Anniversaries and Special Events ; Genomics ; Humans ; Internationality ; Mammography ; utilization ; Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; genetics ; prevention & control

Bezoars ; complications ; Fruit ; adverse effects ; Gallstones ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Humans ; Ileus ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Seeds ; adverse effects ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Humans ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Singapore

[Objective]To evaluate the terminal hair growth of different body positions among in pregnant women ,analyze the contribution of each area to the diagnosis to hirsutism ,to improve the mFG scoring system.[Method]Pregnant women aged 20~41 years,with normal range of total testosterone levels and non-hirsute were recruited at their prenatal care in Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital,Sun Yat-sen University. They were followed up before pregnancy,at the 5th and the 9th week,the 10th and the 14th week, the 15th and the 20th week,the 21th and the 24th week of gestation. Then 72 more cases of pregnant women were recruited and followed up at 15~24th week. At each time of followed up,their total testosterone(TT)levels was examined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(LC/MS-MS)and terminal hair growth were assessed by mFG score. Significant difference procedure least(LSD) analysis of variance was used to compare the levels of testosterone and mFG score in different gestational weeks. Receiver operating characteristics(ROC)analysis and logistics analysis were conducted to evaluate the contributory strength of hair growth in each body position for the diagnosis of hirsutism. The scores in the body area which made a significant contribution to the total were summed up and termed the simplified mFG score(sFG score). Following,the sFG scores were subjected to ROC analysis to determine the thresh-old that would maximize both the sensitivity and specificity of the measure to accurately distinguish hirsute from non-hirsute patients.[Results]Among the forty three pregnant women who were followed-up from before pregnancy to 24th week,the mean±SD for TT was (1.09 ± 0.59)nmol/L before pregnancy,and(1.13 ± 0.40),(1.28 ± 0.38),(1.83 ± 0.63),(1.82 ± 0.52)nmol/L for 5~ 9th,10~14th,15~20th week,and the mFG score was 1.65 ± 0.60,2.30 ± 0.45,3.60 ± 0.68,4.20 ± 0.41 and 4.40 ± 0.77,respectively. The order of the facial and body sites presented with new terminal hair growth was upper abdomen,lower abdomen,lower back,up-per lip,thighs,upper back,chest,upper arm,and chin,in sequence. After analyzing 115 cases(including the 72 cases recruited later),ROC analysis showed that the diagnostic value of different sites for hirsutism(mFG≥5):upper lip>lower back>thighs>lower abdomen>upper arm>upper back>chest/upper abdomen. Four sites among them ,namely upper lip ,lower back ,thighs and lower abdomen had the best diagnostic value,and the AUC for ROC were 0.779,0.728,0.675,and 0.626,respectively. Both ROC and logistic analysis indicated that he most significant body areas in defining hirsutism(defined as an mFG score≥5)were the upper lip, lower back,thighs,and lower abdomen. Using a cut-off value of 3,the combination of the four areas has the best sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing hirsute from non-hirsute women. [Conclusion]The study suggested that the mFG score increased as pregnancy progressed before the 24 weeks of gestation. The subset of upper lip,lower back,thighs and lower abdomen may be a reli-able simplification of mFG system for the evaluation of excess hair growth. The cut-off value was of≥3.

Anniversaries and Special Events ; Global Health ; Humans ; Mortality, Premature ; Neoplasms ; prevention & control

Adult ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; complications ; pathology ; Castleman Disease ; complications ; pathology ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; complications ; pathology ; Male ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

Androgen Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Anilides ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal ; therapeutic use ; Bone Neoplasms ; complications ; secondary ; Goserelin ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nitriles ; therapeutic use ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; complications ; drug therapy ; Purpura, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Tosyl Compounds ; therapeutic use

INTRODUCTIONMost international clinical practice guidelines for prostate cancer (PCa) are driven by data derived in a Western setting. However, tumour biology and clinical disease progression are likely to differ in the Asian population. We compare the performance of the revised American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) prognostic groups with the commonly used D'Amico Risk Classification and conventional predictors for PCa, in a large cohort of Asian patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODSWe retrospectively reviewed data for 404 consecutive Singaporean patients receiving definitive radiotherapy at our centre between December 1996 and October 2006. The primary outcome was biochemical relapse-free survival (BRFS), defined using the Phoenix definition. The secondary outcome was overall survival (OS). Prognostic risk groups were defined using AJCC 7th edition (AJCC7) and 6th edition (AJCC6). Univariate analysis (UVA) and multivariate analysis (MVA) were performed for the following putative risk factors: age, Gleason score, prognostic grouping, tumour classification, radiation delivery technique, radiotherapy dose, hormonal therapy and initial PSA value.

