Comparable long-term survival outcomes after endoscopic and gastrectomy treatment of pT1acN0M0 gastric adenocarcinoma in patients who met the expanded criteria.

BACKGROUND: Whether the Western pT1acN0M0 gastric cancer (GC) patients who met the Japanese expanded criteria could be the candidates for endoscopic treatment (ET) remains unclear because of unknown long-term survival outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program was performed. The survival differences between pT1acN0M0 gastric adenocarcinoma patients who received ET or gastrectomy treatment (GT) were evaluated using multivariate survival analysis. RESULTS: A total of 314 pT1acN0M0 gastric adenocarcinoma patients who met the expanded criteria were included, 46 patients received ET and 268 patients received GT. pT1acN0M0 gastric adenocarcinoma patients met the expanded criteria underwent ET experienced a similar hazard of cancer-specific death compared with those underwent GT both in the multivariate Cox survival analysis (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]; 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40-3.49; P = 0.766) and the multivariate competing risk model (subdistribution HR [SHR], 1.12, 95% CI 0.38-3.29; P = 0.845). The result that pT1acN0M0 gastric adenocarcinoma patients met the expanded criteria underwent ET experienced comparable survival outcomes to those who underwent GT did not change even compared with those who underwent GT with > 15 lymph nodes examined (adjusted HR, 1.55, 95% CI 0.44-5.49; P = 0.499; SHR, 1.47, 95% CI 0.44-4.88; P = 0.532). CONCLUSIONS: The ET can be considered in Western pT1acN0M0 gastric adenocarcinoma patients who met the Japanese expanded criteria. However, a prospective study should be warranted.

Feasibility Study of Computed Tomographic Radiomics Model for the Prediction of Early and Intermediate Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using BCLC Staging.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a serious health concern because of its high morbidity and mortality. The prognosis of HCC largely depends on the disease stage at diagnosis. Computed tomography (CT) image textural analysis is an image analysis technique that has emerged in recent years. OBJECTIVE: To probe the feasibility of a CT radiomic model for predicting early (stages 0, A) and intermediate (stage B) HCC using Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging. METHODS: A total of 190 patients with stages 0, A, or B HCC according to CT-enhanced arterial and portal vein phase images were retrospectively assessed. The lesions were delineated manually to construct a region of interest (ROI) consisting of the entire tumor mass. Consequently, the textural profiles of the ROIs were extracted by specific software. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator dimensionality reduction was used to screen the textural profiles and obtain the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values. RESULTS: Within the test cohort, the area under the curve (AUC) values associated with arterial-phase images and BCLC stages 0, A, and B disease were 0.99, 0.98, and 0.99, respectively. The overall accuracy rate was 92.7%. The AUC values associated with portal vein phase images and BCLC stages 0, A, and B disease were 0.98, 0.95, and 0.99, respectively, with an overall accuracy of 90.9%. CONCLUSION: The CT radiomic model can be used to predict the BCLC stage of early-stage and intermediate-stage HCC.

The soldiers needed to be awakened: Tumor-infiltrating immune cells.

In the tumor microenvironment, tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) are a key component. Different types of TIICs play distinct roles. CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells could secrete soluble factors to hinder tumor cell growth, whereas regulatory T cells (Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) release inhibitory factors to promote tumor growth and progression. In the meantime, a growing body of evidence illustrates that the balance between pro- and anti-tumor responses of TIICs is associated with the prognosis in the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, in order to boost anti-tumor response and improve the clinical outcome of tumor patients, a variety of anti-tumor strategies for targeting TIICs based on their respective functions have been developed and obtained good treatment benefits, including mainly immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), adoptive cell therapies (ACT), chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, and various monoclonal antibodies. In recent years, the tumor-specific features of immune cells are further investigated by various methods, such as using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and the results indicate that these cells have diverse phenotypes in different types of tumors and emerge inconsistent therapeutic responses. Hence, we concluded the recent advances in tumor-infiltrating immune cells, including functions, prognostic values, and various immunotherapy strategies for each immune cell in different tumors.

Comparative Study of Anthropometric Nasal Anslysis Based on Han Nationality Young Female Adults in Central China.

BACKGROUND: The data of nasal anthropometric measurements could help surgeons perform preoperative or postoperative assessments and decide surgical strategies of the nose plastic surgery and related cosmetic rhinoplasty. The aim of the study was to describe the average values of the nasal anthropometric measurements in Han Nationality young female population in Central China. METHODS: All 430 Han Chinese young females were obtained for this study, and their anthropometric features were measured including weight, height, 11 items of linear distance and 4 angles. Seven proportion indices of the soft tissue of the external nose were determined. Related results were compared with the result of other available literature about nasal anthropometry in Han Nationality young females from different regions of China and the other racial/ethnic nasal anthropometry in the world populations. RESULTS: The means of the linear measurements of the external nose in this study were as follows: nasal height (48.9 mm), nasal bridge length (43.3 mm), morphological facial height (110.4 mm), facial width (125.1 mm), intercanthal width (35.9 mm), nasal tip protrusion (21.1 mm), nasal width (35.5 mm), nasal ala length (27.9 mm), nasal ala thickness (4.1 mm), columella height (8.9 mm), columella width (6.0 mm). The means of the angular measurements of the nose were as follows: nasofrontal angle (143.3 degree), nasofacial angle (34.1 degree), nasal tip angle (80.4 degree), nasolabial angle (97.3 degree). CONCLUSIONS: There were regional differences of the external nasal anthropometric of the Han Nationality young female adults in China and the racial/ethnic differences of that compared with the some races/ethnic around the world. This study could provide credible and objective reference material for plastic and maxillofacial surgeons for the external nasal soft tissue evaluation and planning of the cosmetic nasal surgery in the Han Nationality young female adults in Central China.