With the emergence of deep learning techniques based on convolutional neural networks, artificial intelligence (AI) has driven transformative developments in the field of medical image analysis. Recently, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT have also started to achieve distinction in this domain. Increasing research shows the undeniable role of AI in reshaping various aspects of medical image analysis, including processes such as image enhancement, segmentation, detection in image preprocessing, and postprocessing related to medical diagnosis and prognosis in clinical settings. However, despite the significant progress in AI research, studies investigating the recent advances in AI technology in the aforementioned aspects, the changes in research hotspot trajectories, and the performance of studies in addressing key clinical challenges in this field are limited. This article provides an overview of recent advances in AI for medical image analysis and discusses the methodological profiles, advantages, disadvantages, and future trends of AI technologies.
Artificial Intelligence ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Deep Learning ; Diagnostic Imaging/methods*

Senescence is the major risk factor that promotes development of different stages of chronic liver diseases and is closely related to occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma.Significant differences consist in clinicopathological features and tumor microenvironment between elderly and young patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.With rapid development of systemic therapy,immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with targeted therapy have greatly improved the prognosis of patients with advanced hepa-tocellular carcinoma.The selection of treatment decisions for elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma requires to consider u-nique age-related issues.Adequate communication and necessary evaluation should be carried out before making decisions.Elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma are speculated to benefit from combination immunotherapy based on age subgroup analysis of large clinical studies.However,data of effects and security obtained from clinical trials has certain limitations when being ap-plied in elderly populations of real world.The optimal therapeutic strategies for elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma still remain to be further explored in large-scale prospective clinical studies.

To investigate Streptococcus suis ( S.suis) isolated from patients in Shandong province using genomic epidemiology and pathogenologic analysis. To provide the foundation to establish reasonable and accurate prevention and control measures of human S. suis infection. Molecular typing, whole genome phylogenetic tree, virulence gene typing, antibiotic resistance profile and mobile genetic elements carrying antibiotic resistance genes of isolated S. suis strains were investigated. The pathogenicity of isolated strains was also evaluated by comparing their capacity to induce pro-inflammatory cytokine production in vitro. S. suis infections in Shandong province were predominantly due to serotype 2 and sequence type 1 strains. The major symptoms were meningitis. The studied strains could be divided into five lineages. All strains belong to highly pathogenic type in Shandong province,Strains from lineage 2 possessed higher capacity to stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokine production than other strains did, even though other strains belong to highly pathogenic strains. In addition, multiple antibiotic resistance genes and corresponding mobile genetic elements werewidespread in S. suis strains from Shandong province, except strains from lineage 3. High diversities in genome, evolutionary path and pathogenicity of S. suis strains from Shandong province were revealed. It was necessary to surveillant the S. suis strain in genomic level.

To investigate Streptococcus suis ( S.suis) isolated from patients in Shandong province using genomic epidemiology and pathogenologic analysis. To provide the foundation to establish reasonable and accurate prevention and control measures of human S. suis infection. Molecular typing, whole genome phylogenetic tree, virulence gene typing, antibiotic resistance profile and mobile genetic elements carrying antibiotic resistance genes of isolated S. suis strains were investigated. The pathogenicity of isolated strains was also evaluated by comparing their capacity to induce pro-inflammatory cytokine production in vitro. S. suis infections in Shandong province were predominantly due to serotype 2 and sequence type 1 strains. The major symptoms were meningitis. The studied strains could be divided into five lineages. All strains belong to highly pathogenic type in Shandong province,Strains from lineage 2 possessed higher capacity to stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokine production than other strains did, even though other strains belong to highly pathogenic strains. In addition, multiple antibiotic resistance genes and corresponding mobile genetic elements werewidespread in S. suis strains from Shandong province, except strains from lineage 3. High diversities in genome, evolutionary path and pathogenicity of S. suis strains from Shandong province were revealed. It was necessary to surveillant the S. suis strain in genomic level.

Objective:To investigate the prognostic factors associated with unresectable (stage Ⅲa-Ⅳ, according to the 7th edition of the AJCC cancer staging manual) lung squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed 350 patients with inoperable locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic lung squamous cell carcinoma who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Chinese Medical University from January 2005 to June 2018. The clinical pathological data, treatment and survival follow-up information of the patients were collected. Kaplan-Meier survival was used to compare the overall survival rate of different risk groups. Univariate analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to determine the independent prognostic factors.Results:A total of 350 patients were enrolled. The median overall survival (OS) of these patients was 16.7 months. Univariate analysis showed the stage, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group(ECOG), first-line chemotherapy evaluation (RECIST version 1.1), radiation therapy, number of systemic chemotherapy lines, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 125 (CA125), C reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), whether liver, brain, boneor metastasis were associated with the OS of patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that ECOG score ( HR=1.855, 95% CI: 1.063-3.239, P=0.030), whether underwent lung resection ( HR=0.476, 95% CI: 0.302-0.751, P=0.001), first-line chemotherapy evaluation [stable disease (SD): HR=0.293, 95% CI: 0.159-0.540, P<0.001; complete response (CR)+ partial response (PR): HR=0.223, 95% CI: 0.120-0.413, P<0.001], CRP ( HR=1.715, 95% CI: 1.080-2.723, P=0.042), LDH ( HR=1.116, 95% CI: 0.780-1.596, P=0.002) and CEA ( HR=1.855, 95% CI: 1.361-2.528, P<0.001) before chemotherapy, liver metastasis ( HR=2.453, 95% CI: 1.461-4.120, P=0.001) are independent prognostic factors for patients with unresectable lung squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion:The ECOG score, surgical treatment history, first-line chemotherapy, LDH, CEA and CRP before chemotherapy, liver metastasis are independent prognostic factors for patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma.

