Tumor budding is an optimal indictor of occult cervical metastasis in clinical early-stage buccal mucosa squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Buccal mucosa squamous cell carcinoma (BMSCC) is an aggressive disease. This study investigated the clinicopathological significance of tumor budding (TB), depth of invasion (DOI), and mode of invasion (MOI) on occult cervical metastasis (CM) of BMSCC. METHODS: Seventy-one cT1-2N0 BMSCC patients were included in this retrospective study. TB, DOI, MOI, and other clinicopathological features were reviewed. Risk factors for occult CM, locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using logistic regression and Cox's proportional hazard models, respectively. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis with the logistic regression model revealed that MOI, DOI, and TB were significantly associated with occult CM in early-stage BMSCC after adjusting for variates. However, multivariate analysis with the Cox's proportional hazard model found only TB to be a prognostic factor for LRRFS (hazard ratio 15.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.94-116.66; p = 0.01; trend test p = 0.03). No significant association was found between MOI, DOI, or TB and OS. CONCLUSIONS: The optimal predictor of occult CM and prognosis of early-stage BMSCC is TB, which may assist clinicians in identifying patients at high risk of cervical metastasis.

Expression and Significance of Periostin in Tissues and Serum in Oral Leukoplakia and Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the expression changes of periostin (PN or OSF-2) in oral leukoplakia (OLK) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and analyze its significance in the development of OSCC. Study Design: The expression of periostin was detected from tissue specimens and serum obtained from normal mucosa, OLK and OSCC by immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: Periostin was significantly overexpressed in OLK and OSCC, when compared with normal controls (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the overexpression of periostin was positively correlated with TNM stage, depth of invasion, and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The overexpression of periostin may be involved in the carcinogenesis process of OLK, which may be used as a marker for detecting OLK. In addition, periostin serum levels can be used as a potential indicator of invasion and a prognosis target for OSCC.

[Rapid and non-destructive identification of calligraphies by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy].

A rapid and non-destructive method was used to discriminate between calligraphies by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and FT-Raman spectroscopy in this paper. In order to discriminate two real calligraphies of Ouyang Zhong-shi from two counterfeit ones, the authors investigated the inkpad and the rice paper of the calligraphies by means of FT-Raman spectroscopy and tested the inkpad and the ink mark of the calligraphies by means of FTIR spectroscopy. It could be seen that the tiny, delicated varied chemical components of the real and the counterfeit calligraphies lead to different characters in vibration frequencies of IR and Raman functional groups and also the real calligraphies have the perfect reiteration. So the authors can discriminate between the real and the counterfeit calligraphies. It is proved that FTIR and FT-Raman are useful in the non-destructive identification of calligraphies and more precise and quicker than traditional approaches.

Non-destructive and in situ identification of rice paper, seals and pigments by FT-IR and XRD spectroscopy.

This paper studied the chemical characteristics of rice paper, pigments and seals on Chinese calligraphies and traditional Chinese paintings. The techniques used here were Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). FT-IR allows good identification of the substances present in pigments and inkpads and differentiates each era of rice paper. This can be the base of estimating the age of rice paper. Different crystalline phases can be identified by XRD, which is further evidence to separate different kinds of pigments or inkpads. Both of these methods were non-destructive in situ analysis and can be used in the identification in calligraphies and traditional Chinese paintings. These results confirmed that the applied techniques are relatively quicker and more reliable than traditional approaches authenticated by years of experience.