Lundingfranks0414
Our functional analysis demonstrated costimulatory molecular genes might associate with immune-related functions and pathways. Statistical differences were not shown between both groups, in the aspect of immune landscape, response to immune therapy, and tumor mutation. Knocking down TNFRSF4 expression significantly reduced the proliferation ability and increased the apoptosis ability. On the basis of the costimulatory molecule expression in HCC, a novel risk model was constructed and had an excellent value to predict prognosis, immune microenvironment, and response to immune therapy. TNFRSF4 was identified as an underlying oncogene in HCC and deserves further exploration.Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is often resulting from trauma, which leads to severe and permanently disability. Schwann cells are critical for facilitating the regeneration process after PNI. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) exosomes have been used as a novel treatment for peripheral nerve injury. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we isolated ADSCs and extracted exosomes, which were verified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), and western blot (WB). Cocultured with Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) and Schwann cells (SCs) to evaluate the effect of exosomes on the growth of DRG axons by immunofluorescence, and the proliferation and migration of SCs by CCK8 and Transwell assays, respectively. Through exosomal miRNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis, the related miRNAs and target gene were predicted and identified by dual luciferase assay. Related miRNAs were overexpressed and inhibited, respectively, to clarify their effects; the downstream pathway through the target gene was determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and WB. Results found that ADSC-exosomes could promote the proliferation and migration of SCs and the growth of DRG axons, respectively. Exosomal miRNA-22-3p from ADSCs directly inhibited the expression of Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog deleted on Chromosome 10 (PTEN), activated phosphorylation of the AKT/mTOR axis, and enhanced SCs proliferation and migration. In conclusion, our findings suggest that ADSC-exosomes could promote SCs function through exosomal miRNA-22-3p, which could be used as a therapeutic target for peripheral nerve injury.
To study whether procalcitonin (PCT) is an important indicator of infection with or without agranulocytosis and to reveal whether PCT can distinguish between infected sites and affect prognosis after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
In the present study, 682 patients with HSCT were enrolled, and their clinical characteristics were noted. Their blood culture and inflammatory and biochemical indicators were studied. The patients were divided into respective groups according to the degree of agranulocytosis, type of bacterial infection, infected sites, and prognosis.
The PCT, CRP, and D-dimer levels were significantly improved in patients with positive blood culture results compared to the case for those with negative blood culture results. The PCT level was the highest in the gram-negative group. The levels of PCT and D-dimer were significantly elevated in patients with infection and agranulocytosis after HSCT compared to those in the nonagranulocytosis cohort. Interestingly, no significant difference in the PCT level was observed among any of the eight foci. Lower PCT levels were associated with higher survival in patients with infection after HSCT.
Among patients that underwent HSCT, PCT levels were significantly elevated in those with infection and agranulocytosis, with the levels being specifically high in the gram-negative group. Moreover, lower PCT levels were associated with higher survival in patients with infection after HSCT.
Among patients that underwent HSCT, PCT levels were significantly elevated in those with infection and agranulocytosis, with the levels being specifically high in the gram-negative group. Moreover, lower PCT levels were associated with higher survival in patients with infection after HSCT.
Serum HBV-RNA levels can predict antiviral response in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients; however, its role in HBV-related ACLF (HBV-ACLF) remains unclear. Here, we determined its implications for HBV-ACLF.
Baseline serum HBV-RNA levels were retrospectively detected in HBV-ACLF and CHB patients. The association of serum HBV-RNA level with clinical outcomes was evaluated by performing multiple logistic regression. A nomogram was developed to formulate an algorithm incorporating serum HBV-RNA for predicting the survival of HBV-ACLF patients. After being discharged from the hospital, the HBV-ACLF patients were followed up for 36 weeks.
In this study, 82 HBV-ACLF patients and 33 CHB patients were included. Serum HBV-RNA levels were significantly higher in CHB patients than in HBV-ACLF patients (4.15 ± 2.63 log10 copies/mL VS 5.37 ± 2.02 log10 copies/mL) (
< 0.05). Among the HBV-ACLF cases, patients with poor outcomes had lower serum HBV-RNA levels, but the difference was not significant. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the serum HBV-RNA inclusive model was 0.745, superior to 0.66 from MELD scores (
< 0.05). During the follow-up for four weeks, the serum HBV-RNA levels, especially in the survival group, were found to be lower than the baseline levels.
Serum HBV-RNA levels were associated with disease severity and might predict the long-term clinical outcome of HBV-ACLF patients.
