[HedgeHog inhibitor targeted therapy for periocular basal cell carcinoma: a case report]

A female patient, 87 years old, presented with an irregular swelling in the left medial canthus for 7 years. Due to the patient's poor general condition, radical surgery was not considered appropriate. Surgical biopsy confirmed periocular basal cell carcinoma of the left medial canthus. The patient was administered oral HedgeHog inhibitor targeted therapy for 6 months, resulting in approximately 90% reduction in tumor size. The patient's condition improved, and the tumor remained stable during the course of follow-up.

[The progress in the diagnosis and management of orbital lymphoma]

Lymphoma is one of the most common malignant tumor of the orbit in adults. Orbital lymphoma mainly consists of extranodal marginal zone B cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, infrequent NK/T cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma. Diagnosis on orbital lymphoma remains challenging in that it is difficult to distinguish it from benign lesions, especially for low degree lymphomas. Combined examinations of histological, cytological and molecular features are required to make final differentiation. There are many treatment options for diagnosis of orbital lymphoma, such as surgical resection, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, monoclonal antibody targeted therapy, immunotherapy. The appropriate scenario of treatment on orbital lymphoma should be made based on the Ann Arbor or TNM staging system to determine the stage of orbital lymphoma at the moment for maximizing the results. The latest concepts on diagnosis and management of orbital lymphoma are reviewed in this paper. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 632-636).

VEGF-Targeted RNA Interference Suppresses Angiogenesis and Tumor Growth of Retinoblastoma

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the most important angiogenic growth factors for tumor angiogenesis which has been verified to be involved in neovascularization of retinoblastoma. Here, we sought to explore whether RNA interference (RNAi) targeting VEGF could inhibit retinoblastoma angiogenesis and tumor growth. Stable transfection of the two human retinoblastoma cell lines SO-RB50 and HXO-RB44 with VEGF-targeted small interfering RNA (siRNA) expression plasmid significantly inhibited VEGF expression determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot, whereas the control transfection showed no effects. The chemically synthesized VEGF siRNA dramatically suppressed tumor angiogenesis (CD34 immunohistochemistry) and tumor growth in the SO-RB50 subcutaneous xenograft model. Significant downregulation of VEGF expression both on messenger RNA and protein levels in VEGF-siRNA-treated SO-RB50 subcutaneous xenograft was confirmed by real-time PCR and Western blot compared to control. Our data demonstrate the suppression function on angiogenesis and tumor growth of retinoblastoma by VEGF-targeted RNAi. This novel therapeutic strategy promises to play a part in the clinical management of retinoblastoma.

Fluctuation of microcystins in water plant

This study was undertaken to investigate the distribution and variation of microcystins (MC) from a water resource to a water plant in China including long distance transportation, ClO2 preoxidation, coagulation/precipitation, filtration, and disinfection. Advanced treatment methods including ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption were tested to remove microcystins from drinking water. The results indicated that, when containing high level of algae in raw water, preoxidation at 2 mg/L of ClO2 was not enough to stop algae growth in long distance transportation. In the water plant studied, both coagulation and filtration caused significant increase instead of removal of microcystins in drinking water. Chlorine disinfection removed part of microcystins. However, both ozonation and GAC adsorption were able to remove microcystins completely, thereby improving the quality of drinking water in terms of microcystins.