Application of artificial intelligence technology in tissue and cell morphology assessment / 第二军医大学学报

Presently morphological evaluation and special staining scoring system are important components of basic and clinical research, and are very important for judging the efficacy of drugs and gene intervention. However, the current visual scoring system has some disadvantages such as strong subjectivity, poor repeatability and low accuracy, and is prone to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis. Artificial intelligence technology based on deep learning is expected to overcome these problems. In our study, we found that the convolutional neural network can be used to accurately extract internal features related to the treatment and prognosis of tumors, such as tumor-stroma ratio, nerve invasion and spatial distribution of lymphatic cells in tumor specimens, visualizing and digitalizing the curative effect of drug intervention on disease progression, and can quantify and automatic evaluate the expression of molecular biomarkers related to clinical treatment, classification and prognosis. The application of artificial intelligence technology in tissue and cell morphology assessment will promote the consistency, repeatability and accuracy of clinical drug evaluation and basic scientific research evaluation, and is expected to further promote the development of medical research.

Silencing of CXCR4 Inhibits Tumor Cell Proliferation and Neural Invasion in Human Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the expression of CXC motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in the tissues of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (hilar-CCA) and to investigate the cell proliferation and frequency of neural invasion (NI) influenced by RNAi-mediated CXCR4 silencing. METHODS: An immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of CXCR4 in 41 clinical tissues, including hilar-CCA, cholangitis, and normal bile duct tissues. The effects of small interference RNA (siRNA)-mediated CXCR4 silencing were detected in the hilar-CCA cell line QBC939. Cell proliferation was determined by MTT. Expression of CXCR4 was monitored by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. The NI ability of hilar-CCA cells was evaluated using a perineural cell and hilar-CCA cell coculture migration assay. RESULTS: The expression of CXCR4 was significantly induced in clinical hilar-CCA tissue. There was a positive correlation between the expression of CXCR4 and lymph node metastasis/NI in hilar-CCA patients (p<0.05). Silencing of CXCR4 in tumor cell lines by siRNA led to significantly decreased NI (p<0.05) and slightly decreased cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: CXCR4 is likely correlated with clinical recurrence of hilar-CCA. CXCR4 is involved in the invasion and proliferation of human hilar-CCA cell line QBC939, indicating that CXCR4 could be a promising therapeutic target for hilar-CCA.

Risk factors of vagus nerve invasion in patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To investigate the risk factors of vagus nerve invasion of advanced adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction (AEG).Methods The specimens from 98 patients with advanced AEG who underwent radical total gastrectomy and esophagogastric Roux-en-Y anastomosis from January 2011 to August 2012 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were collected.Serial section cutting was done and the upper and bottom incisional edges of every section were marked.The specimens were stained by hematoxylin-eosin solution,S-100 and CK immunohistochemistry.Vagus nerve invasion could be affirmed if cancer cells were observed in the peripheral space of vagus nerve and vagus nerve parenchyma or cancer cells infiltrated along the peripheral space of vagus nerve.Relationship between nerve invasion and clinicopathological factors was analyzed using chi-square test or Fisher exact probability.Factors related to vagus nerve invasion were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and multi-factor logistic regression analysis.Results The incidence of vagus nerve invasion was 28.6％ (28/98),and the tumor only invaded the vagus nerve which had the same altitude as the upper incisional edge.The results of one-way analysis of variance showed that Siewert classification,intravascular cancer emboli,lymph node metastasis,the degree of lymph node metastasis,clinical staging,the degree of tumor differentiation were correlated with the vagus nerve invasion (x2 =14.156,14.552,5.454,10.706,6.919,14.767,P ＜ 0.05).The results of multi-factor logistic regression analysis showed that Siewert classification,intravascular cancer emboli and degree of tumor differentiation were the independent influencing factors of vague nerve invasion (OR =3.667,10.368,0.249,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Vagus nerve invasion is correlated with Siewert classification,intravascular cancer emboli and degree of tumor differentiation.The range of vagus nerve invasion is restricted under the upper incisional edge of tumor section.

