Photoionisation detection of a single Er3+ ion with sub-100-ns time resolution.

Efficient detection of single optical centres in solids is essential for quantum information processing, sensing and single-photon generation applications. In this work, we use radio-frequency (RF) reflectometry to electrically detect the photoionisation induced by a single Er3+ ion in Si. The high bandwidth and sensitivity of the RF reflectometry provide sub-100-ns time resolution for the photoionisation detection. With this technique, the optically excited state lifetime of a single Er3+ ion in a Si nano-transistor is measured for the first time to be [Formula: see text]s. Our results demonstrate an efficient approach for detecting a charge state change induced by Er excitation and relaxation. This approach could be used for fast readout of other single optical centres in solids and is attractive for large-scale integrated optical quantum systems thanks to the multi-channel RF reflectometry demonstrated with frequency multiplexing techniques.

Chlorine-doped MoS2 quantum dots embedded in a molecularly imprinted polymer for highly selective and sensitive optosensing of quercetin.

Chlorine-doped MoS2 quantum dots (Cl-MoS2 QDs) embedded in a SiO2 molecularly imprinted polymer (Cl-MoS2 QDs@SiO2@MIP) have been successfully synthesized and can be used for highly selective and sensitive optosensing of quercetin. The novel environmentally friendly sensor integrated the advantages of the Cl-MoS2 QDs and MIP, high sensitivity and specific recognition for quercetin. The as-fabricated sensor is used to detect trace amounts of quercetin, and its fluorescence intensity showed a good linear decline with the increasing concentration of quercetin from 2 ng mL-1 to 200 ng mL-1 with a detection limit of 1.2 ng mL-1 (S/N = 3). The Cl-MoS2 QDs@SiO2@MIP probe was employed to assay the content of quercetin of real onion extract with good performance, which is in fine agreement with the result obtained by high performance liquid chromatography. The developed Cl-MoS2 QDs@SiO2@MIP sensor exhibits promising potential in the detection of quercetin.

Polychromatic fluorescent MoS2 quantum dots: fabrication and off-on sensing for fluorine ions in water.

Recently, MoS2 quantum dots (QDs) have receive widespread attention as a promising luminescent material. However, so far, little effort has been made on the multicolor emission of MoS2 QDs. Herein, an in situ iodine doping strategy is presented and used to synthesize tunable-photoluminescent (PL) MoS2 QDs. By fine iodine doping, the PL of the MoS2 QDs (I-MoS2 QDs) can be tuned in the range from 423 nm to 529 nm, which exceeds the as-reported emission wavelength range. Studies using controlled experiments and density functional theory (DFT) reveal that the change in electronic state of MoS2 QDs is responsible for the changing PL due to iodine doping. As-synthesized I-MoS2 QDs combined with Fe3+ is developed as a "turn-off-on" fluorescence sensor for F- ions in water. The fluorescence probe has a fine linear response to F- ions in the concentration range of 2.5-80 µM, and the limit of detection is 1.4 µM (S/N = 3).

Shape controllable MoS2 nanocrystals prepared by the single precursor route for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

MoS2 has attracted great attention as a prospective electrocatalyst for generating hydrogen via water electrolysis due to its abundant and inexpensive sources. However, bulk MoS2 has weak electrocatalytic activity because of its low electrical conductivity and few edge-active sites. Controllable synthesis of MoS2 with ultrasmall size or complex morphology may be an available strategy to boost its conductivity and edge-active sites. Herein, a facile single-precursor strategy was developed to prepare nanoscale MoS2 with various morphologies, including quantum dots, nanorods, nanoribbons, and nanosheets. In-depth studies show that the formation of MoS2 with various shapes is determined by both kinetic and thermodynamic factors such as reaction time and temperature. Electrocatalytic tests reveal that MoS2 quantum dots have high electrocatalytic performance with a low overpotential of 255 mV and a small Tafel slope of 66 mV dec-1 due to the abundant exposed active edges and excellent intrinsic conductivity.

Clinical Application of Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Imaging in the Resection of Hepatoblastoma: A Single Institution's Experiences.

