Can Radiotherapy Empower the Host Immune System to Counterattack Neoplastic Cells? A Systematic Review on Tumor Microenvironment Radiomodulation

Despite the rising evidence in favor of immunotherapy (IT), the treatment of oncological patients affected by so-called “cold tumors” still represents an open issue. Cold tumors are characterized by an immunosuppressive (so-called cold) tumor microenvironment (TME), which favors host immune system suppression, cancer immune-escape, and a worse response to IT. However, the TME is not a static element, but dynamically mutates and can be changed. Radiotherapy (RT) can modulate a cold microenvironment, rendering it better at tumor killing by priming the quiescent host immune system, with a consequent increase in immunotherapy response. The combination of TME radiomodulation and IT could therefore be a strategy for those patients affected by cold tumors, with limited or no response to IT. Thus, this review aims to provide an easy, rapid, and practical overview of how RT could convert the cold TME and why cold tumor radiomodulation could represent an interesting strategy in combination with IT.     

Neuroendocrine Tumor Arising within Mature Cystic Teratoma of the Pancreas: Literature Review and Case Report

Cystic teratomas are germ cell tumors most commonly found in the ovaries and testes. The pancreas, however, is very rare as a site of occurrence. Moreover, only two cases of cystic teratoma with concomitant neuroendocrine tumor have been reported to date. We report the case of a 33-year-old female who presented with abdominal pain. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the upper abdomen revealed an 85 mm cystic tumor in the head of the pancreas. Cystic teratoma and mucinous cystadenoma were suggested as differential diagnoses. Cytopathologic analysis of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was consistent with mucinous cystadenoma. Therefore, the patient underwent surgical resection. Histologic analysis revealed a mature cystic teratoma of the pancreas with a concomitant neuroendocrine tumor. The patient is in great condition at 8 months follow-up. Cystic teratoma of the pancreas with a concomitant neuroendocrine tumor is an extremely rare condition. Surgical resection remains the mainstay of treatment as it provides a definitive diagnosis and no recurrences have been reported to date.     

Establishment of an optimized CTC detection model consisting of EpCAM,MUC1 and WT1 in epithelial ovarian cancer and its correlation with clinical characteristics

Objective: Emerging studies have demonstrated the promising clinical value of circulating tumor cells(CTCs)for diagnosis, disease assessment, treatment monitoring and prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer. However, the clinical application of CTC remains restricted due to diverse detection techniques with variable sensitivity and specificity and a lack of common standards.Methods: We enrolled 160 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer as the experimental group, and 90 patients including 50 pat...     

乳突后小骨窗开颅骨片复位显微手术切除大型桥小脑角肿瘤

目的 探讨大型桥小脑角肿瘤经乳突后小骨窗开颅、骨片复位的手术方法 及其治疗效果.方法 18例大型桥小脑角肿瘤(听神经鞘瘤13例,脑膜瘤3例,胆脂瘤2例)均采用单侧乳突后小骨窗开颅,应用显微神经外科技术进行肿瘤切除,必要时磨开内听道,术中行脑干听觉诱发电位(BAEP)、体感诱发电位(SEP)和面神经功能监测,肿瘤切除后严密缝合硬脑膜,骨片复位.结果 肿瘤全切除17例、次全切除1例.全组患者的面神经均得到了解剖保留.无手术死亡.术后复查MRI示17例肿瘤全切除者未见有肿瘤残留,1例听神经鞘瘤行次全切除者于内听道内可见少许肿瘤组织残留,术后3个月行伽玛刀治疗.术后有10例遗留轻度面瘫(口角稍有歪斜,眼睑闭合良好),均为大型听神经鞘瘤患者,余患者无脑神经功能障碍,恢复良好.结论乳突后小骨窗开颅术适用于不同大小的桥小脑角肿瘤,严格按显微神经外科技术操作,结合术中BAEP,SEP和面神经功能监测,均可做到肿瘤全切除,并能有效地保护肿瘤周围的重要神经结构及其功能.严密缝合硬脑膜和骨片复位可消除局部皮下积液.     

补体C3a受体1与低级别胶质瘤预后及免疫细胞浸润的关系

目的 借助癌症基因组图谱(TCGA)数据库研究低级别胶质瘤(LGG)组织中补体C3a受体1(C3AR1)的表达水平及其与LGG患者预后及肿瘤免疫细胞浸润的关系.方法 从TCGA数据库下载514例LGG患者的基因表达谱数据和临床信息.比较C3AR1基因在LGG组织和正常组织中的表达水平,分析不同WHO分级LGG组织样本中...     

