Dual-energy CT quantitative parameters to evaluate occult peritoneal metastasis in advanced gastric cancer preoperatively.

PURPOSE: To explore whether dual-energy CT (DECT) quantitative parameters could provide analytic value for the diagnosis of patients with occult peritoneal metastasis (OPM) in advanced gastric cancer preoperatively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 219 patients with advanced gastric cancer and DECT scans. The patient's clinical data and DECT related iodine concentration (IC) parameters and effective atomic number (Zeff) were collated and analyzed among noun-peritoneal metastasis (NPM), OPM and radiologically peritoneal metastasis (RPM) groups. The predictive performance of the DECT parameters was compared with that of the conventional CT features and clinical characteristics through evaluating area under curve of the precision-recall (AUC-PR), F1 score, balanced accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). RESULTS: Borrmann IV type diagnosed on CT and serum tumor indicator CA125 index were statistically different between the NPM and OPM groups. DECT parameters included IC, normalized IC (NIC), and Zeff of PM group were lower than the NPM group. The DECT predictive nomogram combined three independent DECT parameters produced a better diagnostic performance than the conventional CT feature Borrmann IV type and serum CA125 index in AUC-PR with 0.884 vs 0.368 vs 0.189, but similar to the combined indicator which was based on the DECT parameters, the conventional CT feature, and serum CA125 index in AUC-PR with 0.884 vs 0.918. CONCLUSION: The lower quantitative NIC, IC ratio, and Zeff on DECT was associated with peritoneal metastasis in advanced gastric cancer and was promising to identify patients with OPM noninvasively.

Deep learning-accelerated T2WI: image quality, efficiency, and staging performance against BLADE T2WI for gastric cancer.

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study is to investigate image quality, efficiency, and diagnostic performance of a deep learning-accelerated single-shot breath-hold (DLSB) against BLADE for T2-weighted MR imaging (T2WI) for gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: 112 patients with GCs undergoing gastric MRI were prospectively enrolled between Aug 2022 and Dec 2022. Axial DLSB-T2WI and BLADE-T2WI of stomach were scanned with same spatial resolution. Three radiologists independently evaluated the image qualities using a 5-scale Likert scales (IQS) in terms of lesion delineation, gastric wall boundary conspicuity, and overall image quality. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated in measurable lesions. T staging was conducted based on the results of both sequences for GC patients with gastrectomy. Pairwise comparisons between DLSB-T2WI and BLADE-T2WI were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, paired t-test, and chi-squared test. Kendall's W, Fleiss' Kappa, and intraclass correlation coefficient values were used to determine inter-reader reliability. RESULTS: Against BLADE, DLSB reduced total acquisition time of T2WI from 495 min (mean 4:42 per patient) to 33.6 min (18 s per patient), with better overall image quality that produced 9.43-fold, 8.00-fold, and 18.31-fold IQS upgrading against BALDE, respectively, in three readers. In 69 measurable lesions, DLSB-T2WI had higher mean SNR and higher CNR than BLADE-T2WI. Among 71 patients with gastrectomy, DLSB-T2WI resulted in comparable accuracy to BLADE-T2WI in staging GCs (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: DLSB-T2WI demonstrated shorter acquisition time, better image quality, and comparable staging accuracy, which could be an alternative to BLADE-T2WI for gastric cancer imaging.

