Comparing the effects of argon plasma coagulation and interferon therapy in patients with vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia: a single-center retrospective study.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of argon plasma coagulation (APC) therapy and interferon therapy in patients with grade I and II vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VaIN). METHODS: A total of 112 patients with VaIN were diagnosed via colposcopy-induced biopsy and classified into the APC group (n = 77) and interferon group (n = 35). Clinical data including age, grade, symptoms, historical or concomitant neoplasia of the lower genital tract, indications for hysterectomy, pregnancy history, cytology, human papillomavirus (HPV) subtype, treatment modalities, and clinical outcomes were analyzed, retrospectively. Complications and clinical outcomes were assessed at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the HPV clearance rate between the APC (53.42%) and interferon (33.33%) groups at 6 months after treatment. However, the 12-month follow-up of the APC group showed a significantly higher HPV clearance rate as compared to the interferon group (87.67% vs. 51.52%, P < 0.05). The APC group exhibited a significantly higher cure rate (79.22% vs. 40.0%) and lower persistence rate (12.99% vs. 37.14%) than the interferon group (P < 0.05). Adverse reaction analysis revealed that the primary reaction in the APC group was vaginal drainage, in contrast to the increased vaginal discharge in the interferon group; though the difference was significant (68.83% vs. 28.57%, P < 0.05), no serious complications were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with APC is a safe and more effective procedure against VaIN I and II, compared to interferon. APC may serve as a viable alternative to other physiotherapies.

Discovery of Dome-Shaped Superconducting Phase and Anisotropic Transport in a van der Waals Layered Candidate NbIrTe4 under Pressure.

The unique electronic structure and crystal structure driven by external pressure in transition metal tellurides (TMTs) can host unconventional quantum states. Here, the discovery of pressure-induced phase transition at ≈2 GPa, and dome-shaped superconducting phase emerged in van der Waals layered NbIrTe4 is reported. The highest critical temperature (Tc ) is ≈5.8 K at pressure of ≈16 GPa, where the interlayered Te-Te covalent bonds form simultaneously derived from the synchrotron diffraction data, indicating the hosting structure of superconducting evolved from low-pressure two-dimensional (2D) phase to three-dimensional (3D) structure with pressure higher than 30 GPa. Strikingly, the authors have found an anisotropic transport in the vicinity of the superconducting state, suggesting the emergence of a "stripe"-like phase. The dome-shaped superconducting phase and anisotropic transport are possibly due to the spatial modulation of interlayer Josephson coupling .