The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has significantly improved the prognosis of cancer patients, but a large population of patients are still ineffective to ICIs treatment or develop aquired drug resistance. In order to improve the clinical benefits, a number of studies on ICIs based combination therapy have been actively explored, and have achieved satisfactory results. With the application of ICIs based combination therapy in clinical practice, increasing attention has been paid to the safety of combination therapy and the management of treatment-related adverse events. In this review, the characteristics of adverse events related to ICIs based combination therapies, especially programmed cell death protein 1/protein ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitors are discussed, in order to provide profound thoughts for toxicity evaluation and individualized treatment decision in future clinical practice.
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Objective:To explore the relationship between symptom burden and hematologic responses after treatment with interferon and/or hydroxyurea in patients with polycythemia vera (PV) .Methods:Hematologic responses after continuous treatment with interferon and/or hydroxyurea for six months were evaluated in 190 patients with PV using the Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Symptom Assessment Form Total Symptom Score (MPN-10 score) . In all patients, the PV diagnosis was based on the 2016 World Health Organization diagnostic definitions.Results:The study cohort comprised 93 (48.9% ) male and 97 (51.1% ) female patients. The median age at the time of MPN-10 assessment was 60 (32-82) years. The median MPN-10 score of the entire cohort was 9 (range, 0-67) . The median MPN-10 score of patients treated with interferon plus hydroxyurea ( n=27) was 11 (0-67) , which was significantly higher than those of patients treated with interferon only ( n=64) (6[0-56], P=0.019) or hydroxyurea only ( n=99) (9[0-64], P=0.047) , whereas the median MPN-10 score was not significantly different between those treated with interferon only and hydroxyurea only ( P=0.421) . The rate of severe symptom burden (i.e., any single symptom burden score ≥ 7 and/or total score ≥ 44) was 28.9% (55/190) in the entire cohort, whereas the rate of severe symptom burden was not significantly different among the interferon only (23.4% ) , hydroxyurea only (29.3% ) , and interferon plus hydroxyurea (40.7% ) groups ( P>0.05 for all two-group comparisons) . When evaluating MPN-10 score, 37.4% (71/190) of the patients achieved complete hematologic remission (CHR) . Only 28.9% (55/190) patients had adequate disease control, defined as CHR without severe symptom burden. Reasons for inadequate disease control were evaluating blood counts alone, severe symptom burden alone, and evaluating blood counts accompanied with severe symptom burden in 42.1% (80/190) , 8.4% (16/190) , and 20.5% (39/190) of the patients, respectively. Compared to the patients with a platelet count ≤ 400×10 9/L, those with a platelet count > 400×10 9/L had a significantly higher rate of severe symptom burden (40.8% [20/49] vs 24.8% [35/141], P=0.044) and a higher median MPN-10 score (14[0-67] vs 7[0-56], P=0.038) . Platelet count > 400×10 9/L was associated with an increased risk of severe symptom burden (hazard ratio, 2.089; 95% confidence interval, 1.052-4.147, P=0.035) . Conclusions:Symptoms related to disease after treatment with interferon and/or hydroxyurea were rather universal in patients with PV. Some patients still experienced severe symptom burden despite achieving CHR. Platelet count > 400×10 9/L was associated with an increased risk of severe symptom burden in patients with PV treated with interferon and/or hydroxyurea.