RESULTSFor the cohort, median age was 69 years. Median follow-up was 66.3 months. Five-year BRFS rate was 84.3% with 71 biochemical relapses and 5-year OS rate was 89.1% with 54 deaths. The concordance-indices for BRFS prediction were 0.588, 0.550 and 0.567 for AJCC7, AJCC6 and D'Amico respectively. Initial PSA, T-stage and AJCC7 were prognostic for BRFS on UVA. Comparison of AJCC7 vs. D'Amico showed no statistical additional value of either classification system although D'Amico was superior when compared to AJCC6 in predicting BRFS. T-stage ≥3 and D'Amico were significant prognostic factors for BRFS on MVA.

CONCLUSIONIn our local, predominantly Chinese population, neither AJCC6 nor AJCC7 demonstrated a high predictive accuracy for BRFS although AJCC7 has a slightly better predictive ability than AJCC6.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asia ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Prognosis ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; Radiotherapy ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; United States

Unusual sites of metastases are recognized in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, the prognostic implications of these sites are not well understood. We used the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) risk classification for metastatic RCC to evaluate 912 consecutive patients with RCC managed at the Singapore General Hospital between 1990 and 2009. Among these patients, 301 had metastases either at diagnosis or during the course of illness. Nasal metastases, all arising from clear cell RCC, were identified histologically in 4 patients (1.3% of those with metastasis). All 4 patients were classified as MSKCC poor prognosis by current risk criteria. Nasal metastases were significantly associated with lung and bone metastases. The frequency of nasal metastases in patients with metastatic RCC is about 1%, occurring predominantly in patients with clear cell RCC. Nasal metastases are associated with poor prognosis as estimated by the MSKCC risk classification, with attendant implications for selection of targeted therapy, and are usually associated with multi-organ dissemination, including concurrent lung and bone involvement.
Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Bone Neoplasms ; secondary ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; diagnostic imaging ; secondary ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Indoles ; therapeutic use ; Kidney Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; therapy ; Lung Neoplasms ; secondary ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nephrectomy ; Nose Neoplasms ; pathology ; secondary ; therapy ; Pyrroles ; therapeutic use ; Skull Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; secondary ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUNDSevoflurane and propofol are widely used anesthetics for surgery. Studies on the mechanisms of general anesthesia have focused on changes in protein expression properties and membrane lipid. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate neural function by altering protein expression. We hypothesize that sevoflurane and propofol affect miRNA expression profiles in the brain, expect to understand the mechanism of anesthetic agents.

METHODSRats were randomly assigned to a 2% sevoflurane group, 600 μg·kg - 1·min - 1 propofol group, and a control group without anesthesia (n = 4, respectively). Treatment group was under anesthesia for 6 h, and all rats breathed spontaneously with continuous monitoring of respiration and blood gases. Changes in rat cortex miRNA expression profiles were analyzed by miRNA microarrays and validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Differential expression of miRNA using qRT-PCR among the control, sevoflurane, and propofol groups were compared using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

RESULTSOf 677 preloaded rat miRNAs, the microarray detected the expression of 277 miRNAs in rat cortex (40.9%), of which 9 were regulated by propofol and (or) sevoflurane. Expression levels of three miRNAs (rno-miR-339-3p, rno-miR-448, rno-miR-466b-1FNx01) were significantly increased following sevoflurane and six (rno-miR-339-3p, rno-miR-347, rno-miR-378FNx01, rno-miR-412FNx01, rno-miR-702-3p, and rno-miR-7a-2FNx01) following propofol. Three miRNAs (rno-miR-466b-1FNx01, rno-miR-3584-5p and rno-miR-702-3p) were differentially expressed by the two anesthetic treatment groups.

CONCLUSIONSSevoflurane and propofol anesthesia induced distinct changes in brain miRNA expression patterns, suggesting differential regulation of protein expression. Determining the targets of these differentially expressed miRNAs may help reveal both the common and agent-specific actions of anesthetics on neurological and physiological function.

Anesthesia, General ; Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Methyl Ethers ; pharmacology ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; Propofol ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction