Medicine
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Observational Study
125I Seed Implant Brachytherapy for Painful Bone Metastases After Failure of External Beam Radiation Therapy.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of computed tomography (CT)-guided I seed implant brachytherapy in patients with painful metastatic bone lesions after failure of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). From August 2012 to July 2014, 26 patients with painful bone metastases after failure of EBRT were treated with CT-guided I seed implant brachytherapy. Patient pain and analgesic use were measured using the Brief Pain Inventory before treatment, weekly for 4 weeks, and every 4 weeks thereafter for a total of 24 weeks. ⋯ Overall response rates of osseous metastases after I seed implantation at 1, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks were 58%, 79%, 81%, 82%, and 80%, respectively. Adverse events were seen in 4 patients, including Grade 1 myelosuppression and Grade 1 late skin toxicity. I seed brachytherapy is a safe and effective treatment for patients with painful bone metastases after failure of EBRT.
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Congenital variations in urinary tract anatomy present unique surgical challenges when they present without prior knowledge. Ectopic ureters occur as a rare anatomic variation of the urinary tract and are often associated with duplicated renal collecting systems. ⋯ While unknown at the time of surgery, this right-sided ureter was associated with a nonfunctioning right upper renal moiety of a duplex renal collecting system. This aberration was discovered intraoperatively and confirmed with imaging, and a robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy with right distal ureterectomy was performed.
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The relationship between type 2 diabetes and gout is complex. The objective of this study was to understand the role of diabetes itself and its comorbidities within the association between type 2 diabetes and gout. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD. ⋯ Individuals with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of gout. This is not due to diabetes itself, but to the comorbid conditions. Diabetes itself is apparently associated with a decreased risk of gout, especially in men.
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Emerging evidences showed impaired muscle strength was prevalent in older adults with mild cognition impairment or dementia. However, little was known about the role of quadriceps strength in the cognition decline among older population. The objective of our study was to investigate the relation between quadriceps strength and cognitive performance. ⋯ The β coefficient interpreted as change of DSST scores for each Newton increment in quadriceps strength comparing participants in the highest quartile of quadriceps strength to those in the lowest quartile was 5.003 (95% confidence interval, 2.725-7.281, P < 0.001). The trends of incremental DSST score across increasing quartiles of quadriceps strength were statistically significant (all P for trend <0.001). Higher quadriceps strength was associated with better cognitive performance.
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Clinical Trial
Loss of MiR-664 Expression Enhances Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma Proliferation by Upregulating PLP2.
Proteolipid protein 2 (PLP2) has been shown to be upregulated in several cancers, including breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, osteosarcoma, and melanoma. PLP2 specifically binds to phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase to activate the protein kinase B pathway to enhance cell proliferation, adhesion, and invasion in melanoma cells. Therefore, we speculated that PLP2 exhibits oncogenic potential. ⋯ Furthermore, inhibition of miR-664 in CMM cells resulted in modulation of their entry into the G1/S transitional phase, which was caused by downregulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor P21 and upregulation of the cell-cycle regulator cyclin D1. Moreover, we demonstrated that miR-664 downregulated PLP2 expression by directly targeting the PLP2 untranslated region. Taken together, our results suggest that miR-664 may play an important role in suppressing proliferation of CMM cells and present a novel mechanism of miR-mediated direct suppression of PLP2 expression in cancer cells.