A Clinical Assessment of a Magnetic Resonance Computer-Aided Diagnosis System in the Detection of Pathological Complete Response After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the diagnostic performance and the added value to radiologists of different levels of a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system for the detection of pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with breast cancer. Besides, to investigate whether tumor molecular typing is associated with the efficiency of diagnosis of the CAD systems. Methods: 470 patients were identified with breast cancers who underwent NAC and post MR imaging between January 2016 and March 2019. The diagnostic performance of radiologists of different levels and the CAD system were compared. The added value of the CAD system was assessed and subgroup analyses were performed according to the tumor molecular typing. Results: Among 470 patients, 123 (26%) underwent pCR. The CAD system showed a comparable specificity as the senior radiologist (83.29% vs. 84.15%, p=0.488) and comparable area under the curve (AUC) (0.839 vs. 0.835, p =0.452). The performance of all radiologists significantly improved when aided by the CAD system (P<0.05), And there were no statistical differences in terms of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy between the two groups with CAD assistance(p>0.05).The AUC values for identifying pCR in TN patients were significant (0.883, 95%CI: 0.801-0.964, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The CAD system assessed in this study improves the performance of all radiologists, regardless of experience. The molecular typing of breast cancer is potential influencer of CAD diagnostic performance.

Ghrelin promotes neural differentiation of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell via AKT/mTOR and ß-catenin signaling pathways.

Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) are multipotent cells that can differentiate into various cell types. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ghrelin on the neural differentiation of rat ADSCs and underlying molecular mechanisms. Rat ADSCs were isolated and third-passage ADSCs were used in this study. The isolated ADSCs were characterized by flow cytometry analysis for MSCs' surface expression markers as evidenced by positive for CD90, CD44, and CD29 and negative for CD34, CD45, and CD11b/2f/c. The multilineage differentiation of ADSCs was confirmed by adipogenic, osteogenic, and neural differentiation. After induction of neurogenesis, the differentiated cells were identified by development of neuron-like morphology and expression of neural markers including glial fibrillary acidic protein, Nestin, MAP2, and ß-Tubulin III using immunofluorescence and western blot. Ghrelin concentration dependently elevated the proportion of neural-like cells and branching dendrites, as well as upregulated the expression of neural markers. Further, the expression of nuclear ß-catenin, p-GSK-3ß, p-AKT, and p-mTOR was increased by ghrelin, indicating an activation of ß-catenin and AKT/mTOR signaling after the ghrelin treatment. Importantly, inhibition of ß-catenin or AKT/mTOR signaling suppressed ghrelin-induced neurogenesis. Therefore, we demonstrate that ghrelin promotes neural differentiation of ADSCs through the activation of ß-catenin and AKT/mTOR signaling pathways.

Diagnosis of lymph node metastasis on rectal cancer by PET-CT computer imaging combined with MRI technology.

To compare the diagnostic efficacy and clinical application value of Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) metabolic computer Imaging imaging and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) diffusion imaging technology for regional lymph node metastasis in rectal cancer, 41 patients with rectal cancer confirmed by colonoscopy were collected and underwent 3.0T pelvic MRI and PET-CT examination, respectively. PET-CT/MRI fusion software was used to fuse magnetic resonance images and PET-CT images and accurately locate the rectal cancer lesions and lymph nodes, and image-operation-pathology control method was used to identify the lymph nodes around the rectum. In addition, independent sample t-test or Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the differences in the values of various parameters between the two groups of metastatic lymph nodes and non-metastatic lymph nodes, Spearman correlation was used to analyze the correlation between SUV value and ADC value of metastatic lymph node, and the diagnostic value of SUV value and ADC value was evaluated by drawing ROC curve. The results showed that when SUV took 2.0 as the diagnostic threshold, the accuracy of PET-CT in diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes was 90.1%; when the diagnostic threshold of ADC was 1.0×10-3mm2/s, the accuracy of DWI in diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes was 84.2%; the accuracy of the combination of the two methods for the diagnosis of metastatic lymph nodes was 94.4%. Therefore, it can be concluded that both PET-CT and MRI diffusion images were of high diagnostic value in the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of rectal cancer, and their diagnostic results were highly consistent. When combined, the diagnostic accuracy can be further improved.

Upregulated circular RNA circ_0016760 indicates unfavorable prognosis in NSCLC and promotes cell progression through miR-1287/GAGE1 axis.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is an aggressive malignancy with increasing worldwide incidence and is characterized by dismal prognosis due to its early recurrence and metastasis. Accumulating evidence documented that aberrantly expressed circular RNAs (circRNAs) are critically involved in tumorigenesis. In the current study, we focused on a novel circRNA, circ_0016760 in NSCLC. qRT-PCR was carried out to determine the expression level of circ_0016760 in tissue samples and cell lines. The clinical value of circ_0016760 was also investigated. The functions of circ_0016760 was explored by CCK-8, colony formation, flow cytometry, Transwell and animal experiments. Luciferase reporter assays were conducted to investigate the association between circ_0016760 and miR-1287 and miR-1287 and GAGE1. We found that circ_0016760 was enhanced in NSCLC tissues and cells and the upregulation of circ_0016760 is associated with advanced TNM stages, lymph node metastasis and adverse prognosis in NSCLC patients. Moreover, circ_0016760 could significantly promote cell growth and metastatic properties and inhibit cell apoptosis in NSCLC cells. In mechanism, circ_0016760 functioned as a sponge for miR-1287 and regulated the expression of GAGE1. Subsequently, functional assays illustrated that the oncogenic properties of circ_0016760 is partly attribute to the regulation of miR-1287/GAGE1 axis. In summary, circ_0016760/miR-1287/GAGE1 signaling might play vital roles in the tumorigenesis and progression of NSCLC.