Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in differentiating tumor deposits (TDs) from metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) in rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 70 patients with rectal cancer, including 168 lesions (70 TDs and 98 MLNs confirmed by histopathology), who underwent pretreatment MRI and subsequent surgery between March 2019 and December 2022. The morphological characteristics of TDs and MLNs, along with quantitative parameters derived from DCE-MRI (K trans , kep, and v e) and DWI (ADCmin, ADCmax, and ADCmean), were analyzed and compared between the two groups.Multivariable binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of significant individual quantitative parameters and combined parameters in distinguishing TDs from MLNs. Results: All morphological features, including size, shape, border, and signal intensity, as well as all DCE-MRI parameters showed significant differences between TDs and MLNs (all P < 0.05). However, ADC values did not demonstrate significant differences (all P > 0.05). Among the single quantitative parameters, v e had the highest diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.772 for distinguishing TDs from MLNs. A multivariable logistic regression model incorporating short axis, border, v e, and ADC mean improved diagnostic performance, achieving an AUC of 0.833 (P = 0.027). Conclusion The combination of morphological features, DCE-MRI parameters, and ADC values can effectively aid in the preoperative differentiation of TDs from MLNs in rectal cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in differentiating tumor deposits (TDs) from metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) in rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 70 patients with rectal cancer, including 168 lesions (70 TDs and 98 MLNs confirmed by histopathology), who underwent pretreatment MRI and subsequent surgery between March 2019 and December 2022. The morphological characteristics of TDs and MLNs, along with quantitative parameters derived from DCE-MRI (K trans , kep, and v e) and DWI (ADCmin, ADCmax, and ADCmean), were analyzed and compared between the two groups.Multivariable binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of significant individual quantitative parameters and combined parameters in distinguishing TDs from MLNs. Results: All morphological features, including size, shape, border, and signal intensity, as well as all DCE-MRI parameters showed significant differences between TDs and MLNs (all P < 0.05). However, ADC values did not demonstrate significant differences (all P > 0.05). Among the single quantitative parameters, v e had the highest diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.772 for distinguishing TDs from MLNs. A multivariable logistic regression model incorporating short axis, border, v e, and ADC mean improved diagnostic performance, achieving an AUC of 0.833 (P = 0.027). Conclusion The combination of morphological features, DCE-MRI parameters, and ADC values can effectively aid in the preoperative differentiation of TDs from MLNs in rectal cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in differentiating tumor deposits (TDs) from metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) in rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 70 patients with rectal cancer, including 168 lesions (70 TDs and 98 MLNs confirmed by histopathology), who underwent pretreatment MRI and subsequent surgery between March 2019 and December 2022. The morphological characteristics of TDs and MLNs, along with quantitative parameters derived from DCE-MRI (K trans , kep, and v e) and DWI (ADCmin, ADCmax, and ADCmean), were analyzed and compared between the two groups.Multivariable binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of significant individual quantitative parameters and combined parameters in distinguishing TDs from MLNs. Results: All morphological features, including size, shape, border, and signal intensity, as well as all DCE-MRI parameters showed significant differences between TDs and MLNs (all P < 0.05). However, ADC values did not demonstrate significant differences (all P > 0.05). Among the single quantitative parameters, v e had the highest diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.772 for distinguishing TDs from MLNs. A multivariable logistic regression model incorporating short axis, border, v e, and ADC mean improved diagnostic performance, achieving an AUC of 0.833 (P = 0.027). Conclusion The combination of morphological features, DCE-MRI parameters, and ADC values can effectively aid in the preoperative differentiation of TDs from MLNs in rectal cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in differentiating tumor deposits (TDs) from metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) in rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 70 patients with rectal