Publications by authors named "M-F Chen"

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved clinical outcomes across several solid tumour types. Prominent efforts have focused on understanding the anticancer mechanisms of these agents, identifying biomarkers of response and uncovering resistance mechanisms to develop new immunotherapeutic approaches. This research has underscored the crucial roles of the tumour microenvironment and, particularly, tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in immune-mediated tumour elimination.

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Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection can predict clinical risk in early-stage tumors. However, clinical applications are constrained by the sensitivity of clinically validated ctDNA detection approaches. NeXT Personal is a whole-genome-based, tumor-informed platform that has been analytically validated for ultrasensitive ctDNA detection at 1-3 ppm of ctDNA with 99.

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Background: Xalnesiran, a small interfering RNA molecule that targets a conserved region of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome and silences multiple HBV transcripts, may have efficacy, with or without an immunomodulator, in patients with chronic HBV infection.

Methods: We conducted a phase 2, multicenter, randomized, controlled, adaptive, open-label platform trial that included the evaluation of 48 weeks of treatment with xalnesiran at a dose of 100 mg (group 1), xalnesiran at a dose of 200 mg (group 2), xalnesiran at a dose of 200 mg plus 150 mg of ruzotolimod (group 3), xalnesiran at a dose of 200 mg plus 180 μg of pegylated interferon alfa-2a (group 4), or a nucleoside or nucleotide analogue (NA) alone (group 5) in participants with chronic HBV infection who had virologic suppression with NA therapy. The primary efficacy end point was hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss (HBsAg level, <0.

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There is a new awareness of the widespread nature of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and its connection to cardiovascular disease (CVD). This has catalyzed collaboration between cardiologists, hepatologists, endocrinologists, and the wider multidisciplinary team to address the need for earlier identification of those with MASLD who are at increased risk for CVD. The overlap in the pathophysiologic processes and parallel prevalence of CVD, metabolic syndrome, and MASLD highlight the multisystem consequences of poor cardiovascular-liver-metabolic health.

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Background: The caries severity in childhood may predict caries conditions in the future and even in adulthood in caries risk models. Nevertheless, the rate of recurrent caries after treatment of severe early childhood caries is high and correlated with behavioural factors, rather than clinical indicators. Compliance with the caries control programme has been demonstrated to prevent root caries development in head and neck cancer patients, suggesting that compliance with treatment protocols is a more important key to bringing about successful outcomes than treatment protocols themselves.

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Combination chemotherapy remains essential for clinical management of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Consequently, responses to multiple single agents cannot be delineated at the single patient level, even though some patients might not require all drugs in the combination. Herein, we conduct multi-omic analyses of orthotopic TNBC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) treated with single agent carboplatin, docetaxel, or the combination.

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The canonical model of tumor suppressor gene (TSG)-mediated oncogenesis posits that loss of both alleles is necessary for inactivation. Here, through allele-specific analysis of sequencing data from 48,179 cancer patients, we define the prevalence, selective pressure for, and functional consequences of biallelic inactivation across TSGs. TSGs largely assort into distinct classes associated with either pan-cancer (Class 1) or lineage-specific (Class 2) patterns of selection for biallelic loss, although some TSGs are predominantly monoallelically inactivated (Class 3/4).

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Kidney fibrosis is the common pathological pathway in progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD), and current treatments are largely ineffective. The C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is crucial to fibrosis development. By using neural cell adhesion molecules as scaffolds with binding loops that mimic the shape of shark antibodies, fully humanized single-domain i-bodies have been developed.

