Treatment modality of unknown primary squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) remains controversial.
To evaluate the treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of unknown primary SCCHN.
...Patients with unknown primary SCCHN from April 1995 to March 2013 were recruited retrospectively.
Sixty-nine patients were enrolled. The median time of follow-up was 55.5 months. The 2-year loco-regional control rate of all the patients was 60.4%. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that N3 stage, extracapsular spread, distant metastasis, and treatment modality were significantly associated with neck recurrence. The actuarial 5-year disease-specific survival rates of neck dissection, neck dissection plus adjuvant therapy, radiotherapy alone, and combined therapy were 80.0%, 61.7%, 33.3%, and 68.8%, respectively (p = 0.046). The 5-year disease-specific survival rates of N1/N2a, N2b/N2c, and N3 stage were 83.9%, 64.3%, and 36.7%, respectively (p = 0.013). Univariate regression analysis revealed that neck recurrence, supraclavicular node involvement, distant metastasis, N3 stage, and unhealthy lifestyle habits were correlated with disease-specific mortality, especially the first three parameters. Patient's occupation and comorbidity were not significantly correlated with survival.
Composite therapy is mandatory for advanced unknown primary SCCHN. Supraclavicular node involvement and unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as betel nut chewing, indicate a poor prognosis.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disorder induced by dysfunction of immune suppression sharing similar pathogenesis to autoimmune diseases. To explore the association between ...autoimmune diseases and AD in children, we linked the birth data from National Birth Registry with National Health Insurance Research Database. There were 1,174,941 children obtained from 2006 to 2012 birth cohort. A total of 312,329 children diagnosed with AD before 5 years old were compared to 862,612 children without AD in the control group. Conditional logistic regression was utilized to calculate adjusted odds ratio (OR) and Bonferroni-corrected confidence interval (CI) for overall significance level of 0.05. In 2006–2012 birth cohort, the prevalence rate of AD was 26.6% (95% CI 26.5, 26.7) before 5 years of age. Having parental autoimmune disease (including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren’s syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriasis) was associated with a significant higher risk of children AD development. The other associated factors were maternal obstetric complications (including gestational diabetes mellitus and cervical incompetence), parental systemic diseases (including anemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hyperthyroidism, and obstructive sleep apnea), and parental allergic disease (including asthma and AD). The subgroup analysis showed similar results between children’s sexes. Moreover, maternal autoimmune disease had higher impact on the risk of developing AD in the child compared with paternal autoimmune disease. In conclusion, parental autoimmune diseases were found to be related to their children’s AD before 5 years old.
Homoharringtonine (HHT), an inhibitor of protein synthesis, has been used to treat leukemia. Its therapeutic effects on non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma carrying KRAS mutation and their immune ...system are less understood. The present study examined the therapeutic efficacy and the immune effects of HHT in two murine lung tumor models, xenograft and transgenic, carrying the Kras mutation G12D and G12C respectively. HHT exhibited efficient anticancer activity, significantly suppressing lung tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. The levels of 22 cytokines and chemokines in splenocytes of tumor-bearing mice were examined. Interleukin-12 expression was lower in splenocytes of HHT-treated mice when compared to the controls as demonstrated by a cytokine array and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression levels of CD80, CD86, and CD69 in B220
B cells from splenocytes of HHT-treated mice were higher than that of control mice in two mouse tumor models. Furthermore, antitumor effect of HHT was attenuated with depletion of B cells. Increased numbers of CD80
and CD86
B cells were observed in the mice treated with narciclasine, another translation inhibitor. In conclusion, HHT changed the features of immune cells, and exhibited efficient anti-tumor activity against lung tumor carrying mutant Kras expression.
Background:
The direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents are widely used to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype (GT) 1 infection, while it may cause severe liver damage. The objectives of the study ...were to evaluate the incidence of drug-induced liver injury (DILI), sustained virologic response at post-treatment week 12 (SVR12), and recurrence rates in HCV GT 1 infection.
