OBJECTIVEUsing the health economics methodology to assess the screening program on gastric cancer in Zhuanghe high risk area for gastric cancer, from 2001 to 2003 and to assess the feasibility on cost of the screening program and to provide a basis for the popularization of the two-time gastric cancer screening methodology.

METHODSThree major techniques of medical economics namely cost-effective analysis (CEA), cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and cost-utility analysis (CUA) were used to assess the screening program. The screening program was composed of two steps: (1) epidemiological survey and detection of blood pepsinogen; (2) gastroscopy and biopsy of membrane. 'Number of deaths reduced' was used to evaluate the effect during cost-effective analysis while cost-benefit analysis would include the evaluation on the direct cost and indirect cost, direct benefit and indirect benefit as well as the cost-benefit ratio (CBR). During CUA, a questionnaire of WHOQOL-BREF was used to assess the value of the utility while the number of quality adjusted life year (QALY) saved by the screening program was also computed. The direct cost of per saved QALY was also calculated.

RESULTSDada from CEA showed that: investing every 8448 Yuan on screening program and treatment in Zhuanghe high risk area of gastric cancer, one gastric cancer patient could be avoided. Results from CBA showed that: direct cost was 1,260,000 Yuan while indirect cost was 40 621 Yuan with direct benefit as 101 500 Yuan and indirect benefit as 1 540 979 Yuan. The total cost however, was 1,300,621 Yuan with total benefit as 2,555,979 Yuan and CBR was 1:1.97. Data from CUA showed that: a total number of 331.44 QALY was saved, 11.43 QALY was saved by reducing one death, 3802 Yuan per QALY was saved in high risk area of gastric cancer, through this screening program.

CONCLUSIONThe screening program of gastric cancer appeared to be an economic and society-beneficial measure regarding primary prevention in high risk area of gastric cancer. We also suggested that in the future, evaluations through health economics methodologies on different screening programs be carried out in the same population to solve the problem of comparability.

Adult ; China ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Health ; Humans ; Male ; Quality-Adjusted Life Years ; Risk ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; economics

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is classified in the family of parvovirdae, genus bocavirus. Besides parvovirus B19 and human parvovirus 4 (PARV4), HBoV isone of the parvoviruses currently known to infect and cause illness in human. So far, four different HBoVs (HBoV1-4) have been successively reported. The incidence of HBoVs infection varies widely, the clinical presentations of patients are different, and HBoVs are often co-detected with other pathogens. There are already quite a few report of HBoVs infection, and this article reviews and discusses the biological characters, epidemic characters, pathogenic mechanism, phylogenetic analyses of HBoVs and the epidemiological situation in China.
China ; epidemiology ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; etiology ; Human bocavirus ; classification ; genetics ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Parvoviridae Infections ; epidemiology ; Phylogeny

Liver metastasis is responsible for the majority of death of patients with colorectal cancer. The hepatic resection is curative standard treatment of colorectal liver metastasis. More and more patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer were indicated to be resected because of progress in both surgical technique and systemic therapies. As a result, many surgeons take a more aggressive attitude towards the management of liver metastasis. In addition, multidisciplinary team of colorectal liver metastasis has helped to standardize clinical practice of synchronous and metachronous liver metastases.

BACKGROUNDTamsulosin, an alpha-1 receptor antagonist, has been demonstrated effective in promoting distal ureteral stone passage and in reducing pain associated with stone expulsion. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of tamsulosin in comparison with nifedipine and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) on the expulsion rate of distal ureteral stones at different sizes.

METHODSWe assigned 314 patients to three categories: I, the stone with maximal diameter of 4.0 - 5.9 mm; II, 6.0 - 7.9 mm, and III, 8.0 - 9.9 mm. Patients in each category were randomly subdivided into three treatment subgroups: group A (nifedipine group), group B (tamsulosin group), and group C (ESWL group). Stone-free rate and the dose of analgesics were recorded weekly during the 4-week follow-up period.