Serum HBV-RNA levels were associated with disease severity and might predict the long-term clinical outcome of HBV-ACLF patients.Neurovascular bundle (NVB) and internal pudendal artery (IPA) sparing during magnetic resonance-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) for prostate cancer aims for preservation of erectile function. Our present workflow involves daily online contouring and re-planning on a 1.5 T MR-linac, as alternative to conventional (rigid) translation-only corrections of the prostate. We compared planned dose for the NVB and IPA between strategies. Total planned dose was significantly lower with daily online contouring and re-planning for the NVB, but not for the IPA. For the NVB and IPA, the intrapatient difference between highest and lowest fraction dose was significantly smaller for the contouring and re-planning plans.
Prognostic assessment of local therapies for colorectal liver metastases (CLM) is essential for guiding management in radiation oncology. read more Computed tomography (CT) contains liver texture information which may be predictive of metastatic environments. To investigate the feasibility of analyzing CT texture, we sought to build an automated model to predict progression-free survival using CT radiomics and artificial intelligence (AI).
Liver CT scans and outcomes for N=97 CLM patients treated with radiotherapy were retrospectively obtained. A survival model was built by extracting 108 radiomic features from liver and tumor CT volumes for a random survival forest (RSF) to predict local progression. Accuracies were measured by concordance indices (C-index) and integrated Brier scores (IBS) with 4-fold cross-validation. This was repeated with different liver segmentations and radiotherapy clinical variables as inputs to the RSF. Predictive features were identified by perturbation importances.
The AI radiomics model achieved a C-index of 0.68 (CI 0.62-0.74) and IBS below 0.25 and the most predictive radiomic feature was gray tone difference matrix strength (importance 1.90 CI 0.93-2.86) and most predictive treatment feature was maximum dose (importance 3.83, CI 1.05-6.62). The clinical data only model achieved a similar C-index of 0.62 (CI 0.56-0.69), suggesting that predictive signals exist in radiomics and clinical data.
The AI model achieved good prediction accuracy for progression-free survival of CLM, providing support that radiomics or clinical data combined with machine learning may aid prognostic assessment and management.
The AI model achieved good prediction accuracy for progression-free survival of CLM, providing support that radiomics or clinical data combined with machine learning may aid prognostic assessment and management.
Functional imaging has an established role in therapeutic monitoring of cancer treatments. This study evaluated the correlations of tumour permeability parameters derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) and tumour cellularity derived from apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
Twenty NPC patients were examined with DCE-MRI and RESOLVE diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI). Tumour permeability parameters were quantitatively measured with Tofts compartment model. Volume transfer constant (K
), volume of extravascular extracellular space (EES) per unit volume of tissue (V
), and the flux rate constant between EES and plasma (K
) from DCE-MRI scan were measured. The time-intensity curve was plotted from the 60 dynamic phases of DCE-MRI. The initial area under the curve for the first 60s of the contrast agent arrival (iAUC60) was also calculated. They were compared with the ADC value derived from DW-MRI with Pearson correlation analyses.
Among the DCE-MRI permeability parameters, K
had higher linearity in inverse correlation with ADC value (r=-0.69, p=<0.05). K
(r=-0.60, p=<0.05) and iAUC60 (r=-0.64, p=<0.05) also had significant inverse correlations with ADC. V
showed a significant positive correlation with ADC (r=0.63, p=<0.05).
Nasopharyngeal tumour vascular permeability parameters derived from DCE-MRI scan were correlated linearly with tumour cellularity measured by free water diffusability with ADC. The clinical implementations of these linear correlations in the quantitative assessments of therapeutic response for NPC patients may be worth to further explore.
Nasopharyngeal tumour vascular permeability parameters derived from DCE-MRI scan were correlated linearly with tumour cellularity measured by free water diffusability with ADC. The clinical implementations of these linear correlations in the quantitative assessments of therapeutic response for NPC patients may be worth to further explore.
A survey on the patterns of practice of respiratory motion management (MM) was distributed to 111 radiation therapy facilities to inform the development of an end-to-end dosimetry audit including respiratory motion.
The survey (distributed via REDCap) asked facilities to provide information specific to the combinations of MM techniques (breath-hold gating - BHG, internal target volume - ITV, free-breathing gating - FBG, mid-ventilation - MidV, tumour tracking - TT), sites treated (thorax, upper abdomen, lower abdomen), and fractionation regimes (conventional, stereotactic ablative body radiation therapy - SABR) used in their clinic.
The survey was completed by 78% of facilities, with 98% of respondents indicating that they used at least one form of MM. The ITV approach was common to all MM-users, used for thoracic treatments by 89% of respondents, and upper and lower abdominal treatments by 38%. BHG was the next most prevalent (41% of MM users), with applications in upper abdominal and thoracic treatment sites (28% vs 25% respectively), but minimal use in the lower abdomen (9%).