Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use* ; Doxorubicin/therapeutic use* ; Etoposide ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse/pathology* ; Prednisone/therapeutic use* ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Rituximab/therapeutic use* ; Vincristine/therapeutic use*

Objective: To compare and correlate the findings of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging in characterizing parotid gland tumors. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 56 patients with parotid gland tumors evaluated by MR imaging. The true diffusion coefficient (D), pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*), and fraction of perfusion (f) values of IVIM imaging and tumor-to-parotid gland signal intensity ratio (SIR) on ASL imaging were calculated. Spearman rank correlation coefficient, chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis tests with the post-hoc Dunn-Bonferroni method and receiver operating characteristic curve assessments were used for statistical analysis. Results: Malignant parotid gland tumors showed significantly lower D than benign tumors (p = 0.019). Within subgroup analyses, pleomorphic adenomas (PAs) showed significantly higher D than malignant tumors (MTs) and Warthin’s tumors (WTs) (p < 0.001). The D* of WTs was significantly higher than that of PAs (p = 0.031). The f and SIR on ASL imaging of WTs were significantly higher than those of MTs and PAs (p < 0.05). Significantly positive correlation was found between SIR on ASL imaging and f (r = 0.446, p = 0.001). In comparison with f, SIR on ASL imaging showed a higher area under curve (0.853 vs. 0.891) in discriminating MTs from WTs, although the difference was not significant (p = 0.720). Conclusion IVIM and ASL imaging could help differentiate parotid gland tumors. SIR on ASL imaging showed a significantly positive correlation with f. ASL imaging might hold potential to improve the ability to discriminate MTs from WTs.

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is one of the most common malignancies, especially in young people. Combination chemotherapy for ALL typically includes corticosteroids (Kantarjian et al., 2000). Hyperglycemia is a well-recognized complication of corticosteroids, and chemotherapy-induced diabetes (CID) is not uncommon (27.5%-37.0%) during the treatment of ALL (Hsu et al., 2002; Weiser et al., 2004; Alves et al., 2007). Besides the effect of corticosteroids, potential factors triggering hyperglycemia in ALL also include direct infiltration of the pancreas by leukemia cells and β cell dysfunction induced by chemotherapeutic agents such as L-asparagine (Mohn et al., 2004).
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents/adverse effects* ; Diabetes Mellitus/chemically induced* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/mortality* ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To compare various models of diffusion-weighted imaging including monoexponential apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), biexponential (fast diffusion coefficient [Df], slow diffusion coefficient [Ds], and fraction of fast diffusion), stretched-exponential (distributed diffusion coefficient and anomalous exponent term [α]), and kurtosis (mean diffusivity and mean kurtosis [MK]) models in the differentiation of renal solid masses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 81 patients (56 men and 25 women; mean age, 57 years; age range, 30–69 years) with 18 benign and 63 malignant lesions were imaged using 3T diffusion-weighted MRI. Diffusion model selection was investigated in each lesion using the Akaike information criteria. Mann-Whitney U test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were used for statistical evaluations. RESULTS: Goodness-of-fit analysis showed that the stretched-exponential model had the highest voxel percentages in benign and malignant lesions (90.7% and 51.4%, respectively). ADC, Ds, and MK showed significant differences between benign and malignant lesions (p < 0.05) and between low- and high-grade clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) (p < 0.05). α was significantly lower in the benign group than in the malignant group (p < 0.05). All diffusion measures showed significant differences between ccRCC and non-ccRCC (p < 0.05) except Df and α (p = 0.143 and 0.112, respectively). α showed the highest diagnostic accuracy in differentiating benign and malignant lesions with an area under the ROC curve of 0.923, but none of the parameters from these advanced models revealed significantly better performance over ADC in discriminating subtypes or grades of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Compared with conventional diffusion parameters, α may provide additional information for differentiating benign and malignant renal masses, while ADC remains the most valuable parameter for differentiation of RCC subtypes and for ccRCC grading.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Diffusion ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; ROC Curve

OBJECTIVES: We analyzed the chromosomal-arm-level copy number alterations (CNAs) in the cervical exfoliative cell and tissue samples by using the low-coverage whole genomic sequencing technique. METHODS: In this study, we retrospectively collected 55 archived exfoliated cervical cell suspension samples and the corresponding formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue section samples including 27 invasive cervical cancer and 28 control cases. We also collected 19 samples of the cervical exfoliative cells randomly from women to verify the new algorithm model. We analyzed the CNAs in cervical exfoliated cell and tissue samples by using the low-coverage next generation of sequencing. RESULTS: In the model-building study, multiple chromosomal-arm-level CNAs were detected in both cervical exfoliated cell and tissue samples of all cervical cancer cases. By analyzing the consistency of CNAs between exfoliated cells and cervical tissue samples, as well as the heterogeneity in individual patient, we also established a C-score algorithm model according to the chromosomal-arm-level changes of 1q, 2q, 3p, 7q. The C-score model was then validated by the pathological diagnosis of all 74 exfoliated cell samples (including 55 cases in model-building group and 19 cases in verification group). In our result, a cutoff value of C-score > 6 showed 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity in the diagnosis of cervical cancer. CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that CNAs of cervical exfoliated cell samples could robustly distinguish invasive cervical cancer from cancer-free tissues. And we have also developed a C-score algorithm model to process the sequencing data in a more standardized and automated way.
Diagnosis ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Female ; Genome* ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Population Characteristics ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

Vancomycin (VCM) is the first-line therapy for invasive multi-resistant gram-positive bacterial infections involving Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus.The therapeutic range of VCM is narrow,and its use is associated with nephrotoxicity.The pharmacokinetic characteristics of VCM vary greatly with renal function.Therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacokinetic (PK) monitoring are required for maximizing its efficacy and minimizing adverse effect.Several studies focused on vancomycin individualized dosing have been published recently.The advances of vancomycin individualized dosing via PK tool are reviewed in this study.

