Clinical implications of 3D printing technology in preoperative evaluation of partial nephrectomy / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVES@#Renal cancer is a common malignancy of the urinary system, and the partial nephrectomy is a common surgical modality for early renal cancer. 3D printing technology can create a visual three-dimensional model by using 3D digital models of the patient's imaging data. With this model, surgeons can perform preoperative assessment to clarify the location, depth, and blood supply of the tumor, which helps to develop preoperative plans and achieve better surgical outcomes. In this study, the R.E.N.A.L scoring system was used to stratify patients with renal tumors and to explore the clinical application value of 3D printing technology in laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.@*METHODS@#A total of 114 renal cancer patients who received laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in Xiangya Hospital from June 2019 to December 2020 were enrolled. The patients were assigned into an experimental group (n=52) and a control group (n=62) according to whether 3D printing technology was performed, and the differences in perioperative parameters between the 2 groups were compared. Thirty-nine patients were assigned into a low-complexity group (4-6 points), 32 into a moderate-complexity group (7-9 points), and 43 into a high-complexity group (10-12 points) according to R.E.N.A.L score, and the differences in perioperative parameters between the experimental group and the control group in each score group were compared.@*RESULTS@#The experimental group had shorter operative time, renal ischemia time, and postoperative hospital stay (all P<0.05), less intraoperative blood loss (P=0.047), and smaller postoperative blood creatinine change (P=0.032) compared with the control group. In the low-complexity group, there were no statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in operation time, renal ischemia time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative blood creatinine changes, and postoperative hospital stay (all P>0.05). In the moderate- and high- complexity groups, the experimental group had shorter operative time, renal ischemia time, and postoperative hospital stay (P<0.05 or P<0.001), less intraoperative blood loss (P=0.022 and P<0.001, respectively), and smaller postoperative blood creatinine changes (P<0.05 and P<0.001, respectively) compared with the control group.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Compared with renal tumor patients with R.E.N.A.L score<7, renal cancer patients with R.E.N.A.L score≥7 may benefit more from 3D printing assessment before undergoing partial nephrectomy.

Evaluation of three-dimensional tumor microvascular architecture phenotype heterogeneity in non-small cell carcinoma and its significance / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the degree, mechanism and clinical significance of three-dimensional tumor microvascular architecture phenotype heterogeneity (3D-TMAPH) in non-small cell carcinoma (NSCLC).@*METHODS@#Twenty-one samples of solitary pulmonary nodules were collected integrally. To establish two-dimensional tumor microvascular architecture phenotype (2D-TMAP) and three-dimensional tumor microvascular architecture phenotype (3D-TMAP), five layers of each nodule were selected and embedded in paraffin. Test indices included the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), EphB4, ephfinB2 and microvascular density marked by anti-CD34 (CD34-MVD). The degrees of 3D-TMAPH were evaluated by the coefficient of variation and extend of heterogeneity. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationships between 2D-TMAP, 3D-TMAP and clinicopathological features.@*RESULTS@#3D-TMAPH showed that 2D-TMAP heterogeneity was expressed in the tissues of NSCLC. The heterogeneities in the malignant nodules were significantly higher than those in the active inflammatory nodules and tubercular nodules. In addition, different degrees of heterogeneity of CD34-MVD and PCNA were found in NSCLC tissues. The coefficients of variation of CD34- MVD and PCNA were positively related to the degree of differentiation (all P0.05). The level of heterogeneity of various expression indexes (ephrinB2, EphB4, VEGF) in NSCLC tissues were inconsistent, but there were no significant differences in heterogeneity in NSCLC tissues with different histological types (P>0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#3D-TMAPH exists widely in the microenvironment during the genesis and development of NSCLC and has a significant impact on its biological complexity.