Risk factors predict microscopic extranodal tumor deposits in advanced stage III colon cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is a frequent cause of cancer-related mortality in patients with lymph node or distant metastases. Pericolonic tumor deposits (TDs) are considered prognostically distinct from lymph node metastases. AIM: To investigate risk factors for extranodal TDs in stage III colon cancer. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study. We selected 155 individuals diagnosed with stage III colon cancer from the database of the Cancer Registry of the Tri-Service General Hospital. The patients were allocated into the groups with/without N1c. Multivariate Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier method were done. The primary outcomes investigate the association between the covariates and extranodal TDs, and prognostic significance of the covariates regarding the survival. RESULTS: There were 136 individuals in the non-N1c group and 19 individuals in the N1c group. Patients with lymphovascular invasion (LVI) had a higher risk of TDs. Overall survival rates of patients with and without LVI were 6.64 years and 8.61 years, respectively (P = 0.027). The N1c patients without LVI had higher overall survival than those who with LVI (7.73 years vs 4.42 years, P = 0.010). CONCLUSION: Patients having stage III colon cancer with LVI have a higher probability of having TDs than those with stage III colon cancer without LVI. Stage III colon cancer patients with TDs and LVI could have poor prognosis and outcome.

Rare Huge Tubular Papillary Adenoma on the Buttock Demonstrated by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

BACKGROUND Tubular papillary adenoma is a rare eccrine-derivate dermal adnexal tumor, located in the scalp mostly. Earlier, the sebaceous cyst size was larger than 5 cm in diameter and may be confused with subcutaneous tumor. Cases of the tumor on the buttock with rapid growth are rare, therefore magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be helpful to determine their precise size, nature, and invasion of nearby organs for further confirmation. CASE REPORT We report on a case of a 35-year-old male with a rapid-growth tumor on the buttock. Initially, he had received drainage by syringe and the amount of drainage was 50 mL. MRI favored diagnosis of sebaceous cyst. As for recurrent tumor, the pathology revealed tubular papillary adenoma. CONCLUSIONS MRI might play an important role on imaging of soft tissue to exclude some uncertain malignant tumors. This case report indicated a rare case of a large rapid-growing tubular papillary adenoma on the buttock that required further management.

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio as predictor for incident hypertension: a 9-year cohort study in Taiwan.

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has received much attention in recent decades and has been a novel inflammatory marker. NLR has been applied in predicting the prognosis of malignancies, mortality, and chronic diseases. Additionally, hypertension, defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mm Hg, a previous diagnosis of hypertension, and taking any antihypertensive drug, has been one of the most common chronic diseases in Asia and is currently the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases worldwide. Thus, we aimed to investigate the correlation between NLR and prevalent hypertension in the Taiwanese population. From the data of routine health checkups at the General Health Promotion Center in the Tri-Service General Hospital (TSGH), a total of 6278 participants were included. The NLR value was divided into tertiles. The Cox regression model revealed that the highest NLR group tended to be hypertensive (HR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.03-1.59) after adjustment. Individuals were also divided into age-specific, BMI-specific, or sex-specific groups; compared with the lowest NLR group, elderly individuals in the highest tertile of NLR were relatively likely to be hypertensive after covariate adjustment (HR = 1.88, 95% CI 1.19-2.96). Furthermore, a male group aged more than 60 years was reported to have a significant association with hypertension (HR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.06-3.18). However, there was no significant difference in the BMI-based stratified groups, even after adjustment. Our research revealed a significant association between the NLR and incident hypertension, especially in elderly or male Taiwanese individuals.