Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive primary liver malignancy often diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in a poor prognosis. Accurate risk stratification and early detection of HCC are critical unmet needs for improving outcomes. Several blood-based biomarkers and imaging tests are available for early detection, prediction, and monitoring of HCC. However, serum protein biomarkers such as alpha-fetoprotein have shown relatively low sensitivity, leading to inaccurate performance. Imaging studies also face limitations related to suboptimal accuracy, high cost, and limited implementation. Recently, liquid biopsy techniques have gained attention for addressing these unmet needs. Liquid biopsy is non-invasive and provides more objective readouts, requiring less reliance on healthcare professional’s skills compared to imaging. Circulating tumor cells, cell-free DNA, and extracellular vesicles are targeted in liquid biopsies as novel biomarkers for HCC. Despite their potential, there are debates regarding the role of these novel biomarkers in the HCC care continuum. This review article aims to discuss the technical challenges, recent technical advancements, advantages and disadvantages of these liquid biopsies, as well as their current clinical application and future directions of liquid biopsy in HCC.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive primary liver malignancy often diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in a poor prognosis. Accurate risk stratification and early detection of HCC are critical unmet needs for improving outcomes. Several blood-based biomarkers and imaging tests are available for early detection, prediction, and monitoring of HCC. However, serum protein biomarkers such as alpha-fetoprotein have shown relatively low sensitivity, leading to inaccurate performance. Imaging studies also face limitations related to suboptimal accuracy, high cost, and limited implementation. Recently, liquid biopsy techniques have gained attention for addressing these unmet needs. Liquid biopsy is non-invasive and provides more objective readouts, requiring less reliance on healthcare professional’s skills compared to imaging. Circulating tumor cells, cell-free DNA, and extracellular vesicles are targeted in liquid biopsies as novel biomarkers for HCC. Despite their potential, there are debates regarding the role of these novel biomarkers in the HCC care continuum. This review article aims to discuss the technical challenges, recent technical advancements, advantages and disadvantages of these liquid biopsies, as well as their current clinical application and future directions of liquid biopsy in HCC.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive primary liver malignancy often diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in a poor prognosis. Accurate risk stratification and early detection of HCC are critical unmet needs for improving outcomes. Several blood-based biomarkers and imaging tests are available for early detection, prediction, and monitoring of HCC. However, serum protein biomarkers such as alpha-fetoprotein have shown relatively low sensitivity, leading to inaccurate performance. Imaging studies also face limitations related to suboptimal accuracy, high cost, and limited implementation. Recently, liquid biopsy techniques have gained attention for addressing these unmet needs. Liquid biopsy is non-invasive and provides more objective readouts, requiring less reliance on healthcare professional’s skills compared to imaging. Circulating tumor cells, cell-free DNA, and extracellular vesicles are targeted in liquid biopsies as novel biomarkers for HCC. Despite their potential, there are debates regarding the role of these novel biomarkers in the HCC care continuum. This review article aims to discuss the technical challenges, recent technical advancements, advantages and disadvantages of these liquid biopsies, as well as their current clinical application and future directions of liquid biopsy in HCC.

OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study assessed the methodological quality of systematic reviews (SRs) of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) published in Chinese between Jan 2021 and Sep 2022. METHODS: Chinese language CHM SRs were identified through literature searches across 3 international and 4 Chinese databases. Methodological quality was appraised using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2. Logistic regressions were used to explore associations between bibliographical characteristics and quality. RESULTS: Analyses of methodological quality found that among the 213 sampled SRs, 69.5% were of critically low quality, 30.5% were of low quality, and none achieved high or moderate quality. Common shortcomings included the failure to identify the studies excluded from the analysis, failure to disclose funding sources, and limited evaluation of the potential impact of bias on conclusions. Logistic regressions revealed that SRs led by corresponding authors affiliated with universities or academic institutions tended to be of lower quality than SRs led by authors affiliated with hospitals or clinical facilities. CONCLUSION Recent Chinese language CHM SRs exhibited limited methodological quality, making them unlikely to support the development of clinical practice guidelines. Urgent initiatives are needed to enhance training for researchers, peer-reviewers and editors involved in the preparation and publication of SRs. Adoption of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guidelines in Chinese language journals is crucial to improve the relevance of SRs for Chinese medicine development. Addressing deficiencies in methodology and reporting is essential for promoting evidence-based practices and informed clinical decisions in Chinese medicine. Please cite this article as: Jiang Y, Zhong CC, Wang BH, Xu SS, Ho FF, Kwong MH, Ho L, Zhou JHS, Lam KC, Liu JP, Zhang BT, Chung VCH. Methodological quality of systematic reviews on orally administered Chinese herbal medicine published in Chinese between 2021 and 2022: A cross-sectional study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(5):492-501.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Systematic Reviews as Topic/standards* ; Humans ; China ; Administration, Oral ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Background: Papillary tumor of the pineal region (PTPR) is a rare neuroepithelial tumor with CentralNervous System (CNS) World Health Organization (WHO) grade II or III classification. Due to its rarity, there is no clear census on treatment. The purpose of this study is to identify the optimal treatment plan focused on extending overall survival (OS). Methods: This is an institutional case series with review of the literature. Fifty-three publicationswere analyzed. Only cases with histological diagnosis of PTPR were included. Data collected included demographics, treatment modalities, disease progression, and OS. Results: The analysis included 105 patients from the literature and 3 new cases (54 female,50%) with an average age of 33.1 years (range 1–73 years). The average lesion size was 26.4 mm (range 5–50 mm) in longest axis. All patients underwent an initial resection. There were 46 cases of surgery alone. The remaining cases received adjuvant therapy including radiation (RT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), chemotherapy (CT), or RT and CT. The average follow-up was 61.4 months (range 1–240 months). OS at 1 year was 96.9%, at 5 years was 87.5%, and at 10 years was 80.2%. Overall progression-free survival (PFS) was 57.4%. Statistical significance was observed in PFS in the surgery plus SRS group and surgery plus CT and RT group. Surgery with SRS had the best PFS (75%), and OS at 1 year (100%) and 5 years (88.9%). Surgery with CT and RT had the best OS at 10 years (85.7%). Conclusion We describe a case series and literature review of PTPR to help guide the most effec-tive treatment strategies for this rare disease entity. We recommend surgery followed by SRS as the treatment of choice because of its best PFS and 5-year survival rates. We would also recommend adding chemotherapy in the event of disease progression or recurrence as adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy provided the best 10-year survival.

Background: Papillary tumor of the pineal region (PTPR) is a rare neuroepithelial tumor with CentralNervous System (CNS) World Health Organization (WHO) grade II or III classification. Due to its rarity, there is no clear census on treatment. The purpose of this study is to identify the optimal treatment plan focused on extending overall survival (OS). Methods: This is an institutional case series with review of the literature. Fifty-three publicationswere analyzed. Only cases with histological diagnosis of PTPR were included. Data collected included demographics, treatment modalities, disease progression, and OS. Results: The analysis included 105 patients from the literature and 3 new cases (54 female,50%) with an average age of 33.1 years (range 1–73 years). The average lesion size was 26.4 mm (range 5–50 mm) in longest axis. All patients underwent an initial resection. There were 46 cases of surgery alone. The remaining cases received adjuvant therapy including radiation (RT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), chemotherapy (CT), or RT and CT. The average follow-up was 61.4 months (range 1–240 months). OS at 1 year was 96.9%, at 5 years was 87.5%, and at 10 years was 80.2%. Overall progression-free survival (PFS) was 57.4%. Statistical significance was observed in PFS in the surgery plus SRS group and surgery plus CT and RT group. Surgery with SRS had the best PFS (75%), and OS at 1 year (100%) and 5 years (88.9%). Surgery with CT and RT had the best OS at 10 years (85.7%). Conclusion We describe a case series and literature review of PTPR to help guide the most effec-tive treatment strategies for this rare disease entity. We recommend surgery followed by SRS as the treatment of choice because of its best PFS and 5-year survival rates. We would also recommend adding chemotherapy in the event of disease progression or recurrence as adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy provided the best 10-year survival.

Background: Papillary tumor of the pineal region (PTPR) is a rare neuroepithelial tumor with CentralNervous System (CNS) World Health Organization (WHO) grade II or III classification. Due to its rarity, there is no clear census on treatment. The purpose of this study is to identify the optimal treatment plan focused on extending overall survival (OS). Methods: This is an institutional case series with review of the literature. Fifty-three publicationswere analyzed. Only cases with histological diagnosis of PTPR were included. Data collected included demographics, treatment modalities, disease progression, and OS. Results: The analysis included 105 patients from the literature and 3 new cases (54 female,50%) with an average age of 33.1 years (range 1–73 years). The average lesion size was 26.4 mm (range 5–50 mm) in longest axis. All patients underwent an initial resection. There were 46 cases of surgery alone. The remaining cases received adjuvant therapy including radiation (RT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), chemotherapy (CT), or RT and CT. The average follow-up was 61.4 months (range 1–240 months). OS at 1 year was 96.9%, at 5 years was 87.5%, and at 10 years was 80.2%. Overall progression-free survival (PFS) was 57.4%. Statistical significance was observed in PFS in the surgery plus SRS group and surgery plus CT and RT group. Surgery with SRS had the best PFS (75%), and OS at 1 year (100%) and 5 years (88.9%). Surgery with CT and RT had the best OS at 10 years (85.7%). Conclusion We describe a case series and literature review of PTPR to help guide the most effec-tive treatment strategies for this rare disease entity. We recommend surgery followed by SRS as the treatment of choice because of its best PFS and 5-year survival rates. We would also recommend adding chemotherapy in the event of disease progression or recurrence as adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy provided the best 10-year survival.