Paeoniflorin (PAE) is the most abundant compound in Xuebijing injection widely used to treat sepsis. We aimed to investigate effect of PAE on expression of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) in a rat model of sepsis. Wistar rats were divided into Normal, Model, and PAE groups (n=20 each). Endotoxin was administrated at 5 mg/ml/kg in Model and PAE rats to establish rat sepsis model. 1 h after endotoxin administration, PAE was administrated at 4 ml/kg in PAE group once per day for 3 days. Routine blood tests and biochemical indexes were assessed, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB). The plasma sTREM-1 level was measured using quantitative ELISA. At the end of experiment, the small intestine, liver, kidney and lung were subjected to pathological examinations. A rat model of sepsis-induced multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) was established successfully with endotoxin administration (5 mg/ml/kg), evidenced by histo-pathological examinations, routine blood tests and biochemical indexes: platelet count decreased and white blood cell count increased (p<0.05), CK-MB and AST increased (p<0.05). PAE treatment significantly reduced the plasma levels of AST, CK-MB, and sTREM-1, compared to Model group (p<0.05). Meanwhile, sepsis-induced damages in the liver, lung, stomach and intestinal mucosa were also markedly ameliorated by PAE treatment. PAE demonstrated a significantly protective effect in a rat model of sepsis by decreasing plasma sTREM-1 level, reducing inflammation, preventing MODS and protecting organ functions.
Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Creatine ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hematologic Tests ; Inflammation ; Intestinal Mucosa ; Intestine, Small ; Kidney ; Leukocyte Count ; Liver ; Lung ; Models, Animal ; Multiple Organ Failure ; Plasma ; Platelet Count ; Rats* ; Rats, Wistar ; Sepsis ; Stomach

Objective To investigate the clinical application value of combined detection of ALK fusion gene and c?ros oncogene 1 receptor tyrosine kinase ( ROS1) fusion gene in non?small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) using real?time fluorescent PCR. Methods A kit for combined detection of ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene based on fluorescent PCR was used to simultaneously detect the two fusion genes in 302 cases of NSCLC specimens. The results were validated through Sanger sequencing. The consistency of the two detection methods was analyzed. Results All 302 cases of NSCLC specimens were successfully analyzed through fluorescent PCR (302/302). 12 cases (4.0%) were found to contain ALK fusion gene, including 3 cases with ALK?M1, 3 with ALK?M2, 3 with ALK?M3, 1 with ALK?M4, and 2 with ALK?M6 fusion gene. 12 cases (4.0%) were found to contain ROS1 fusion gene, including 1 case with ROS1?M7, 8 cases with ROS1?M8,1 case with ROS1?M12,1 case with ROS1?M14,and 1 case with double?positive ROS1?M3 and ROS1?M8 fusion genes. The total detection rate of ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene was 7. 9%(24/302) and 278 cases showed to be negative for ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene. The successful detection rates for Sanger DNA sequencing were also 100%. The positive, negative and total coincidence rates obtained by real?time fluorescent PCR and by Sanger DNA sequencing were all 100%. Conclusions The results of Sanger DNA sequencing demonstrate that the real?time fluorescent PCR assay is equally effective in detecting ALK and ROS1 fusion genes in NSCLC tissues. Furthermore, real?time fluorescent PCR assay can be used to detect trace ALK and ROS1 fusion gene simultaneously in tiny samples, and can save time and avoid repeated sampling. It is worthy of recommendation as a rapid and reliable detection technique.

Objective To investigate the clinical application value of combined detection of ALK fusion gene and c?ros oncogene 1 receptor tyrosine kinase ( ROS1) fusion gene in non?small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) using real?time fluorescent PCR. Methods A kit for combined detection of ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene based on fluorescent PCR was used to simultaneously detect the two fusion genes in 302 cases of NSCLC specimens. The results were validated through Sanger sequencing. The consistency of the two detection methods was analyzed. Results All 302 cases of NSCLC specimens were successfully analyzed through fluorescent PCR (302/302). 12 cases (4.0%) were found to contain ALK fusion gene, including 3 cases with ALK?M1, 3 with ALK?M2, 3 with ALK?M3, 1 with ALK?M4, and 2 with ALK?M6 fusion gene. 12 cases (4.0%) were found to contain ROS1 fusion gene, including 1 case with ROS1?M7, 8 cases with ROS1?M8,1 case with ROS1?M12,1 case with ROS1?M14,and 1 case with double?positive ROS1?M3 and ROS1?M8 fusion genes. The total detection rate of ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene was 7. 9%(24/302) and 278 cases showed to be negative for ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene. The successful detection rates for Sanger DNA sequencing were also 100%. The positive, negative and total coincidence rates obtained by real?time fluorescent PCR and by Sanger DNA sequencing were all 100%. Conclusions The results of Sanger DNA sequencing demonstrate that the real?time fluorescent PCR assay is equally effective in detecting ALK and ROS1 fusion genes in NSCLC tissues. Furthermore, real?time fluorescent PCR assay can be used to detect trace ALK and ROS1 fusion gene simultaneously in tiny samples, and can save time and avoid repeated sampling. It is worthy of recommendation as a rapid and reliable detection technique.

Adult ; Antiphospholipid Syndrome ; diagnosis ; Cesarean Section ; Diagnostic Errors ; Female ; Humans ; Infarction ; diagnosis ; Liver Diseases ; diagnosis ; Pregnancy