilitate scoring and prediction of GC prognosis.

This review describes the following issues: H. pylori infection rate and features of background gastric mucosa of early gastric cancer patients; the relationship between H. pylori infection and the development of gastric cancer in Japan; inhibition of the development and growth of gastric cancer by eradication of H. pylori in human and animal model; and finally, the morphologic and functional change of gastric mucosa by eradication. There is a higher incidence of gastric cancer in Japan than in the West, and this is suspected to be associated with the rapid rate of corpus gastritis development, which is associated with chronic corpus atrophic gastritis and the increased risk of gastric cancer. There have been several evidences that eradication of H. pylori pushes towards the direction in which the development and growth of cancer in gastric mucosa is inhibited. It is now expected that gastric cancer prevention by eradication of H. pylori will be established in the near future in Japan.

Chemotherapy for metastatic gastric cancer surely has a survival benefit compared to best supportive care. In the recent decades, some phase III trials have been conducted for metastatic gastric cancer all over the world. However, no chemotherapy regimen has shown a survival benefit with 5-FU alone, and there is no standard treatment. Recently, not a few anti-tumor agents have been developed, including irinotecan, oral pyrimidines, Taxane, and molecular target agents. Many phase I and II trials conducted in Asia have shown their activity both as single agents and in combination. Moreover, phase III trials including these new agents are underway, and some of them are expected to prolong survival and establish a standard treatment for metastatic gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer is the second most common cancer in the world. It is also the second most common cause of death from cancer. It has an uneven geographical distribution with incidence and mortality rates that vary greatly from high risk to low risk areas. Even within the same country, there may be variations associated with regional differences or ethnic composition. Time trends over the last few decades reveal a decreasing incidence and mortality. All these, together with incidence and mortality patterns in migrant populations, point to a predominantly environmental etiology in gastric cancer. Gastric cancer carries a poor prognosis with global 5-year survival of less than 20%. Gastric cancer will remain a sizeable healthcare problem for many more years.

Since miR-185 has been identified as a prognostic biomarker to forecast the course of survival and relapse in gastric cancer (GC), quantitative detection of miR-185 features in developing personalized strategies for GC treatment. In this study, a highly sensitive method for miR-185 detection was rationally designed with the characteristic of fluorescent signal amplification and it was based on constructing graphene oxide sensor and utilizing duplex specific nuclease (DSN). In detail, the cleavage of many DNA signal probes was successfully triggered by the miR-185 target which contributed to the target-recycling mechanism. The protocol exhibited a prominent ability to analyze miR-185 in solution, and it can detect miR-185 at different concentrations as low as 476 pM with a linear range of 0–50 nM. Moreover, this method has gained its prominence in distinguishing the target miRNA from various sequences with one to three base mismatches or other miRNAs. Taken together, it presented the prominent potential to be a candidate tool in the field of clinical diagnosis considering its precise and efficient ability to detect miR-185.

This study aimed to explore the application of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in the rapid diagnosis of gastric cancer. The SERS spectra of 68 serum samples from gastric cancer patients and healthy volunteers were acquired. The characteristic ratio method (CRM) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to differentiate gastric cancer serum from normal serum. Compared with healthy volunteers, the serum SERS intensity of gastric cancer patients was relatively high at 722cm${}^{-1}$, while it was relatively low at 588, 644, 861, 1008, 1235, 1397, 1445 and 1586cm${}^{-1}$. These results indicated that the relative content of nucleic acids in the serum of gastric cancer patients rises while the relative content of amino acids and carbohydrates decreases. In PCA, the sensitivity and specificity of discriminating gastric cancer were 94.1% and 94.1%, respectively, with the accuracy of 94.1%. Based on the intensity ratios of four characteristic peaks at 722, 861, 1008 and 1397cm${}^{-1}$, CRM presented the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 97.4%, respectively, and the accuracy of 98.5%. Therefore, the three peak intensity ratios of I${}_{722}$/I${}_{861}$, I${}_{722}$/I${}_{1008}$ and I${}_{722}$/I${}_{1397}$ can be considered as biological fingerprint information for gastric cancer diagnosis and can rapidly and directly reflect the physiological and pathological changes associated with gastric cancer development. This study provides an important basis and standards for the early diagnosis of gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies worldwide, and is caused by complex interactions of multiple risk factors such as environmental (Helicobacter pylori and Epstein–Barr Virus), hereditary (genetic alterations and epigenetic modifications), as well as dietary and lifestyle factors. GC is usually detected at an advanced stage, with a dismal prognosis. Even for patients with similar clinical or pathologic stage receiving similar treatment, the outcomes are still uneven and unpredictable. To better incorporate genetic and epigenetic profiles into GC prognostic predication, gene expression signatures have been developed to predict GC outcomes. More recently, the advancement of high-throughput sequencing technology, also known as next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, and analysis has provided the basis for accurate molecular classification of GC tumors. Here, we summarized and updated the literature related to NGS studies of GC, including whole-genome sequencing, whole-exome sequencing, RNA sequencing, and targeted sequencing, and discussed current progresses. NGS has facilitated the identification of genetic/epigenetic targets for screening as well as development of targeted agent therapy, thus enabling individualized patient management and treatment.

Gastric cancer is a heterogeneous disease which requires a multimodal approach of management. The Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery at Changhai Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, established the gastric cancer multidisciplinary team (MDT) clinic based on the guidance of MDT culture in the year of 2017. Our MDT discussion followed a weekly consultation model, with the full-board discussion held once a month, and mini-board communication and discussion made once a week. The stages of MDT management are: pre-operative treatment plan and preparation, post-operative treatment plan, and follow-up treatment and evaluation. As of March 2021, a total of 296 patients visited the MDT clinic. Majority of the patients were gastric carcinoma patients (273/296, 92.2%). Here, we shared our gastric cancer MDT experiences and summarized our strengths and proposed directions for improvement.

A simple, fast, real-time, and nondestructive analysis of protein expression in biological samples, such as membranes, based on dielectrophoresis is described. On the basis of the distinct differences in the dielectrophoretic properties of individual cell types, the wild-type BabA-positive Helicobacter pylori isolates and its BabA-negative isogenic mutant can be identified and separated. The herein-presented approach of using microelectrodes should be an easy-to-use, cheap, and rapid alternative to separate and distinguish the presence or absence of important outer-membrane proteins.

The evolving field of computational image analysis has its applications in the industry, manufacturing and biological sciences, especially in the field of medical imaging. Medical imaging and computational physics have evolved together during the past decades with the advancement in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Deep learning is the sub-domain of AI that mostly deals with imaging data for classification, segmentation and reconstruction. The time series of medical images of different patients, with different staging are categorized based on the physical and biological consequences. The hypothesis of the current research is that the deep learning tool, if trained on several patients, can identify the stage of cancer swiftly for fresh data sets. During this research, an advance Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) strategy is adopted to classify the cancer stage for a group of patients of gastric cancer. The CNN model makes use of skipping connections for better prediction. CNNs have been quite popular in medical imaging for their ability of feature detection. CNNs are used in the recent literature for the analysis of images. During this research, we have used the state-of-the-art Matlab ResNet CNN toolbox for the analysis of the images obtained from esophageal and gastric cancer patients. It was concluded that RESNET50 is a reliable algorithm for the determination of tumor mass on CT Scans. Moreover, the performance of the model can be improved by giving a comparatively larger data set as an input to the model. Inspired from Caltech101, a logic related to RESNET50 was adopted. The data was processed and an algorithm was designed to develop a mapping, based on the mass of tumor. The algorithm designed successfully identified the images, randomly picked from different patients, based on the image features.