Characteristics of genetic variants in 134 patients with Acute myeloid leukemia / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the characteristics of genetic variants in 134 patients diagnosed with Acute myeloid leukemia (AML).@*METHODS@#Clinical data of the 134 patients with AML (non-acute promyelocytic leukemia) initially diagnosed at the 940th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army from June 2017 to June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Potential variants of AML-related genes were detected by next-generation sequencing, and the frequency of variants was analyzed by using SPSS v26.0 software, and likelihood ratio χ2 test and Fisher exact test were used for data analysis.@*RESULTS@#The patients had included 72 males and 62 females, with a gender ratio of 1.7 : 1 and a median age of 51 years (9 ~ 86 years old). One hundred twenty patients (76.1%) had harbored at least one genetic variant, including 26 (19.4%) having a single variant, 27 (20.1%) having two variants, and 49 (36.6%) having >= 3 variants. 32 (23.9%) had no detectable variants. Genetic variants detected in over 10% of the 134 patients had included NPM1 (n = 24, 17.91%), FLT3-ITD (n = 21, 15.67%), DNMT3A (n = 20, 14.93%), CEBPA (single variant; n = 14, 10.45%), TET2 (n = 14, 10.45%), and NRAS (n = 14, 10.45%). The patients were also divided into low risk, intermediate risk and high risk groups based on their chromosomal karyotypes. The mutational rates for genes in different groups have varied, with 19 patients from the low risk group harboring variants of NRAS (n = 4, 21.05%), KRAS (n = 4, 21.05%), and KIT (n = 2, 10.53%); and 96 patients from the intermediate risk group harboring variants of NPM1 (n = 24, 25.00%), FLT3-ITD (n = 20, 20.83%), DNMT3A (n = 18, 18.75%), CEBPA (n = 12, 12.50%), and TET2 genes (n = 12, 12.50%). The mutational frequencies for the 19 patients from the high risk group were ASXL1 (n = 7, 21.05%), NRAS (n = 3, 15.97%), TP53 (n = 3, 15.79%), and EZH2 (n = 2, 10.53%). A significant difference was found in the frequencies of KIT, NPM1, FLT3-ITD, DNMT3A, and ASXL1 gene variants among the low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk groups.@*CONCLUSION@#AML patients have a high frequency for genetic variants, with 76.1% harboring at least one variant. The frequency of genetic variants have varied among patients with different chromosomal karyotypes, and there are apparent dominant variants. KIT, NPM1, FLT3-ITD, DNMT3A, and ASXL1 may be used as prognostic factors for evaluating their prognosis.

Recent advances in the treatment of persistent Müllerian duct syndrome / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Male sex differentiation is driven by 2 hormones produced by the fetal testis, testosterone and anti-Müllerian hormone(AMH), responsible for the regression of müllerian ducts in male fetuses. Mutations inactivating AMH or its receptor AMHR2 lead to the persistent müllerian duct syndrome(PMDS) in otherwise normally virilized 46, XY males. Further assessment was carried out when suspicion of PMDS arose from physical examination which revealed that the testis crossed to the contralateral side of the body. Further examination include ultrasound, AMH concentration, karyotype, and gene sequencing. Once PMDS is considered, there is no need to perform the gonads biopsy. The optical surgery methods include one-stage cryptorchidism and hernia curation, and at the same time.Stripping/destroying the mucosa of the retained müllerian remnants to reduce the risk of malignancy and, simultaneously, to prevent the damage to vas deference.

Application of New Single-cell Analysis Technology——Cytometry by Time-of-flight in Treatment of Leukemia / 肿瘤防治研究

Cytometry by time-of-flight (CyTOF) is an innovative single-cell analysis technique combining with mass spectrometry principles and flow cytometry. In recent years, CyTOF has been widely used in the study of leukemia treatment for its advantages of multi-parameter, high-throughput, compensation without calculation and diversified data analysis. It can accurately determine intracellular element contents and analyze the changes of unique phenotype and complex signaling pathways of leukemia cells at the single-cell level, to study the mechanism of action of anti-leukemia drugs, discover the potential therapeutic targets of leukemia, assess the therapeutic response and deeply understand the mechanism of leukemia relapse and drug resistance. This article reviews the research progress of CyTOF principle, characteristics, advantages and its application in leukemia treatment.

