B7-H4 is a novel B7 ligand that plays an important role in the T cell-mediated immune response as a negative regulator. Previous studies have suggested the aberrant expression of membrane B7-H4 in tumor cells. The aim of this study is to determine the expression levels of preoperative soluble B7-H4 (sB7-H4) in circulation and to investigate the correlations between sB7-H4 levels and clinicopathological parameters as well as the survival rate of patients with gastric cancer. Blood specimens from 132 patients with gastric cancer and 63 healthy volunteers were analyzed by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Median concentrations of sB7-H4 in patients with gastric cancer were significantly higher than those in healthy volunteers (16.85 versus 10.46 ng/mL; P = 0.008). Median levels of sB7-H4 were significantly correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, the depth of tumor invasion and tumor-node-metastasis classification (P = 0.002, P = 0.001, P = 0.041 and P 0.05). Additionally, the overall survival rate was significantly lower in patients with high sB7-H4 levels when compared with low sB7-H4 levels (50.0% versus 77.3%, χ² = 10.78, P = 0.001). Moreover, multivariate analysis demonstrated that the risk of death was significantly higher in patients with high sB7-H4 levels than in those with low sB7-H4 levels (P = 0.039). sB7-H4 is a valuable blood marker for predicting the progression and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.

Background: When liver metastasis in patients with breast cancer is diagnosed, treatment is generally palliative and usually consists of systemic therapies only. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) combined with systemic chemotherapy in patients with breast carcinoma liver metastases (BCLM). Methods: From January 2012 to December 2019, HAI catheter systems were implanted under the guide of digital subtract angiography (DSA) in 19 patients with BCLM. All patients received systemic chemotherapy and HAI gemcitabine plus floxuridine (FUDR). Methods: The overall response rate (ORR) of intrahepatic lesions was 73.7%, including 2 patients (10.5%) with complete remission (CR) and 12 patients (63.2%) with partial remission (PR). Additionally, we found that young patients (age < 55 years) had a higher ORR than the older (100% vs 44.4%, P = .011). The median overall survival (mOS) was 13.1 months. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that the mOS was not significantly different between patients with < 9 intrahepatic lesions and those with ≥ 9 lesions (13.7 months vs 10.9 months, P = .225). The mOS was 14.3 and 10.6 months for patients without extrahepatic metastases and with extrahepatic metastases, respectively (P = .016). None of the patients had grade 4 toxicity. The grade 3 toxicities included leucopenia, neutropenia and diarrhea. Conclusions: HAI gemcitabine plus FUDR combined with systemic chemotherapy is effective in achieving a high local response and prolonging mOS for patients with BCLM and is associated with a relatively low rate of toxicity.

Background: Superficial soft tissue metastasis (S-STM) of malignant tumors is uncommon and often brings great pain to patients. However, current treatment options are limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of CT-guided radioactive iodine-125 (¹²⁵I) seed implantation (RISI) for the treatment of S-STM. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 132 patients with S-STM who received RISI between June 2010 and July 2022. Local tumor progression-free survival (ltPFS), tumor response, pain control and complication were analyzed. The independent factors affecting ltPFS were screened out using a layered Cox proportional hazards model. Results: The median follow-up time was 8.3 months (interquartile range [IQR], 4.5–15.3 months). The objective response rate (ORR) was 81.8%. The median ltPFS was 9.1 (95% CI: 6.6, 11.6) months. The Cox proportional hazard regression model revealed that the independent factors influencing ltPFS included KPS score, primary tumor, metastases, boundary, density and postoperative D90 (All P < 0.05). After RISI, the rate of pain relief was 92.3%. 66 (84.6%) patients reported pain marked relief, and 6 (7.7%) experienced pain moderate relief. No severe adverse events associated with RISI were observed during follow-up. Conclusions: CT-guided RISI was associated with high local control and pain relief without severe adverse events and should be considered as a reliable palliative treatment modality for S-STM. Trial registration: Trial registration Retrospectively registered.