Differential Expression of Adenosine P1 Receptor ADORA1 and ADORA2A Associated with Glioma Development and Tumor-Associated Epilepsy.

Level of adenosine, an endogenous astrocyte-based neuromodulator, is primarily regulated by adenosine P1 receptors. This study assessed expression of adenosine P1 receptors, ADORA1 (adenosine A1 receptor) and ADORA2A (adenosine A2a receptor) and their association with glioma development and epilepsy in glioma patients. Expression of ADORA1/ADORA2A was assessed immunohistochemically in 65 surgically removed glioma tissue and 21 peri-tumor tissues and 8 cases of normal brain tissues obtained from hematoma patients with cerebral trauma. Immunofluorescence, Western blot, and qRT-PCR were also used to verify immunohistochemical data. Adenosine P1 receptor ADORA1 and ADORA2A proteins were localized in the cell membrane and cytoplasm and ADORA1/ADORA2A immunoreactivity was significantly stronger in glioma and peri-tumor tissues that contained infiltrating tumor cells than in normal brain tissues (p < 0.05). The World Health Organization (WHO) grade III gliomas expressed even higher level of ADORA1 and ADORA2A. Western blot and qRT-PCR confirmed immunohistochemical data. Moreover, higher levels of ADORA1 and ADORA2A expression occurred in high-grade gliomas, in which incidence of epilepsy were lower (p < 0.05). In contrast, a lower level of ADORA1/ADORA2A expression was found in peri-tumor tissues with tumor cell presence from patients with epilepsy compared to patients without epilepsy (p < 0.05). The data from the current study indicates that dysregulation in ADORA1/ADORA2A expression was associated with glioma development, whereas low level of ADORA1/ADORA2A expression could increase susceptibility of tumor-associated epilepsy.

A Predictive Scoring Model for Short-Term Local Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

OBJECTIVE: To predict the early identification of recurrence based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients. METHODS: The clinical and MRI data of 215 patients with local recurrent NPC were retrospectively reviewed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to distinguish the independent risk factors for the short-term (less than 24 months) local recurrence of NPC. The predictive score model was based on the regression coefficients of significant independent variables. RESULTS: Residual disease in the nasopharyngeal cavity (NC), masticator space invasion (MSI), skull base bone erosion (SBBE), and MRI-detected cranial nerve invasion (MDCNI) were all significant independent risk factors for the short-term recurrence of NPC (p < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the total score had a maximal AUC (area under the curve) value of 0.897, with a cutoff point of 10.50. The sensitivity and specificity were 79.4% and 80.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Residual lesions in NC, MSI, SBBE, and MDCNI are independent risk factors in predicting the short-term recurrence of NPC. The authors' findings suggest that patients with a score of more than 10.50 points should be hypervigilant regarding the possibility of short-term recurrence.

Cortical Surface Area Rather Than Cortical Thickness Potentially Differentiates Radiation Encephalopathy at Early Stage in Patients With Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Radiation encephalopathy (RE) is one of the most severe complications in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients after radiotherapy (RT). However, the morphological alteration of early RE is insufficiently investigated. We aimed to investigate the cortical thickness and surface area alterations in NPC patients with or without RE in the follow-up. A total of 168 NPC patients each underwent a single scan and analysis at various times either Pre-RT (n = 56) or Post-RT (n = 112). We further divided the Post-RT NPC patients into three groups based on the time of the analysis following RT (Post-RTwithin 6 months and Post-RT7-12 months) or whether RE signs were detected in the analysis (Post-RTRE proved in follow-up). We confined the vertex-wise analyses of the cortical thickness and surface area to the bilateral temporal lobes. Interestingly, we revealed a gradual increase in the cortical surface area of the temporal lobe with increasing time after RT within the Post-RTRE proved in follow-up group, consistent with the between-group findings, which showed a significant increase in cortical surface area in the Post-RTRE proved in follow-up group relative to the Pre-RT group and the Post-RTwithin 6 months group. By contrast, such a trend was not observed in the cortical thickness findings. We concluded that the cortical surface area, rather than cortical thickness, may serve as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of RE.