Progress in pancreatic cancer neural invasion / 国际外科学杂志

Neural invasion is an important invasion pathway of pancreatic cancer.New research shows that neural invasion of pancreatic cancer related genes in the sequential role effect,through the cell signal transduction,regulation of specific growth factors,adhesion molecules,matrix metallopmteinase and other related systems,then changed in the generation,resulting in the cancer cells invasion of the nerve tissue eventually.We reviewed the progress of neural invasion of pancreatic cancer in this paper.

Expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma and peripheral nerve tissues / 第二军医大学学报

Objective: To study the relationship between CXCL12/CXCR4 expression and the neural invasion of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC). Methods: Totally 41 SACC specimens, 30 tongue cancer specimens, 20 pleomorphic adenoma specimens and 20 normal nerve specimens were included in the present study. The specimens were made into sections of 4 μm and EnVision method was used to detect the expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 in SACC sections and the expression of the chemokine CXCL12 in the peripheral nerve tissue sections. Results: The chemokine receptor was highly expressed in ACC cells. The positive rate of CXCR4 was 63.41% in the SACC sections, which was significantly higher than those in the tongue cancer group (36.67%) and the pleomorphic adenoma parotid group (35%) (P<0.05). The expression of CXCL12 was not significantly different between the nerve tissues of SACC, tongue cancer and the normal nerve tissues. Conclusion: The cbemokine CXCL12 is elevated in the SACC cells and its receptor CXCR4 is elevated in the peripheral nerve tissues, indicating a role of the biological axis of CXCL12/CXCR4 in the neural invasion of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Lymphatic, Vessel, and Neural Invasions in Gastric Cancer and Its Significance in Prognosis

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to investigate the prognostic significance of lymphatic invasion (LI), vessel invasion (VI), and neural invasion (NI) in gastric cancer and their correlations with other standard prognostic variables, such as the TNM stage. METHODS: The case histories of 100 gastric adenocarcinoma patients who had undergone a curative resection from 1992 to 1996 at Taegu Hyosung- Catholic University Hospital, Taegu, Korea were analyzed retrospectively. The Chi-Square test was used to determine the statistical significance of differences, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates. Significant differences in the survival rate were assessed using the log-rank test. The cox regression method was used for evaluation of independent prognostic significance. RESULTS: The 2-year survival rate was significantly lower (p<0.05) in LI (+) and NI (+) cases. The correlation between the T stage and LI, VI, and NI was statistically significant. Also, the correlation between the N stage and LI, VI, and NI was statistically significant. In the lymph node (+) group (n=43), the 2-year cumulative survival rate was higher in LI (-), VI (-), and NI (-) cases, but this result was not statistically significant. In the lymph node (-) group (n=57), the 2-year cumulative survival rate was higher in LI (-), VI (-), and NI (-) cases, but only the result for the NI (-) group was significant. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that LI, VI, and NI were not significant factors influencing the prognosis, although they were significant in the univariate analysis. CONCLUSION: This study identifies LI, VI, and NI as possible prognostic factor in gastric adenocarcinoma cases, but more careful research is needed.

Expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma and peripheral nerve tissues / 第二军医大学学报

Objective:To study the relationship between CXCL12/CXCR4 expression and the neural invasion of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma(SACC).Methods:Totally 41 SACC specimens,30 tongue cancer specimens,20 pleomorphic adenoma specimens and 20 normal nerve specimens were included in the present study.The specimens were made into sections of 4?m and EnVision method was used to detect the expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 in SACC sections and the expression of the chemokine CXCL12 in the peripheral nerve tissue sections.Results:The chemokine receptor was highly expressed in ACC cells.The positive rate of CXCR4 was 63.41% in the SACC sections,which was significantly higher than those in the tongue cancer group(36.67%)and the pleomorphic adenoma parotid group(35%)(P