We present a case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma complicated with hyperleucocytosis. After ruling our other causes we concluded that the hyperleucocytosis was due to paraneoplastic leukemoid reaction (PLR). The overall survival was 15 months which is rare among patients with PLR
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms

There are many options in the treatment of heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer however none of the therapeutic agents have shown promising improvement of survival with good toxicity profile. Eribulin is a novel nontaxane microtubule dynamics inhibitor. Two recent clinical trial showed that Eribulin improves progression-free and overall survival in this subset of patients. We report our experience with using Eribulin in five patients with metastatic breast cancer either in second or third-line setting, in our centre.

PURPOSE: This descriptive study was done to identify the relationship between health literacy and health status and to provide basic data for developing nursing interventions for Korean-Chinese elders living in Yanbian, China. METHODS: For data collection, intentional sampling of 300 elders was used. The questionnaire was composed of 5 items based on "Ministry of Health, the People's Republic of China (2008)" to measure health literacy, 33 health status items from the "Korean Health Status Measure for Elderly People" developed by Shin (2002), revised for use in China, and 9 general characteristics. Data were analyzed using SPSS Win 13.0 program. RESULTS: Total level of health literacy was relatively high (68.7%). Elders had high scores for taking medicines according to doctor's instruction, but lower ones for full comprehension through communication with doctors. Health status was high for emotional, physical, and social function in that order. There were significant differences between general characteristics and health status for gender, age, marital status, education, family, smoking, and alcohol consumption in that order. Results of multiple regression analysis for factors influencing health status showed that self-report health level was the most influential, followed by health literacy, age, gender. CONCLUSION: Health literacy is the main factor affecting health promotion among minority elders indicating a need to develop health promotion programs for elders who have low health literacy.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; *Attitude to Health ; China ; Demography ; Female ; Health Promotion ; *Health Status ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Minority Groups ; Questionnaires

Oncocytic lipoadenoma is a rare tumor, with only 18 cases having been reported since the first in 1998. We encountered a case of oncocytic lipoadenoma presenting as a slowly growing parotid mass in a 71-year-old man. This tumor is characteristically comprised of a mixture of oncocytes and adipocytes. The present case is one of five reported cases of oncocytic lipoadenoma showing sebaceous differentiation. The results of immunohistochemical study with DOG1 antibody supported the origination of this tumor in the striated duct.
Adipocytes ; Aged ; Humans ; Oxyphil Cells ; Parotid Gland*

INTRODUCTIONIt is challenging for dialysis patients to maintain adherence to their medical regimen, and symptoms of depression are prevalent among them. Limited data is available about adherence and depression among patients receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD). This study aimed to examine the rates of treatment non-adherence and depression in PD patients.

METHODSA total of 20 PD patients (response rate 71.4%; mean age 64.4 ± 11.6 years) were assessed using the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire, Self Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) and Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form. A self-reported adherence (PD exchanges, medication and diet) scale developed for the study was also included. Medical information (e.g. most recent biochemistry results) was obtained from chart review.

RESULTSThe mean self-reported scores indicated an overall high level of adherence, although a significant proportion of patients were non-adherent. Among the latter, 20% of patients were non-adherent to medication and 26% to diet due to forgetfulness, while 15% and 26% of patients admitted to deliberate non-adherence to medication and diet, respectively. Treatment modality, employment, self-care status and self-efficacy were associated with overall adherence. Using a cutoff point of 8 for HAD depression and anxiety subscales, 40% of patients were found to be depressed and 30% had symptoms of anxiety.

CONCLUSIONThis is the first study to document treatment adherence and depression among PD patients in Singapore. Findings of high prevalence of depression and anxiety, and reports of poor adherence warrant development of intervention programmes.

Aged ; Anxiety ; complications ; Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression ; complications ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; complications ; therapy ; Male ; Medical Records ; Middle Aged ; Patient Compliance ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; methods ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression and significance of Clusterin in normal prostate, benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer.

METHODSClusterin expression in samples of 12 normal prostate, 15 BPH, and 56 prostate cancer were studied by immunohistochemical stain.

RESULTSOf 83 cases, 67 are positive or weak positive (81%). The rate of positive or weak positive for normal prostate, BPH and prostate cancer was 17% (2/12), 73% (11/15), and 96% (54/56) respectively. The expression level of Clusterin in prostate cancer was much higher than in normal prostate (t = 8.82, P < 0.01). BPH (t = 7.63, P < 0.01) was related positively with pathological grade (r = 0.649, P < 0.01) and stage (r = 0.609, P < 0.01) of prostate cancer.