Utility of Combined Use of Imaging Features From Abdominopelvic CT and CA 125 to Identify Presence of CT Occult Peritoneal Metastases in Advanced Gastric Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to identify the presence of occult peritoneal metastasis (OPM) in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) by using clinical characteristics and abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) features. METHODS: This retrospective study included 66 patients with OPM and 111 patients without peritoneal metastasis (non-PM [NPM]) who underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced CT between January 2020 and December 2021. Occult PMs means PMs that are missed by CT but later diagnosed by laparoscopy or laparotomy. Patients with NPM means patients have neither PM nor other distant metastases, indicating there is no evidence of distant metastases in patients with AGC. Patients' clinical characteristics and CT features such as tumor marker, Borrmann IV, enhancement patterns, and pelvic ascites were observed by 2 experienced radiologists. Computed tomography features and clinical characteristics were combined to construct an indicator for identifying the presence of OPM in patients with AGC based on a logistic regression model. Receiver operating characteristic curves and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were generated to assess the diagnostic performance of the combined indicator. RESULTS: Four independent predictors (Borrmann IV, pelvic ascites, carbohydrate antigen 125, and normalized arterial CT value) differed significantly between OPM and NPM and performed outstandingly in distinguishing patients with OPM from those without PM (AUC = 0.643-0.696). The combined indicator showed a higher AUC value than the independent risk factors (0.820 vs 0.643-0.696). CONCLUSIONS: The combined indicator based on abdominopelvic CT features and carbohydrate antigen 125 may assist clinicians in identifying the presence of CT OPMs in patients with AGC.

Low Back Pain in Resident Doctors with Standardized Training in China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent occupational disease with high morbidity among healthcare workers. Since the implementation of standardized residency training in China in 2015, the training intensity has significantly increased, which may lead to a higher incidence of LBP. However, epidemiological studies on LBP among resident doctors with standardized training remain scarce. Objective: To investigate the prevalence and associated factors of LBP among resident doctors with standardized training in a tertiary hospital in China. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using self-administered questionnaires to collect information on demographics, lifestyle factors, work-related factors, and LBP from 345 resident doctors. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the prevalence of LBP. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with LBP. Results: Among 345 participants, the 1-year prevalence of LBP was 75.9%. Multivariable analysis revealed that physical exercise, weekly working hours, and prolonged sitting were independent risk factors for LBP. Conclusion: The prevalence of LBP among resident doctors was high. Promoting physical exercise, controlling working hours, and improving sitting posture may help prevent LBP. The study was limited by its cross-sectional design and self-reported data. Future studies should use longitudinal designs, objective measures, and larger and more representative samples to further explore the epidemiology and etiology of LBP among resident doctors with standardized training.

UV-Activated Au Modified TiO2/In2O3 Hollow Nanospheres for Formaldehyde Detection at Room Temperature.

Au modified TiO2/In2O3 hollow nanospheres were synthesized by the hydrolysis method using the carbon nanospheres as a sacrificial template. Compared to pure In2O3, pure TiO2, and TiO2/In2O3 based sensors, the Au/TiO2/In2O3 nanosphere-based chemiresistive-type sensor exhibited excellent sensing performances to formaldehyde at room temperature under ultraviolet light (UV-LED) activation. The response of the Au/TiO2/In2O3 nanocomposite-based sensor to 1 ppm formaldehyde was about 5.6, which is higher than that of In2O3 (1.6), TiO2 (2.1), and TiO2/In2O3 (3.8). The response time and recovery time of the Au/TiO2/In2O3 nanocomposite sensor were 18 s and 42 s, respectively. The detectable formaldehyde concentration could go down as low as 60 ppb. In situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) was used to analyze the chemical reactions on the surface of the sensor activated by UV light. The improvement in the sensing properties of the Au/TiO2/In2O3 nanocomposites could be attributed to the nanoheterojunctions and electronic/chemical sensitization of the Au nanoparticles.

SurvivalCNN: A deep learning-based method for gastric cancer survival prediction using radiological imaging data and clinicopathological variables.