Purpose: Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging is becoming increasingly popular in adult oncologic surgery, but remains relatively uncommon in pediatric oncologic surgery. Herein, we report our experience with the use of ICG fluorescence imaging in the resection of hepatoblastoma (HB). Patients and Methods: Hepatoblastoma patients who underwent liver resection with ICG fluorescence imaging between January 2020 and March 2021 were included in this study. Patients' demographic data, clinical information, and detailed information of the use of ICG fluorescence imaging were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Sixteen HB patients underwent ICG fluorescence imaging-guided liver resection. There were 11 males and 5 females, age ranged from 8 to 134 months. The initial alpha-fetoprotein ranged from 436 to 528,390 ng/ml. There were one pre-treatment extent of tumor stage I, nine stage II, four stage III, and two stage IV. Three patients underwent up-front hepatectomy, 13 patients received 2-8 cycles of platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy and underwent delayed hepatectomy. ICG (0.5 mg/kg) was given intravenously 48-72 h prior to surgery. The operative time ranged from 180 to 400 min. All patients achieved negative surgical margins. In two patients, ICG identify additional lesions which were not detected in preoperative imaging. Conclusion: ICG fluorescence imaging is useful in the resection of HB and may detect small lesions not shown in preoperative imaging.

TTF1 suppresses neuroblastoma growth and induces neuroblastoma differentiation by targeting TrkA and the miR-204/TrkB axis.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial malignant solid tumor in children. We found that TTF1, TrkA, and miR-204 were lowly expressed, whereas TrkB was highly expressed in undifferentiated NB tissues. Meanwhile, TTF1 expression correlated positively with TrkA and miR-204 expression but negatively with TrkB expression. The TTF1 promoter was hypermethylated in undifferentiated NB tissues and SK-N-BE cells, leading to TTF1 downregulation. We also identified miR-204, which directly targets TrkB, as a transcriptional target of TTF1. Functionally, TTF1 suppressed proliferation, migration, and invasion of NB cells, whereas induced cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and autophagy of NB cells by regulating TrkA and the miR-204-TrkB axis. Furthermore, TTF1 suppressed tumor growth and promoted neurogenic differentiation in a NB xenograft mouse model. Our study demonstrates that TTF1 reduces tumor growth and induces neurogenic differentiation in NB by directly targeting TrkA and the miR-204/TrkB axis.

SNHG25 facilitates SNORA50C accumulation to stabilize HDAC1 in neuroblastoma cells.

Increasing studies have pointed out that small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and their host genes (SNHGs) have multi-functional roles in cancer progression. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the importance of snoRNA host gene 25 (SNHG25) in neuroblastoma (NB). Hence, we further explored the function and molecular mechanism of SNHG25 in NB. Our study revealed that SNHG25 expression was upregulated in NB cells. Through loss-of-function assays, we discovered that silencing of SNHG25 suppressed NB cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Moreover, we found that SNHG25 positively regulated snoRNA small nucleolar RNA, H/ACA box 50 C (SNORA50C) in NB cells, and SNORA50C depletion had the same function as SNHG25 silencing in NB cells. Moreover, we proved that SNHG25 recruited dyskerin pseudouridine synthase 1 (DKC1) to facilitate SNORA50C accumulation and associated small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein (snoRNP) assembly. In addition, it was manifested that SNHG25 relied on SNORA50C to inhibit ubiquitination of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), thereby elevating HDAC1 expression in NB cells. Further, HDAC1 was proven to be a tumor-facilitator in NB, and SNORA50C contributed to NB cell growth and migration through the HDAC1-mediated pathway. In vivo xenograft experiments further supported that SNHG25 promoted NB progression through SNORA50C/HDAC1 pathway. Our study might provide a novel sight for NB treatment.

The Artificial Intelligence and Neural Network in Teaching.

