Breast Elastography: How to Perform and Integrate Into a “Best-Practice” Patient Treatment Algorithm

Breast elastography has been available for more than 15 years but is not widely incorporated into clinical practice. Many publications report extremely high accuracy for various breast elastographic techniques. However, results in the literature are extremely variable. This variability is most likely due to variations in technique, a relatively steep learning curve, and variability in methods between vendors. This article describes our protocol for performing breast elastography using both strain elastography and shear wave elastography, which produces high sensitivity and specificity. Additionally, we will describe the most commonly known false-positive and false-negative lesions as well as how to detect them.     

全麻复合硬膜外在高龄患者腹腔镜直肠癌根治术中的应用

目的:研究全麻复合硬膜外在高龄患者腹腔镜直肠癌根治术中的应用效果。方法:选择60岁以上择期行腹腔镜直肠癌根治术患者60例,随机分为G组和GA组,每组各30例。G组患者为单纯全麻组,GA组患者为硬膜外复合全麻组。GA组患者在诱导前取L1~2硬膜外穿刺置管,予0.5%罗哌卡因5 ml,术中每小时追加5~7 ml。两组患者诱导方法相同:即,咪哒唑仑0.04 mg/kg、舒芬太尼0.3~0.4μg/kg、顺阿曲库铵0.15~0.20 mg/kg、依托咪酯0.2~0.3 mg/kg。监测并记录患者血压(BP),心率(HR),心电图(ECG),术中全麻药用量及术后患者苏醒情况。结果:GA组患者气腹后、拔管前BP、HR明显低于G组(P<0.05),且全麻药用量明显低于G组(P<0.05)。结论:全麻复合硬膜外应用于老年腹腔镜直肠癌手术较单纯全麻用药量减少,术中循环更加稳定,是腹腔镜直肠癌根治术比较安全可行的麻醉方法。     

Hormone exposure and its suppressive effect on risk of high-grade gliomas among patients with breast cancer

BackgroundPrior reports demonstrate the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in high-grade gliomas (HGGs), but the relationship between hormone receptor-positive disease and risk of HHGs in patients with breast cancer (BC) remains uncharacterized.MethodsUsing the SEER 18 registries (2000–2017), we examined the temporal trend of the incidence of HGGs and BC. The standardized incidence ratio was calculated to assess the risk of subsequent HGG in BC patients.ResultsDuring the study period, the incidence of BC and HGGs remained comparable for men and women. Among 976,134 patients with BC, we found a decreased incidence of HGGs in females, but not in males. Female BC patients with hormone receptor-positive disease were at a lower risk of developing glioblastoma and anaplastic astrocytoma.ConclusionOur study findings allude to the protective role of hormone exposure in the development of HGGs, which may lead to the development of therapies targeting hormonal pathways.     

Islanded facial artery osteomyomucosal/osseous flap in head and neck reconstruction

A local pedicled vascularized bone flap can prevent the morbidity and cost of free bone flap surgery in small segmental bone defects or long cartilaginous defects of the head and neck. Such flaps can also be useful in patients who are high risk for surgery. The periosteal vascularity of the mandible can be used to design islanded facial artery-based bone flaps, which can be utilized to that extent. Two patients with a small segmental mandibulectomy defect and one patient with a long cricotracheal resection defect underwent reconstruction using three different designs of islanded facial artery osteomyomucosal/osseous flap (iFOMM). The patients had a minimum follow-up period of 18 months. All flaps were successful, with satisfactory healing and without any functional deficit or disease at last follow-up.     

Effects of probiotics on gastrointestinal complications and nutritional status of postoperative patients with esophageal cancer: A protocol of randomized controlled trial

Background:Gastrointestinal complications and malnutrition are common problems that affect postoperative rehabilitation and survival of patients with esophageal cancer. Evidence has shown that probiotics have a positive effect on improving gastrointestinal complications and nutritional status of patients with esophageal cancer after surgery, but there is a lack of prospective studies on this topic. We designed this prospective randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of probiotics on gastrointestinal complications and nutritional status in patients with postoperative esophageal cancer.Methods:This is a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. It was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of our hospital. 192 patients will be randomly divided into probiotics group and the placebo group in a 1:1 ratio. After operation, probiotics and placebo will be given orally for 8 weeks. The indexes of nutritional status and incidence of digestive tract complications will be recorded and the data will be analyzed by SPSS 18.0 software.Discussion:This study will evaluate the effect of probiotics on gastrointestinal complications and nutritional status of postoperative patients with esophageal cancer. The results of this study will provide clinical basis for the use of probiotics in postoperative treatment of esophageal cancer.Trial registration:OSF Registration number: D DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/QHW86     