Radiological images have shown promising effects in patient prognostication. Deep learning provides a powerful approach for in-depth analysis of imaging data and integration of multi-modal data for modeling. In this work, we propose SurvivalCNN, a deep learning structure for cancer patient survival prediction using CT imaging data and non-imaging clinical data. In SurvivalCNN, a supervised convolutional neural network is designed to extract volumetric image features, and radiomics features are also integrated to provide potentially different imaging information. Within SurvivalCNN, a novel multi-thread multi-layer perceptron module, namely, SurvivalMLP, is proposed to perform survival prediction from censored survival data. We evaluate the proposed SurvivalCNN framework on a large clinical dataset of 1061 gastric cancer patients for both overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) prediction. We compare SurvivalCNN to three different modeling methods and examine the effects of various sets of data/features when used individually or in combination. With five-fold cross validation, our experimental results show that SurvivalCNN achieves averaged concordance index 0.849 and 0.783 for predicting OS and PFS, respectively, outperforming the compared state-of-the-art methods and the clinical model. After future validation, the proposed SurvivalCNN model may serve as a clinical tool to improve gastric cancer patient survival estimation and prognosis analysis.

Development and validation of a dual-energy CT-based model to estimate the malignant probability of distal gastric wall thickening.

Background: This study developed and validated a viable model for the preoperative diagnosis of malignant distal gastric wall thickening based on dual-energy spectral computed tomography (DEsCT). Methods: The imaging data of 208 patients who were diagnosed with distal gastric wall thickening using DEsCT were retrospectively collected and divided into a training cohort (n=151) and a testing cohort (n=57). The patient's clinical data and pathological information were collated. The multivariable logistic regression model was built using 5 selected features, and subsequently, a 10-fold cross-validation was performed to identify the optimal model. A nomogram was established based on the training cohort. Finally, the diagnostic performance of the best model was compared to the existing conventional CT scheme through evaluating the discrimination ability in the testing cohort in terms of the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calibration, and clinical usefulness. Results: Stepwise regression analysis identified 5 candidate variables with the smallest Akaike information criteria (AIC), namely, the venous phase spectral curve [VP_ SC; odds ratio (OR) 8.419], focal enhancement (OR 3.741), arterial phase mixed (OR 1.030), tumor site (OR 0.573), and diphasic shape change (DP_shape change; OR 2.746). The best regression model with 10-fold cross-validation consisting of VP_SC and focal enhancement was built using the 5 candidate variables. The average area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the model from the 10-fold cross-validation was 0.803 (sensitivity of 69.2%, specificity of 94.1%, and accuracy of 74.8%). In the testing cohort, the DEsCT model identified using the regression model performed better (AUC 0.905, sensitivity 81.3%, specificity 85.4%, and accuracy 84.2%) than did the conventional CT scheme (AUC 0.852, sensitivity 80.0%, specificity 76.6%, and accuracy 77.2%). The nomogram based on the DEsCT model showed good calibration and provided a better net benefit for predicting malignancy of distal gastric wall thickening. Conclusions: Comprehensive assessment with the DEsCT-based model can be used to facilitate the individualized diagnosis of malignancy risk in patients presenting with distal gastric wall thickening.

Comparison of Computed Tomography Features of Gastric and Small Bowel Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors With Different Risk Grades.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the computed tomography (CT) features of gastric and small bowel gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and further identify the predictors for risk stratification of them, respectively. METHODS: According to the modified National Institutes of Health criteria, patients were classified into low-malignant potential group and high-malignant potential group. Two experienced radiologists reviewed the CT features including the difference of CT values between arterial phase and portal venous phase (PVPMAP) by consensus. The CT features of gastric and small bowel GISTs were compared, and the association of CT features with risk grades was analyzed, respectively. Determinant CT features were used to construct corresponding models. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that small bowel GISTs tended to present with irregular contour, mixed growth pattern, ill-defined margin, severe necrosis, ulceration, tumor vessels, heterogeneous enhancement, larger size, and marked enhancement compared with gastric GISTs. According to multivariate analysis, tumor size (P < 0.001; odds ratio [OR], 3.279), necrosis (P = 0.008; OR, 2.104) and PVPMAP (P = 0.045; OR, 0.958) were the independent influencing factors for risk stratification of gastric GISTs. In terms of small bowel GISTs, the independent predictors were tumor size (P < 0.001; OR, 3.797) and ulceration (P = 0.031; OR, 4.027). Receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that the CT models for risk stratification of gastric and small bowel GISTs both achieved the best predictive performance. CONCLUSIONS: Computed tomography features of gastric and small bowel GISTs are different. Furthermore, the qualitative and quantitative CT features of GISTs may be favorable for preoperative risk stratification.

