Chronic nonspecific cheilitis associated with tislelizumab treatment in a patient with a history of tongue squamous cell carcinoma: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Chronic nonspecific cheilitis is a complex condition characterized by persistent lip peeling and discomfort. This case report explores the clinical progression of a patient with history of tongue squamous cell carcinoma and subsequent Tislelizumab treatment, presenting with persistent lip peeling. CASE PRESENTATION: A patient with a history of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (T2N0M0), treated with chemotherapy, surgery, and Tislelizumab, presented with six months of persistent lip peeling. Clinical examination revealed distinct features of chronic nonspecific cheilitis with infectious angular cheilitis (Oral Candidiasis). A tailored treatment plan, emphasizing oral hygiene practices and local treatments with Sodium Bicarbonate, Tacrolimus ointment, and Chlortetracycline ointment. Follow-up visits demonstrated sustained improvement, highlighting the significance of individualized approaches. CONCLUSIONS: This case underscores the importance of recognizing and managing oral manifestations in patients with a history of cancer and immunotherapy. The patient's response to treatment suggests that a multifaceted approach, combining local therapy with lifestyle modifications, can be effective in managing chronic nonspecific cheilitis associated with immunotherapy. Routine follow-up appointments, guided by personalized medicine principles, contribute to sustained patient well-being.

Prevascularization techniques for dental pulp regeneration: potential cell sources, intercellular communication and construction strategies.

One of the difficulties of pulp regeneration is the rapid vascularization of transplanted engineered tissue, which is crucial for the initial survival of the graft and subsequent pulp regeneration. At present, prevascularization techniques, as emerging techniques in the field of pulp regeneration, has been proposed to solve this challenge and have broad application prospects. In these techniques, endothelial cells and pericytes are cocultured to induce intercellular communication, and the cell coculture is then introduced into the customized artificial vascular bed or induced to self-assembly to simulate the interaction between cells and extracellular matrix, which would result in construction of a prevascularization system, preformation of a functional capillary network, and rapid reconstruction of a sufficient blood supply in engineered tissue after transplantation. However, prevascularization techniques for pulp regeneration remain in their infancy, and there remain unresolved problems regarding cell sources, intercellular communication and the construction of prevascularization systems. This review focuses on the recent advances in the application of prevascularization techniques for pulp regeneration, considers dental stem cells as a potential cell source of endothelial cells and pericytes, discusses strategies for their directional differentiation, sketches the mechanism of intercellular communication and the potential application of communication mediators, and summarizes construction strategies for prevascularized systems. We also provide novel ideas for the extensive application and follow-up development of prevascularization techniques for dental pulp regeneration.

Advances in the Histone Acetylation Modification in the Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the common malignant tumors in the head and neck, characterized by high malignancy, rapid growth and metastasis, high invasive ability, and high mortality. In recent years, surgery combined with chemotherapy or radiotherapy remains the preferred clinical treatment for OSCC, despite considerable advances in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Hence, new targeted therapy is urgently needed. Histone modification affects the function of massive cells through histone acetyltransferase and histone deacetylase. Accompanied by the progress of some diseases, especially tumors, these proteins often show abnormal functions, and by reversing these abnormalities with drugs or gene therapy, the cancer phenotype can even be restored to normal. As a result, they are potential drug targets. This article reviewed the role of the histone dynamic process of acetylation modifications and their associated active modifying enzymes in the pathogenesis and progress of OSCC. Moreover, we explored the value of histone acetylation modification as a potential therapeutic target and the new progress of related drugs in clinical treatment.

Perioperative and Long-Term Outcomes of Robot-Assisted Partial Nephrectomy: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Adoption of the robotic surgical platform for small renal cancers has rapidly expanded, but its utility compared to other approaches has not been established. The objective of this review is to assess perioperative and long-term oncologic and functional outcomes of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) compared to laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) and open partial nephrectomy (OPN). METHODS: A search in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane (2010-2019) was conducted. Of 3877 articles screened, 7 observational studies were included. RESULTS: RAPN was associated with 24-50 mL less intraoperative blood loss compared to LPN and 39-84 mL less than OPN. RAPN also demonstrated trends of other postoperative benefits, such as shorter length of stay and fewer major complications. Several studies reported better long-term functional kidney outcomes, but these findings were inconsistent. Recurrence and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were similar across groups. While RAPN had a 5-year CSS of 90.1%-97.9%, LPN and OPN had survival rates of 85.9%-86.9% and 88.5-96.3% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: RAPN may be associated with a lower estimated blood loss and comparable long-term outcomes when compared to other surgical approaches. However, additional randomized or propensity matched studies are warranted to fully assess long-term functional kidney and oncologic outcomes.

Updates on the risk factors for latent tuberculosis reactivation and their managements.

The preventive treatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is of great importance for the elimination and control of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, but existing screening methods for LTBI are still limited in predicting the onset of TB. Previous studies have found that some high-risk factors (including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), organ transplantation, silicosis, tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockers, close contacts and kidney dialysis) contribute to a significantly increased TB reactivation rate. This article reviews each risk factor's association with TB and approaches to address those factors. Five regimens are currently recommended by the World Health Organization, and no regimen has shown superiority over others. In recent years, studies have gradually narrowed down to the preventive treatment of LTBI for high-risk target groups, such as silicosis patients, organ-transplantation recipients and HIV-infected patients. This review discusses regimens for each target group and compares the efficacy of different regimens. For HIV patients and transplant recipients, isoniazid monotherapy is effective in treating LTBI, but for others, little evidence is available at present.

The Risk of Tuberculosis in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Antagonist: A Metaanalysis of Both Randomized Controlled Trials and Registry/Cohort Studies.

OBJECTIVE: Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) antagonists have significantly improved treatment results in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but have also increased the risk of tuberculosis (TB). Etanercept (ETN), adalimumab (ADA), infliximab (IFX), golimumab, and certolizumab pegol are the 5 drugs currently available on the market. This article aimed to evaluate the risk of TB infection from these 5 drugs for patients with RA. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, COCHRANE library, OVID, and EBSCO for randomized controlled trials (RCT) of TNF-α antagonist versus control and registry/longitudinal cohort studies of 1 TNF-α antagonist versus another. The Mantel-Haenszel test was adopted to analyze risk ratio (RR) in this metaanalysis. RESULTS: Fifty RCT and 13 non-RCT were included in this study. No significant difference in TB risk was found in the RCT because of the short observational periods. In the non-RCT, TNF-α antagonist was associated with a higher TB risk in patients with RA (RR 4.03, 95% CI 2.36-6.88), and the TB incidence rates of IFX and ADA were 2.78 and 3.88 times, respectively, higher than that of ETN. Further, preventive treatment for latent TB infection (LTBI) was shown to reduce the TB risk by 65% (RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.15-0.82). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a significant increase in TB risk in patients with RA treated with TNF-α antagonists; among them, ETN is least likely to cause active TB. The study also proposes the necessity of LTBI prophylaxis in patients with RA.