This study aims to explore the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and network technology in teaching. By studying the AI-based smart classroom teaching mode and the advantages and disadvantages of network teaching using network technology and taking the mathematics classroom as an example, this study makes an intelligent analysis of the questioning link of classroom teachers in the teaching process. For the questions raised by teachers, the network classification models of convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) are used to classify the questions according to the content and types of questions and carry out experimental verification. The results show that the overall performance of the CNN model is better than that of the LSTM model in the classification results of the teacher's question content dimension. CNN has higher accuracy, and the classification accuracy of essential knowledge points reaches 86.3%. LSTM is only 79.2%, and CNN improves by 8.96%. In the classification results of teacher question types, CNN has higher accuracy. The classification accuracy of the prompt question is the highest, reaching 87.82%. LSTM is only 83.2%, and CNN improves by 4.95%. CNN performs better in teacher question classification results.

Association between lncRNA-H19 polymorphisms and hepatoblastoma risk in an ethic Chinese population.

H19 polymorphisms are associated with increased susceptibility to several cancers; however, their role in hepatoblastoma remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the association between three H19 polymorphisms (rs2839698 G>A, rs3024270 C>G, rs217727 G>A) and hepatoblastoma susceptibility in 213 hepatoblastoma patients. The rs2839698 and rs3024270 polymorphisms were associated with significantly increased hepatoblastoma risk, with the GG genotype associated with a higher risk of hepatoblastoma than the CC genotype at the rs3024270 locus. The rs217727 polymorphism was associated with significantly decreased hepatoblastoma risk, with the AG genotype associated with a lower risk of hepatoblastoma than the GG genotype. These findings were confirmed by combined analysis, and stratification analysis revealed that age, gender and clinical stage were associated with increased hepatoblastoma susceptibility. The GGG and AGG haplotypes were significantly associated with increased hepatoblastoma risk compared with the GCA reference (rs2839698, rs3024270, rs217727). The rs2839698 and rs3024270 polymorphisms correlated with decreased MRPL23-AS1 expression, whereas the rs217727 polymorphism was associated with increased MRPL23-AS1 expression. Overall, the H19 rs2839698, rs3024270 and rs217727 polymorphisms were associated with hepatoblastoma susceptibility in a Chinese Han population.

Analysis of Clinical Characteristics, Pathological Changes and Changes of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) in Children with Castleman's Disease.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to analyze the pathological changes, clinical characteristics and changes in immunity, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in children with Castleman's disease (CD). MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 15 CD child patients were enrolled as observation group, while 20 normal children receiving healthy examination were enrolled as healthy control group. The pathological changes, clinical characteristics and changes in immunity and serum IL-6 and CRP expressions were retrospectively analyzed in observation group. RESULTS The clinical manifestation of unicentric CD (UCD) was mainly enlargement of cervical lymph nodes without liver-spleen enlargement and fever, and the major pathological type was the hyaline-vascular type. Multicentric CD (MCD) child patients all had anemia, fever and other systemic symptoms, and the major pathological type was the plasma-cell type. There were expressions of the immune indexes, including cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3), CD4, CD8, CD20, and CD79, in a certain degree, while CD138 and VS38C expressions displayed the polyclonal proliferation of plasma cells, rather than neoplastic proliferation. The Epstein-Barr virus and human herpes virus-8 detection results were negative, and CD21 in follicular dendritic cells in abnormal germinal center was positive. The expression levels of serum IL-6 and CRP in observation group were higher than those in control group (P.

lncRNA-uc003opf.1 rs11752942 A>G polymorphism decreases neuroblastoma risk in Chinese children.

Recent studies have revealed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in the tumorigenesis and proliferation of human cancer. Several polymorphisms of lncRNAs have been found to be involved in the risk of neuroblastoma (NB). However, studies on the relationship between polymorphisms in lncRNA exons and NB are infrequent. We evaluated the association between rs11752942 A > G polymorphism in lnc-RNA-uc003opf.1 exon and neuroblastoma susceptibility by performing a hospital-based study with 275 patients and 531 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) assessed by using logistic regression models were used to determine the strength of the association. We found that the rs11752942 G allele is significantly associated with decreased neuroblastoma risk (AG vs. AA: adjusted OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.53-0.98, P = 0.038; and AG/GG vs. AA: adjusted OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.55-0.99, P = 0.045) after adjusting for age and gender. This association was more prominent in females, subjects with tumor in the mediastinum or early-stage. Furthermore, the expression quantitative trait locus analysis indicated that rs11752942 G was associated with decreased expression of its neighboring gene LRFN2 mRNA. These results indicate that lncRNA-uc003opf.1 may be a novel potentially functional lncRNA that may be used as a predictive marker, for it might contribute to decreased neuroblastoma risk.

