Five-year follow-up results of thermal ablation for low-risk papillary thyroid microcarcinomas: systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Confidence in long-term treatment results of thermal ablation for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) is required in comparison with active surveillance. The objective of this meta-analysis is to report 5-year follow-up results of thermal ablation for PTMC. METHODS: Ovid MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched through May 30, 2020, for studies reporting outcomes in patients with PTMC treated with thermal ablation and followed up for at least 5 years. Data were extracted and methodological quality was assessed independently by two radiologists according to the PRISMA guidelines. RESULTS: Three studies, involving 207 patients with 219 PTMCs, met the inclusion criteria through database searches. None of these patients experienced local tumor recurrence, lymph node metastasis, or distant metastasis or underwent delayed surgery during a mean pooled 67.8-month follow-up. Five new tumors appeared in the remaining thyroid gland of four patients, with four of these tumors successfully treated by repeat thermal ablation. The pooled mean major complication rate was 1.2%, with no patient experiencing life-threatening or delayed complications. CONCLUSIONS: Thermal ablation is an excellent local tumor control method in patients with low-risk PTMC, with low major complication rates at 5 years. KEY POINTS: • No local tumor recurrence, lymph node metastasis, or distant metastasis was noted by thermal ablation during follow-up of 5 years and none underwent delayed surgery. • The pooled mean major complication rate was 1.2%.

Comparison of the Bactec Fx Plus, Mycosis IC/F, Mycosis/F Lytic blood culture media and the BacT/Alert 3D FA media for detection of Candida species in seeded blood culture specimens containing therapeutic peak levels of fluconazole.

BACKGROUND: The performance of Bactec Fx Plus Aerobic/F (PA), Mycosis IC/F (MF), Myco/F Lytic (ML) media and BacT/Alert 3D FA (FA) media in detecting 15 Candida isolates in blood cultures to which fluconazole had been added was investigated. METHODS: PA with resin, MF, ML media (n = 360), and FAmedia (n = 120) were tested against Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, and C. krusei. As the peak plasma concentration after single oral doses of fluconazole 100, 200, and 400 mg was equivalent to peak level of 1.9, 4.7, and 6.7 mg/l, respectively, corresponding fluconazole was added. Time to detection (TTD) was measured. RESULTS: Overall TTD (mean hour ± standard deviation) for PA, FA, MF, and ML was as follows: 24.5 ± 7.3, 27.0 ± 7.5, 31.9 ± 21.3, and 37.7 ± 30.1, respectively. TTD of PA was shorter compared to other media. The effect of fluconazole was limited in PA and FA, but MF and ML showed delayed TTD. Larger inoculum size showed shorter TTDin PA and FA. CONCLUSION: TTD of Bactec Fx Plus Aerobic/F was more than 2.5 hr faster among the tested media. As thus system and media are unaffected by added fluconazole, it could be used for the diagnosis of candidemia in the clinical settings including the patients who have been treated empirically with fluconazole at the time when blood cultures were drawn.

2021 Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System and Imaging-Based Management of Thyroid Nodules: Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology Consensus Statement and Recommendations.

Incidental thyroid nodules are commonly detected on ultrasonography (US). This has contributed to the rapidly rising incidence of low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma over the last 20 years. The appropriate diagnosis and management of these patients is based on the risk factors related to the patients as well as the thyroid nodules. The Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology (KSThR) published consensus recommendations for US-based management of thyroid nodules in 2011 and revised them in 2016. These guidelines have been used as the standard guidelines in Korea. However, recent advances in the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules have necessitated the revision of the original recommendations. The task force of the KSThR has revised the Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System and recommendations for US lexicon, biopsy criteria, US criteria of extrathyroidal extension, optimal thyroid computed tomography protocol, and US follow-up of thyroid nodules before and after biopsy. The biopsy criteria were revised to reduce unnecessary biopsies for benign nodules while maintaining an appropriate sensitivity for the detection of malignant tumors in small (1-2 cm) thyroid nodules. The goal of these recommendations is to provide the optimal scientific evidence and expert opinion consensus regarding US-based diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules.

Minimally Invasive Treatment for Benign Parathyroid Lesions: Treatment Efficacy and Safety Based on Nodule Characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ultrasound (US)-guided minimally invasive treatment in patients with parathyroid lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 27 patients who had undergone US-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or ethanol ablation (EA) for parathyroid lesions between January 2010 and 2018. RFA was performed in 19 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT, n = 11) or secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT, n = 8), and EA was performed in eight patients with symptomatic nonfunctioning parathyroid cysts (SNPCs). Nodule size, volume, serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcium levels were recorded before and after treatment. Complications were evaluated during and after treatment. RESULTS: In patients with PHPT, significant reductions in size and volume were noted after RFA at 6- and 12-month follow-up (all, p < 0.05). Seven nodules nearly completely disappeared (residual volume < 0.1 mL); serum PTH and calcium levels were reduced to normal ranges (7/11, 63.6%). Four patients experienced partial reductions of serum PTH and calcium levels (4/11, 36.4%). In patients with SHPT, three experienced therapeutic response of serum PTH (3/8, 37.5%), while five showed persistent hyperparathyroidism (5/8, 62.5%) within 6 months after RFA. In patients with SNPCs, EA resulted in significant reductions in cyst size and volume (all, p < 0.05) at the last follow-up. A total of four complications (two transient hypocalcemia [RFA], one permanent [RFA], and one transient [EA] hoarseness) were observed. CONCLUSION: Minimally invasive treatments, such as RFA and EA, may serve as therapeutic alternatives for patients with PHPT or SNPCs; they may have limited usefulness in patients with SHPT.

