Serum BMP-2 Up-regulation as an Indicator of Poor Survival in Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Fei, Zheng-Hua,Yao, Cheng-Yun,Yang, Xiao-Lei,Huang, Xin-En,Ma, Sheng-Lin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.9

Purpose: High levels of bone morphogenetic protein (BMPs) have been reported in patients with lung cancer. This study was conducted to assess correlations between serum BMP-2 levels and prognostic outcome in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Blood samples from 84 patients with advanced NSCLC and 42 healthy controls were analyzed and quantitated for serum BMP-2 levels before and after two cycles of chemotherapy using a commercially available ELISA kit. Results: The median level of BMP-2 was 146.9 pg/ml in patients with NSCLC vs. 87.7 pg/ml in healthy controls (P<0.01). A significant correlation was observed between pretreatment serum BMP-2 level and ECOG PS, disease stage and number of organs with metastases (P<0.05). Serum BMP-2 level decreased significantly in patients who achieved objective response after two cycles of chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis showed that increased BMP-2 level and advanced clinical stage were significantly correlated with poor prognosis. Conclusion: Thes erum BMP-2 level is positively correlated with clinical stage, ECOG PS and metastatic burden and may serve as an independent negative predictor for prognosis. Decreased BMP-2 after chemotherapy could be a reliable marker for efficacy of treatment.

Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Assessing Parotid Gland Tumors: Correlation and Comparison with Arterial Spin Labeling Imaging

Ma Gao,Xu Xiao-Quan,Zhu Liu-Ning,Jiang Jia-Suo,Su Guo-Yi,Hu Hao,Bu Shou-Shan,Wu Fei-Yun 대한영상의학회 2021 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.22 No.2

Objective: To compare and correlate the findings of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging in characterizing parotid gland tumors. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 56 patients with parotid gland tumors evaluated by MR imaging. The true diffusion coefficient (D), pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*), and fraction of perfusion (f) values of IVIM imaging and tumor-to-parotid gland signal intensity ratio (SIR) on ASL imaging were calculated. Spearman rank correlation coefficient, chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis tests with the post-hoc Dunn-Bonferroni method and receiver operating characteristic curve assessments were used for statistical analysis. Results: Malignant parotid gland tumors showed significantly lower D than benign tumors (p = 0.019). Within subgroup analyses, pleomorphic adenomas (PAs) showed significantly higher D than malignant tumors (MTs) and Warthin’s tumors (WTs) (p < 0.001). The D* of WTs was significantly higher than that of PAs (p = 0.031). The f and SIR on ASL imaging of WTs were significantly higher than those of MTs and PAs (p < 0.05). Significantly positive correlation was found between SIR on ASL imaging and f (r = 0.446, p = 0.001). In comparison with f, SIR on ASL imaging showed a higher area under curve (0.853 vs. 0.891) in discriminating MTs from WTs, although the difference was not significant (p = 0.720). Conclusion: IVIM and ASL imaging could help differentiate parotid gland tumors. SIR on ASL imaging showed a significantly positive correlation with f. ASL imaging might hold potential to improve the ability to discriminate MTs from WTs.

Utility of Readout-Segmented Echo-Planar Imaging-Based Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging for Differentiating Malignant from Benign Masses in Head and Neck Region

Gao Ma,Xiao-Quan Xu,Hao Hu,Guo-Yi Su,Jie Shen,Hai-Bin Shi,Fei-Yun Wu 대한영상의학회 2018 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.19 No.3

Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (RS-EPI)-based diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and that of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for differentiating malignant from benign masses in head and neck region. Materials and Methods: Between December 2014 and April 2016, we retrospectively enrolled 72 consecutive patients with head and neck masses who had undergone RS-EPI-based DKI scan (b value of 0, 500, 1000, and 1500 s/mm2) for pretreatment evaluation. Imaging data were post-processed by using monoexponential and diffusion kurtosis (DK) model for quantitation of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), apparent diffusion for Gaussian distribution (Dapp), and apparent kurtosis coefficient (Kapp). Unpaired t test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare differences of quantitative parameters between malignant and benign groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were performed to determine and compare the diagnostic ability of quantitative parameters in predicting malignancy. Results: Malignant group demonstrated significantly lower ADC (0.754 ± 0.167 vs. 1.222 ± 0.420, p < 0.001) and Dapp (1.029 ± 0.226 vs. 1.640 ± 0.445, p < 0.001) while higher Kapp (1.344 ± 0.309 vs. 0.715 ± 0.249, p < 0.001) than benign group. Using a combination of Dapp and Kapp as diagnostic index, significantly better differentiating performance was achieved than using ADC alone (area under curve: 0.956 vs. 0.876, p = 0.042). Conclusion: Compared to DWI, DKI could provide additional data related to tumor heterogeneity with significantly better differentiating performance. Its derived quantitative metrics could serve as a promising imaging biomarker for differentiating malignant from benign masses in head and neck region.

Engineered exosomes enriched in netrin-1 modRNA promote axonal growth in spinal cord injury by attenuating inflammation and pyroptosis

Lu Xiao,Xu Guangyu,Lin Zhidi,Zou Fei,Liu Siyang,Zhang Yuxuan,Fu Wei,Jiang Jianyuan,Ma Xiaosheng,Song Jian 한국생체재료학회 2023 생체재료학회지 Vol.27 No.00

Spinal cord injury (SCI) brings a heavy burden to individuals and society, and there is no effective treatment at present. Exosomes (EX) are cell secreted vesicles containing molecules such as nucleic acids and proteins, which hold promise for the treatment of SCI. Netrin-1 is an axon guidance factor that regulates neuronal growth. We investigated the effects of engineered EX enriched in netrin-1 chemically synthetic modified message RNA (modRNA) in treating SCI in an attempt to find a novel therapeutic approach for SCI.Netrin-1 modRNA was transfected into bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to obtain EX enriched with netrin-1 (EX-netrin1). We built an inflammatory model in vitro with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vitro to study the therapeutic effect of EX-netrin1 on SCI. For experiments in vitro, ELISA, CCK-8 assay, immunofluorescence staining, lactate dehydrogenase release experiments test, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and western blot were conducted. At the same time, we constructed a rat model of SCI. MRI, hematoxylin-eosin and Nissl staining were used to assess the extent of SCI in rats.In vitro experiments showed that EX had no effect on the viability of oligodendrocytes and PC12 cells. EX-netrin1 could attenuate LPS-induced inflammation and pyroptosis and accelerate axonal/dentritic growth in PC12 cells/oligodendrocytes. In addition, netrin-1 could activate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway upon binding to its receptor unc5b. When Unc5b and PI3K were inhibited, the effect of EX-netrin1 was weakened, which could be reversed by PI3K or mTOR activator. Our in vivo experiments indicated that EX-netrin1 could promote recovery in rats with SCI.We found that EX-netrin1 regulated inflammation, pyroptosis and axon growth in SCI via the Unc5b/PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, which provides a new strategy for the treatment of SCI.

PWM-Based Sliding Mode Controller for Three-Level Full-Bridge DC-DC Converter that Eliminates Static Output Voltage Error

Jilong Liu,Fei Xiao,Weiming Ma,Xuexin Fan,Wei Chen 전력전자학회 2015 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.15 No.2

This paper proposes a pulse width modulation (PWM)-based sliding mode controller (SMC) for a full-bridge DC-DC converter that can eliminate static output voltage error. Hysteretic SMC in DC-DC converter does not have a fixed switching frequency, and applying hysteretic SMC to full-bridge converters is difficult. Fixed-frequency SMC, which is also called PWM-based SMC, based on equivalent control overcomes these shortcomings. However, the controller order reduction in equivalent control in PWM-based SMC causes static output voltage error. To resolve this issue, an integral item is added to the PWM-based SMC. Sliding mode coefficients are designed by applying a standard second-order system to the sliding mode surface. The effect of adding an integral item on the controller is analyzed, and an integral coefficient design method is proposed. Experiment results on a three-level full-bridge DC-DC converter verify the control scheme and design method proposed in this paper.

