Enhancing immunotherapy outcomes by targeted remodeling of the tumor microenvironment via combined cGAS-STING pathway strategies.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represent a groundbreaking advance in the treatment of malignancies such as melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer, showcasing substantial therapeutic benefits. Nonetheless, the efficacy of ICIs is limited to a small subset of patients, primarily benefiting those with "hot" tumors characterized by significant immune infiltration. The challenge of converting "cold" tumors, which exhibit minimal immune activity, into "hot" tumors to enhance their responsiveness to ICIs is a critical and complex area of current research.

Transhepatic versus transperitoneal approach in percutaneous cholecystostomy: a meta-analysis.

Aim: To determine whether the transhepatic or transperitoneal approach is the optimal percutaneous cholecystostomy approach.

Materials And Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was undertaken in which the Medline, EMBASE, and PubMed databases were searched for studies that compared both approaches in patients undergoing percutaneous cholecystostomy. Statistical analysis of dichotomous variables was carried out using odds ratio as the summary statistic.

Nationwide Outcomes following Percutaneous Cholecystostomy for Acute Calculous Cholecystitis and the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019: Results of the Multicentre Audit of Cholecystostomy and Further Interventions (MACAFI study).

Purpose: To assess the mortality, readmission rates, and practice variation of percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) in patients with acute calculous cholecystitis in the United Kingdom (UK).

Materials And Methods: A total of 1,186 consecutive patients (636 men [53.6%]; median age, 75 years; range, 24-102 years) who underwent PC for acute calculous cholecystitis between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020, were included from 36 UK hospitals.

Gender representation within radiology conferences in the UK in 2021.

Aim: To examine the gender representation and equality within academic meetings and society conferences within the UK radiology conferences.

Materials And Methods: UK-based subspecialty radiology meetings organised by major radiological associations and societies (online and in-person) from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 were included. Speakers and chairs were documented with reference to their gender, years on General Medical Council (GMC) register, academic publications, and h-index.

Learning from mistakes when reporting urgent and emergency vascular studies.

The majority of out-of-hours cases relate to neurological, chest, and gastrointestinal pathologies with acute vascular cases being encountered less commonly. Trainees and exposure of non-vascular/interventional radiology (IR) consultants to angiographic imaging is often limited in working hours and this may lead to reporting on-call cases outside of normal daytime practice. In a recent local review, a number on-call vascular studies were found to contain a number of vascular-related discrepancies.

Percutaneous transcystic removal of gallbladder and common bile duct stones: a narrative review.

The incidence of gallstone-related complications is rising, thus leading to increases in waiting list times for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) provides immediate biliary drainage and may be used as an emergency option in a critically unwell patient as a bridge to surgery, or as the management option of a patient who is not fit for surgery. However, a significant number of these patients may be readmitted after PC with recurrent acute cholecystitis or pancreatitis, leading to significant morbidity and mortality.

Percutaneous Cholecystostomy for Severe Acute Cholecystitis: A Useful Procedure in High-Risk Patients for Surgery.

Background: Acute cholecystitis has the potential to cause sepsis and death, particularly in patients with poor physiological reserve. The gold standard treatment of acute cholecystitis (cholecystectomy) is often not safe in high-risk patients and recourse is made to percutaneous cholecystostomy as either definite treatment or temporizing measure. The aim of this study is to evaluate early and late outcomes following percutaneous cholecystostomy in patients with acute cholecystitis treated at our institution.

Portal Vein Embolization: Correlation of Future Liver Remnant Hypertrophy to Type of Embolic Agent Used.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of portal vein embolization (PVE) with different embolic agents used at our centre. Specifically, the effectiveness of N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA) glue is compared with that of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients (N = 77) who underwent PVE at our institution over a 5-year period.