Methods:
This was a retrospective cohort study that included patients diagnosed with HCV GT 1 infection, who had received intervention and treatment with elbasvir/grazoprevir (EBR/GZR) ± ribavirin (RBV) versus ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir (OBV/PTV/r) + dasabuvir ± RBV (as control group) for 12 or 24 weeks at a regional hospital in southern Taiwan between April 2016 and August 2018. The primary outcome of the study was to compare the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of DILI
via
Poisson regression, and the secondary outcome was to evaluate the effectiveness of two treatment regimens expressed as a percentage.
Results:
The study included 149 patients in the control group and 105 patients in the intervention group of which 99.33 and 98.1% patients, respectively, achieved SVR12. In the control group, one patient experienced relapse, whereas in the intervention group, two patients relapsed. Furthermore, in the control group, a total of nine patients developed DILI as determined during follow-up care. Of these patients, three were 55–84 years old. In the intervention group, six patients developed DILI. The IRR of DILI caused by EBR/GZR treatment was 2.84 times higher than that caused by the OBV/PTV/r treatment regimen.
Conclusion:
There was no significant difference between the studied DAA regimens regarding the incidence of DILI and effectiveness during the treatment. DILI occurrence during therapy did not affect the cure rate of medication. The present study results can provide reference data for drug selection among patients with HCV.
Trial registration:
The study was approved by DMF-CYCH (CYCH IRB No: 2018067).
In this study, new anion exchange membranes (AEM) based on crosslinked polybenzimidazole (m‐PBI) with quaternary ammonium groups, crosslinkable allyl groups, and hydrophobic ethyl groups as side ...chains are synthesized and characterized. The AEMs are crosslinked by thermal thiol‐ene reaction using a dithiol crosslinker. The ion exchange capacity (IEC) values and crosslinking density were controlled by the number of quaternary ammonium groups and allyl groups, respectively. The introduction of ethyl groups improved the solubility of ionic PBIs even at very low IEC values by eliminating the hydrogen bonding interaction of imidazole rings. This method allows ionic PBIs with broad IEC values, from 0.75 to 2.55 mmol/g, to be prepared. The broad IEC values were achieved by independently controlling the numbers of quaternary ammonium groups, allyl groups, and hydrophobic ethyl groups during preparation. The crosslinked ionic PBIs revealed hydroxide conductivity from 16 to 86 mS/cm at 80°C. The wet membranes also showed excellent mechanical strength with tensile strength of 12.2 to 20.1 MPa and Young's Modulus of 0.67 to 1.45 GPa. The hydroxide conductivity of a crosslinked membrane (0.40Q0.60Et1.00Pr, IEC = 0.95 mmol/g) decreased only 7.9% after the membranes was immersed in a 1.0 M sodium hydroxide solution at 80°C for 720 h. A single fuel cell based on this membrane showed a maximum peak power density of 136 mW/cm2 with a current density of 377 mA /cm2 at 60°C.
The microenvironment in tumors is complicated and is constituted by different cell types and stromal proteins. Among the cell types, the abundance of cancer cells, fibroblasts, and immune cells is ...high and these cells work as the "Trinity" in promoting tumorigenesis. Although unidirectional or bidirectional crosstalk between two independent cell types has been well characterized, the multi-directional interplays between cancer cells, fibroblasts, and immune cells in vitro and in vivo are still unclear. We summarize recent studies in addressing the interaction of the "Trinity" members in the tumor microenvironment and propose a functional network for how these members communicate with each other. In addition, we discuss the underlying mechanisms mediating the interplay. Moreover, correlations of the alterations in the distribution and functionality of cancer cells, fibroblasts, and immune cells under different circumstances are reviewed. Finally, we point out the future application of CD8
T cell-oriented therapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are some of the main public health threats to the world. Even though surgery, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy are available for their treatments, these approaches ...provide limited success in reducing mortality, making the identification of additional therapeutic targets mandatory. Chromatin remodeling in cancer has long been studied and related therapeutics are widely used, although less is known about factors with prognostic and therapeutic potential in such areas as gastrointestinal cancers. Through applying systematic bioinformatic analysis, we determined that out of 31 chromatin remodeling factors in six gastrointestinal cancers, only PR/SET domain 1 (PRDM1) showed both expression alteration and prognosis prediction. Analyses on pathways, therapies, and mediators showed that cell cycle, bromodomain inhibitor IBET151, and BET protein BRD4 were, respectively involved in PRDM1-high stomach cancer, while cell line experiments validated that PRDM1 knockdown in human stomach cancer cell line SNU-1 decreased its proliferation, BRD4 expression, and responsiveness to IBET151; accordingly, these results indicate the contribution by PRDM1 in stomach cancer formation and its association with BRD4 modulation as well as BET inhibitor treatment.