A Secure Encryption-Based Malware Detection System

( Zhaowen Lin ),( Fei Xiao ),( Yi Sun ),( Yan Ma ),( Cong-cong Xing ),( Jun Huang ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2018 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.12 No.4

Malware detections continue to be a challenging task as attackers may be aware of the rules used in malware detection mechanisms and constantly generate new breeds of malware to evade the current malware detection mechanisms. Consequently, novel and innovated malware detection techniques need to be investigated to deal with this circumstance. In this paper, we propose a new secure malware detection system in which API call fragments are used to recognize potential malware instances, and these API call fragments together with the homomorphic encryption technique are used to construct a privacy-preserving Naive Bayes classifier (PP-NBC). Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed PP-NBC can successfully classify instances of malware with a hit-rate as high as 94.93%.

PWM-Based Sliding Mode Controller for Three-Level Full-Bridge DC-DC Converter that Eliminates Static Output Voltage Error

Liu, Jilong,Xiao, Fei,Ma, Weiming,Fan, Xuexin,Chen, Wei The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2015 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.15 No.2

This paper proposes a pulse width modulation (PWM)-based sliding mode controller (SMC) for a full-bridge DC-DC converter that can eliminate static output voltage error. Hysteretic SMC in DC-DC converter does not have a fixed switching frequency, and applying hysteretic SMC to full-bridge converters is difficult. Fixed-frequency SMC, which is also called PWM-based SMC, based on equivalent control overcomes these shortcomings. However, the controller order reduction in equivalent control in PWM-based SMC causes static output voltage error. To resolve this issue, an integral item is added to the PWM-based SMC. Sliding mode coefficients are designed by applying a standard second-order system to the sliding mode surface. The effect of adding an integral item on the controller is analyzed, and an integral coefficient design method is proposed. Experiment results on a three-level full-bridge DC-DC converter verify the control scheme and design method proposed in this paper.

A National Study of Survival Trends and Conditional Survival in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Analysis of the National Population-Based Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Registry

Jia-Wei Lv,Xiao-Dan Huang,Yu-Pei Chen,Guan-Qun Zhou,Ling-Long Tang,Yan-Ping Mao,Wen-Fei Li,Ai-Hua Lin,Jun Ma,Ying Sun 대한암학회 2018 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.50 No.2

Purpose Conditional survival (CS) provides important information on survival for a period of time after diagnosis. Currently, information on CS patterns of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is lacking. We aimed to analyze survival rate over time and estimate CS for NPC patients using a national population-based registry. Materials and Methods Patients diagnosed with NPC between 1973 and 2007 with at least 5-year follow-up were identified from the Surveillance Epidemiology End Results registry. Traditional survival rates and crude CS estimates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Risk-adjusted survival curves were plotted from the proportional hazards model using the correct group prognosis method. Results For 7,713 patients analyzed, adjusted baseline 5-year overall survival improved significantly from 36.0% in patients diagnosed in 1973-1979, 41.7% in 1980-1989, 46.6% in 1990- 1999, to 54.7% in 2000-2007 (p < 0.01). CS analysis demonstrated that for every additional year survived, adjusted probability of surviving the next 5 years increased from 66.7% (localized), 54.0% (regional), and 35.3% (distant) at the time of diagnosis, to 83.7% (localized), 75.0% (regional), and 62.2% (distant) for patients who had survived 5 years. Adjusted 5-year CS differed among age, sex, tumor histology, ethnicity, and stage subgroups initially, but converged with time. Conclusion Treatment outcomes of NPC patients have greatly improved over the decades. Increases in CS become more prominent in patients with distant disease than in those with localized or regional disease as patients survive longer. CS provides more dynamic prognostic information for patients who have survived a period of time after diagnosis.