Prediction of the Ki-67 expression level and prognosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors based on CT radiomics nomogram.

PURPOSE: To build and validate a radiomics nomogram integrated with the radiomics signature and subjective CT characteristics to predict the Ki-67 expression level of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Moreover, the purpose was to compare the performance of pathological Ki-67 expression level with predicted Ki-67 expression level in estimating the prognosis of GISTs patients. METHODS: According to pathological results, patients were classified into high-Ki-67 labeling index group (Ki-67 LI ≥ 5%) and low-Ki-67 LI group (Ki-67 LI < 5%). Radiomics features extracted from contrast-enhanced CT(CECT) images were selected and classified to build a radiomics signature. A combined model was built by incorporating radiomics signature and determinant subjective CT characteristics using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The diagnostic performance of the radiomics signature, subjective CT model and combined model were explored by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and Delong test. The model with best diagnostic performance was then set up for the prediction nomogram. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were compared utilizing Kaplan-Meier curve. RESULTS: The generated combined model yielded the best diagnostic performance with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.738 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.669-0.807] and 0.772 (95% CI 0.683-0.860) in the training set and testing set respectively. The nomogram based on the combined model demonstrated good calibration in the training set and testing set (both P > 0.05). Patients of high-Ki-67 LI group predicted by our nomogram had a poorer RFS than patients of low-Ki-67 LI group (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This radiomics nomogram based on CECT had a satisfactory performance in predicting both the Ki-67 expression level and prognosis noninvasively in patients with GISTs, which may serve as an effective imaging tool that can assist in guiding personalized clinical treatment.

Prognostic aspects of lymphovascular invasion in localized gastric cancer: new insights into the radiomics and deep transfer learning from contrast-enhanced CT imaging.

OBJECTIVES: Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) is a factor significantly impacting treatment and outcome of patients with gastric cancer (GC). We aimed to investigate prognostic aspects of a preoperative LVI prediction in GC using radiomics and deep transfer learning (DTL) from contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) imaging. METHODS: A total of 1062 GC patients (728 training and 334 testing) between Jan 2014 and Dec 2018 undergoing gastrectomy were retrospectively included. Based on CECT imaging, we built two gastric imaging (GI) markers, GI-marker-1 from radiomics and GI-marker-2 from DTL features, to decode LVI status. We then integrated demographics, clinical data, GI markers, radiologic interpretation, and biopsies into a Gastric Cancer Risk (GRISK) model for predicting LVI. The performance of GRISK model was tested and applied to predict survival outcomes in GC patients. Furthermore, the prognosis between LVI (+) and LVI (-) patients was compared in chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy cohorts, respectively. RESULTS: GI-marker-1 and GI-marker-2 yield similar performance in predicting LVI in training and testing dataset. The GRISK model yields the diagnostic performance with AUC of 0.755 (95% CI 0.719-0.790) and 0.725 (95% CI 0.669-0.781) in training and testing dataset. Patients with LVI (+) trend toward lower progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The difference of prognosis between LVI (+) and LVI (-) was more noticeable in non-chemotherapy than that in chemotherapy group. CONCLUSION: Radiomics and deep transfer learning features on CECT demonstrate potential power for predicting LVI in GC patients. Prospective use of a GRISK model can help to optimize individualized treatment decisions and predict survival outcomes.