恶性肿瘤并发皮肤瘙痒症5例临床分析

作者认为恶性肿瘤引起的瘙痒有二种特点:(1)患者难以忍受;(2)抗组织胺药物无效。     

Pancreatic schwannoma: Case report,clinico-pathologic correlation,and review of the literature

Schwannomas are common peripheral nerve sheath tumors that typically occur on the head, neck, trunk, or extremities. Intra-abdominal schwannomas, however, are rare. We describe a young woman who presented for imaging evaluation of suspected nephrolithiasis and was incidentally found to have a schwannoma centered within the pancreatic parenchyma. In addition, we detail the clinical, imaging, and histopathologic features of pancreatic schwannoma and summarize diagnosis and management of this rare clinical entity.     

基质刚度调节细胞-细胞外基质间黏附对肿瘤细胞迁移影响的模型研究

目的 研究细胞外基质(extracellular matrix,ECM)刚度对细胞和ECM间黏附及肿瘤迁移的影响.方法 建立基于网状波茨模型(cellular Potts model,CPM),模拟肿瘤细胞生长与细胞间免疫反馈过程,观察细胞力学行为改变对细胞-ECM黏附的影响状况,分析不同ECM下肿瘤细胞迁移的变化.结...     

磁共振血管壁成像在颅内动脉瘤诊断中的应用价值

目的 探讨高分辨磁共振血管壁成像（magnetic resonance vascular wall imaging,MR-VWI）对颅内动脉瘤（intracranial aneurysm,IA）的诊断价值。方法 选取2020年1月—2021年2月本院收治的动脉瘤患者共58例（70个瘤体）,依据动脉瘤破裂与否将其分为A组（破裂,10个瘤体）及B组（未破裂,60个瘤体）,同时再将B组依据患者是否存在症状分为B1（有症状12个）及B2（无症状48个）。所有入组患者均经MR-VWI进行检查,对比观察各组间MR检查结果。结果 B组瘤体大小、瘤径宽度、子囊比例、高宽比及瘤径强化分级均明显低于A组患者,差异有统计学意义（P <0.05）;B1组患者高宽比及瘤壁强化分级明显高于B2组患者,差异有统计学意义（P <0.05）。结论 使用高分辨MR血管壁成像可有效评估颅内动脉瘤破裂风险,具有无创,高效的优势,值得在临床中进一步推广使用。     

The value of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging signal intensity in distinguishing between spinal meningiomas and schwannomas

Background: Prior studies have suggested a number of the subjective visual characteristics that help distinguish between spinal meningiomas and schwannomas on magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography; however, objective quantification of the signal intensity can be useful information. This study assessed whether quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal intensity (SI) measurements could distinguish intradural-extramedullary schwannomas from meningiomas.Methods: From July 2019 to September 2021, 54 patients with intradural-extramedullary tumors (37 meningiomas and 17 schwannomas) underwent surgery, and tumors were verified pathologically. Defined regions of interest were used to quantify SI values on T1- (T1W) and T2-weighted images (T2W). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to obtain cutoff values and calculate the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV).Results: Both Maximum (T2_max) and mean (T2_mean) T2W SI values demonstrated outstanding (AUC: 0.91) abilities to differentiate meningiomas from schwannomas with Se, Sp, PPV, and NPV values of 94.6%, 70.6%, 87.5%, and 85.7%, respectively, for T2_max and 81.1%, 88.2%, 93.8%, and 68.2% for T2_mean. The maximum SI value on contrast-enhanced T1W (T1CE_max) and the T2W tumor: fat SI ratio (rTF) demonstrated acceptable abilities (AUC: 0.73 and 0.79, respectively) to differentiate meningiomas from schwannomas with Se, Sp, PPV, and NPV values of 94.6%, 70.6%, 87.5%, and 85.7%, respectively, for T1CE_max and 81.1%, 88.2%, 93.8%, and 68.2% for rTF.Conclusions: Quantitative SI values (T2_max, T2_mean, T2_min, T1CE_max, rTF) can be used to differentiate intradural-extramedullary schwannomas from meningiomas.