RESUMO
BACKGROUND: There are few nomograms for the prognosis of Chinese patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). AIM: To construct and validate a nomogram for overall survival (OS) of Chinese TNBC patients after surgery. METHODS: This study used the data of SEER*stat 8.3.5 and selected Chinese patients with TNBC operated on between 2010 and 2015. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were used. The identified variables were integrated to form a predictive nomogram and risk stratification model; it was assessed with C-indexes and calibration curves. RESULTS: The median and maximal OS of the 336 patients was 39 and 83 mo, respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that age (P = 0.043), marital status (P = 0.040), tumor localization (P = 0.030), grade (P = 0.035), T classification (P = 0.012), and N classification (P = 0.002) were independent prognostic factors. The six variables were combined to construct a 1-, 3- and 5-year OS nomogram. The C-indexes of the nomogram to predict OS were 0.766 and compared to the seventh edition staging system, which was higher (0.766 vs 0.707, P < 0.001). In order to categorize patients into different prognostic groups, a risk stratification model was created. There was a significant difference between the Kaplan-Meier curves of the entire cohort and each disease stage according to the nomogram. CONCLUSION: The nomogram provided prognostic superiority over the traditional tumor, node and metastasis system. It could help clinicians make individual OS or risk predictions for Chinese TNBC patients after surgery.
RESUMO
Nowadays, determination of the iron ions with high sensitivity and selectivity with novel methods becomes a matter of urgency for monitoring healthy body and environment. In this paper, for the first time, we present a set of high-performance TiO2 nanotube arrays which are quite sensitive to iron ions. Firstly, the anodic oxidation method was adopted to prepare ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays, followed by functionalized Ag nanoparticle deposition with the enhancement ability in iron ion sensing. Besides, the spectrum of the TiO2 nanotube with/without the Ag nanoparticles was analyzed with an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, which shows that Ag nanoparticles can effectively reduce the recombination rate of electrons and holes, and increase the conductivity and the charge transfer rate of the electrodes. Further, when functionalized Ag nanoparticles on well-ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays were used, iron ion sensing performed with the anodic stripping voltammetry method was investigated to validate the great potential of TiO2 nanotube arrays with a sensitivity of approximately 30 µA/ug/L in becoming Fe3+ sensors. This method creates new possibilities for developing sensors for monitoring of Fe3+ in biological samples without any sample pretreatment procedure.