Identifying Prognostic Markers From Clinical, Radiomics, and Deep Learning Imaging Features for Gastric Cancer Survival Prediction.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world. Improving gastric cancer survival prediction can enhance patient prognostication and treatment planning. METHODS: In this study, we performed gastric cancer survival prediction using machine learning and multi-modal data of 1061 patients, including 743 for model learning and 318 independent patients for evaluation. A Cox proportional-hazard model was trained to integrate clinical variables and CT imaging features (extracted by radiomics and deep learning) for overall and progression-free survival prediction. We further analyzed the prediction effects of clinical, radiomics, and deep learning features. Concordance index (c-index) was used as the model performance metric, and the predictive effects of multi-modal features were measured by hazard ratios (HRs) at pre- and post-operative settings. RESULTS: Among 318 patients in the independent testing group, the hazard predicted by Cox from multi-modal features is associated with their survival. The highest c-index was 0.783 (95% CI, 0.782-0.783) and 0.770 (95% CI, 0.769-0.771) for overall and progression-free survival prediction, respectively. The post-operative variables are significantly (p<0.001) more predictive than the pre-operative variables. Pathological tumor stage (HR=1.336 [overall survival]/1.768 [progression-free survival], p<0.005), pathological lymph node stage (HR=1.665/1.433, p<0.005), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (HR=1.632/1.522, p=0.02), chemotherapy treatment (HR=0.254/0.287, p<0.005), radiomics signature [HR=1.540/1.310, p<0.005], and deep learning signature [HR=1.950/1.420, p<0.005]) are significant survival predictors. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that CT radiomics and deep learning imaging features are significant pre-operative predictors, providing additional prognostic information to the pathological staging markers. Lower CEA levels and chemotherapy treatments also increase survival chances. These findings can enhance gastric cancer patient prognostication and inform treatment planning.

Rapid and quantitative detection of Shiga toxin1 and Shiga toxin2 based on multiple targets UPT-LF assay.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection causes a series of diseases that are highly pathogenic and deadly in humans and animals, seriously endangering public health. Of the pathogenic factors within STEC, the two groups of Shiga toxin (Stx) consisting Stx1 and Stx2 plays a prominent role in the pathogenesis of STEC infection. In this study, we developed single-target up-converting phosphor technology-based lateral flow assay (Stx-UPT-LFA) for the rapid detection of Stx1 and Stx2, respectively, and also developed a dual-target Stx1/2-UPT-LFA based on single-target strips to detect of Stx1 and Stx2 at the meantime within 20 min. We choose the purified Stx1 and Stx2 standard samples, and the optimum monoclonal antibody (namely 8E7-E6, 2F6-F8 for Stx1 and S1D8, S2C4 for Stx2) were selected for use in Stx-UPT-LFA in double-antibody-sandwich mode. The sensitivities of single-target Stx-UPT-LFA for both Stx1 and Stx2 were 1 ng mL-1 with accurate quantitation ranges of 1-1000 ng mL-1 and 1-800 ng mL-1 respectively. No false-negative result was found in the Stx2-UPT-LFA even with a high-test concentration up to 1000 ng mL-1. Meanwhile, both targets detection sensitivities for dual-target Stx1/2-UPT-LFA were 5 ng mL-1, and accurate quantitation ranges were 5-1000 ng mL-1 and 5-800 ng mL-1 for standard Stx1 and Stx2 solutions without cross-interference between two targets. Both techniques showed good linearities, with a linear fitting coefficient of determination(r) of 0.9058-0.9918. Therefore, the UPT-LFA could realize simultaneous detection for multiple targets on a single strip and thus to quickly determine the type of infectious Stxs. In addition, the single-target Stx1-UPT-LFA and Stx2-UPT-LFA showed excellent specificity to six toxins, even at high concentrations of 1000 ng mL-1. In conclusion, the developed Stx-UPT-LFA allows the rapid, quantitative, reliable and simultaneous detection of Stx1 and Stx2 within 20 min, providing an alternative method for clinical diagnosis of STEC infection.

