A study evaluating liquid-based endometrial cytology test and transvaginal ultrasonography as a screening tool for endometrial cancer in 570 postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the combination of transvaginal ultrasonography (TVS) and endometrial cytology test (ECT) as a potential diagnostic strategy for endometrial cancer and endometrial precancerous lesions in postmenopausal patients. METHODS: 570 postmenopausal patients admitted in our hospital due to abnormal bleeding or other symptoms and/or with endometrium thickness over 5 mm on ultrasound. The endometrial thickness was evaluated by TVS. Following obtainment with written consent, all patients underwent ECT, hysteroscopy and then dilatation and curettage (D&C). Cytological sampling was conducted by scratching the uterus cavity using SAP-1 and the samples were prepared as liquid-based smear using SurePath technology. The samples were stained using Papanicolaou method. The correlation between cytological diagnosis and TVS results with the D&C histological diagnosis was analyzed. The WHO classification was used for diagnosis. RESULTS: Sensitivity of ECT, TVS, ECT or TVS positive, ECT and TVS positive to diagnose atypical hyperplasia or worse were estimated at 80.7%, 86.8%, 97.4%, 70.2%, specificity at 94.7%, 20.4%, 17.5%, 88.4%, positive predictive value at 58.2%, 21.1%, 22.8%, 60.2%, negative predictive value at 94.4%, 86.1%, 96.4%, 92.2%, and accuracy at 84.6%, 33.7%, 33.5%, 84.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Transvaginal ultrasonography and Endometrial cytology test may be regarded as a effective first-line method in endometrial pathology detection in postmenopausal women.

[Effect of Recombinant Human Thrombopoietin (rhTPO) on Long-term Hematopoietic Recovery in Mice with Acute Radiation Sickness and Relative Mechanism].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect and relative mechanism of Recombinant Human Thrombopoietin (rhTPO) on long-term hematopoietic recovery in mice with acute radiation sickness. METHODS: Mice were intramuscularly injected with rhTPO (100 µg/kg) 2 hours after total body irradiation with 60Co γ-rays (6.5 Gy). Moreover, six months after irradiation, peripheral blood, hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) ratio, competitive transplantation survival rate and chimerization rate, senescence rate of c-kit+ HSC, and p16 and p38 mRNA expression of c-kit+ HSC were detected. RESULTS: Six months after 6.5 Gy γ-ray irradiation, there were no differences in peripheral blood white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, neutrophils and bone marrow nucleated cells in normal group, irradiated group and rhTPO group (P>0.05). The proportion of hematopoietic stem cells and multipotent progenitor cells in mice of irradiated group was significantly decreased after irradiation (P<0.05), but there was no significant changes in rhTPO group (P>0.05). The counts of CFU-MK and BFU-E in irradiated group were significantly lower than that in normal group, and rhTPO group was higher than that of the irradiated group(P<0.05). The 70 day survival rate of recipient mice in normal group and rhTPO group was 100%, and all mice died in irradiation group. The senescence positive rates of c-kit+ HSC in normal group, irradiation group and rhTPO group were 6.11%, 9.54% and 6.01%, respectively (P<0.01). Compared with the normal group, the p16 and p38 mRNA expression of c-kit+ HSC in the irradiated mice were significantly increased (P<0.01), and it was markedly decreased after rhTPO administration (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The hematopoietic function of mice is still decreased 6 months after 6.5 Gy γ-ray irradiation, suggesting that there may be long-term damage. High-dose administration of rhTPO in the treatment of acute radiation sickness can reduce the senescence of HSC through p38-p16 pathway and improve the long-term damage of hematopoietic function in mice with acute radiation sickness.