Regenerating islet-derived type 4 (REG4), a member of the calcium-dependent lectin gene superfamily, is abnormally expressed in various cancers, such as colorectal, gastric, gallbladder, pancreatic, ovarian, prostate, and lung cancer. REG4 is associated with a relatively unfavorable prognosis and clinicopathologic features in cancers, including advanced tumor and nodal stage, histological differentiation, and liver and peritoneal metastasis. Moreover, REG4-positive cancer cells show more frequent resistance to chemoradiotherapy, especially 5-FU-based chemotherapy. REG4 participates in many aspects of carcinogenesis, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance. The underlying mechanisms are complex and involve a series of signaling mediators and multiple pathways. Thus, REG4 may be a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker as well as a candidate therapeutic target in cancer patients. In this review, we systematically summarize the advances about the clinical significance, biological functions, and mechanisms underlying REG4 in cancer to provide new directions for future cancer research.

Introduction: TTFields plus Temozolomide (TTFields/TMZ) extended survival versus TMZ alone in newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) patients in the EF-14 trial. We have reported a retrospective analysis of newly diagnosed Chinese GBM patients who received TTFields/TMZ treatment and TMZ treatment from August 2018 to May 2021 in Huashan hospital in Shanghai. Methods: Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) curves were constructed using the Kaplan–Meier method. A Cox proportional hazards regression model, propensity score matched data, and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) based on propensity score were used to assess the effect of TTFields and account for confounding factors. Results: In the preliminary analysis, the median PFS in TTFields/TMZ group was 16 months (95% CI, 9.6–24.6) versus 11 months (95% CI, 9–12) in TMZ group (p < 0.05). Median overall survival was 21.8 months (95% CI, 17.4-NA) with TTFields/TMZ versus 15 months (HR = 0.43; 95% CI, 13–18) with TMZ alone. The multivariate analysis identified surgery type, STUPP scheme, IDH status, and TTFields use as favorable prognostic factors. After PSM adjustment, the variate among the groups was similar, except that the methylation rate of MGMT promoter remained high in the TMZ group (12 v 32 months; p = 0.011). Upon IPTW Survival analysis, TTFields was associated with a significantly lower risk of death (HR = 0.19 in OS; 95% CI, 0.09–0.41) and progression (HR = 0.35; 95% CI 0.14–0.9) compared with TMZ group. Conclusion: In the final analysis of our single-center Chinese patients with glioblastoma, adding TTFields to temozolomide chemotherapy resulted in statistically significant improvement in PFS and OS.

Pyroptosis of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells is associated with the etiology of diabetic retinopathy (DR). In this study, we investigated the effect of DNMT1 on RPE cell pyroptosis by regulating miR-20a/TXNIP expression through DNA methylation. High glucose (HG)-induced ARPE-19 cells and mice were injected with streptozotocin (STZ) to generate DR cells and animal models. RT‒qPCR was used to detect the expression of miR-20a, and methylation-specific PCR (MS-PCR) was used to determine the occurrence of methylation of miR-20a. The expression of pyroptosis-related proteins (caspase-1 and NLRP3) and DNA methyltransferase (DNMT1) was detected by western blotting, and the expression of inflammatory factors (IL-1β and IL-18) was detected by ELISA. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry and TUNEL. HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes in retinal tissue in mice. In HG-induced DR cell models, the expression of miR-20a was significantly downregulated, while the expression of inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-18) and pyroptosis-associated proteins (caspase-1, NLRP3) was significantly upregulated. Transfection of miR-20a mimic can effectively reverse HG-induced pyroptosis and release of inflammatory factors. DNMT1 promotes miR-20a methylation and inhibits the expression of miR-20a. DNMT1-mediated methylation is involved in the pyroptosis process of high glucose-induced RPE cells, and silencing DNMT1 can promote the expression of miR-20a, thereby inhibiting the release of IL-1β and IL-18 and reducing the occurrence of cell pyroptosis. miR-20a targets negative regulation of TXNIP expression, and overexpression of TXNIP can effectively reverse the inhibitory effect of miR-20a on pyroptosis. The methylation inhibitor 5-AZ can inhibit the occurrence of pyroptosis and DR processes, while treatment with a miR-20a inhibitor or OE-TXNIP can reverse the effect of 5-AZ. DNMT1 promotes DNA methylation, decreases the expression of miR-20a and increases the expression of TXNIP, which ultimately leads to the occurrence of pyroptosis in RPE cells.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday season on the outcomes of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) fresh embryo transfer cycles. Participants and Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 4688 patients who received their first IVF fresh cycle attempt between January 2017 and October 2021. Of these, 4449 women underwent IVF during non-holiday seasons, while 239 women were treated during the CNY holiday season. The study included women who underwent IVF treatment during the specified time frame. The primary outcome was the live birth rate (LBR). Results: The study found that the LBR of IVF performed during the CNY holiday season was 32.22%, which is significantly lower than that of the non-holiday season (43.38%, p< 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the CNY holiday season (OR=0.62, 95% CI 0.47– 0.82, p=0.001) was an independent factor associated with the live birth rate. Propensity score matching (PSM) data analysis showed that the LBR in the CNY holiday season group was 31.78% compared to 42.64% in the non-holiday season group (p=0.005). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) data also indicated that the CNY holiday season had a lower LBR than the non-holiday season (OR=0.64, 95% CI 0.47– 0.87, p=0.005). Conclusion: IVF performed during the CNY holiday season results in a lower live birth rate, potentially indicating that certain lifestyle adjustments during this period, such as unhealthy dietary, tobacco and alcohol usage, sleep disruption, and emotional stress experienced could have some influence on the outcomes.