Preliminary investigation of gender assignment in 46,XY disorders of sex development with severe male undermasculinisation / 中华儿科杂志

Objective@#To explore the feasibility of gender assignment in 46,XY disorders of sex development (DSD) with severe undermasculinisation mainly based on molecular diagnosis.@*Methods@#A retrospective study of 45 patients of 46, XY DSD with severe undermasculinisation were admitted between November 2015 and October 2018 at Children′s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The initial social gender were all female, of whom the external genital manifestations were Prader 0 to 2; the degree of masculinity was scored using external masculinisation score (EMS); the position and development of the gonads were examined by ultrasound, cystoscopy and laparoscopy, also including assessing the development of the Wolffian tube and the Müllerian tube. The level and ratio of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone before and after hCG stimulation were evaluated for the function of Leydig cell and 5α-reductase-2. Gender role scales and sandbox games were used to assess gender role behavior. Genital sensitivity to androgen stimulation was assessed; A panel including 163 genes related to gender development were determined by second-generation sequencing in all 45 patients. Finally, a multidisciplinary team (MDT) makes a gender assignment after a comprehensive analysis mainly based on the molecular etiological diagnosis.@*Results@#Thirty-nine out of 45 patients (87%) had an identifiable genetic etiology, and the remaining 6 (13%) were negative for genetic testing. Forty-five patients had EMS less than or equal to 3 points. Sexual psychological assessment was performed in 39 patients, with male dominance in 24 (62%) and female dominance in 15 (38%). The gender assignment was 23 cases (51%) for male and 19 cases (42%) for female, and 3 cases (7%) were not completely determined.@*Conclusions@#Molecular diagnosis provides a strong basis for appropriate gender assignment of 46, XY DSD children with severe undermasculinisation. Based on molecular diagnosis, each DSD should be analyzed by professional MDT to analyze the clinical symptoms/signs, gonadal development, gonad tumor risk, external genital morphology, sexual psychological assessment, potential fertility opportunities, parental views, Social and cultural factors, etc. make appropriate gender assignment.

Fetal anteroposterior renal pelvic diameter for predicting antenatal hydronephrosis requiring postnatal surgery / 浙江大学学报·医学版

OBJECTIVE@#To assess the value of fetal anteroposterior renal pelvic diameter (APD) in predicting antenatal hydronephrosis requiring surgical treatment after birth.@*METHODS@#A total of 525 cases of antenatal hydronephrosis detected by prenatal ultrasonography (ultrasound index APD ≥ 4 mm in the second trimester and APD ≥ 7 mm in the third trimester) in Zhejiang Prenatal Diagnosis Center from June 2007 to June 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. ROC curve was used to analyze the relationship between these ultrasound indicators and the requirement for surgical treatment after birth.@*RESULTS@#There were 162 cases (30.9%) diagnosed in the second trimester and 363 cases (69.1%) diagnosed in the third trimester; 131 cases were diagnosed pathologically after birth, of which 121 finally underwent surgical treatment. The area under ROC curve (AUC) of APD in middle pregnancy for prediction of requiring surgery 1-12 years after birth was 0.910; the cut-off value of APD was 8.45 mm with a sensitivity of 97.1%, specificity of 70.9%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 47.9%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 98.9%. The AUC of APD in late pregnancy for prediction of requiring surgery 1-12 years after birth was 0.800; the cut-off value of APD was 12.25 mm with a sensitivity of 66.7%, specificity of 81.2%, PPV of 51.7%, and NPV of 89.1%.@*CONCLUSIONS@#APD in pregnancy can be used to predict whether the fetus with hydronephrosis needs surgical treatment after birth, and the prediction value of APD in the middle pregnancy is better.