Objective To study falls and its risk factors among elderly patients with diabetes.Methods A case-control study was conducted among 101 diabetic patients aged over 60 years,and 104 elderly people without diabetes were taken as controls.Results Falls in elderly diabetic patients (24.75%) were higher than elderly people without diabetes (13.40%)(P

Objective: To evaluate the potential effect of zinc, copper, and selenium on placental cadmium transport. Methods: Pregnant women were selected from Daye,Hubei Province. Whole blood, cord blood and placenta were collected, and Cd levels were determined by inductively coupled plasma emission mass spectroscopy. Zn, Cu, and Se levels in whole blood were also determined. The potential association between essential elements and placental Cd transport was evaluated. Results: Whole blood Cd (0.8–25.2?g/L) in 47 pregnant women aged 20 to 34 years was significantly higher than that in cord blood(0.020–1.48?g/L). Placental Cd ranged from 0.082 to 3.97 ?g/g dry weight. Multiple linear regression indicated that lower maternal blood Cu was significantly associated with higher cord blood Cd. Placental Cd in pregnant women with lower maternal Zn was significantly higher than that in those with normal Zn level. Placental Cd in pregnant women with lower maternal Se was significantly lower than that in those with normal Se level. Conclusion: Essential elements, such as Cu, Se, and Zn might affect placental Cd transport.

Objective:Previous studies suggested that the-308G/A allele in the tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) gene promoter (-308G/A) may be a potential risk factor for inflammatory diseases and tumor progression. However, only a few studies have focused on the-308 polymorphism of TNF-αgene with primary lung cancer in Chinese population. This study aims to evaluate the role of TNF-α-308G/A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and the risk of primary lung cancer in Chinese population. Methods:A total of 250 patients and 447 healthy individuals (control group) were involved in this study. Genotyping was performed using TaqMan technology. Results:The frequencies of (GG), (A/G), and (A/G+AA) genotypes of-308G/A SNP in TNF-αgene were 183 (73.2%), 67 (26.8%), and 67 (26.8%) in the patients, and 406 (90.8%), 39 (8.7%), and 41 (9.2%) in the control group, respectively. The distribution of poly-morphism frequencies in the case group and the control group showed a statistically significant difference for the Chinese population (P<0.05). Conclusion:Results indicated that TNF-αgene polymorphism at position-308G/A is associated with susceptibility to lung cancer in Chinese Han population.

BACKGROUNDLung cancer has become the leading cause of the cancer death in China. Population-based lung cancer screening is still in controversy. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of annual chest radiography and sputum cytological screening conducted in high lung cancer risk population who were exposed to work related carcinogens.

METHODSA retrospective analysis was conducted to evaluate the screening results of the lung cancer cases diagnosed from 1992 to 2001 in the miners of Yunnan tin mine.

RESULTSA total of 9317 miners had been screened annually from 1992 to 1999. A total of 46 779 chest radiography and 45 672 sputum cytological examinations had been conducted, and 793 cohort subjects had at least one positive result. The annual positive detection rate ranged from 1214.1/100 000 to 3482.7/100 000. By December 31, 2001, 433 lung cancer cases had been confirmed, 371 cases out of them had cytological/pathological evidence, and 55.0% were squamous cell carcinoma followed by adenocarcinoma and small cell carcinoma. Stage I or II accounted for 24%. 62.1% of the cases had at least one positive screening result, while 165 cases were detected by chest radiography alone, 56 were detected by sputum cytology, and 48 were detected by both screening modalities. 64.2% of X-ray detected cases were squamous/adenous carcinomas and 75.0% of cytological detected cases were squamous carcinoma. 80.8% of early stage cases had at least one previous positive finding from screening.

CONCLUSIONSAnnual lung cancer screening with combination of chest radiography and sputum cytology play some extent role in early detection of lung cancer in high risk population. The results may provide some primary data for lung cancer screening in special population who are at high risk of lung cancer in China.

Objective:To investigate the effects of curcumin on proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis of human thyroid cancer TPC-1 cells.Methods:Logarithmic growth phase TPC-1 cells were treated with 0.0, 7.5, 15.0 and 22.5 μmol/L curcumin for 48 h. Cell proliferation levels were determined using the methylthiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis levels were measured using flow cytometry. Western blot method was used to determine the expression levels of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax).Results:The inhibition rates of cell proliferation in 7.5, 15.0 and 22.5 μmol/L curcumin groups were higher than that of 0.0 μmol/L curcumin group ( P < 0.05); the proportion of G0/G1 phase was higher than that of 0.0 μmol/L curcumin group, but the proportions of G2/M and S phase were lower than those of 0.0 μmol/L curcumin group ( P < 0.05); the cell apoptosis rate was higher than that of 0.0 μmol/L curcumin group [(14.13 ± 0.57)%, (25.27 ± 0.62)%, (36.01 ± 0.84)% vs (8.48 ± 0.43)%, P < 0.05]; the protein expression of Bcl-2 was lower than that of 0.0 μmol/L curcumin group, and protein expression of Bax was higher than that of 0.0 μmol/L curcumin group ( P < 0.05). Conclusion:Curcumin can inhibit the proliferation of TPC-1 cells, block the cell cycle in G0/G1 phase, and promote cell apoptosis by downregulating Bcl-2 expression and upregulating Bax expression.