CONCLUSIONClusterin may play an important role in the biological characteristics of prostate cancer by the anti-apoptosis pathway.

Apoptosis ; Clusterin ; metabolism ; physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Prostate ; metabolism ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; metabolism ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiopathology

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancers, such as papillary and follicular cancers, have a favorable prognosis. However, poorly differentiated thyroid cancers, such as medullary, squamous and anaplastic advanced thyroid cancers, are very aggressive and insensitive to radioiodine treatment. Thus, novel therapies that attenuate metastasis are urgently needed. We found that both PDGFC and PDGFRA are predominantly expressed in thyroid cancers and that the survival rate is significantly lower in patients with high PDGFRA expression. This finding indicates the important role of PDGF/PDGFR signaling in thyroid cancer development. Next, we established a SW579 squamous thyroid cancer cell line with 95.6% PDGFRA gene insertion and deletions (indels) through CRISPR/Cas9. Protein and invasion analysis showed a dramatic loss in EMT marker expression and metastatic ability. Furthermore, xenograft tumors derived from PDGFRA geneedited SW579 cells exhibited a minor decrease in tumor growth. However, distant lung metastasis was completely abolished upon PDGFRA gene editing, implying that PDGFRA could be an effective target to inhibit distant metastasis in advanced thyroid cancers. To translate this finding to the clinic, we used the most relevant multikinase inhibitor, imatinib, to inhibit PDGFRA signaling. The results showed that imatinib significantly suppressed cell growth, induced cell cycle arrest and cell death in SW579 cells. Our developed noninvasive apoptosis detection sensor (NIADS) indicated that imatinib induced cell apoptosis through caspase-3 activation. In conclusion, we believe that developing a specific and selective targeted therapy for PDGFRA would effectively suppress PDGFRA-mediated cancer aggressiveness in advanced thyroid cancers.

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancers, such as papillary and follicular cancers, have a favorable prognosis. However, poorly differentiated thyroid cancers, such as medullary, squamous and anaplastic advanced thyroid cancers, are very aggressive and insensitive to radioiodine treatment. Thus, novel therapies that attenuate metastasis are urgently needed. We found that both PDGFC and PDGFRA are predominantly expressed in thyroid cancers and that the survival rate is significantly lower in patients with high PDGFRA expression. This finding indicates the important role of PDGF/PDGFR signaling in thyroid cancer development. Next, we established a SW579 squamous thyroid cancer cell line with 95.6% PDGFRA gene insertion and deletions (indels) through CRISPR/Cas9. Protein and invasion analysis showed a dramatic loss in EMT marker expression and metastatic ability. Furthermore, xenograft tumors derived from PDGFRA geneedited SW579 cells exhibited a minor decrease in tumor growth. However, distant lung metastasis was completely abolished upon PDGFRA gene editing, implying that PDGFRA could be an effective target to inhibit distant metastasis in advanced thyroid cancers. To translate this finding to the clinic, we used the most relevant multikinase inhibitor, imatinib, to inhibit PDGFRA signaling. The results showed that imatinib significantly suppressed cell growth, induced cell cycle arrest and cell death in SW579 cells. Our developed noninvasive apoptosis detection sensor (NIADS) indicated that imatinib induced cell apoptosis through caspase-3 activation. In conclusion, we believe that developing a specific and selective targeted therapy for PDGFRA would effectively suppress PDGFRA-mediated cancer aggressiveness in advanced thyroid cancers.

OBJECTIVETo investigate at the DNA level the polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 gene in Han population in Beijing of China.

METHODSThis study was conducted in the Hans in Beijing. A total of 2810 normal and unrelated neonates were analyzed and subjected to HLA-DRB1 low resolution typing, and from among them 217 neonates were randomly selected for DRB1 high resolution typing by polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers technique.

RESULTSFourteen HLA-DRB1 specificity and 39 alleles were found with HLA-DRB1 *09012, *1501, *07011, *08032 as the most common genes. Their gene frequencies and allelic distributions were compared to those observed in other ethnic populations.

CONCLUSIONThe results showed the characteristic of HLA-DRB1 distribution, and provided more comprehensive and accurate gene data that may serve as normal reference values for the population in Beijing, China.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic

Thrombosis of the dural sinus in the fetal period is an extremely rare congenital cerebrovascular condition. The exact etiologies and prognosis of dural sinus thrombosis in the fetal period are still unknown due to the extremely limited clinical information available. Therefore, we present a case of dural sinus thrombosis diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound and fetal magnetic resonance imaging that spontaneously regressed, with a brief review of the relevant literature.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Prognosis ; Sinus Thrombosis, Intracranial ; Thrombosis