Effects of Age, Breast Density and Volume on Breast Cancer Diagnosis: A Retrospective Comparison of Sensitivity of Mammography and Ultrasonography in China's Rural Areas

Wang, Feng-Liang,Chen, Fei,Yin, Hong,Xu, Nan,Wu, Xiao-Xiang,Ma, Jing-Jing,Gao, Shen,Tang, Jin-Hai,Lu, Cheng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.4

Purpose: Mammography has been confirmed as the only effective mode to improve the prognosis of patients with breast cancer in Western developed countries, but might not be a good choice in other areas of the world. One of the major challenges in China is to determine an optimal imaging modality for breast cancer screening. This study was designed to clarify the sensitivity of ultrasonography compared with that of mammography in rural China. Methods: We retrospectively studied the sensitivity of mammography and ultrasonography based on 306 breast cancer patients detected by the program of "screening for cervical cancer and breast cancer" performed in Chinese rural areas between January 2009 and December 2011, and analyzed the effects of age, breast density and volume on the sensitivity. Results: Stratified analysis showed that the sensitivity of breast ultrasonography was significantly higher than that of mammography in premenopausal patients (81.4% vs. 61.1%, p=0.02), in women ${\leq}$ 55 years of age (82.2% vs. 63.4%, p<0.01), in the high breast density group (American College of Radiology [ACR] levels 3-4) (85.9% vs. 60.6%, p<0.01) and in the small breast volume group (${\leq}$ 400 ml) (87.1% vs. 66.7%, p<0.01). Age had a significant effect on sensitivity of mammography (breast density and volume-adjusted odds ratio, 6.39; 95% confidence interval, 2.8-14.4 in age group > 55 compared to age group ${\leq}$ 45), but not that of ultrasonography. Neither breast density nor volume had significant effect on sensitivity of mammography or ultrasonography. Conclusions: Ultrasonography is more sensitive than mammography in detecting breast cancer in women under 55 year-old Chinese, especially in those with high-density and relatively small breasts.

Effects of Allogeneic Blood Transfusion in Patients with Stage II Colon Cancer

Meng, Jin,Lu, Xiao-Bo,Tang, Yuan-Xin,Sun, Gong-Ping,Li, Xin,Yan, Yi-Fei,Liang, Gao-Feng,Ma, Si-Ping,Li, Xiao-Xia Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.1

The aim of the present study was to determine whether allogeneic red blood cell transfusions showed a deleterious effect and what might be preoperative risk factors for blood transfusion in patients with TNM stage II colon cancer. Total 470 patients who fulfilled inclusion criteria were selected for a further 10-year follow-up study. We found that there were statistical significance between non-transfused and transfused group in mortality (P=0.018), local recurrence (P=0.000) and distant metastasis (P=0.040). Local recurrence and distant metastasis between 1 to 3 units and more than 3 units group did not show any significant differences. There was no difference in survival rate between non-transfused and 1 to 3 units group (log rank=0.031, P=0.860). The difference between different blood transfusion volume in transfused patients was found (78.77% vs 63.83%, P=0.006). Meanwhile, the significant difference of survival rate was existed between non-transfused group and more than 3 units group (84.83% vs 63.83%, P=0.002 ). Univariate analysis showed the following 3 variables to be associated with an increased risk of allogeneic blood transfusions: preoperative CEA level (P<0.05), location of tumor (P<0.01) and diameter of tumor (P<0.01). Multivariate analysis revealed that location of tumor and diameter of tumor are two independent factors for requirement of perioperative transfusions. Therefore, allogeneic transfusion increase the postoperative tumor mortality, local recurrence and distant metastasis in patients with stage II colon cancer. The postoperative tumor mortality, local recurrence and distant metastasis were not associated with the blood transfusion volume. The blood transfusion volume was associated with the survival rate. Location of tumor and diameter of tumor were the independent preoperative risk factors for blood transfusion.