Radiologic-Radiomic Machine Learning Models for Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Solid Renal Masses: Comparison With Expert-Level Radiologists.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to compare the performance of radiologicradiomic machine learning (ML) models and expert-level radiologists for differentiation of benign and malignant solid renal masses using contrast-enhanced CT examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This retrospective study included a cohort of 254 renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) (190 clear cell RCCs [ccRCCs], 38 chromophobe RCCs [chrRCCs], and 26 papillary RCCs [pRCCs]), 26 fat-poor angioleiomyolipomas, and 10 oncocytomas with preoperative CT examinations. Lesions identified by four expert-level radiologists (> 3000 genitourinary CT and MRI studies) were manually segmented for radiologicradiomic analysis. Disease-specific support vector machine radiologic-radiomic ML models for classification of renal masses were trained and validated using a 10-fold cross-validation. Performance values for the expert-level radiologists and radiologic-radiomic ML models were compared using the McNemar test. RESULTS. The performance values for the four radiologists were as follows: sensitivity of 73.7-96.8% (median, 84.5%; variance, 122.7%) and specificity of 48.4-71.9% (median, 61.8%; variance, 161.6%) for differentiating ccRCCs from pRCCs and chrRCCs; sensitivity of 73.7-96.8% (median, 84.5%; variance, 122.7%) and specificity of 52.8-88.9% for differentiating ccRCCs from fat-poor angioleiomyolipomas and oncocytomas (median, 80.6%; variance, 269.1%); and sensitivity of 28.1-60.9% (median, 84.5%; variance, 122.7%) and specificity of 75.0-88.9% for differentiating pRCCs and chrRCCs from fat-poor angioleiomyolipomas and oncocytomas (median, 50.0%; variance, 191.1%). After a 10-fold cross-validation, the radiologic-radiomic ML model yielded the following performance values for differentiating ccRCCs from pRCCs and chrRCCs, ccRCCs from fat-poor angioleiomyolipomas and oncocytomas, and pRCCs and chrRCCs from fat-poor angioleiomyolipomas and oncocytomas: a sensitivity of 90.0%, 86.3%, and 73.4% and a specificity of 89.1%, 83.3%, and 91.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION. Expert-level radiologists had obviously large variances in performance for differentiating benign from malignant solid renal masses. Radiologic-radiomic ML can be a potential way to improve interreader concordance and performance.

Machine Learning-Based Computational Models Derived From Large-Scale Radiographic-Radiomic Images Can Help Predict Adverse Histopathological Status of Gastric Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Adverse histopathological status (AHS) decreases outcomes of gastric cancer (GC). With the lack of a single factor with great reliability to preoperatively predict AHS, we developed a computational approach by integrating large-scale imaging factors, especially radiomic features at contrast-enhanced computed tomography, to predict AHS and clinical outcomes of patients with GC. METHODS: Five hundred fifty-four patients with GC (370 training and 184 test) undergoing gastrectomy were retrospectively included. Six radiomic scores (R-scores) related to pT stage, pN stage, Lauren & Borrmann (L&B) classification, World Health Organization grade, lymphatic vascular infiltration, and an overall histopathologic score (H-score) were, respectively, built from 7,000+ radiomic features. R-scores and radiographic factors were then integrated into prediction models to assess AHS. The developed AHS-based Cox model was compared with the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) eighth stage model for predicting survival outcomes. RESULTS: Radiomics related to tumor gray-level intensity, size, and inhomogeneity were top-ranked features for AHS. R-scores constructed from those features reflected significant difference between AHS-absent and AHS-present groups (P < 0.001). Regression analysis identified 5 independent predictors for pT and pN stages, 2 predictors for Lauren & Borrmann classification, World Health Organization grade, and lymphatic vascular infiltration, and 3 predictors for H-score, respectively. Area under the curve of models using those predictors was training/test 0.93/0.94, 0.85/0.83, 0.63/0.59, 0.66/0.63, 0.71/0.69, and 0.84/0.77, respectively. The AHS-based Cox model produced higher area under the curve than the eighth AJCC staging model for predicting survival outcomes. Furthermore, adding AHS-based scores to the eighth AJCC staging model enabled better net benefits for disease outcome stratification. DISCUSSION: The developed computational approach demonstrates good performance for successfully decoding AHS of GC and preoperatively predicting disease clinical outcomes.

