Comprehensive Treatment Uncertainty Analysis and PTV Margin Estimation for Fiducial Tracking in Robotic Liver Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy.

Objective: This study aims to quantify the uncertainties of CyberKnife Synchrony fiducial tracking for liver stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) cases, and evaluate the required planning target volume (PTV) margins.

Methods: A total of 11 liver tumor patients with a total of 57 fractions, who underwent SBRT with synchronous fiducial tracking, were enrolled for the present study. The correlation/prediction model error, geometric error, and beam targeting error were quantified to determine the patient-level and fraction-level individual composite treatment uncertainties.

Prevalence and risk factors of covert hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients: A multicenter study in China.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of covert hepatic encephalopathy (CHE) in cirrhotic patients in China and its risk factors.

Methods: A multicenter prospective observational study was conducted from January 2021 to March 2022 at 16 medical centers across China to investigate the risk factors of CHE and establish a prediction model for CHE episodes.

Results: A total of 528 patients were enrolled in the study.

A Nomogram for Predicting Portal Hypertensive Gastropathy in Patients With Liver Cirrhosis: A Retrospective Analysis.

Background: There is an urgent need for non-invasive methods for predicting portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG). This study aims to develop and validate a non-invasive method based on clinical parameters for predicting PHG in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC).

Methods: The overall survival (OS) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-free survival were evaluated in LC patients, both with and without PHG.

Long-term Therapeutic Outcome and Prognostic Factors of Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Receiving Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy: An Analysis of 608 Patients from Low-endemic Regions of China.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term outcome and prognostic factors of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) from low-endemic regions of China who received definitive intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

Methods: The clinical data from 608 patients with newly-diagnosed non-metastatic NPC who have received initial treatment at our cancer center from January, 2008 to December, 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients received definitive IMRT, and 87.

Hypo-fractionation radiotherapy normalizes tumor vasculature in non-small cell lung cancer xenografts through the p-STAT3/HIF-1 alpha signaling pathway.

Background: Hypo-fractionation radiotherapy (HFRT) was considered to be an important treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but the radiobiological effects of HFRT on NSCLC remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate specific biological effect of HFRT on tumor angiogenesis, compared with conventional radiotherapy (CRT).

Methods: The subcutaneous xenograft models and the dorsal skinfold window chamber (DSWC) models of nude mice bearing H460 and HCC827 NSCLC cells were irradiated with doses of 0 Gy (sham group), 22 Gy delivered into 11 fractions (CRT group) or 12 Gy delivered into 1 fraction (HFRT group).

SHARPIN stabilizes β-catenin through a linear ubiquitination-independent manner to support gastric tumorigenesis.

Background: Aberrant activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling by dysregulated post-translational protein modifications, especially ubiquitination is causally linked to cancer development and progression. Although Lys48-linked ubiquitination is known to regulate Wnt/β-catenin signaling, it remains largely obscure how other types of ubiquitination, such as linear ubiquitination governs its signaling activity.

Methods: The expression and regulatory mechanism of linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC) on Wnt/β-catenin signaling was examined by immunoprecipitation, western blot and immunohistochemical staining.

Estimating intrafraction tumor motion during fiducial-based liver stereotactic radiotherapy via an iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm.

Background: Tumor motion may compromise the accuracy of liver stereotactic radiotherapy. In order to carry out a precise planning, estimating liver tumor motion during radiotherapy has received a lot of attention. Previous approach may have difficult to deal with image data corrupted by noise.

The efficacy of low molecular weight heparin in severe acute pancreatitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objective: The effects of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) on severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) have been controversial. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of LMWH on prognosis of SAP by systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched relevant studies published up to March 2019 in five databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Chinese Journal of Science and Technology of VIP database).

Artificial neural networks accurately predict intra-abdominal infection in moderately severe and severe acute pancreatitis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of artificial neural networks (ANN) in predicting intra-abdominal infection in moderately severe (MASP) and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) compared with that of a logistic regression model (LRM).

Methods: Patients suffering from MSAP or SAP from July 2014 to June 2017 in three affiliated hospitals of the Army Medical University in Chongqing, China, were enrolled in this study. A univariate analysis was used to determine the different parameters between patients with and without intra-abdominal infection.

Dosimetric Effect of Intrafraction Tumor Motion in Lung Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Using CyberKnife Static Tracking System.

Purpose: We investigated the dosimetric effect of intrafraction tumor motion in lung stereotactic body radiotherapy using the CyberKnife static tracking system.

Methods: Four-dimensional computed tomography scans of a dynamic thorax phantom were acquired. Two motion ranges, 3 collimator sizes, and 4 treatment starting phases were investigated.

Norrin maintains malignancy of gastric cancer cells in part through activating AKT signaling.

Human tumorigenesis resembles embryogenesis by aberrant activation of several developmental pathways including Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Norrin is an atypical ligand for Frizzled receptor that is preferentially expressed in the endothelium to promote retinal vascularization during development. However, its expression pattern and potential roles in human cancers remain unclear.

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Ameliorates Experimentally Induced Colitis in Mice by Upregulating AhR.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic non-specific inflammatory disease that occurs in the colon and rectum. While fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is gaining attention as a clinical treatment of UC, the molecular mechanisms behind this effect have yet to be fully understood. A C57BL/6 mouse model was established to test whether FMT promotes the recovery of colon inflammation.

Epigenetic restriction of Hippo signaling by MORC2 underlies stemness of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

The evolutionarily conserved Hippo signaling pathway is a key regulator of stem cell self-renewal, differentiation, and organ size. While alterations in Hippo signaling are causally linked to uncontrolled cell growth and a broad range of malignancies, genetic mutations in the Hippo pathway are uncommon and it is unclear how the tumor suppressor function of the Hippo pathway is disrupted in human cancers. Here, we report a novel epigenetic mechanism of Hippo inactivation in the context of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

The HNF1α-regulated lncRNA HNF1A-AS1 reverses the malignancy of hepatocellular carcinoma by enhancing the phosphatase activity of SHP-1.

Background: Our previous study has demonstrated that hepatocyte nuclear factor 1α (HNF1α) exerts potent therapeutic effects on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the molecular mechanisms by which HNF1α reverses HCC malignancy need to be further elucidated.

Methods: lncRNA microarray was performed to identify the long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulated by HNF1α.

Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 mediates the inhibitory effect of hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α on hepatocellular carcinoma.

Previous studies provided substantial evidence of a striking suppressive effect of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is involved in death receptor-mediated apoptosis and may acts as a tumor suppressor in hepatocarcinogenesis. However, the status and function of ASK1 during HCC progression are unclear.

Double-arc volumetric modulated therapy improves dose distribution compared to static gantry IMRT and 3D conformal radiotherapy for adjuvant therapy of gastric cancer.

Background: The objective of this study was to compare the dose distributions of RapidArc (RA), static gantry intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) as adjuvant radiotherapy modalities for the treatment of gastric cancer.

Methods: Fifteen patients with gastric cancer that underwent limited lymphadenectomy of perigastric lymph nodes were included in this study. Dosimetric values for a total dose of 45 Gy (1.