Background and objective Our previous study found that nicotine could induce lung cancer cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between nicotine-induced EMT and lung cancer invasion and metastasis. Methods Real-time PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression changes of EMT-related markers, E-cadherin and Vimentin, in A549 lung cancer cells treated with nicotine;hTe transposition ofβ-catenin protein expression was determined by immunolfuorescence;Scratch test and Transwell invasion assay were used to detect the effects of nicotine on lung cancer cell migration and invasion. Results Nicotine can signiifcantly down-regulate the expressional level of E-cadherin mRNA and protein of A549 cells in a manner of dose and time-dependent (P<0.01, P<0.01);Nicotine can signiifcantly up-regulate the expressional level of Vimentin mRNA and protein of A549 cells in a manner of dose and time-dependent (P<0.01, P<0.01);Immunolfuorescence results showed thatβ-catenin protein was signiifcantly transfered to nucleus;Scratch test and Transwell assay showed that Nicotine could remarkably increase the migration and invasion poten-tial of lung cancer cells (P<0.01, P<0.01). Conclusion Nicotine can induce cancer cells EMT, and promote the invasion and metastasis ability of lung cancer cells.

Lung cancer has become the leading cause of cancer mortality globally, and 5-year survival rate is very poor. Screening and early detection are vital to improve survival and decrease mortality of lung cancer. In recent 20 years, low-dose spiral CT (LDCT) screening has become a research focus in this area. Randomized controlled trials have conifrmed that LDCT can decrease lung cancer mortality. However, there are still some problems of LDCT. In this paper, we summarized the controversy that whether low-dose helical CT screening can reduce lung cancer mortality or not before its effectiveness was been conifrmed, the results and problems in the randomized controlled trials and gave a prospect of low-dose helical CT screening’s future application.

Background and objective It has been proven that increase of the awareness level of lung cancer preven-tion and control could enhance participation of lung cancer screening of lung cancer high risk group. hTe aim of this study is to investigate the awareness level of lung cancer prevention and control and the effect of individual characteristics on lung cancer awareness, and to provide evidence for comprehensive lung cancer prevention in high risk areas of lung cancer. Methods Staffs of Tianjin Dagang Oil Field who participate low dose CT (LDCT) lung cancer screening by cluster sampling or according to voluntary principle were surveyed, data of lung cancer awareness were collected by questionnaire. Results A total of 1,633 valid questionnaires were collected. hTe average age of respondents was 60.08±6.58. Most participants were males (82.2%) while female only accounted for 17.8%. hTe proportions of awareness about lung cancer in China, risk factors, screening methods and the knowledge of health examination were 64.5%, 77.1%, 43.7%, 49.6%respectively. Result of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that education level, smoking (pack-year), age, prior tuberculosis were the inlfuencing factors of lung cancer awareness with adjusted Ors for education and age level as of 0.567 (95%CI:0.439-0.733) and 1.373 (95%CI:1.084-1.739) respectively. 80.3%of the participants can accept health examination once a year, while the ability to pay the medical expenses was not high. hTe inlfuencing factors of health examination willingness were gender, age, income, the knowledge of lung cancer. Conclusion Education level and smoking affect the awareness of lung cancer prevention and control, health education for lung cancer should be conducted especially in population with low education level. Comprehensive lung cancer control in high risk areas should combined lung cancer screening, tobacco control and health education.

BACKGROUND: The detection of pulmonary nodules is a key step to achieving the early diagnosis and therapy of lung cancer. Deep learning based Artificial intelligence (AI) presents as the state of the art in the area of nodule detection, however, a validation with clinical data is necessary for further application. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of AI in the detection of malignant and non-calcified nodules in chest CT. METHODS: Two hundred chest computed tomography (CT) data were randomly selected from a self-built nodule database from Tianjin Medical University General Hospital. Both the pathology confirmed lung cancers and the nodules in the process of follow-up were included. All CTs were processed by AI and the results were compared with that of radiologists retrieved from the original medical reports. The ground truths were further determined by two experienced radiologists. The size and characteristics of the nodules were evaluated as well. The sensitivity and false positive rate were used to evaluate the effectiveness of AI and radiologists in detecting nodules. The McNemar test was used to determine whether there was a significant difference. RESULTS: A total of 889 non-calcified nodules were determined by experts on chest CT, including 133 lung cancers. Of them, 442 nodules were less than 5 mm. The cancer detection rates of AI and radiologists are 100%. The sensitivity of AI on nodule detection was significantly higher than that of radiologists (99.1% vs 43%, P<0.001). The false-positive rate of AI was 4.9 per CT and decreased to 1.5 when nodules less than 5 mm were excluded. CONCLUSIONS AI achieves the detection of all malignancies and improve the sensitivity of pulmonary nodules detection beyond radiologists, with a low false positive rate after excluding small nodules.
Artificial Intelligence ; Deep Learning ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Multiple Pulmonary Nodules ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed