Neoadjuvant therapy has become the standard treatment for locally advanced resectable esophageal cancer, significantly improving long-term survival compared to surgery alone. Neoadjuvant therapy has evolved to include various strategies, such as concurrent chemoradiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted combination therapy. This enriches clinical treatment options and provides a more personalized and scientific treatment approach for patients. This article aims to comprehensively summarize current academic research hot topics, review the rationale and evaluation measures of neoadjuvant therapy, discuss challenges in restaging methods after neoadjuvant therapy, and identify the advantages and disadvantages of various neoadjuvant therapeutic strategies.

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of dose-length product (DLP) values in CT dose reports by comparing them with the DLP values measured using a pencil-type ionization chamber. Methods Experiments were conducted using four CT scanners with different detector row numbers from two manufacturers (A and B), along with a head phantom and a pencil-type ionization chamber. Other scanning parameters were fixed, while pairwise combinations of kV and mAs were tested. The DLP values were measured under various scanning conditions using the pencil-type ionization chamber (DLP_measured) and the corresponding DLP values in CT dose reports were recorded (DLP_reported). All data were subjected to statistical analysis. Results Differences were observed between DLP_reported and DLP_measured values. The smallest mean absolute value of ΔDLP was approximately 2.526 mGy·cm observed on the 40-row CT scanner of manufacturer A. There was a difference between the ΔDLPs of the four CT scanners. Both DLP_reported and DLP_measured exhibited a linear relationship with mAs. Conclusion The percentage errors between DLP_reported and DLP_measured values for all four CT scanners were within the national standard tolerance of 15%. DLP values in CT dose reports can serve as a reference for assessing patient radiation dose during scanning. However, for radiation dose-related research, data measured using dosimetric instruments such as pencil-type ionization chamber are recommended.

Objective To explore the value of oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (OCEUS) combined with contrast-enhanced CT in predicting preoperative T staging in patients with gastric cancer. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 80 patients with gastric cancer confirmed via endoscopic biopsy or postoperative pathology at the First People’s Hospital of Jining from January 2021 to November 2024. The cohort included 56 males and 24 females, aged 38-79 years, with a median age of 55.9 years. All patients underwent both OCEUS and contrast-enhanced CT within one week prior to surgery. T staging of gastric cancer was determined using OCEUS, contrast-enhanced CT, or their combination. The results were compared with pathological T staging, and statistical differences in accuracy were analyzed. Results Pathological T staging identified T1 in 9 cases, T2 in 16 cases, T3 in 42 cases, and T4 in 13 cases. OCEUS indicated T1 in 6 cases, T2 in 14 cases, T3 in 50 cases, and T4 in 10 cases, with an accuracy rate of 80.0%. Contrast-enhanced CT indicated T1 in 4 cases, T2 in 12 cases, T3 in 52 cases, and T4 in 12 cases, with an accuracy rate of 75.0%. The combination of OCEUS and contrast-enhanced CT indicated T1 in 6 cases, T2 in 15 cases, T3 in 47 cases, and T4 in 12 cases, with an accuracy rate of 87.5%. The combined approach demonstrated significantly higher accuracy in preoperative T staging compared to either method alone (P < 0.05). Conclusion The combination of OCEUS and contrast-enhanced CT improves the accuracy of preoperative T staging in gastric cancer patients, providing valuable support for their diagnosis and treatment.

"Global cancer statistics 2022" based on the latest GLOBCAN data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was recently released, providing a systematic analysis of the incidence and mortality of 36 types of cancer across 185 countries worldwide. The international burden of cancer is expected to continue to increase over the next 30 years, posing a severe public health and social challenge for many countries, including China. This article offers a key point interpretation of the "Global cancer statistics 2022", focusing on the evolution of cancer epidemiology and future development trends. The aim is to broaden the international perspective on cancer prevention and treatment, with the hope of providing reference and guidance for cancer prevention and treatment efforts in our country.