Studies on false-positive galactomannan (GM) enzyme immunoassay (EIA) results and treatment for critically ill patients are scarce.
The study aimed to determine the false-positive rate of GM-EIA and ...to probe the risk factors of false positivity among patients in the intensive care units (ICUs).
A case-control approach was conducted to review adult patients who had at least one GM-EIA result and were admitted to the ICU. Those who had no fungal culture were excluded. The clinical characteristics and critical care between patients with false-positive and true-negative GM index (GMI) were compared.
Of 206 patients enrolled and with GM-EIA results, 20 (9.7%) were considered to have false-positive antigenemia, including 9 in bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) and 11 in serum. A total of 148 (71.8%) were true-negatives. After paired grouping of 1:4, factors researched in the previous studies showed no significant difference. However, compared with the true-negatives, patients with positive GM test results but were incompatible with the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis were more prone to the risk of false positivity due to the use of colistin inhalation. It seemed to be the only factor that significantly increased the risk of false positivity after multivariate analysis (adjusted odds ratio, 35.68; 95% CI, 3.77-337.51,
= 0.002).
Colistin inhalation treatment may contribute to false-positive GM-EIA results. The positive GMI among patients receiving colistin nebulization should be interpreted with caution.
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a sustainable technology that can produce electrons using microbes. However, low power density and high cost are the two major issues that hamper the development of MFCs. ...In this study, we demonstrated that renewable coffee waste-derived activated carbons (CWACs) can serve as anode materials in Escherichia coli system-based MFCs. By modifying the CWAC pore size, we achieved a power density of 3927 mW m–2, which was higher than that of commercial activated carbon (975 mW m–2). The enhanced power density of the CWAC was attributed to its high conductivity and suitable pore size distribution, which led to fast electron transfer and bacterial adhesion. Furthermore, the long-term performance of the MFC with the CWAC anode was investigated; it continuously functioned for more than 100 h at a power density of 2000 mW m–2 without any further nutrient resupply. These results indicate that CWAC is a promising anode material for renewable and sustainable energy systems that could significantly reduce the device cost.
A novel core-shell structured multiwall carbon nanotube-graphene oxide nanoribbon (MWCNT@GONR) and a nitrogen-doped MWCNT@GONR (N-MWCNT@GONR) were synthesized through a microwave energy-assisted ...unzipping process and utilized as anodes for
Escherichia coli
-based microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for the first time. To evaluate the electrochemical performance of the MFCs, we measured the electrochemical activity and charge transfer in MFCs with MWCNT, N-MWCNT@GONR, and MWCNT@GONR anodes. Compared to the MFC with the MWCNT anode (970 mW m
−2
), the MFCs with the N-MWCNT@GONR and MWCNT@GONR anodes exhibit higher power densities of up to 3444 and 3291 mW m
−2
, respectively. Both the oxygen and nitrogen functional groups on the MWCNT@GONR and N-MWCNT@GONR contribute to good biocompatibility, which greatly enhances the charge transfer efficiency and biofilm formation on the anode surface. Our results suggest that MWCNT@GONR and N-MWCNT@GONR are outstanding and promising anode materials for MFCs.
The MFCs with N-MWCNT@GONR and MWCNT@GONR anodes exhibits high power densities up to 3444 mW m
−2
and 3291 mW m
−2
.
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