Oncotarget
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Our purpose was to analyze possible associations between histogram analysis parameters of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging DCE MRI and histopathological findings like proliferation index, cell count and nucleic areas in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). 30 patients (mean age 57.0 years) with primary HNSCC were included in the study. In every case, histogram analysis parameters of Ktrans, Ve, and Kep were estimated using a mathlab based software. Tumor proliferation index, cell count, and nucleic areas were estimated on Ki 67 antigen stained specimens. ⋯ Kep max correlated with total area (p = -0.51, P = 0.037), and Kep entropy with KI 67 (p = 0.567, P = 0.018). We concluded that histogram-based parameters skewness, kurtosis and entropy of Ktrans, Ve, and Kep can be used as markers for proliferation activity, cellularity and nucleic content in HNSCC. Tumor grading influences significantly associations between perfusion and histopathological parameters.
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Brain metastases constitute a challenge in the management of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer treated with anti-HER2 systemic therapies. Here we sought to define the repertoire of mutations private to or enriched for in HER2-positive brain metastases. Massively parallel sequencing targeting all exons of 254 genes frequently mutated in breast cancers and/or related to DNA repair was used to characterize the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of HER2-positive breast cancers and their brain metastases in six patients. ⋯ Likely pathogenic mutations private to or enriched in the brain lesions affected cancer and clinically actionable genes, including ATR, BRAF, FGFR2, MAP2K4, PIK3CA, RAF1 and TP53. Changes in clonal composition and the acquisition of additional mutations in brain metastases may affect potentially actionable genes in HER2-positive breast cancers. Our observations have potential clinical implications, given that treatment decisions for patients with brain metastatic disease are still mainly based on biomarkers assessed in the primary tumor.
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Statins may potentiate the effects of anti-hormonal agents for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) through further disruption of essential steroidogenic processes. We investigated the effects of statin use on clinical outcomes in patients with mCRPC receiving abiraterone or enzalutamide. ⋯ In this retrospective cohort, statin use was significantly associated with both prolonged OS and cancer-specific survival and increased early > 30% PSA declines. Prospective validation is warranted.
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To prospectively determine the diagnostic performance of low-dose CT (LDCT) with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) technique for the detection of urinary stone disease. ⋯ LDCT with ASIR can reduce the radiation dose while maintain relatively high image quality in the diagnosis of urinary stone diseases.
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In contrast to other cancers, survival rates for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients have improved but minimally over the past thirty years. The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of clinical trials published since 1986 to determine trends in median overall survival in primarily metastatic PDAC. ⋯ The authors on this manuscript are in parts, supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (EDRN U01 CA200466, SPORE P50 CA127297, R01 CA183459, R21 AA026428 and R01 CA 195586).