Liver biopsy for hepatoblastoma: a single institution's experience.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Hepatoblastoma diagnoses require liver biopsies. We aimed to investigate factors affecting the success of liver biopsy for hepatoblastoma diagnoses. METHODS: Data from patients with hepatoblastoma, including their demographic and clinical data, biopsy procedure information, pathologic diagnoses and subclassification, and surgical complications, were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Of 153 patients who underwent liver biopsy, 28, 93, and 31 underwent computed tomography-guided, digital subtraction angiography-guided, and ultrasound-guided percutaneous biopsies, respectively, and one underwent a laparoscopic liver biopsy. One patient developed postoperative bleeding requiring a blood transfusion. The median number of specimens collected was 3. One-hundred and forty-four (94.1%) patients' HB diagnoses were confirmed through biopsies, and 96 (62.7%) patients' HB diagnoses were subclassified. Seven surgeons and eight interventional radiologists performed the biopsies. The diagnostic success rate did not correlate with the biopsy technique or the specialist who performed the biopsy. Significantly more specimens were biopsied from the patients whose diagnoses were subclassified (3.34 ± 1.08) than from those whose diagnoses were not subclassified (2.81 ± 0.79). Surgeons tended to collect more specimens than the interventional radiologists. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous liver biopsy is safe and effective for diagnosing hepatoblastoma, and its complication rate is very low. Collecting >3 pieces of tissue is preferred. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Outcomes of children with hepatoblastoma who underwent liver resection at a tertiary hospital in China: a retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: To report the outcomes of hepatoblastoma resected in our institution. METHODS: We diagnosed 135 children with hepatoblastoma at our institution between January 2010 and December 2017. Patients who underwent liver resection were included for analysis. However, patients who abandoned treatment after diagnosis were excluded from analysis, but their clinical characteristics were provided in the supplementary material. RESULTS: Forty-two patients abandoned treatment, whereas 93 patients underwent liver resection and were included for statistical analysis. Thirty-six, 23, 3, and 31 patients had PRETEXT stages II, III, IV, and unspecified tumours, respectively. Seven patients had ruptured tumour; 9 had lung metastasis (one patient had portal vein thrombosis concurrently). Sixteen patients underwent primary liver resection; 22, 25, and 30 patients received cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy and delayed surgery, preoperative transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and delayed surgery, and a combination of cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy, TACE, and delayed surgery, respectively. Forty patients had both PRETEXT and POST-TEXT information available for analysis. Twelve patients were down-staged after preoperative treatment, including 2, 8, and 2 patients from stages IV to III, III to II, and II to I, respectively. Ten patients with unspecified PRETEXT stage were confirmed to have POST-TEXT stages II (n = 8) and I (n = 2) tumours. Seven tumours were associated with positive surgical margins, and 12 patients had microvascular involvement. During a median follow-up period of 30.5 months, 84 patients survived without relapse, 9 experienced tumour recurrence, and 4 died. The 2-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 89.4 ± 3.4%, and 95.2 ± 2.4%, respectively; they were significantly better among patients without metastasis (no metastasis vs metastasis: EFS, 93.5 ± 3.7% vs 46.7 ± 19.0%, adjusted p = 0.002. OS, 97.6 ± 2.4% vs 61.0 ± 18.1%, adjusted p = 0.005), and similar among patients treated with different preoperative strategies (chemotherapy only vs TACE only vs Both: EFS, 94.7 ± 5.1% vs 91.7 ± 5.6% vs 85.6 ± 6.7%, p = 0.542. OS, 94.1 ± 5.7% vs 95.7 ± 4.3% vs 96.7 ± 3.3%, p = 0.845). CONCLUSION: The OS for patients with hepatoblastoma who underwent liver resection was satisfactory. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and TACE seemed to have a similar effect on OS. However, the abandonment of treatment by patients with hepatoblastoma was common, and may have biased our results.