Performance of a machine learning-based decision model to help clinicians decide the extent of lymphadenectomy (D1 vs. D2) in gastric cancer before surgical resection.

BACKGROUND: Controversy still exists on the optimal surgical resection for potentially curable gastric cancer (GC). Use of radiologic evaluation and machine learning algorithms might predict extent of lymphadenectomy to limit unnecessary surgical treatment. We purposed to design a machine learning-based clinical decision-support model for predicting extent of lymphadenectomy (D1 vs. D2) in local advanced GC. METHODS: Clinicoradiologic features available from routine clinical assignments in 557 patients with GCs were retrospectively interpreted by an expert panel blinded to all histopathologic information. All patients underwent surgery using standard D2 resection. Decision models were developed with a logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM) and auto-encoder (AE) algorithm in 371 training and tested in 186 test data, respectively. The primary end point was to measure diagnostic performance of decision model and a Japanese gastric cancer treatment guideline version 4th (JPN 4th) criteria for discriminate D1 (pT1 + pN0) versus D2 (≥ pT1 + ≥ pN1) lymphadenectomy. RESULTS: The decision model with AE analysis produced highest area under ROC curve (train: 0.965, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.948-0.978; test: 0.946, 95% CI 0.925-0.978), followed by SVM (train: 0.925, 95% CI 0.902-0.944; test: 0.942, 95% CI 0.922-0.973) and LR (train: 0.886, 95% CI 0.858-0.910; test: 0.891, 95% CI 0.891-0.952). By this improvement, overtreatment was reduced from 21.7% (121/557) by treat-all pattern, to 15.1% (84/557) by JPN 4th criteria, and to 0.7-0.9% (4-5/557) by the new approach. CONCLUSIONS: The decision model with machine learning analysis demonstrates high accuracy for identifying patients who are candidates for D1 versus D2 resection. Its approximate 14-20% improvements in overtreatment compared to treat-all pattern and JPN 4th criteria potentially increase the number of patients with local advanced GCs who can safely avoid unnecessary lymphadenectomy.

An Intelligent Clinical Decision Support System for Preoperative Prediction of Lymph Node Metastasis in Gastric Cancer.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a computational clinical decision support system (DSS) on the basis of CT radiomics features for the prediction of lymph node (LN) metastasis in gastric cancer (GC) using machine learning-based analysis. METHODS: Clinicopathologic and CT imaging data were retrospectively collected from 490 patients who were diagnosed with GC between January 2002 and December 2016. Radiomics features were extracted from venous-phase CT images. Relevant features were selected, ranked, and modeled using a support vector machine classifier in 326 training and validation data sets. A model test was performed independently in a test set (n = 164). Finally, a head-to-head comparison of the diagnostic performance of the DSS and that of the conventional staging criterion was performed. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety-seven of the 490 patients examined had histopathologic evidence of LN metastasis, yielding a 60.6% metastatic rate. The area under the curve for predicting LN+ was 0.824 (95% confidence interval, 0.804-0.847) for the DSS in the training and validation data and 0.764 (95% confidence interval, 0.699-0.833) in the test data. The calibration plots showed good concordance between the predicted and observed probability of LN+ using the DSS approach. The DSS was better able to predict LN metastasis than the conventional staging criterion in the training and validation data (accuracy 76.4% versus 63.5%) and in the test data (accuracy 71.3% versus 63.2%) CONCLUSIONS: A DSS based on 13 "worrisome" radiomics features appears to be a promising tool for the preoperative prediction of LN status in patients with GC.

