ObjectiveTo understand the latest development in lineage tracing techniques and their applications in the study of liver regeneration mechanisms. MethodA review of domestic and international literature on the application of lineage tracing techniques in liver regeneration was conducted. ResultsA variety of more reliable and advanced lineage tracing techniques had been developed, such as single-cell RNA sequencing, DNA barcode technology, etc., providing powerful tools for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of liver regeneration. The marked progress had been made in identifying the origins of liver regeneration cells, identifying liver regeneration areas, and studying the mechanisms of liver regeneration after injury. The lineage tracing techniques help to understand the position and function of different types of liver cells within the liver structure, revealing the regenerative potential and contribution of different subpopulations of liver cells. Moreover, these techniques had supported the phenomenon of transdifferentiation between the hepatocytes and the bile duct cells under chronic liver injury conditions, aiding in understanding the specific roles of key signaling pathways in liver regeneration, such as Wnt/β-catenin, Hippo/YAP, and Notch signaling pathways.ConclusionsAlthough lineage tracing techniques have made marked progress in liver regeneration research, liver regeneration is a complex and important physiological process, and the technique still has limitations, such as challenges in marker specificity, longer research cycles and higher costs, potential limitations in translating from animal models to human clinical applications, inability to solve all questions about liver regeneration mechanisms, and ethical and legal issues. Therefore, more in-depth and comprehensive research is still needed to reveal more details of liver regeneration mechanism.
ObjectiveTo explore value of preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) combined with carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) in evaluating prognosis for patients with pancreatic head carcinoma.MethodsThe clinical data of patients with pancreatic head carcinoma underwent radical pancreaticoduodenectomy in the Lanzhou University Second Hospital from February 2011 to August 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The preoperative serum albumin (ALB), CA19-9, NLR, carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), N stage, tumor differentiated degree, and other indicators were recorded and the patient’s overall survival was recorded. Linear correlation analysis was used to examine the association of NLR with serum CA19-9. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to calculate the cutoff values of NLR and CA19-9 corresponding to the overall survival rate of 2-year. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative CA19-9 and NLR.Results① A total of 121 patients were enrolled in this study. There was no significant correlation between the preoperative serum CA19-9 and NLR (r=0.100 05, P=0.272 9). ② Multivariate analysis showed that higher NLR, higher CA19-9 level, higher N stage, and lower tumor differentiation were the risk factors for overall survival of pancreatic head carcinoma (P<0.05). ③ The cutoff values of CA19-9 and NLR in evaluating the 2-year overall survival rate were 123.3 U/mL and 2.34 respectively by the ROC curve analysis, the area under ROC curve of CA19-9, NLR, and CA19-9 combined with NLR were 0.763, 0.686, and 0.823, respectively. ④ The proportions of patients with CEA≥5 μg/L and ≥N1 stage were higher in the patients with CA19-9≥123.3 U/mL as compared with patients with CA19-9<123.3 U/mL (P<0.05); The proportions of patients with preoperative serum ALB level <35 g/L and CEA≥5 μg/L, ≥N1 stage, and poor differentiation were higher in the patients with NLR≥2.34 as compared with the patients with NLR<2.34 (P<0.05). ⑤ Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with CA19-9≥123.3 U/mL and NLR≥2.34 had worse overall survival than those patients with CA19-9<123.3 U/mL and NLR<2.34 (HR=3.599, P<0.01; HR=2.506, P<0.01). The patients with CA19-9≥123.3 U/mL and NLR≥2.34 (n=42), CA19-9≥123.3 U/mL or NLR≥2.34 (n=48), CA19-9<123.3 U/mL and NLR<2.34 (n=31) had better overall survival in turn (overall and between groups, all P<0.01).ConclusionPreoperative serum CA19-9 combined with NLR has an important value in evaluating prognosis for patients with pancreatic head carcinoma.