Hot food and beverage consumption and the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A case-control study in a northwest area in China.

BACKGROUND: This study was trying to investigate the association of hot food and beverage consumption and the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Hotan, a northwest area of China with high risk of esophageal squmous cell carcinoma. METHODS: A population-based case-control study was designed. For the study, 167 patients diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were selected from Hotan during 2014 to 2015, and 167 community-based controls were selected from the same area, matched with age and sex. Information involved of temperature of food and beverage intake was obtained by face-to-face interview. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the association between temperature of food and beverage intake and the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. RESULTS: The temperature of the food and beverage consumed by the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients was significantly higher than the controls. High temperature of tea, water, and food intake significantly increased the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by more than 2-fold, with adjusted odds ratio 2.23 (1.45-2.90), 2.13 (1.53-2.66), and 2.98 (1.89-4.12). CONCLUSIONS: Intake of food and beverage with high temperature was positively associated with the incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Northwestern China.

18F-FDG PET/CT makes a significant contribution to diagnosis of malignancy in patients with cervical lymphadenopathy: a study using optimal scale regression tests.

BACKGROUND: The specificity and precision of lymphadenopathy assessment using US, CT and MRI are generally unsatisfactory, while fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) can support this process by providing additional information about the lymph node features. However, which image features of (18)F-FDG PET/CT play the key role in the diagnosis and cutoffs of malignant cervical lymphadenopathy still needs to be determined by further studies. Our study aimed to identify (18)F-FDG PET/CT abnormalities that would assist in making a reliable diagnosis of malignant cervical lymphadenopathy in enlarged cervical lymph nodes of patients with unknown primary diseases. METHODS: One hundred and ninety-one consecutive patients of cervical lymphadenopathy with unknown primary causes were examined by (18)F-FDG PET/CT from May 2007 to October 2011 and a definite diagnosis was established by pathologic biopsy. (18)F-FDG PET/CT images were evaluated to identify the relevant abnormalities. All image features were analyzed by optimal scale regression tests to determine the important factors that were predictive for the diagnosis of malignant cervical lymphadenopathy and the cutoffs. RESULTS: The factors studied in (18)F-FDG PET/CT images for predicting malignant cervical lymphadenopathy were sex, age, node location, size, shape, margins, maximum standard uptake value (SUV), mean SUV, FDG uptake pattern and number of nodes. It was found that mean SUV, maximum SUV, FDG uptake pattern, location, size and margins were the important risk factors of cervical lymph nodes that could predict malignant cervical lymphadenopathy. Signs of mean SUV ≥ 2.5 (or maximum SUV ≥ 3.5), nodular FDG uptake pattern, location of IIA, III, IV, VB, VI and VII regions, size ≥ 1.5 cm and vague margins had their optimal diagnostic accuracy (Ac) and Youden index (YI), further, combination of any three factors of these six important risk factors would led to the best diagnostic Ac of 96% and YI of 0.93. CONCLUSIONS: Signs of mean SUV, maximum SUV, FDG uptake pattern, location, size and margins of node in (18)F-FDG PET/CT imaging are important predictive factors of malignant cervical lymphadenopathy. A combination of multiple factors may yield a higher diagnostic efficacy.