Objective:To explore predictors of overall survival (OS) in Chinese patients with polycythemia vera (PV) .Methods:A total of 906 consecutive newly diagnosed patients with PV seen at the Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, from June 2007 to February 2020 were included, and their data were collected. PV was diagnosed according to 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic definitions. OS and prognostic factors were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Among the 906 patients, 439 were male (48.5%) and 467 were female (51.5%) . The median age was 57 years (range: 18-91 years) . 31.6% (276/874) of the patients had a thrombosis history at diagnosis, and 4.6% (25/541) of the patients had abnormal cytogenetics. The median follow-up was 54 months (95% confidence interval [ CI] 8-130 months) . The 5- and 10-year cumulative deaths were 5.8% (95% CI 4.8%-6.7%) and 11.1% (95% CI 9.3%-12.9%) , respectively. Univariate analysis showed that age ≥60 years, thrombosis history, white blood cells (WBC) ≥15×10 9/L, platelet (PLT) ≥450×10 9/L, and platelet distribution width (PDW) ≥15 fl significantly correlated with worse OS, and palpable spleen correlated with better OS. Multivariate analysis showed that age ≥60 years ( HR=4.3, 95% CI 2.1-9.2, P<0.001) and PDW ≥15 fl ( HR=2.1, 95% CI 1.1-4.0, P=0.023) were independent prognostic factors for worse OS. The 5-year cumulative death for patients with PDW ≥15 fl or PDW<15 fl was 8.6% (95% CI 5.9%-11.3%) or 4.4% (95% CI 3.4%-5.4%) , respectively. The 5-year cumulative death for patients defined as low-, intermediate-, and high-risk patients by international working group score system for PV (IWG-PV) were 0.8% (95 CI 0.2%-1.4%) , 4.0% (95% CI 2.7%-5.3%) , and 12% (95% CI 9.6%-14.4%) , respectively, with a significant difference among the three cohorts ( P<0.05) . PDW ≥ 15 fl significantly affected OS for intermediate- and high-risk patients ( HR=2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.2, P=0.009) defined by IWG-PV score system, but not for low-risk patients ( HR=3.1, 95% CI 0.2-52.0, P=0.405) . Conclusions:Age ≥60 years and PDW ≥15 fl were independent prognostic factors for worse OS in PV. IWG-PV score system effectively predicted OS for Chinese patients with PV.

Objective:To investigate the prognostic factors associated with unresectable (stage Ⅲa-Ⅳ, according to the 7th edition of the AJCC cancer staging manual) lung squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed 350 patients with inoperable locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic lung squamous cell carcinoma who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Chinese Medical University from January 2005 to June 2018. The clinical pathological data, treatment and survival follow-up information of the patients were collected. Kaplan-Meier survival was used to compare the overall survival rate of different risk groups. Univariate analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to determine the independent prognostic factors.Results:A total of 350 patients were enrolled. The median overall survival (OS) of these patients was 16.7 months. Univariate analysis showed the stage, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group(ECOG), first-line chemotherapy evaluation (RECIST version 1.1), radiation therapy, number of systemic chemotherapy lines, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 125 (CA125), C reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), whether liver, brain, boneor metastasis were associated with the OS of patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that ECOG score ( HR=1.855, 95% CI: 1.063-3.239, P=0.030), whether underwent lung resection ( HR=0.476, 95% CI: 0.302-0.751, P=0.001), first-line chemotherapy evaluation [stable disease (SD): HR=0.293, 95% CI: 0.159-0.540, P<0.001; complete response (CR)+ partial response (PR): HR=0.223, 95% CI: 0.120-0.413, P<0.001], CRP ( HR=1.715, 95% CI: 1.080-2.723, P=0.042), LDH ( HR=1.116, 95% CI: 0.780-1.596, P=0.002) and CEA ( HR=1.855, 95% CI: 1.361-2.528, P<0.001) before chemotherapy, liver metastasis ( HR=2.453, 95% CI: 1.461-4.120, P=0.001) are independent prognostic factors for patients with unresectable lung squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion:The ECOG score, surgical treatment history, first-line chemotherapy, LDH, CEA and CRP before chemotherapy, liver metastasis are independent prognostic factors for patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective:To explore the effect of hospital-family CCM on postoperative rehabilitation of children with posterior urethral rupture and its effect on the nursing ability of children′s family members.Methods:Forward-looking selection between January 2015 and January 2019 in our hospital 72 cases of traumatic posterior urethral disruption of children as the research object, the random number table method were randomly divided into 2 groups. The control group ( n=36) was implemented routine nursing, observation group ( n=36) was given hospital-family CCM. The prognosis of postoperative pain and complications of two groups, children′s family psychological status before and after the intervention and nursing ability were compared. Results:Compared with the control group, the scores of Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) of 12h after the operation, 1d after the operation and 2d after the operation respectively 5.89±0.71, 4.50±0.51, 2.42±0.50, all of which were significantly lower than those of the control group 6.92±0.87, 5.89±0.85, 4.31±0.47, with statistically significant differences ( t values were 5.23, 8.904, 16.525, P<0.05). The total incidence of complications in the observation group was 5.56% (2/36), significantly less than 22.22% (8/36) of the control group with statistical significance difference ( χ2 value was 4.181, P<0.05). The scores of Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Family Caregiver Task Inventory (FCTI) in the families of children of the observtion group were 34.6±5.36, 31.67±6.11, 8.65±2.40 after the intervention, significantly lower than the control group (41.09±6.44, 39.64±7.31, 11.64±3.10) with statistical difference ( t values were 4.647, 5.019, 4.576, P<0.05). Conclusions:The hospital-family CCM can effectively promote the rehabilitation of children undergoing posterior urethral rupture and improve the nursing ability of their families.