Assessment of Diffuse Thyroid Disease by Strain Ratio in Ultrasound Elastography.

The goal of this study was to explore the value of strain ratio from real-time elastography in the semi-quantitative assessment of diffuse thyroid disease. Fifty-one patients with primary hyperthyroidism, 70 with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 8 with subacute thyroiditis and 43 with normal healthy thyroids were recruited to measure the strain ratio (SR) of thyroid tissue and sternocleidomastoid muscle (on the same side of the thyroid). SR values of all groups were subjected to statistical analysis. The SRs (mean ± standard deviation) of patients with hyperthyroidism, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and subacute thyroiditis were 2.30 ± 1.08, 7.04 ± 7.74 and 24.09 ± 13.56, respectively. The SR of the control group was 1.76 ± 0.54. SR values ranked in ascending order were control group < hyperthyroidism group < Hashimoto's thyroiditis group < subacute thyroiditis group. There were statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences in thyroid hardness between groups with different diffuse thyroid diseases. SR values of the hyperthyroidism and control groups did not statistically differ (p > 0.05). It is feasible to assess diffuse thyroid disease with strain ratios obtained with ultrasound elastography.

MiR-27a modulates radiosensitivity of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells by targeting CDC27.

BACKGROUND: MiR-27a is significantly overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, the exact biological function of MiR-27a in TNBC is not fully understood. In this study, we verified miR-27a expression in TNBC cells and explored how its overexpression modulates radiosensitivity of the cells. MATERIAL/METHODS: qRT-PCR analysis was performed to study miR-27a expression in TNBC lines MDA-MB-435 and MDA-MB-231 and in normal human breast epithelial cell line MCF10A. Dual luciferase assay was performed to verify a putative downstream target of miR-27a, CDC27. CCK-8 assay was used to assess the influence of miR-27a-CDC27 axis on cell proliferation under irradiation (IR) treatment. RESULTS: We confirmed significantly higher miR-27a expression in 2 TNBC cell lines--MDA-MB-435 and MDA-MB-231--than in human breast epithelial cell line MCF10A. miR-27a could modulate proliferation and radiosensitivity of TNBC cells. CDC-27 is a direct target of miR-27a and its downregulation conferred increased radioresistance of the cells. CONCLUSIONS: The miR-27a-CDC27 axis might play an important role in modulating response to radiotherapy in TNBC cells. Testing miR-27a expression might be a useful way to identify a subgroup of patients who will benefit from an IR-based therapeutic approach.