cancer, including 168 lesions (70 TDs and 98 MLNs confirmed by histopathology), who underwent pretreatment MRI and subsequent surgery between March 2019 and December 2022. The morphological characteristics of TDs and MLNs, along with quantitative parameters derived from DCE-MRI (K trans , kep, and v e) and DWI (ADCmin, ADCmax, and ADCmean), were analyzed and compared between the two groups.Multivariable binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of significant individual quantitative parameters and combined parameters in distinguishing TDs from MLNs. Results: All morphological features, including size, shape, border, and signal intensity, as well as all DCE-MRI parameters showed significant differences between TDs and MLNs (all P < 0.05). However, ADC values did not demonstrate significant differences (all P > 0.05). Among the single quantitative parameters, v e had the highest diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.772 for distinguishing TDs from MLNs. A multivariable logistic regression model incorporating short axis, border, v e, and ADC mean improved diagnostic performance, achieving an AUC of 0.833 (P = 0.027). Conclusion The combination of morphological features, DCE-MRI parameters, and ADC values can effectively aid in the preoperative differentiation of TDs from MLNs in rectal cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in differentiating tumor deposits (TDs) from metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) in rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 70 patients with rectal cancer, including 168 lesions (70 TDs and 98 MLNs confirmed by histopathology), who underwent pretreatment MRI and subsequent surgery between March 2019 and December 2022. The morphological characteristics of TDs and MLNs, along with quantitative parameters derived from DCE-MRI (K trans , kep, and v e) and DWI (ADCmin, ADCmax, and ADCmean), were analyzed and compared between the two groups.Multivariable binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of significant individual quantitative parameters and combined parameters in distinguishing TDs from MLNs. Results: All morphological features, including size, shape, border, and signal intensity, as well as all DCE-MRI parameters showed significant differences between TDs and MLNs (all P < 0.05). However, ADC values did not demonstrate significant differences (all P > 0.05). Among the single quantitative parameters, v e had the highest diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.772 for distinguishing TDs from MLNs. A multivariable logistic regression model incorporating short axis, border, v e, and ADC mean improved diagnostic performance, achieving an AUC of 0.833 (P = 0.027). Conclusion The combination of morphological features, DCE-MRI parameters, and ADC values can effectively aid in the preoperative differentiation of TDs from MLNs in rectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy and adverse reactions of CAG regimen combined with venetoclax, chidamide, and azacitidine in the treatment of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). METHODS: 15 elderly AML patients aged≥60 years old who were admitted to the Hematology Department of our hospital from May 2022 to October 2023 were treated with the CAG regimen combined with venetoclax, chidamide and azacitidine, and the efficacy, treatment-related adverse events, overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were analyzed. RESULTS: After one course of treatment, 11 out of 15 patients achieved complete response (CR), 3 patients achieved CR with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi), and 1 patient died due to prior infection before efficacy evaluation, and the overall response rate (ORR) was 93.3% (14/15). The median follow-up time was 131 (19-275) days, with median OS and EFS both remaining unreached. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis showed that among the 15 patients, 13 were detected with gene mutations, and there were 7 genes with mutation frequencies of more than 10%, including ASXL1 (4 cases), RUNX1 (4 cases), BCOR (3 cases), DNMT3A (3 cases), STAG2 (2 cases), IDH1/2 (2 cases), and TET (2 cases). Among the 13 patients with detectable mutations, 12 patients achieved composite response (CR+CRi). The average recovery time of white blood cell count was 14.6 days after chemotherapy, and the average recovery time of platelets was 7.7 days after chemotherapy. The main adverse event was myelosuppression, with 10 patients accompanied by infection. Except for 1 patient who died due to septic shock during chemotherapy, no patients experienced serious complications such as heart, liver, or kidney damage during the treatment process. CONCLUSION The CACAG+V regimen, which combines the CAG regimen with venetoclax, chidamide, and azacitidine, can be applied in the treatment of elderly AML patients, demonstrating good safety and induction remission rate.
Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/drug therapy* ; Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic/therapeutic use* ; Sulfonamides/therapeutic use* ; Aminopyridines/therapeutic use* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Azacitidine/therapeutic use* ; Aged ; Benzamides/therapeutic use* ; Male ; Female ; Treatment Outcome ; Middle Aged ; Cytarabine ; Aclarubicin ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor

BACKGROUND: The use of inserted sham acupuncture as a placebo in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is controversial, because it may produce specific effects that cause an underestimation of the effect of acupuncture treatment. OBJECTIVE: This systematic survey investigates the magnitude of insert-specific effects of sham acupuncture and whether they affect the estimation of acupuncture treatment effects. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched to identify acupuncture RCTs from their inception until December 2022. INCLUSION CRITERIA: RCTs that evaluated the effects of acupuncture compared to sham acupuncture and no treatment. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: The total effect measured for an acupuncture treatment group in RCTs were divided into three components, including the natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (controlled for no-treatment group), the placebo effect, and the specific effect of acupuncture. The first two constituted the contextual effect of acupuncture, which is mimicked by a sham acupuncture treatment group. The proportion of acupuncture total effect size was considered to be 1. The proportion of natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (PNE) and proportional contextual effect (PCE) of included RCTs were pooled using meta-analyses with a random-effect model. The proportion of acupuncture placebo effect was the difference between PCE and PNE in RCTs with non-inserted sham acupuncture. The proportion of insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture (PIES) was obtained by subtracting the proportion of acupuncture placebo effect and PNE from PCE in RCTs with inserted sham acupuncture. The impact of PIES on the estimation of acupuncture's treatment effect was evaluated by quantifying the percentage of RCTs that the effect of outcome changed from no statistical difference to statistical difference after removing PIES in the included studies, and the impact of PIES was externally validated in other acupuncture RCTs with an inserted sham acupuncture group that were not used to calculate PIES. RESULTS: This analysis included 32 studies with 5492 patients. The overall PNE was 0.335 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.255-0.415) and the PCE of acupuncture was 0.639 (95% CI, 0.567-0.710) of acupuncture's total effect. The proportional contribution of the placebo effect to acupuncture's total effect was 0.191, and the PIES was 0.189. When we modeled the exclusion of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, the acupuncture treatment effect changed from no difference to a significant difference in 45.45% of the included RCTs, and in 40.91% of the external validated RCTs. CONCLUSION The insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture in RCTs represents 18.90% of acupuncture's total effect and significantly affects the evaluation of the acupuncture treatment effect. More than 40% of RCTs that used inserted sham acupuncture would draw different conclusions if the PIES had been controlled for. Considering the impact of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, caution should be taken when using inserted sham acupuncture placebos in RCTs. Please cite this article as: Luo XC, Liu JL, Yao MH, Chen YM, Fan AY, Liang FR, Zhao JP, Zhao L, Zhou X, Zhong XY, Yang JH, Li B, Zhang Y, Sun X, Li L. Specific effect of inserted sham acupuncture and its impact on the estimation of acupuncture treatment effect in randomized controlled trials: A systematic survey. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):630-640.
Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Placebo Effect ; Placebos ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To explore the efficacy and safety of recombinant human anti-severe acute respiratory syn-drome coronavirus 2(anti-SARS-CoV-2)monoclonal antibody injection(F61 injection)in the treatment of patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)combined with renal damage.Methods Patients with COVID-19 and renal damage who visited the PLA General Hospital from January to February 2023 were selected.Subjects were randomly divided into two groups.Control group was treated with conventional anti-COVID-19 therapy,while trial group was treated with conventional anti-COVID-19 therapy combined with F61 injection.A 15-day follow-up was conducted after drug administration.Clinical symptoms,laboratory tests,electrocardiogram,and chest CT of pa-tients were performed to analyze the efficacy and safety of F61 injection.Results Twelve subjects(7 in trial group and 5 in control group)were included in study.Neither group had any clinical progression or death cases.The ave-rage time for negative conversion of nucleic acid of SARS-CoV-2 in control group and trial group were 3.2 days and 1.57 days(P=0.046),respectively.The scores of COVID-19 related target symptom in the trial group on the 3rd and 5th day after medication were both lower than those of the control group(both P＜0.05).According to the clinical staging and World Health Organization 10-point graded disease progression scale,both groups of subjects improved but didn't show statistical differences(P＞0.05).For safety,trial group didn't present any infusion-re-lated adverse event.Subjects in both groups demonstrated varying degrees of elevated blood glucose,elevated urine glucose,elevated urobilinogen,positive urine casts,and cardiac arrhythmia,but the differences were not statistica-lly significant(all P＞0.05).Conclusion F61 injection has initially demonstrated safety and clinical benefit in trea-ting patients with COVID-19 combined with renal damage.As the domestically produced drug,it has good clinical accessibility and may provide more options for clinical practice.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of Venetoclax combined with CACAG regimen in treatment of patients with refractory/relapse acute myeloid leukemia(R/R AML).Methods:The study was a singlecenter prospective clinical trial.The enrolled patients met the criteria for R/R AML.Treatment included Azacidine(75mg/m2,d1-7),Ara-C(75-100 mg/m2,q12h,d1-5),Aclacinomycin(20 mg d1,d3,d5),Chidamide(30 mg d1,d4),Venetoclax(100 mg d1,200 mg d2,400 mg d3-d14,in combination with Triazole Drug,reduced to 100 mg/d),and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor(300 μg/d until neutrophil recovery).The primary endpoint of observation was overall response rate after 1 course of treatment.Results:A total of 19 patients were enrolled from January 2022 to April 2023.After 1 course of treatmen,the overall response rate was 81.3％(13/16),the CR rate was 68.8％(11/16),and the PR was 12.5％(2/16).Among the 11 patients who got CR/CRi,8 cases achieved CRm(minimal residual disease negative CR)and 3 cases did not.As of March 27,2023,the median follow-up time was 111(19-406)days.The six-month overall survival and progression-free survival rates were both 55.7％,the 1-year overall survival and progression-free survival rates were 46.4％and 47.7％,respectively.In addition,compared with the non-CRm group,CRm patients had a better PFS(377 days vsi11 days,P=0.046).Treatment-related adverse events were mainly 3-4 degrees of bone marrow suppression,complicated by various degrees of infection(n=12),hypokalemia(n=12)and hypocalcemia(n=10)and elevated liver enzymes(n=8),of which 3/4 degrees accounted for 47.4％(9/19).Conclusion:The Venetoclax combined with CACAG regimen is an effective salvage therapy for patients with R/R AML,with high remission rate and safety profile.

Objective:To study the effect of a modified behavioral treatment(MBT)on functional anejaculation and analyze the factors influencing the therapeutic efficacy.Methods:We enrolled in this study 59 men aged 24-45 years visiting the Andrology Clinic of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital from August 2019 to May 2021 and complaining of aejaculation in sexual inter-course but normally ejaculating during masturbation.Thirty-nine of the patients underwent conventional behavioral treatment(the CBT group)and the other 20 received MBT,namely,changing the masturbation method combined with audiovisual stimulation during sexual intercourse(the MBT group).We compared the therapeutic effects between the two groups of patients,and analyzed the correlation of the outcomes of MBT with age,abstinence duration,use of audiovisual stimulation,change of the sexual position,mean bilateral testis volume and sex hormone levels.Results:After treatment,22(37.29％)of the patients achieved successful ejaculation at least once in sexual intercourse,11(55.00％)in the MBT group,and the other 11(28.21)in the CBT group,with a significantly higher effec-tiveness rate in the former than in the latter(P＜0.05).The effectiveness rate was significantly correlated to the method of standing-position masturbation plus sexual intercourse and reduction in the frequency of masturbation among various strategies of behavioral treat-ment(P＜0.05).Conclusion:MBT has a certain effect on functional anejaculation,and targeting the previous events of the patient is the key to the therapeutic efficacy.Further exploration of more effective strategies of behavioral treatment will become the trend of de-velopment in the management of functional anejaculation.