Postoperative development of sarcopenia is a strong predictor of a poor prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction and upper gastric cancer

Background

There were few studies assessed the postoperative sarcopenia in patients with cancers. The objective of present study was to assess whether postoperative development of sarcopenia could predict a poor prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction, (AEG) and upper gastric cancer (UGC).

Proteases and their inhibitors as prognostic factors for high-grade serous ovarian cancer

Ovarian carcinoma is one of the most lethal malignancies, but only very few prognostic biomarkers are known. The degradome, comprising proteases, protease non-proteolytic homologues and inhibitors, have been involved in the prognosis of many cancer types, including ovarian carcinoma. The prognostic significance of the whole degradome family has not been specifically studied in high-grade serous ovarian cancer. A targeted DNA microarray known as the CLIP-CHIP microarray was used to identify potential prognostic factors in ten high-grade serous ovarian cancer women who had early recurrence (<1.6 years) or late/no recurrence after first line surgery and chemotherapy. In women with early recurrence, we identified seven upregulated genes (TMPRSS4, MASP1/3, SPC18, PSMB1, IGFBP2, CFI – encoding Complement Factor I – and MMP9) and one down-regulated gene (ADAM-10). Using immunohistochemistry, we evaluated the prognostic effect of these 8 candidate genes in an independent cohort of 112 high-grade serous ovarian cancer women. Outcomes were progression, defined according to CA-125 criteria, and death. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were done to estimate the associations between each protein and each outcome. High ADAM-10 expression (intensity of 2–3) was associated with a lower risk of progression (adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 0.51; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.29-0.87). High complement factor I expression (intensity 2–3) was associated with a higher risk of progression (adjusted HR: 2.30, 95% CI: 1.17–4.53) and death (adjusted HR: 3.42; 95% CI: 1.72–6.79). Overall, we identified the prognostic value of two proteases, ADAM-10 and complement factor I, for high-grade serous ovarian cancer which could have clinical significance.     

Oligometastatic prostate cancer: Reality or figment of imagination?

The term “oligometastatic prostate cancer” refers to a heterogeneous group of disease states currently defined solely on the basis of clinical features. Oligorecurrent disease, de novo oligometastases, and oligoprogressive disease likely have unique biologic underpinnings and natural histories. Evidence suggesting the existence of a subset of patients who harbor prostate cancer with limited metastatic potential currently includes disparate and overwhelmingly retrospective reports. Nevertheless, emerging prospective data have corroborated the “better-than-expected,” retrospectively observed outcomes, particularly in the setting of oligorecurrent prostate cancer. Improved functional imaging with prostate-specific membrane antigen-targeted strategies may enhance the identification of patients with oligometastatic prostate cancer in the short term. In the long term, refinement of the oligometastatic case definition likely will require biologic risk-stratification schemes. To determine optimal treatment strategies and identify patients most likely to benefit from metastasis-directed therapy, future efforts should focus on conducting high-quality, prospective trials with much-needed molecular correlative studies.     

杨宇飞教授舌癌的中医康复治疗与验案两则＊

舌癌患者手术及放化疗后会出现构音障碍、吞咽困难、口腔黏膜炎、口干、营养不良等并发症，使患者生存质量下降，甚至导致肿瘤的复发转移，影响生存期，单一方法往往顾此失彼。依托于中国中医科学院西苑医院肿瘤康复基地，杨宇飞教授在国内外调研考察基础上，结合中国国情，构建了一种“门诊多学科肿瘤康复模式”，在舌癌康复方面，以患者为中心，以中医肿瘤内科为主导，多学科共同参与，结合康复科、口腔科、营养科、药剂科等各科优势，形成全程个体化规范序贯康复方案，对患者及早进行康复，在放疗前进行预防性干预尤其重要，使患者能够快速缓解手术和放疗的不良反应，患者获益明显。现取两个典型案例总结其舌癌多学科康复的经验，以期为舌癌的康复提供借鉴。