Overall survival, locoregional recurrence, and distant metastasis of definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy for cervical squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma: before and after propensity score matching analysis of a cohort study.

Purpose: To estimate the outcomes of definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for bulky or advanced-stage cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC).

Patients And Methods: We enrolled patients who had been diagnosed as having cervical SCC or ADC and received definitive CCRT. A Cox regression analysis was performed to determine the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI); independent predictors were stratified or controlled for in the analysis, and the endpoint was all-cause mortality among patients with cervical SCC and ADC who received CCRT.

Outcome patterns of cervical adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma following curative surgery: before and after propensity score matching analysis of a cohort study.

To estimate the outcome patterns and predictors of curative surgery for cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC) for overall survival (OS), locoregional recurrence (LRR), and distant metastasis (DM), we enrolled 4628 patients who had received a diagnosis of cervical SCC or ADC and received curative surgery. Cox regression analysis was employed to calculate hazard ratios and confidence intervals (CIs); independent predictors were controlled for or stratified in the analysis, and the endpoint was all-cause death. Propensity score matching was conducted to create well-balanced groups.

Usefulness of thallium-201 SPECT scintimammography to differentiate benign from malignant breast masses in mammographically dense breasts.

The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of thallium-201 (Tl-201) single-photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT) scintimammography to differentiate benign from malignant breast masses in 32 female Taiwanese patients with indeterminate mammographic probability of malignancy because of mammographically dense breasts. All breast masses were removed, and final histopathological diagnoses were obtained in all cases. The results showed that thallium-201 SPECT scintimammography findings were true-positive in 22 cases, false-positive in 1 case, true-negative in 7 cases, and false-negative in 2 cases.

Segmentation of breast tumor in three-dimensional ultrasound images using three-dimensional discrete active contour model.

In this paper, we apply the three-dimensional (3-D) active contour model to a 3-D ultrasonic data file for segmenting of the breast tumor. The 3-D ultrasonic file is composed of a series of two-dimensional (2-D) images. Most of traditional techniques of 2-D image segmentation will not use the information between adjacent images.

Head position modulates activity in the human parietal eye fields.

For us to interact with our environment we need to know where objects are around us, relative to our body. In monkeys, a body-centered map of visual space is known to exist within the parietal eye fields. This map is formed by the modulation of retinal responses by gain fields to gaze position.

Serum and tissue trace elements in patients with breast cancer in Taiwan.

The objective of this study was to compare levels of four elements (zinc, copper, selenium, and iron) in the serum and tissue of 68 breast tumor patients (benign and malignant), from a teaching hospital in central Taiwan. Samples of normal tissue (5 cm away from tumor) were also taken from patients with malignant tumors. Only serum was taken from the 25 healthy persons in the control group.

Association of DNA-protein crosslinks and breast cancer.

This study examined the possible effect of cytochrome P450 (CYP1A1), glutathione S-transferase (GSTM1 and T1) and N-acetyltransferases 2 (NAT2) polymorphisms on DNA-protein crosslinks (DPC) formation in the white blood cells of breast cancer patients, and assessed the levels of DPC detected. Sixty cases of breast cancer were examined, all involving women diagnosed with primary, histopathologically confirmed breast cancer at the Chinese Medical College Hospital in central Taiwan. Additionally, 60 healthy women without breast cancer were selected as a control group, matched by age, cigarette smoking habits, and history of breast cancer among first-degree relatives.