Prevalence of hepatitis E virus infection among blood donors in mainland China: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The risk of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection from blood transfusion has raised increasing concern in many countries. Several transfusion-transmitted cases have been described in the United Kingdom and Japan. The objective was to investigate the prevalence of HEV infection among Chinese blood donors and analyze the potential risk of HEV infection through blood transfusion in China. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Major English and Chinese research databases were used as background research for the study of locations, years, and the number of HEV infections among blood donors in China. The pooled, estimated rate of HEV infection was calculated. Subgroup analyses, for age, sex, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were performed using software for comprehensive meta-analysis. RESULTS: The pooled rates of anti-HEV IgM- and anti-HEV IgG-positive donations were 1.09% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.95%-1.26%) and 30% (95% CI, 25%-34%), respectively. The prevalence of anti-HEV IgM was significantly higher in donors with elevated ALT (4.34%) compared with the rate in donors with normal ALT (1.35%; χ2 = 39.66, p < 0.01). The anti-HEV IgM and IgG rates were higher in the Southwest region (1.58 and 41%, respectively) compared to the rates in other regions of China (chi-square test, p < 0.05). The anti-HEV IgG rate was also significantly higher in donors 30 years and older compared with donors between 18 and 29 years of age (39% vs. 22%, respectively; χ2 = 1457.10, p < 0.01). Genetic analysis of HEV from RNA-positive donors indicated that the majority of HEV infections were Genotype 1 (19/33 = 58%), while the remaining 14 isolates were Genotype 4 (14/33 = 42%; χ2 = 0.758, p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Qualified donations after routine blood donor screening still carry a potential risk for transmitting HEV. The major genotypes in Chinese donors in this study were Genotypes 1 and 4.

Cutoff Point of HbA1c for Diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus in Chinese Individuals.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to find the optimal threshold of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) for diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in Chinese individuals. METHODS: A total of 8 391 subjects (including 2 133 men and 6 258 women) aged 40-90 years with gradable retinal photographs were recruited. The relationship between HbA1c and diabetic retinopathy (DR) was examined. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to find the optimal threshold of HbA1c in screening DR and diagnosing diabetes. RESULTS: HbA1c values in patients with DR were significantly higher than in those with no DR. The ROC curve for HbA1c had an area under the curve of 0.881 (95%CI 0.857-0.905; P = 0.000). HbA1c at a cutoff of 6.5% had a high sensitivity (80.6%) and specificity (86.9%) for detecting DR. CONCLUSIONS: HbA1c can be used to diagnose diabetes in a Chinese population, and the optimal HbA1c cutoff point for diagnosis is 6.5%.

Routine screening of blood donations at Qingdao central blood bank, China, for hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA with a real-time, multiplex nucleic acid test for HBV, hepatitis C virus, and human immunodeficiency virus Types 1 and 2.

BACKGROUND: The Roche cobas TaqScreen MPX test was used to evaluate the rate of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative donations that were hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA reactive from June 2010 to January 2011 in Qingdao, China. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: HBsAg-negative samples from 65,800 voluntary blood donors were tested with the cobas TaqScreen MPX test in pools of 6 on the Roche cobas s 201 blood screening platform. Samples positive for HBV DNA and negative for HBsAg were quantitated with the Roche COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HBV test. In addition, serologic tests for HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antibody, anti-hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), anti-hepatitis B e antigen (anti-HBe), and hepatitis B e antigen (HBe) were done using the Roche electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. RESULTS: A total of 80 nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) test-reactive pools were identified and 59 pools (74%) resolved to a reactive sample. All samples were HBV DNA reactive and the viral load in each sample was quantitated. The viral loads of the samples ranged from less than 20 to 34,600 IU/mL; 13 samples (22%) had viral loads of more than 20 IU/mL, 27 samples (45.8%) had viral loads of less than 20 IU/mL, and 19 samples (32.2%) had undetectable viral loads. Of the 59 NAT-reactive samples, 40 (67.8%) were anti-HBc positive. Fifteen of the 59 samples could not be confirmed as NAT reactive either by an alternative NAT test or by serology. CONCLUSION: The HBV NAT yield in blood donors in Qingdao is 0.06% (38/65,800). This study confirmed the value of NAT for interdicting HBV-positive donations and preventing transfusion-transmitted HBV infections.