AIM To study the relationship among typing of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Helicobacterpylori infection, expression of oncogene and tumor suppresser genes in gastric cancer and precancerouslessions.METHODS According to TCM typing, 120 patients with chronic superficial gastritis, intestinal metaplasia,atypical hyperplasia and gastric cancer were divided into 4 groups: 21 patients with coexistence of cold andheat syndrome (group R), 22 patients with in coordination between the liver and the spleen (group U), 29patients with deficiency of the spleen-yin (group I) and 48 patients with insufficiency of the spleen-yang(group H). Protein expression of c-myc, p21 and p53 were detected immunohistochemically, and Hp wereconfirmed by modified Giemsa method.RESULTS The Hp infection of the group H was significantly higher (72.9%) than that of group R(38.1%, P<0.01) and group U (40.9%, P<0.01). Expression of c-myc, p21 and p53 were significantlyrelated to Hp infection and severity of gastric mucosa lesions (group H>group I>group U>group R).CONCLUSION Hp infection, expression of oncogene and tumor suppresser genes were related to TCMtyping. These parameters were helpful in identification of symptoms and signs and TCM differentiationdiagnosis.

AIM To find out if there is any difference in human primary liver carcinogenesis between Han and minorityethnic patients in Xinjiang.METHODS Expression of p53, c-erbB-2, H-rasp21 protein and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)in tumor tissues of 50 patients (Hah 38, minorities 12) with primary hepatic carcinoma (HCC) was detectedby immunohistochemistry (LSAB).RESULTS The positive frequency of p53, c-erbB-2, H-rasp21 and PCNA expression was 46.0% (23/50,70.0% (35/50), 68.0% (34/50) and 82.0% (41/50) in tumor tissues; 4.0% (2/50), 22.0% (11/50),64.0% (32/50) and 52.0% (26/50) in peritumor respectively with a significant difference, except for H-rasp21 (P<0.05) between tumor and non-tumor tissues. Combined the three oncogenes alteration, 26%(13/50) tumor tissues had positive immunoreactivity, but peritumor and normal liver were negative. Thepositive p53, c-erbB-2, H-rasp21 protein expression was 39.5 % ( 15 / 38), 60.5 % (23 / 38) and 39.5 % ( 15 /38) in tumors of Han patients; 66.7% (8/12), 100% (12/12) and 75.0% (9/12) in minority patientsrespectively. A statistical difference between Han and minority cancer samples was observed (P< 0.05).CONCLUSION Overexpression of p53, c-erbB-2 and H-rasp21 in human primary liver carcinoma is animportant biomarker of genetic alteration. The different frequency of these oncogenetic changes may reflectsome environmental factors or/and ethnic hereditary affecting the liver carcinogenesis. The special life styleof Han, Uygur, Kazak and Mongolia nationalities in Xinjiang may also involve the etiopathogenesis of thisdisease.

AIM To study the detection of micrometastasis in peripheral blood of patients with gastric carcinomas andits clinical significance.METHODS A cytokeratin 19 (CK19)-specific nested reverse transcriptase-polimerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed to detect CK19 expressing cancer cells, the sensitivity was determined by serialdilution method using CK19 expressing gastric cancer cells, the specificity was assessed by examining 12negative controls and 12 positive controls. Then pre-operative peripheral blood from 42 patients with gastriccancer was detected and the relationship between positive results and biological behavior was studied.RESULTS CK19mRNA was expressed in all the 12 gastric cancer tissues but not in peripheral blood from12 healthy individuals；sensitivity of nested RT-PCR amplification for CK19mRNA was confirmed to be 1/106 by serial dilution method using human gastric cancer line SGC-7901; micrometastases in pre-operativeperipheral blood were detected in 13 (30,9%) patients with gastric carcinomas, the frequency ofmicrometastasis in peripheral blood was significantly correlated with tumor size,depth of invasion and TNMstage (x2 test, P<0.05).CONCLUSION Nested RT-PCR amplification for CK19mRNA is a sensitive and specific method for thedetection of micrometastases in peripheral blood in gastric cancer patients; pre-operative detection ofmicrometastasis in peripheral blood may be helpful in the prediction of tumor progression.

microRNA 与骨肉瘤的研究进展

骨肉瘤是好发于儿童和青少年的骨恶性肿瘤，它的第二个好发高峰是在70～80岁的老年人[1]。在美国，每年新发的骨肉瘤患者约为900例[2]。美国癌症中心的数据显示，骨肉瘤患者的5年生存率约为53.9%[3]。新辅助化疗的应用使得骨肉瘤的5年生存率有了明显提高，但是仍有一部分患者对化疗不敏感，同时肿瘤的复发和转移一直是治疗的难题。虽然骨肉瘤相对于其它肿瘤而言较为少见，但是由于它的高致死率和致残率，有关骨肉瘤的基础研究和临床治疗策略一直是医学界的研究热点。之前的研究已经发现骨肉瘤细胞中存在多种遗传学改变，包括染色体结构的异常、缺失等以及肿瘤抑制基因的突变。DNA 的甲基化等表观遗传学的改变也会导致骨肉瘤的发生。尽管有关骨肉瘤的基础研究层出不穷，但是有关microRNAs ( miRNAs )在骨肉瘤的发生和发展过程中所起的作用仍不是十分明确[4]。