Long-Term Follow-Up Results of Ultrasound-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation for Low-Risk Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma: More Than 5-Year Follow-Up for 84 Tumors.

Background: Despite reports describing favorable short-term results for thermal ablation of thyroid cancer, there remains a need to evaluate long-term results because of its indolent characteristics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of ultrasound (US)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for low-risk papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) over a follow-up period of more than five years. Methods: From a cohort of patients under surveillance after US-guided RFA for primary low-risk PTMC, those with a record of follow-up data of more than five years were selected for this study. Before RFA, all patients underwent US and computed tomography to evaluate the PTMC and the presence of neck metastasis. RFA was performed using thyroid-dedicated electrodes. Follow-up US was performed 6 and 12 months after initial RFA, and then every 12 months. The status of ablated tumors was evaluated according to volume reduction, local tumor progression, newly developed cancers, lymph node (LN) or distant metastasis, and delayed surgery during follow-up. Complications during the procedure and follow-up period were evaluated. Results: A total of 84 nodules from 74 patients were included in this study. All patients tolerated RFA, and the mean follow-up duration was 72 months. After RFA, complete disappearance rates of 98.8% and 100% were achieved at 24 and 60-month follow-up, respectively. Additional ablations were performed in 13 of 84 tumors. The mean number of RFA sessions was 1.2. There were four newly developed cancers in three patients, and these were also treated with RFA and completely disappeared. During the follow-up period, there was no local tumor progression, no LN or distant metastasis, and no patients underwent delayed surgery. The major complication rate was 1.4% (1/74), and there was no delayed complication or procedure-related death. Conclusions: RFA is effective for treating low-risk PTMC patients, without occurrence of local tumor progression, LN or distant metastasis, delayed complications, procedure-related death, or delayed surgery over more than five years of follow-up.

Erratum: US-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation for Low-Risk Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma: Efficacy and Safety in a Large Population.

This corrects the article on p. 1653 in vol. 20, PMID: 31854153.

Cur2004-8, a synthetic curcumin derivative, extends lifespan and modulates age-related physiological changes in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Curcumin, a compound found in Indian yellow curry, is known to possess various biological activities, including anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer activities. Cur2004-8 is a synthetic curcumin derivative having symmetrical bis-alkynyl pyridines that shows a strong anti-angiogenic activity. In the present study, we examined the effect of dietary supplementation with Cur2004-8 on response to environmental stresses and aging using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system. Dietary intervention with Cur2004-8 significantly increased resistance of C. elegans to oxidative stress. Its anti-oxidative-stress effect was greater than curcumin. However, response of C. elegans to heat stress or ultraviolet irradiation was not significantly affected by Cur2004-8. Next, we examined the effect of Cur2004-8 on aging. Cur2004-8 significantly extended both mean and maximum lifespan, accompanying a shift in time-course distribution of progeny production. Age-related decline in motility was also delayed by supplementation with Cur2004-8. In addition, Cur2004-8 prevented amyloid-beta-induced toxicity in Alzheimer's disease model animals which required a forkhead box (FOXO) transcription factor DAF-16. Dietary supplementation with Cur2004-8 also reversed the increase of mortality observed in worms treated with high-glucose-diet. These results suggest that Cur2004-8 has higher anti-oxidant and anti-aging activities than curcumin. It can be used for the development of novel anti-aging product.

Predictors of the response to gefitinib in refractory non-small cell lung cancer.

Gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has a response rate of 10% to 20% in refractory non-small cell lung carcinoma. Although female gender, adenocarcinoma, and never having smoked are possible markers of a favorable response, mutations of the EGFR gene have also been reported to be highly significant predictors of response. Seventy patients with relapsed non-small cell lung carcinoma were enrolled in the Expanded Access Program. After the drug became available commercially, 28 more patients were treated with gefitinib. Response evaluations were feasible in 80 patients. Twenty-seven tumor specimens (8 responders and 19 nonresponders) were available for the sequence analysis of the EGFR gene. The response rate was 25% (20/80) and the disease control rate (remission + stable disease) was 47.5% (38/80). The response rate was significantly higher for adenocarcinoma (41.0%) versus non-adenocarcinoma (9.8%, P = 0.001), in those who never smoked (58.8%) versus smokers (15.9%, P < 0.001), and in females (42.1%) versus males (19.7%, P = 0.049). A deletion or mutation of the EGFR gene was found in six of eight responders. Remission was noted in all patients with a mutation, whereas the response rate was 9.5% (2/21) in patients without a mutation (P < 0.001). The predictors of response showed significant correlations with survival and time to progression. In a multivariate logistic analysis, the independent predictors of response were smoking history and adenocarcinoma. Given that 9.5% of smokers and 6.7% of those with non-adenocarcinoma showed a mutation of the EGFR gene, the genetic profile may replace those variables as an independent predictor of a response.