Objective: To investigate the evolution and clinical significance of HER2 low expression status in HER2 negative patients in primary and recurrent/metastatic breast cancers. Methods: The data and archived sections of 259 breast cancer patients with recurrence/metastasis and HER2-negative primary foci were collected from January 2015 to January 2022 at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, and the HER2 status of primary and recurrence/metastasis foci was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC), among which IHC 2+patients were subject to fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The HER2 status was classified as HER2-0 group; patients with IHC 1+, IHC 2+and no FISH amplification were classified as HER2 low expression group; and patients with IHC 3+, IHC 2+and FISH amplified were classified as HER2-positive group. The changes of HER2 status in patients with HER2 low expression in primary versus recurrent/metastatic breast cancer foci were compared, and their clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis were analyzed. Results: The overall concordance rate between primary and recurrent/metastatic HER2 status in breast cancer was 60.6% (157/259, κ=0.178). A total of 102 patients (102/259, 39.4%) had inconsistent primary and recurrent/metastatic HER2 status; 37 patients (37/259, 14.3%) had HER2-0 at the primary foci and HER2-low expression at the recurrent/metastatic; and 56 patients (56/259, 21.6%) had HER2-low expression in the primary foci and HER2-0 in the recurrent/metastatic. The recurrent/metastatic foci became low-expressing compared with the recurrent/metastatic foci which remained HER2-0 patients, with longer overall survival time, higher ER and PR positivity, lower Ki-67 positivity index, and lower tumor histological grade; all with statistically significant differences (all P<0.05). In the primary HER2-low group, patients with recurrent/metastatic foci became HER2-0 while those with recurrent/metastatic foci remained low expression; there were no statistically significant differences in clinicopathological features and overall survival time (all P>0.05). Conclusions: Unstable HER2 status in patients with HER2-0 and low expression in primary versus recurrent/metastatic breast cancer foci, and HER2-0 in the primary foci but low HER2 expression status in recurrence/metastasis is associated with favourable prognosis, and testing HER2 status in recurrence/metastasis can provide more treatment options for such patients.
Humans ; Breast Neoplasms/genetics* ; Clinical Relevance ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Female

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features of glomuvenous malformation (GVM). Methods: Thirty-one cases of GVM diagnosed at the Henan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2011 to December 2021 were collected. Their clinical and pathological features were analyzed. The expression of relevant markers was examined using immunohistochemistry. The patients were also followed up. Results: There were 16 males and 15 females in this study, with an average age of 11 years (range, 1-52 years). The locations of the disease included 13 cases in the limbs (8 cases in the upper limbs, 5 cases in the lower limbs), 9 cases in the trunks, and 9 cases in the foot (toes or subungual area). Twenty-seven of the cases were solitary and 4 were multifocal. The lesions were characterized by blue-purple papules or plaques on the skin surface, which grew slowly. The lumps became larger and appeared to be conspicuous. Microscopically, GVM mainly involved the dermis and subcutaneous tissue, with an overall ill-defined border. There were scattered or clustered irregular dilated vein-like lumens, with thin walls and various sizes. A single or multiple layers of relatively uniform cubic/glomus cells were present at the abnormal wall, with scattered small nests of the glomus cells. The endothelial cells in the wall of abnormal lumen were flat or absent. Immunohistochemistry showed that glomus cells strongly expressed SMA, h-caldesmon, and collagen IV. Malformed vascular endothelial cells expressed CD31, CD34 and ERG. No postoperative recurrence was found in the 12 cases. Conclusions: GVM is an uncommon type of simple venous malformation in the superficial soft tissue and different from the classical glomus tumor. Morphologically, one or more layers of glomus cells grow around the dilated venous malformation-like lumen, which can be combined with common venous malformations.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Child ; Glomus Tumor/surgery* ; Endothelial Cells/pathology* ; Paraganglioma, Extra-Adrenal/pathology* ; Immunohistochemistry