Clinical characteristics and outcome of primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors after comprehensive therapy.

BACKGROUND: Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors (PHNETs), a group of neuroendocrine neoplasms, are extremely rare. There are only few case reports about PHNETs in the literature. The lack of large samples and multicenter research results in poor diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. AIM: To discuss the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment of PHNETs and risk factors related to survival. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data, imaging features, immunohistochemistry data, and treatment efficacy of 40 patients who were pathologically diagnosed with PHNETs and admitted to The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 1, 2014 to November 15, 2019. Finally, survival analysis was performed to identify the risk factors for survival. RESULTS: The main symptoms and signs included intermittent abdominal pain (19 patients, 47.5%) and bloating (8 patients, 20.0%). The positive rates of tested tumor markers were recorded as follows: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) (6 patients, 15.0%), CA72-4 (3 patients, 7.5%), carcinoembryonic antigen (7 patients, 17.5%), and alpha-fetoprotein (6 patients, 15.0%). Immunohistochemical staining results showed positivity for Syn in 38 (97.4%) of 39 patients, for chromogranin A in 17 (65.4%) of 26 patients, for CD56 in 35 (94.6%) of 37 patients, for AE1/AE3 in 28 (87.5%) of 32 patients, and for Ki-67 in all 40 (100.0%) patients. The overall survival rate was significantly related to the tumor grade, AE1/AE3, and Ki-67. No significant correlation was found between other parameters (age, gender, tumor number, tumor size, metastasis, and treatment) and overall survival. CONCLUSION: Higher grade, negative AE1/AE3, and higher Ki-67 are associated with a worse survival rate. Kinds of treatment and other parameters have no significant influence on overall survival.

Synthesis of 4-vinylpyridine-divinylbenzene copolymer adsorbents for microwave-assisted desorption of benzene.

Reports on the development of polymer adsorbents for microwave-assisted desorption of nonpolar volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are rare. In this study, we synthesized macroporous polymeric adsorbents with hydrophilic methyl pyridinium units for microwave-assisted desorption of nonpolar VOCs. The benzene adsorption and desorption properties of the adsorbents were investigated under both dry and humid conditions. Under humid conditions, as the content of the hydrophilic methyl pyridinium units in the adsorbents increased from 0 to 20%, the adsorption capacity of benzene decreased from about 21 to 7 mg/g, while the desorption efficiency of benzene increased significantly from 48 to 87%. The maximum concentration of desorbate also increased significantly as the content of the hydrophilic units was increased under humid conditions. We attributed the enhanced desorption efficiency mainly to more adsorbed moisture, which indirectly allowed heating of the polymer adsorbents to higher temperatures upon irradiation with 600 W microwaves.