Association of MYC gene polymorphisms with neuroblastoma risk in Chinese children: A four-center case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Neuroblastoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in childhood. Polymorphisms in proto-oncogene MYC are implicated in many cancers, although their role in neuroblastoma remains unclear. In the present study, we attempted to investigate the association between MYC gene polymorphisms and neuroblastoma susceptibility in Chinese children. METHODS: We included two MYC polymorphisms (rs4645943 and rs2070583) and assessed their effects on neuroblastoma risk in 505 cases and 1070 controls via the Taqman method. RESULTS: In single and combined locus analysis, no significant association was found between the two selected polymorphisms and neuroblastoma susceptibility. In stratification analysis, the rs4645943 CT/TT genotypes were significantly associated with a decreased neuroblastoma risk in subjects with tumors originating from other sites [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.21-0.84, p = 0.013]. Meanwhile, the presence of one or two protective genotypes was significantly associated with a decreased neuroblastoma risk in subjects with tumors arising from other sites (adjusted OR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.26-0.96, p = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates that MYC gene polymorphisms may have a weak effect on the neuroblastoma risk, which neeeds to be verified further.

Association of CMYC polymorphisms with hepatoblastoma risk.

BACKGROUND: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes may affect gene expression and contribute to cancer susceptibility. This study aimed to explore the association between CMYC gene polymorphisms and hepatoblastoma risk. METHODS: Hepatoblastoma patients and cancer-free controls were recruited and matched by age and sex. Genotypes were determined by TaqMan, and the strength of the association of interest was determined by calculating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The distributions of various CMYC genotypes among subjects were recorded, followed by analyses of associations between CMYC polymorphisms and hepatoblastoma risk. RESULTS: A total of 213 hepatoblastoma patients and 958 cancer-free controls were enrolled. No significant associations between the CMYC rs4645943 and rs2070583 polymorphisms and hepatoblastoma risk were found (all P>0.05). In stratification analysis based on age, sex, and clinical stage, the CMYC rs4645943 and rs2070583 polymorphisms were not associated with hepatoblastoma susceptibility (all P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the CMYC rs4645943 and rs2070583 polymorphisms were not associated with hepatoblastoma risk in the study cohort.

Association of the TP53 rs1042522 C>G polymorphism and hepatoblastoma risk in Chinese children.

The TP53 gene encodes an important class of cell cycle and tumor-suppressing factors that play critical roles in maintaining genomic stability. The TP53 Arg72Pro (rs1042522 C>G) polymorphism has been reported to be associated with the risk of several types of adult cancers; however, its risk for pediatric cancers remains unclear. Here, we analyzed the association of the TP53 gene rs1042522 C>G polymorphism with hepatoblastoma (HB) susceptibility in a hospital-based study among Chinese children. A total of 213 HB patients and 958 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Genotypes were determined by a TaqMan assay, and the strength of the association was assessed by the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals generated from logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, and clinical stage. No significant association between the TP53 rs1042522 C>G polymorphism and HB susceptibility was detected in the main analysis or in stratification analyses of age, gender, and clinical stages. Overall, the TP53 gene rs1042522 C>G polymorphism is not associated with HB susceptibility in the Chinese population, other polymorphisms alone or in combination should be investigated to further clarify HB susceptibility.

LINC00673 rs11655237 C>T Polymorphism Impacts Hepatoblastoma Susceptibility in Chinese Children.

BACKGROUND: Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common hepatic malignancy in children, accounting for approximately 80% of all childhood liver tumors. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have found that the LINC00673 rs11655237 C>T polymorphism is associated with the risk of several different adult cancers. However, the association between this polymorphism and HB susceptibility remains unclear. METHODS: We analyzed the association between the LINC00673 rs11655237 C>T polymorphism and HB susceptibility in a hospital-based study of Chinese children. We enrolled 213 HB patients and 958 healthy controls with genotypes determined by TaqMan, and the strength of the association of interest was determined by calculating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). FINDINGS: We found a significant association between the LINC00673 rs11655237 C>T polymorphism and HB risk (CT/TT compared with CC: adjusted OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.04-1.88, p = 0.029). Furthermore, stratified analysis indicated that rs11655237 T allele carriers in the following subgroups were more likely to develop HB: children older than 17 months, males, and those with tumors of clinical stages III + IV. INTERPRETATION: In conclusion, we confirmed that the LINC00673 rs11655237 C>T polymorphism may be associated with HB susceptibility. Prospective studies with larger sample sizes and patients of different ethnicities are needed to validate our findings.

