Validation of Surveillance,Epidemiology, and End Results TNM staging for testicular germ cell tumor

ObjectivesTo evaluate the accuracy of testicular germ cell tumor category in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database following the 2010 American Joint Committee of Cancer revision of the TNM staging criteria.MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of our testicular cancer database from January 2010 to July 2011. Registrar extracted data on 76 patients were entered into the Cancer Surveillance Program database from 2 hospitals. We reviewed the SEER coding for each patient, including T, N, M, and S and overall stage group, as well as the range and S value given for tumor markers (lactate dehydrogenase, beta-human chorionic gonadotropin, and α-fetoprotein) both preorchiectomy and postorchiectomy. We then compared these values with the actual staging and tumor markers determined by patient medical record review by a single urologist.ResultsA high proportion of registry records were found to have inaccurate values of category: 71% of S category entries and 34% of N category entries, leading to an overall group stage inaccuracy of 77% in SEER data. Accuracy of overall combined stage group was significantly different between hospitals, with a higher percentage of errors at Hospital A (P< 0.05).ConclusionDespite improvements made to the SEER criteria for extracting data used to code testicular germ cell tumor TNM stage, considerable errors were identified, most notably in tumor marker and nodal status, resulting in an overwhelming number of errors in overall stage. Our findings suggest caution when utilizing SEER data for review of patients with testicular cancer and their staging.     

An MHV-68 Mutator Phenotype Mutant Virus,Confirmed by CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene Editing of the Viral DNA Polymerase Gene,Shows Reduced Viral Fitness

Drug resistance studies on human γ-herpesviruses are hampered by the absence of an in vitro system that allows efficient lytic viral replication. Therefore, we employed murine γ-herpesvirus-68 (MHV-68) that efficiently replicates in vitro as a model to study the antiviral resistance of γ-herpesviruses. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of resistance to nucleoside (ganciclovir (GCV)), nucleotide (cidofovir (CDV), HPMP-5azaC, HPMPO-DAPy) and pyrophosphate (foscarnet (PFA)) analogues and the impact of these drug resistance mutations on viral fitness. Viral fitness was determined by dual infection competition assays, where MHV-68 drug-resistant viral clones competed with the wild-type virus in the absence and presence of antivirals. Using next-generation sequencing, the composition of the viral populations was determined at the time of infection and after 5 days of growth. Antiviral drug resistance selection resulted in clones harboring mutations in the viral DNA polymerase (DP), denoted Y383S^GCV, Q827R^HPMP-5azaC, G302W^PFA, K442T^PFA, G302W+K442T^PFA, C297W^HPMPO-DAPy and C981Y^CDV. Without antiviral pressure, viral clones Q827R^HPMP-5azaC, G302W^PFA, K442T^PFA and G302W+K442T^PFA grew equal to the wild-type virus. However, in the presence of antivirals, these mutants had a growth advantage over the wild-type virus that was moderately to very strongly correlated with antiviral resistance. The Y383S^GCV mutant was more fit than the wild-type virus with and without antivirals, except in the presence of brivudin. The C297W and C981Y changes were associated with a mutator phenotype and had a severely impaired viral fitness in the absence and presence of antivirals. The mutator phenotype caused by C297W in MHV-68 DP was validated by using a CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing approach.     

超声内镜及CT检查对食管癌术前TN分期的价值

目的 评价超声内镜、螺旋CT检查对食管癌术前TN分期的价值.方法 回顾性总结术前EUS、CT判断87例食管癌的分期资料,并与术后病理分期对照.患者均未行化、放疗.环扫超声内镜进行操作,5例轻度狭窄病例扩张后再予EUS分期.结果 EUS T分期总准确率为85.1%,CT无法区分T1、T2.对于N分期,EUS判断探及范围内淋巴结转移的灵敏度为85.0%,高于CT扫描的60.8%;CT探查纵隔淋巴结较EUS全面.EUS与cT联合判断T分期的准确率为85.1%,N分期的准确率为90.8%.结论 EUS判断肿瘤浸润深度准确性高,EUS联合CT可进行更为全面准确的TNM分期.     

