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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains the third leader cancer-associated cause of death globally, but the etiological basis for this complex disease remains poorly clarified. The present study was thus conceptualized to define a prognostic immune-related gene (IRG) signature capable of predicting immunotherapy responsiveness and overall survival (OS) in patients with HCC.

Five differentially expressed IRG associated with HCC were established the immune-related risk model through univariate Cox regression and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analyses. Patients were separated at random into training and testing cohorts, after which the association between the identified IRG signature and OS was evaluated using the “survival” R package. In addition, maftools was leveraged to assess mutational data, with tumor mutation burden (TMB) scores being calculated as follows (total mutations/total bases) × 10

. Immune-related risk term abundance was quantified via “ssGSEA” algorithmncer.

In summary, an immune-related prognostic gene signature was successfully developed and used to predict survival outcomes and immune system status in patients with HCC. This signature has the potential to help guide immunotherapeutic treatment planning for patients affected by this deadly cancer.

Numerous studies have suggested that an increase in neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) before treatment is associated with worse survival in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC). The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of treatment-induced NLR change among PAC patients so as to better identify the characteristics of those who can benefit more from treatment.

This meta-analysis was undertaken using the PRISMA statement. Previously published studies between the correlation of NLR change and patients’ survival were searched in Pubmed, Embase, and Web of Science databases. RevMan 5.3 was used to conduct statistical analysis.

A total of 1213 patients with PAC from 6 retrospective studies were included in this meta-analysis. Four studies investigated the HR of pre-treatment NLR, demonstrating its prognostic impact on overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.21, 95%CI 1.45-3.36). One study reported that an elevated post-treatment NLR was associated with poorer OS (HR = 1.28, 95%CI = 1.08-1.52). click here Pooled analysis indicated that NLR reduction might predict favorable survival in both the overall population (HR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.34-1.73) and the subgroup treated with chemotherapy (HR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.32-1.70).

Treatment-induced NLR change can act as an early predictor for PAC. Patients with reduced NLR after chemotherapy are expected to have better survival.

Treatment-induced NLR change can act as an early predictor for PAC. Patients with reduced NLR after chemotherapy are expected to have better survival.

To analyze characteristics, treatment outcomes, and prognostic factors of sarcomatoid squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Retrospective chart review.

Tertiary care center.

Fifty-five patients were treated for sarcomatoid squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck between 1996 and 2018. Data collection included clinical history, tumor characteristics, pathology, treatment modality, and outcomes. Mean follow up was 17.1 months. Cox univariate analysis was used to evaluate for associations with locoregional recurrence, distant metastasis, and overall survival.

Most patients were white males with a smoking history and median age 66 years (range 41-92) at diagnosis. Twenty-two percent had prior head and neck radiation. Tumor site was most frequently oral cavity (41.8%), followed by larynx (29.1%), and oropharynx (16.4%). Half presented with early T stage disease (15.5% T0, 12.7% T1, 30.9% T2) and the remainder with late stage disease (16.4% T3, 34.5% T4). Locoregional recurrence rate was 60.0%, metastatic recurrence was rate 21.8%, with median time to recurrence of 4 months and mean overall survival of 20 months. Presence of lymphovascular space invasion was statistically associated with locoregional recurrence (

 = .018, HR 3.55 [95% CI 1.24, 10.14]) and poorer overall survival (

 = .015, HR 2.92 [95% CI 1.23, 4.80]). Treatment with multimodality therapy was associated with decreased locoregional recurrence (

 = .039, HR 0.39 [95% CI 0.16, 0.95]) but did not impact overall survival.

Sarcomatoid squamous cell carcinoma remains a rare and aggressive disease variant with high recurrence rates and high mortality. High risk features such as lymphovascular space may indicate the need for more aggressive therapy.

Sarcomatoid squamous cell carcinoma remains a rare and aggressive disease variant with high recurrence rates and high mortality. High risk features such as lymphovascular space may indicate the need for more aggressive therapy.In psychiatry, severity of mental health conditions and their change over time are usually measured via sum scores of items on psychometric scales. However, inferences from such scores can be biased if psychometric properties such as unidimensionality and temporal measurement invariance for instruments are not met. Here, we aimed to evaluate these properties for common measures of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7) in a large clinical sample (N = 22,362) undergoing psychotherapy. In addition, we tested consistency in dimensionality results across different methods (parallel analysis, factor analysis, explained common variance, the partial credit model, and the Mokken model). Results showed that while both Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 are multidimensional instruments with highly correlated factors, there is justification for sum scores as measures of severity. Temporal measurement invariance across 10 therapy sessions was evaluated. Strict temporal measurement invariance was established in both scales, allowing researchers to compare sum scores as severity measures across time.

Regulatory guidelines for preclinical cartilage repair studies suggest large animal models (e.g., sheep, goat, [mini]-pig, or horse) to obtain results representative for humans. However, information about the 3-dimensional thickness of articular cartilage at different implantation sites in these models is limited.

To identify the most suitable site for experimental surgery, cartilage thickness at the medial femoral condyle (MFC), lateral femoral condyle (LFC), and trochlea in ovine, caprine, and porcine cadaver stifle joints was systematically measured using hematoxylin-eosin staining of 6 µm paraffin sections and software-based image analysis.

Regarding all ventral-dorsal regions of the MFC, goat showed the thickest articular cartilage (maximal mean thickness 1299 µm), followed by sheep (1096 µm) and mini-pig (604 µm), with the highest values in the most ventral and dorsal regions. Also for the LFC, the most ventral regions showed the thickest cartilage in goat (maximal mean thickness 1118 µm), followed by sheep (678 µm) and mini-pig (607 µm).