Comparative efficacy of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin instillation and radical cystectomy treatments for high-risk non-muscle-invasive urothelial cancer classified as high-grade T1 in initial and repeat transurethral resection of bladder tumor.

Objective: To compare the differential therapeutic effects of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) instillation and radical cystectomy (RC) for high-risk non-muscle-invasive urothelial cancer (NMIBC) classified as high-grade T1 in initial and repeat transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TURBT) and to construct a prediction model. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients with malignant bladder tumors treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2016 to December 2017 and compared the differences in 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 5-year, and comprehensive overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) between BCG instillation treatment and RC treatment. Survival curves were drawn to show differences in OS and PFS between the two groups. Concurrently, univariate and multivariate COX analyses were performed to identify risk factors affecting OS and PFS, and a nomogram was created. Results: In total, 146 patients were included in the study, of whom 97 and 49 were in the BCG and RC groups, respectively. No statistical differences were observed in the 1- and 2-year OS and PFS between the two groups, whereas significant statistical differences were found in the 3-year, 5-year, and comprehensive OS and PFS. Survival curves also confirmed the statistical differences in OS and PFS between the BCG and RC groups. Multivariate COX analysis revealed that the treatment method, concomitant satellite lesions, and albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio (AAPR) were independent risk factors affecting OS and PFS. The nomogram that was further plotted showed good predictive ability for OS and PFS. Conclusion: For patients who exhibit high-level T1 pathology after both initial and repeat TURBT, especially those with low AAPR, and concomitant satellite lesions, choosing RC as a treatment method offers a better prognosis.

Research progress of sarcopenia as a prognostic marker of genitourinary tumors / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Sarcopenia is observed to have age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance, which can be an effective prognostic indicator for postoperative complications and poor survival outcomes in tumor patients. Sarcopenia could reflect tumor-host interactions and has the advantages in accuracy and generality compared with traditional predictors. This paper reviews the research progress of sarcopenia in predicting the prognosis of genitourinary tumors.

Clinical characteristics of patients with septated loculations of pyogenic liver abscesses / 中华肝胆外科杂志

Objective:To compare clinical features of patients with pyogenic liver abscesses with and without septated lobulations.Methods:Patients diagnosed to have pyogenic liver abscesses who were treated in our hospital from January 2011 to March 2021 were enrolled into this retrospective study. There were 203 males and 132 females, with age of (56±14) years old. The patients were divided into two groups by findings on computed tomography and ultrasound into the septated lobulation group ( n=68) and the non-septated lobulation group ( n=267). The clinical data of these patients were compared. Results:In the septated lobulation group, the neutrophil count was 9.17(5.97, 12.33)×10 9/L and the TBil was 17.65(11.92, 27.84) μmol/L. These were significantly higher than the corresponding figures of 7.81(5.42, 10.81)×10 9/L, 12.90(9.00, 19.68) μmol/L, respectively in the non-septated lobulation group ( P<0.05). The difference in the maximum diameters of the septated lobulation group was also significantly larger than the non-septated lobulation group ( P=0.032). Additionally, pus culture showed the proportion of Klebsiella pneumoniae positive patients in the septated lobulation group was significantly higher than that in the non-septated lobulation group [41.18% (28/68) vs. 25.84% (69/267), P=0.013]. The use of fluoroquinolones in patients in the septated lobulation group was higher than that in the non-septated lobulation group [20.59% (14/68) vs. 10.11% (27/267), χ 2=5.54, P=0.019]. Conclusion:Compared to patients without septated lobulations, those with septated lobulations had a larger diameter of abscesses, a higher positive rate of Klebsiella pneumoniae on pus culture and a higher proportion of patients receiving fluoroquinolones.

NGS-FC: A Next-Generation Sequencing Data Format Converter.

With the widespread implementation of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, millions of sequences have been produced. A lot of databases were created to store and organize the high-throughput sequencing data. Numerous analysis software programs and tools have been developed over the past years. Most of them use specific formats for data representation and storage. Data interoperability becomes a crucial challenge and many tools have been developed to convert NGS data from one format to another. However, most of them were developed for specific and limited formats. Here, we present NGS-FC (Next-Generation Sequencing Format Converter), which provides a framework to support the conversion between several formats. It supports 14 formats now and provides interfaces to enable users to improve the existing converters and add new ones. Moreover, NGS-FC achieved the overall competitive performance in comparison with some existing converters in terms of RAM usage and running time. The software is written in Java and can be executed standalone. The source code and documentation are freely available at http://sysbio.suda.edu.cn/NGS-FC.

Roles of microRNAs and their target genes in predicting chemoradiotherapy efficacy of rectal cancer / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the chemoradiotherapy efficacy of rectal cancer (RC).This study aimed to screen the chemoradiotherapy-associated microRNAs and their target genes of RC through bioinformatics approaches in order to promote the fundamental study of RC chemoradiotherapy.Methods The chemoradiotherapy-associated microRNAs were manually searched through the published papers via PubMed and its target genes were identified by comprehensively analyzing these public data of microRNA-mRNA and gene expression profiles.Both gene ontology (GO) and pathway analysis of the target genes were performed by DAVID and IPA programs,respectively.Results A total of 38 microRNAs were collected from PubMed,and 3 545 putative target genes were inferred from the integrated microRNA-mRNA associations,among them,131 were differentially expressed (DE) (P ＜ 0.05) in the selected gene expression profile (GSE35452).The GO and pathway enrichment analyses indicated that the DE genes were closely involved in the responses of chemoradiotherapy of RC.Conclusions These microRNAs and their regulated DE genes may contribute to the molecular mechanism of the differential efficacy of RC chemoradiotherapy,which may provide a theoretical reference for predicting the response of RC to chemoradiotherapy.

A study on detecting chlorophyll-related genes of plankton in the diagnosis of death by drowning / 中国法医学杂志

Objective To evaluate the value of detecting chlorophyll related genes of plankton in the diagnosis of drowning. MethodsEighteen rabbits were divided randomly into three groups: death by drowning (n=10), postmortem submersion (n=6) and control (n=2). The heart blood, lung, liver, kidney and brain tissues were taken from every rabbit. After isolated plankton from tissues with percoll and extracted their DNA, the chlorophyll-related genes, including EG (EG1 and EG2) and SK (SK1 and SK2), were detected using PCR technique. Meanwhile, diatom test was also performed from lung and liver tissues by nitric acid digestion method. ResultsFor the drowning group, the specific amplification products for EG1 were detected from 9 samples in heart blood, 10 samples in lung, 9 samples in liver, 7 samples in kidney and 8 samples in brain. The products for EG2 were detected from 8 samples, 10 samples, 7 samples, 5 samples and 7 samples accordingly. There were a small number of positives in heart blood, lung and kidney with SK1 and SK2 (≤2). For the postmortem submersion group, only one case was positive from heart blood and lung tissue respectively for EG1. No amplified product was detected for EG1 and EG2 in various tissues in control group, and also no product was detected for SK1and SK2 in other groups. In addition, diatoms were detected from 9 lung and 3 liver tissues in drowning group with the nitric acid digestion, and only one sample of lung was positive in the postmortem submersion group. ConclusionThe detection rate of the chlorophyll-related gene EG with PCR method was higher than that of diatom with nitric acid digestion method in drowning victims, and it can be used as a potentially useful tool for diagnosing drowning.