Research progress on prediction methods for esophageal cancer response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

The incidence of esophageal cancer ranks third among all malignant tumors in China. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery is the standard treatment for locally advanced esophageal cancer. Whether the tumor lesions can achieve complete pathological remission after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy provide profound guidance for subsequent treatment. In this article, research progresses on the application of pathological, radiological and biological approaches to evaluate and predict the tumor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy were reviewed.

Modified ovarian response prediction index: a novel index for ovarian response prediction in GnRH agonist cycles

Background: Evaluation of the ovarian reserve is necessary to achieve an appropriate controlled ovarian stimulation (COS). This can be done by correctly predicting the ovarian response. The objective of this study was to derive a simple index by combining the above parameters which will be helpful determining ovarian response.Methods: This retrospective analysis was performed at Guru hospital, Madurai, involving 162 patients between July 2016 and July 2018. Inclusion criteria was all patients attending for their first ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) cycle between the above period, GnRH agonist protocol as the method of ovarian stimulation, no history of any previous ovarian surgery, presence of both ovaries and no evidence of any obvious endocrine disorders. We calculated MORPI values by multiplying the AMH (ng/ml) level by the number of antral follicles (2-9 mm), and the result was divided by the age (years) of the patient and the day- 3 serum FSH level.Results: At a cut-off value of 35 (AUC-0.952) for collection of ≥ 4 oocytes and 140 (AUC-0.952) for collection of ≥ 15 oocytes, MORPI was found to have optimum sensitivity and specificity under ROC curve analysis.Conclusions: MORPI is a simple, precise and cost effective index to predict a low ovarian response, the collection of >4 MII oocytes and an excessive ovarian response in infertile women. This index also has a good ability to predict the clinical pregnancy rate. This might be used to improve the cost-benefit ratio of ovarian stimulation regimens.

Sensitivity of Various Evaluating Modalities for Predicting a Pathologic Complete Response After Preoperative Chemoradiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

PURPOSE: We investigated the sensitivity of various evaluating modalities in predicting a pathologic complete response (pCR) after preoperative chemoradiation therapy (PCRT) for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). METHODS: From a population of 2,247 LARC patients who underwent PCRT followed by surgery at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea from January 2007 to June 2016, we retrospectively analyzed 313 patients (14.1%) who showed a pCR after surgery. Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), abdominopelvic computed tomography (AP-CT), and endoscopy were performed within 2 weeks prior to surgery. RESULTS: Of the 313 patients analyzed, 256 (81.8%) had a pCR after radical surgery and 57 (18.2%) showed total regression after local excision. Preoperative TRUS, MRI, and AP-CT were performed in 283, 305, and 139 patients, respectively. Among these 3 groups, a prediction of a pCR of the primary tumor was made in 41 (14.5%), 51 (16.7%), and 27 patients (19.4%), respectively, before surgery. A prediction of a clinical N0 stage was made in 204 patients (88.3%) using TRUS, 130 (52.2%) using MRI, and 78 (65.5%) using AP-CT. Of the 211 patients who underwent endoscopy, 87 (41.2%) had a mention of clinical CR in their records. A prediction of a pathologic CR was made for 124 patients (39.6%) through at least one diagnostic modality. CONCLUSION: The various evaluation methods for predicting a pCR after PCRT show a predictive sensitivity of 0.15–0.41 for primary tumors and 0.52–0.88 for lymph nodes. Endoscopy is a relatively superior modality for predicting the pCR of the primary tumor of LARC patients.

Clinical significance of quantitative level of hepatitis B core antibody / 中华肝脏病杂志

Hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) targets viral core protein and is produced in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and seroconversion occurs in the early stage of infection and often lasts for a lifetime. Qualitative detection of anti-HBc has been used in clinical practice for many years, while the clinical significance of its quantitative level remains unclear. A novel anti-HBc immunoassay based on double-antigen sandwich ELISA has been developed in recent years and lays a foundation for illustrating the change in the quantitative level of anti-HBc (qAnti-HBc) in HBV infection and its clinical significance. Several recent studies have revealed that qAnti-HBc is associated with the degree of hepatitis activity and response to pharmacotherapy and may become an important basis for selecting antiviral drugs, optimizing therapeutic regimen, and predicting treatment outcome.