Surgical risk factors of retroperitoneal teratoma resection in children.

BACKGROUND: Retroperitoneal teratoma is uncommon and carries considerable surgical risks. Some preoperative clinical and radiographic features could be predictive of surgical complication risk. We aimed to identify surgical risk factors that predicted perioperative complications. METHODS: Childhood retroperitoneal teratoma cases operated on at Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic features; clinical, laboratory, radiographic, and intraoperative findings; perioperative complications; and pathology results were assessed. RESULTS: Between May 2000 and December 2017, 152 childhood retroperitoneal teratomas were resected from 102 female patients (median age 5.75 months). Sixty-three patients (41%) experienced perioperative complications (79 intraoperative and 5 postoperative), including kidney excision (4 patients) and adrenal gland excision (1 patient). Among 113 patients with preoperative computed tomography/magnetic resonance images, 112 (99%), 111 (98%), and 113 (100%) demonstrated artery, vein, and organ distortion, respectively, and 28 (25%) had vessels encased by tumors. Patients with perioperative complications had more veins and organs distorted by tumors. In multivariate analysis, the numbers of vessels encased and organs distorted by tumors were significantly associated with perioperative complications (odds ratio = 1.45 and 1.69, 95% confidence interval: 1.00-2.10 and 1.19-2.41, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Retroperitoneal teratoma resection has a high perioperative complication rate. Teratomas encompassing the vasculature and distorting organs were associated with increased surgical risk. Additional studies aiming to better define the surgical approach to retroperitoneal teratoma are warranted. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: III.

NRAS and KRAS polymorphisms are not associated with hepatoblastoma susceptibility in Chinese children.

BACKGROUND: Hepatoblastoma is the most common hepatic malignancy in children, accounting for approximately 80% of all childhood liver tumors. KRAS and NRAS, members of the RAS gene family, are closely linked to tumorigenesis, and are frequently mutated in a variety of malignancies. They may thus play critical roles in tumorigenesis. However, there are few studies on the association between the RAS gene polymorphisms and risk of hepatoblastoma. METHODS: We investigated whether the polymorphisms at these genes are associated with hepatoblastoma susceptibility in a hospital-based study of 213 affected Chinese children and 958 cancer-free controls. Genotypes were determined by TaqMan assay, and association with hepatoblastoma risk was assessed based on odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed between patients and controls in terms of age and gender frequency. All NRAS and KRAS genotypes are in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the entire study population. We did not observe any significant association between hepatoblastoma risk and polymorphisms at NRAS and KRAS. The association between selected polymorphisms and hepatoblastoma risk was assessed after stratification by age, gender, and clinical stage. However, no significant association was observed even after stratification by age, gender, and clinical stage. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that NRAS and KRAS polymorphisms are irrelevant to hepatoblastoma susceptibility among Chinese population.

Associations between H19 polymorphisms and neuroblastoma risk in Chinese children.

BackgroundH19 polymorphisms have been reported to correlate with an increased susceptibility to a few types of cancers, although their role in neuroblastoma has not yet been clarified.Materials and methods We investigated the association between three single polymorphisms (rs2839698 G>A, rs3024270 C>G, and rs217727 G>A) and neuroblastoma susceptibility in Chinese Han populations. Three hundred ninety-three neuroblastoma patients and 812 healthy controls were enrolled from the Henan and Guangdong provinces. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to determine the strength of the association of interest.Results Separated and combined analyses revealed no associations of the rs2839698 G>A, rs3024270 C>G or rs217727 G>A polymorphisms and neuroblastoma susceptibility. In the stratification analysis, female children with rs3024270 GG genotypes had an increased neuroblastoma risk (adjusted OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.04-2.50, P=0.032).Conclusion The rs3024270 GG genotype might contribute to an increased neuroblastoma susceptibility in female Chinese children.