Distribution, Chemotherapy Use, and Outcome of the 21-Gene Recurrence Score Between Chinese and White breast Cancer in the United States.

PURPOSE: To compare the distribution, chemotherapy-decision making, and prognosis of the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) between Chinese breast cancer (BC) in the United States and White American (WA) BC. METHODS: We identified early-stage and estrogen receptor-positive BC patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2015. Multivariate logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: A total of 67,486 patients were identified, including 66,215 (98.1%) WA patients and 1271 (1.9%) Chinese patients. Regarding the RS, 38,894 (57.6%) had low RS, 23,882 (35.4%) had intermediate RS, and 4710 (7.0%) had high RS. A similar distribution of RS was found between WA and Chinese BC (P = .280). The race was not the predictor associated with high RS. Similar trends of chemotherapy use were found in Chinese and WA BC. In WA BC, there were 4.1%, 31.5%, and 72.2% of patients receiving chemotherapy in low, intermediate, and high RS cohorts, respectively (P < .001). The proportion of chemotherapy use was 6.8%, 30.9%, and 74.0% in Chinese BC with low, intermediate, and high RS cohorts, respectively (P < 0.001). The multivariate prognostic analyses indicated that a higher RS was independently associated with an inferior breast cancer-specific survival. Similar trends were found among those with Chinese and WA BC. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate similar distribution, chemotherapy use, and outcome of the 21-gene RS between Chinese and WA BC in the United States.

Biopsy of cervical lymph node does not impact the survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PURPOSE: The optimal practice regarding cervical lymph node biopsy (CLNB) remains to be defined to provide the best clinical management in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study aimed to investigate the effect of CLNB on the survival of NPC patients. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with NPC from 2004 to 2015 were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Multivariate logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier method, Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to determine the factors associated with CLNB and prognostic effect of CLNB of NPC. RESULTS: We included 1903 patients in this study. There were 321 (16.9%) and 1582 (83.1%) patients with and without CLNB, respectively. The percentage of CLNB was 19.4% in 2004 and was decreased to 8.6% in 2015 (p = 0.044). Patients diagnosed in later years (p = 0.008), older age (p < 0.001), Chinese (p = 0.002), advanced tumor stage (p < 0.001), and early nodal stage (p = 0.003) were less likely to receive additional CLNB. In patients who received additional CLNB, the 5-years NPC-specific survival (NPCSS) was 83.6%, which was similar to patients without CLNB (80.1%, p = 0.159). In addition, a similar 5-years NPCSS was found between those receiving biopsy or aspiration of regional lymph node and those receiving lymph node resection (p = 0.584). There were 187 pairs of patients who were completely matched using PSM, the multivariate prognostic analyses indicated that the receipt of CLNB was not associated with an inferior outcome in the PSM cohort (p = 0.349). Similar results were found after stratification by the year of diagnosis, race/ethnicity, and histology. CONCLUSION: Additional CLNB is not associated with an inferior survival outcome in NPC. Our study provides a reference for the clinical practice of NPC.

Extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma presenting as cavernous sinus syndrome.

Extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphomas are rare, highly aggressive tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) that commonly affect the nasal cavity or paranasal sinuses. NK/T-cell lymphomas are associated with a poor prognosis, as they exhibit a wide range of unique clinical presentations and neuroimaging findings that are currently difficult to detect. Pathological examination is considered to be more reliable for defining the pathological entity of NK/T-cell lymphoma. Early testing for fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography may improve the evaluation of lymphomas, which have been known to display avid 18FDG uptake. The authors herein report a case of NK/T-cell lymphoma presenting with cavernous sinus syndrome involving the CNS via direct extension from the nose. NK/T-cell lymphomas are very aggressive, with an unfavorable clinical outcome, and the optimal therapy has not yet been clearly defined.

Novel SNPs of the caprine growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR) gene and their association with growth traits in goats.

Growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), a G protein-coupled receptor that binds ghrelin, plays an important role in the central regulation of pituitary growth hormone secretion, food intake, and energy homeostasis. This study analyzed polymorphism of the caprine GHSR gene as a genetic marker candidate for growth traits in goats. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (GU014697:g.165G-->A and GU014697:g.548T-->C) were identified in exon 2 of the caprine GHSR gene by PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism and DNA sequencing methods. Their associations with growth traits were analyzed in 313 Xuhuai goats. The results indicated that GU014697:g.548T-->C had significant effects on growth traits. Body length and body length index were significantly higher in individuals with genotype TT than CC and CT in (P < 0.05). TT individuals also tended to have better performance in other traits, such as body height and chest circumference, although there were no statistical differences (P > 0.05). This suggests that GHSR is a strong candidate gene that affects growth traits in goats.