Project description:A new notion"Fast Track Multi-Discipline Treatment" for colorectal cancer is thought with several benefits such as shorter hospitalization stay and less costs. This randomized study aims to compare the differences between conventional and Fast Track Multi-Discipline Treatment for colorectal cancer in hospitalization day, complications, costs and quality of life.
Project description:Viruses are a constant threat to global health as shown by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, lack of data underlying the biology of the interaction of the human host with SARS-CoV-2 virus is limiting effective therapeutic intervention. We introduce Viral-Track, a computational method that globally scans unmapped scRNA-seq data for the presence of viral RNA, enabling transcriptional cell sorting of infected versus bystander cells. We demonstrate the ability of Viral-Track to detect various viruses from multiple models of infection. Applying Viral-Track to Bronchoalveloar Lavage samples from severe and mild COVID-19 patients reveals a dramatic impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the immune system of severe patients as compared to mild cases. The SARS-CoV-2 infection is mainly restricted to epithelial and macrophage subsets. In addition, Viral-Track detects in one of the severe patients an unexpected co-infection of the human MetaPneumoVirus, present mainly in monocytes and strongly dampening their type-I IFN-signaling.
Project description:Background:
Laparoscopic colorectal surgery has been shown by randomized trials to be associated with better short-term clinical outcomes when compared with open surgery. However, in a traditional perioperative care setting, the reduction in hospital stay following laparoscopic surgery in these trials was modest. Fast-track perioperative programs have been introduced in the West to optimize perioperative factors to reduce the physiological/psychological stress of open colorectal surgery. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of fast-track programs on the outcomes after laparoscopic colorectal surgery.
Objective:
To compare the clinical and immunological outcomes of Hong Kong Chinese patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer with a "traditional" vs. a "fast-track" perioperative program.
Design:
Prospective randomized trial.
Subjects:
One hundred and twenty-eight consecutive patients undergoing elective laparoscopic resection of non-metastatic colonic and upper rectal cancer will be recruited.
Interventions:
Patients will be randomized to a "traditional" or a "fast-track" perioperative program.
Outcome measures:
Primary outcome: total postoperative hospital stay, including hospital stay of patients who are readmitted within 30 days after surgery. Secondary outcomes: immunological parameters (including systemic cytokine response and cell-mediated immune function), morbidity and mortality, quality of life, and medical costs.
Project description:Interventions: A:fast track;B:traditional process
Primary outcome(s): Oncology indicators;postoperative recovery indicators;quality of life
Study Design: Randomized parallel controlled trial
Project description:Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) is a fast and convenient method to amplify and identify the transcripts of a targeted pathogen. We combined bioinformatic and experimental analyses to improve the RT-LAMP assay performance for COVID-19 diagnosis. First, we developed an improved algorithm to design LAMP primers targeting the nucleocapsid (N), membrane (M), and spike (S) genes of SARS-CoV-2. Next, we rigorously validated these new assays for their efficacy and specificity. Further, we demonstrated that multiplexed RT-LAMP assays could directly detect as low as a few copies of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in saliva, without the need of RNA isolation. Importantly, further testing using saliva samples from COVID-19 patients indicated that the new RT-LAMP assays were in total agreement in sensitivity and specificity with standard RT-qPCR. In summary, our new LAMP primer design algorithm along with the validated assays provide a fast and reliable method for the diagnosis of COVID-19 cases.
Project description:Interventions: Group A:Fast-track surgery;Group B:Traditional colorectal surgery
Primary outcome(s): Postoperative fluid infusion;Total cost;Postoperative hospital stay;First liquid diet after surgery;First flatus after surgery
Study Design: Randomized parallel controlled trial
Project description:Study hypothesis: That minimal invasive laparoscopic surgery and/or multimodal patient care (fast-track) can prevent post-operative ileus and/or improve post-surgical gastrointestinal motility compared to open surgery and/or conventional patient care.
Primary outcome(s): Gastrointestinal transit