内镜超声检查在胃癌诊断和分期中的临床应用

目的评价内镜超声检查(EUS)对胃癌患者术前诊断和分期的准确性,以指导临床治疗方案的选择。方法22例经胃镜加活检病理检查确诊(17例)和疑诊为胃癌但常规活检阴性的患者(5例),同时行EUS、腹部螺旋CT检查,疑诊者在EUS检查的同时行EUS引导下细针穿刺活检(FNAB)以明确诊断。确定肿瘤侵犯深度(T)、局部淋巴结转移(N)、周围及远处器官转移(M)等分期情况,并与手术及病理对照,以评价EUS对胃癌诊断及TNM临床分期的准确性。结果5例疑诊者行EUS引导下FNAB全部成功取得肿瘤组织,病理诊断腺癌4例,印戒细胞癌1例。1例术前EUS诊断为T1N0M0期的患者行内镜下黏膜切除术,其余患者全部行外科胃癌根治术。与手术和病理结果比较,EUS对于TNM分期诊断总的敏感性和特异性分别为T:84.9%,74.2%;N:92.1%,77.1%;M:63.4%,87.5%。螺旋CT对于胃壁是否增厚及N、M分期的敏感性和特异性分别为T:27.3%,75%;N:31.5%,100%;M:50%,100%。其中EUS对于T和N分期的敏感性较CT高(P<0.05)。结论EUS术前评价胃癌临床分期具有显著的优越性,尤其是对于肿瘤侵犯深度和局部淋巴结转移的诊断,对指导临床治疗方案的选择及术后随访具有重要的参考价值。     

超声内镜在直肠癌新辅助治疗后再分期的应用价值研究

目的 探讨超声内镜在直肠癌新辅助放化疗后再分期的准确性.方法 61例初诊直肠癌患者纳入研究,新辅助治疗后行超声内镜分期,并与手术后病理分期进行比较.结果放化疗后EUS对直肠癌T分期的总准确率为59.0%(36/61),36.1%(22/61)的病例分期过高,4.9%(3/61)的病例分期过低.EUS对直肠癌N分期准确率为68.9%(42/61),14.7%(9/61)的病例分期过高,16.4%(10/61)的病例分期过低.结论 EUS对新辅助治疗后的直肠癌进行再分期的准确率降低.     

Prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in anti-HCV positive cirrhotic patients: a single-centre comparison amongst four different staging systems

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have foreseen an increase in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the near future and it is estimated that this trend will mostly affect hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive cirrhotic patients. Therefore, accuracy of HCC staging is an important clinical issue. AIM: To investigate the prognostic usefulness of a series of newly proposed HCC prognostic systems such as the Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) score, the Groupe d'Etude et de Traitement du Carcinome Hépatocellulaire (GRETCH) model and the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging classification when compared with the usefulness of a known staging system such as the Okuda staging system in a group of anti-HCV positive cirrhotic patients with HCC seen at a single centre. METHODS: Okuda stage, CLIP score, GRETCH model and BCLC stages were retrospectively computed in 81 anti-HCV positive cirrhotic patients with HCC. We evaluated and compared the ability of these methods to assess survival prognosis. RESULTS: As of December 2001, 51 patients had died and overall median survival was 18 months. All the staging systems were able to identify various patient subgroups with different survival. The CLIP score, the GRETCH model and the BCLC staging classification were better at characterizing the 1-year prognosis of the patients when compared with the Okuda staging system, whilst the 3-year prognostic evaluation was improved only by using the CLIP score or the BCLC staging classification. CONCLUSIONS: The prognostic value and usefulness of the CLIP score, the GRETCH model and the BCLC staging classification was reproduced in a single-centre analysis of anti-HCV positive HCC cirrhotic patients. These scores provided a prognostic assessment of our patients which is superior to what was obtained by the Okuda staging system.     

针型胸腔镜在晚期肺癌病理学诊断和分期中的价值

目的 探讨针型胸腔镜活检术在晚期肺癌病理学诊断和分期中的临床应用价值。方法 对经胸部螺旋CT和磁共振(MRI)检查临床诊断为Ⅲa～Ⅳ期肺癌，行痰、胸液细胞学和纤维支气管镜等检查，未能获得病理诊断的94例患，施行针型胸腔镜肺内原发病灶、纵隔淋巴结、肺内和胸壁转移病灶组织活检术。结果 94例患中89例经针型胸腔镜取得病理学标本，成功率为95％；术后病理均诊断为肺癌，其中腺癌47例，鳞癌23例，腺鳞癌12例，小细胞肺癌7例。经胸腔镜活检病理检查后，15例(17％)肺癌患病理分期得到更正；4例发生气胸，11例出现轻度皮下气肿，2例出现少量咯血；89例患术后8～18个月均获随访并行螺旋CT检查，无胸壁针道的肺癌种植性转移。结论 对常规检查方法不能明确病理诊断和病理分期的晚期肺癌患，针型胸腔镜活检术可作为一种有效的确诊手段。