Objective:To review the clinical outcomes following perinatal multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment of fetal D-transposition of great arteries (D-TGA).Methods:This retrospective analysis involved 37 fetuses (two fetuses were one of the twins) with D-TGA that were diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound at the Women and Children's Hospital, Qingdao University from January 2016 to December 2020. All the subjects received perinatal multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment, from the Departments of Fetal Medicine, Genetics, Obstetrics, Ultrasonography, Pediatric Cardiology, Neonatology, etc., and the outcomes were described and summarized.Results:The detection rate of D-TGA was 0.059% (37/62 413), among which intact ventricular septum with D-TGA accounted for 56.8% (21/37) and ventricular septal defect with D-TGA for 43.2% (16/37). All the 37 cases were observed with normal nuchal translucency and four of them were at high risk in fetal Down syndrome screening. All the 31 cases who received non-invasive cell-free fetal DNA screening had normal results and two of 26 cases who received amniocentesis for karyotype analysis and chromosome microarray analysis were abnormal. In terms of pregnancy outcome, 19 pregnancies (51.4%) were terminated, of which 10 cases were terminated for medical reasons and others for non-medical reasons, and 18 cases gave birth to alive body (48.6%, 18/37). Postnatal ultrasound re-examination of one neonate revealed D-TGA with ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, and bicuspid pulmonary valve malformation and severe hypoxia and acidosis occured. The patient was discharged after withdrawing treatment and was lost to follow-up. The other 17 neonates all underwent successful surgical treatment with a mean age of (10.2±6.0) d and length of hospital stay of (26.3±9.3) d. Postoperative follow-up (3.3±1.2) years showed all with good cardiac function.Conclusion:Perinatal multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment of D-TGA can improve the success rate of postnatal treatment and prognosis.

Since December 2019, unexplained pneumonia has appeared in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, and a new type of coronavirus infection was confirmed as COVID-19. COVID-19 spread rapidly nationwide and abroad. The COVID-19 has brought huge impacts to all the people and walks of life, especially to the medical and health systems. It has also brought great challenges to the treatment of patients with cancer. Esophageal cancer is a common malignant tumor in China and most of the patients are in the middle and advanced stage when diagnosed, with immunosuppressive and poor prognosis. The selection of surgical procedures and perioperative managements of esophageal cancer require all thoracic surgeons work together to figure out a reasonable system of surgical treatment and emergency response.

Definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) is the general recommendation for the treatment of cervical esophageal cancer for organ preservation. However, the long-term survival of dCRT is not satisfactory. Surgical resection alone is not superior to dCRT in the treatment of cervical esophageal cancer. Surgical resection is often combined with laryngectomy, which will affect the quality of life. Recent evidence suggests that neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery improves the long-term survival of cervical esophageal cancer. On the other hand, the development of technologies such as laryngeal preservation surgery and minimally invasive esophagectomy has reduced the risk of operation and improved the quality of life. This article will review the new progress in the comprehensive treatment of cervical esophageal cancer from the perspective of surgery.

AIM: To observe the expression change of growth and differentiation factor 10 ( GDF10 ) in the spinal cord of the rats with neuropathic pain .METHODS:Male SD rats (n=60) were used.The neuropathic pain was induced by ligation of left L 5 spinal nerves of the animals .The paw withdrawal threshold was detected 1 d before surgery , and 0 d, 1 d, 3 d, 10 d and 21 d after surgery.The changes of GDF10 in the dorsal horn of L5 spinal cord were detected by immunofluorescence staining and Western blot .RESULTS:The paw withdrawal threshold of the rats with spinal nerve ligation was decreased from 1 d after surgery until 3 d with obvious difference compared with the na ve rats ( P<0.05 ) , continuously decreased until 10 d, and then stabilized at 21 d.The GDF10 was located in the cytoplasm of the neurons in the dorsal horn of L5 spinal cord detected by immunofluorescence staining .The expression of GDF10 in L5 dorsal horn de-tected by immunofluorescence staining was reduced after surgery , significantly decreased from 10 d ( P<0.05) until more than 21 d after surgery in spinal nerve ligation group compared with na ve group.GDF10 in L5 spinal cord detected at 10 d after surgery by Western blot was significantly down-regulated in spinal nerve ligation group compared with na ve group (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Spinal nerve ligation induces the decrease in GDF 10 expression in spinal dorsal horn .The down-regulation of GDF10 may contribute to the regulation of hyperpathia caused by mechanical stimulation after the injury of spinal nerve .

Objective To construct sigF deletion mutant of Bacillus anthracis and the complementary strain of sigF deletion mutant in order to analyze the effect of losing sigF on formation of spores.Methods The spectinomycinadenyltransferase gene(spc) was inserted to replace sigF of B.anthracis by homologous recombination.A plasmid which contained sigF and sigF promotor was constructed and then transferred to the mutant to get a complementary strain of sigF deletion mutant.The characters of the mutant were analyzed by measuring growth curves, the ability of carbohydrate metabolism was compared, and spore formation was observed under a microscope.Results The sigF deletion strain A16D2△sigF was constructed from A16D2,which had a similar growth rate to the wild type A16D2 in logarithmic phase, but was not significantly different from the initial strain in the ability to use carbohydrates,although unable to form spores.The strain was found to maintain the state of asymmetric division by microfluidics experiment.Conclusion It is showed by this study that sigF is the essential gene of B.anthracis for spore formation, but not essential for vegetative growth.