Purpose: Elucidation of the cardio-oncologic knowledge among the oncology nurses of tertiary hospitals in Shanxi Province to provide better insights and directions for management by nursing managers. Background: China’s National Health and Wellness Commission issued the Action Plan for Further Improving Nursing Services in June 2023, which requires nurses to provide patients with physical and mental holistic nursing services, such as medical care, condition observation, assistance with treatment, and health guidance. Most oncology patients are treated with chemotherapy, but the modality can cause greater harm to patients, especially cardiotoxicity. How to provide precise care for chemotherapy patients is a problem for nursing managers. Methods: In order to investigate the level of cardio-oncologic knowledge among the oncology nurses of tertiary care hospitals in Shanxi Province, China, a questionnaire was created based on the relevant literature and the provided instructions on cardio-oncology. The chi-squared test was performed for multiple comparisons of the level of knowledge of disease observation, health guidance, and implementation of treatment. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between the levels of cardio-oncologic knowledge and general information of hospitals and nurses. Results: Cardio-oncology awareness among the oncology nurses was 0.1%– 44.7%, the awareness rate of single dimension was 0 to 3.9%, and overall awareness rate was 0. A partially significant difference was revealed in the two-by-two comparisons of the awareness rates of the three dimensions of disease observation, health guidance, and implementation of treatment (P < 0.05). A correlation was observed between the cardio-oncologic knowledge and some of the hospital and the nurses’ general information data (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Oncology nurses exhibited a low rate of awareness related to cardio-oncology. Hospitals could establish oncology nursing teams to train the oncology nurses to promote their cardio-oncologic knowledge and ensure the quality of daily care provided by these nurses.

This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the prevalence and causes of visual impairment (VI) and blindness in Jiangsu Province, China in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (n = 13,208, aged 18–93) underwent comprehensive ocular examinations. The prevalence and causes of binocular VI (presenting visual acuity [VA] ≥ 20/400 and < 20/63 in the better eye) and blindness (presenting VA < 20/400 in the better eye) were assessed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The estimation of refractive error prevalence was conducted using the following classification: myopia ≤ − 0.50 diopters (D), high myopia ≤ − 6.00 D, hyperopia ≥ 0.50 D, and anisometropia ≥ 1.00 D. The overall prevalence of binocular VI and blindness was 21.04% (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.35–21.74%) and 0.47% (95% CI 0.37–0.60%). The highest prevalence of binocular VI was in the population aged 18–24 years old (46.29%, [95% CI 44.30–48.28%]), those with education at university and above (43.47%, [95% CI 41.93–45.02%]), students (54.96%, [95% CI 52.73–57.17%]). Uncorrected refractive error (URE) was the leading cause of presenting binocular VI (93.40%) and blindness (50.79%). The prevalence of myopia was 54.75% (95% CI 53.90–55.60%). Actions are needed to control URE and myopia within the adult Chinese population, with a particular emphasis on the younger, well-educated demographic.