RESULTSThree hundred and three patients completed the study. The results showed that nifedipine and tamsulosin treatments promoted a small (4 - 8 mm, categories I and II) stone expulsive rate that was comparable with ESWL treatment. Nonetheless, when the stone diameter was 8.0 - 9.9 mm, ESWL showed a greater stone free rate than nifedipine and tamsulosin treatments; no significant difference existed between the latter two therapies. Although the ESWL treatment group required the least analgesics, tamsulosin treatments required less pain medication than nifedipine (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSTamsulosin treatment is recommended for patients with the stone diameter smaller than 8 mm because of its feasibility, effectiveness and safety. ESWL is more appropriate than tamsulosin therapy for the patients whose stones are larger than 8 mm.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Adult ; Calcium Channel Blockers ; pharmacology ; Female ; Humans ; Lithotripsy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nifedipine ; therapeutic use ; Sulfonamides ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Ureteral Calculi ; drug therapy ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo investigate the amplification of EMS1 gene in the carcinogenesis of oral mucosa.

METHODSA total of 78 subjects, including 30 patients with oral leukoplakia (OLK), 33 with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and 15 healthy controls, were studied. By using microdissection method, we obtained normal mucosa, hyperplastic epithelia, mild-dysplastic epithelia, moderate-dysplastic epithelia, severe-dysplastic epithelia and primary OSCC tissue. Then we analyzed EMS1 amplification by using differential PCR.

RESULTSEMS1 amplification began from moderate-dysplastic epithelia and occurred in 20.0% OLK cases and 57.6% OSCC cases. In the progress of OSCC, no gene amplification was observed in normal tissues, non-dysplastic OLK and mild-dysplastic OLK, while in the cases with metastasis, amplification frequency increased significantly (P = 0.015).

CONCLUSIONSEMS1 amplification parallels with the progress of oral carcinogenesis, indicating their potential roles in oral carcinogenesis.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; pathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cortactin ; genetics ; Gene Amplification ; Humans ; Leukoplakia, Oral ; genetics ; pathology

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Liver ; parasitology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Schistosomiasis japonica ; immunology ; Thiourea ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Sarcoma, Myeloid ; diagnosis ; Vulvar Neoplasms ; diagnosis

This paper presents a computer-aided diagnosis method for prostate cancer detection using Trans-rectal ultrasound(TRUS) images. Firstly, statistical texture analysis is implemented in every ROI in segmented prostate images. From each ROI, grey level difference vector features, edge-frequency features and texture features in frequency domain are constructed. Then, the number of features is reduced using ANOVA statistics to select the optimal feature subset. Finally, SVM is applied to the selected subset for detecting the cancer regions. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can recognize and detect the cancer images effectively so as to supply essential information for a diagnosis.
Algorithms ; Artificial Intelligence ; Humans ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Male ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Ultrasonography

In this paper, we propose that, the need of the costly re-initialization procedure can be completely eliminated by using the variation formulation, thus increasing the speed of computing operations. The edge detecting function in the geodesic active contour model is improved by incorporating a prior knowledge. The accuracy of the segmentation algorithm can be enhanced by using the minimal variance. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can segment the prostate ultrasound images effectively and avoid the problem of contour leakage.
Algorithms ; Humans ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Male ; Pattern Recognition, Automated ; methods ; Prostate ; diagnostic imaging ; Ultrasonography ; instrumentation ; methods

Objective To identify a locus for hereditary symmetrical dyschromatosis(HSD).Methods A genome-wide scan was performed with402microsatellite markers in two large Chinese HSD families to map the chromosome location of the susceptible gene.The LINKAGE software(Version5.10)and CYRILLIC soft-ware(Version2.01)were used for linkage and haplotype analysis.Results A locus was identified at chro-mosome1q11-1q21with a cumulative maximum two-point LOD score of8.85at microsatellite marker D1S2343(?=0.00).Haplotype analysis indicated that the candidate gene was located within11.6cM region between markers D1S2696and D1S2635.This was the first locus identified for HSD.This study provided a map location for isolation of the candidate genes causing HSD.Conclusion Chromosome1q11-1q21contains the candidate gene susceptible for dyschromatosis symmetrica hereditaria.