Clinical implications and biological features of a novel postoperative recurrent HCC classification: A multi-centre study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The multiplicity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence patterns is the most important determinant of patients' postsurgical survival. A systematic HCC recurrence classification is needed to help prevent and treat postoperative HCC recurrence in the era of precision medicine. METHODS: A total of 1319 patients with recurrent HCC from four hospitals were enrolled and divided into a development cohort (n = 916), internal validation cohort (n = 225) and external validation cohort (n = 178). A comprehensive study of patients' clinicopathological factors and biological features was conducted. RESULTS: Four subtypes of recurrence were identified, which integrated recurrence features, survival, effects on systemic and liver function and potential therapeutics after recurrence: type I (solitary-intrahepatic oligorecurrence); type II (multi-intrahepatic oligorecurrence); type III (progression recurrence) and type IV (hyper-progression recurrence). Type III~IV recurrence indicated exceptionally poor prognosis. Subsequently, two nomogram models were established for type III~IV recurrence prediction, and both demonstrated excellent predictive performance and applicability of pre and postoperative strategy formulation. Multiple biological analyses revealed that HCC cases with type III~IV recurrence were characterized by enrichment in p53 mutations, CCND1 amplification, high proliferation/metastasis potential, inactive metabolism and immune exhaustion features. Over-expression of high mobility group protein 2 (HMGA2) enhanced the highly malignant behaviour of HCC through multiple molecular pathways, making it a potential prognostic predictor and therapeutic target. CONCLUSIONS: This 'recurrent HCC classification' has important potential value in identifying patients with surgical benefit, predicting postsurgical survival and guiding treatment strategies. Multidimensional biological insights also increased knowledge of factors associated with HCC recurrence.

Prevention and control of infectious diseases among primary schools in Xi’an / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand prevention and control of infectious disease among primary schools in Xi’an. @*Methods@#A total of 93 primary schools were selected through multi-stage stratified sampling method from 14 counties in Xi’an, then these schools are surveyed to meaure the classroom ventilation.@*Results@#About 28.0% (26/93) of these schools met the national standard for health staffs, with 7.4%(4/54) in urban primary schools and 56.4% in rural primary schools (22/39), the difference between urban and rural areas is statistically significant(P<0.01). Urban primary schools were better than rural primary schools in morning inspection, registration and tracking for illness, verification of vaccination certificates, surveillance and reporting of epidemic outbreaks, verification of school recovery(P<0.05). The average per capita area among the 92 primary schools was (1.22±0.34) m2, with (1.08±0.26) m2 in urban primary schools and (1.42±0.33) m2 in rural primary schools, the difference between urban and rural areas was statistically significant (P<0.01). The average per capita ventilation area of 92 primary schools was (0.15±0.07) m2 with (0.13±0.04) m2 in urban primary schools and (0.19±0.08) m2 in rural primary schools, the difference between urban and rural areas was statistically significant (P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#School-based infectious diseases prevention and control needs to be improved in Xi’an, especially in health personnel. Urban schools appear superior in the prevention and control of infectious diseases and sanitary conditions, while rural schools appear superior in student density and classroom ventilation.