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  • * Researchers identified 21 human ITPR1 GOF variants and created a mouse model with one of these variants (ITPR1-W1457G), which was found to be prone to stress-induced ventricular arrhythmias.
  • * Both mouse models and human data suggest that ITPR1 GOF variants increase Ca handling abnormalities and arrhythmia risk, with 7 rare ITPR1 variants in a human database showing similar GOF behavior linked to cardiac
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  • Researchers are merging unstructured patient data with structured health records to create the MSK-CHORD dataset, consisting of varied cancer types from nearly 25,000 patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
  • This dataset allows for in-depth analysis of cancer outcomes using advanced techniques like natural language processing, revealing new relationships that smaller datasets may not show.
  • Using MSK-CHORD for machine learning models, findings suggest that incorporating features from these unstructured texts can better predict patient survival than relying solely on genomic data or cancer staging.
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Background: Guideline-recommended hyperkalaemia management includes dietary potassium (K) restriction, bicarbonate correction, diuretics and K binders with dose reduction of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors as a last resort. The extent to which these recommendations are implemented is uncertain, as real-world data on hyperkalaemia management are limited. The Tracking Treatment Pathways in Adult Patients with Hyperkalemia (TRACK) study is a multinational, prospective, longitudinal study that is being conducted to address this knowledge gap.

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  • Chemotherapy combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is used to boost immunotherapy effectiveness, but certain tumors, especially triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), often remain unresponsive.
  • The study identifies IRE1α, an ER stress sensor, as a key factor that limits the immune-boosting effects of taxane chemotherapy in these tumors by silencing double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and preventing a type of inflammatory cell death called pyroptosis.
  • Inhibiting IRE1α allows taxane to produce more dsRNA, which activates immune responses, transforming PD-L1-negative TNBC tumors into ones that are sensitive to immunotherapy.
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Caloric restriction extends healthy lifespan in multiple species. Intermittent fasting, an alternative form of dietary restriction, is potentially more sustainable in humans, but its effectiveness remains largely unexplored. Identifying the most efficacious forms of dietary restriction is key for developing interventions to improve human health and longevity.

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  • Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease where macrophage foam cells contribute significantly to its progression, and surfactant protein A (SPA) has not been previously studied in this context.
  • Research showed that SPA expression is higher in atherosclerotic tissues, and its deficiency reduces cholesterol levels and foam cell formation in macrophages, leading to decreased atherosclerosis.
  • SPA promotes atherosclerosis by enhancing the expression of scavenger receptor CD36, which plays a key role in cholesterol accumulation in macrophages.
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  • The study focuses on using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) to noninvasively assess the structure of skin for personalized laser treatment of vascular diseases.
  • A two-step inverse Monte Carlo radiation method quantifies key skin structure parameters such as chromophore concentrations, epidermal thickness, and characteristics of the vascular layer.
  • The method's effectiveness was demonstrated with mean errors in measurements under 5%, significantly enhancing accuracy in estimating skin conditions.
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  • - The study aimed to create and validate a prognostic model for assessing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in noncirrhotic adults with chronic hepatitis B, focusing on those without significant alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation.
  • - Researchers analyzed data from over 13,000 patients across several cohorts in Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong, finding that baseline HBV DNA levels were key predictors of HCC risk, especially at moderate viral loads.
  • - The new model, called Revised REACH-B, showed strong predictive accuracy and was more beneficial compared to other strategies in predicting HCC risk, though its applicability to other racial groups remains a limitation.
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Referring to the intestinal ischemic injury caused by sudden interruption of the blood supply, acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) is a highly fatal emergency with mortality rates varying from 58 to 80%. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of temperature on AMI admission. This was a retrospective, multicentric study.

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Background And Objectives: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is frequently characterized by chronic motor deficits. Therefore, this clinical trial assessed whether intracranial implantation of allogeneic modified mesenchymal stromal (SB623) cells can improve chronic motor deficits after TBI.

Methods: Post hoc analysis of the double-blind, randomized, prospective, surgical sham-controlled, phase 2, STEMTRA clinical trial (June 2016 and March 2019) with 48 weeks of follow-up was conducted.

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  • Transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is a serious, progressive disease, and vutrisiran is a new treatment that works by reducing the production of transthyretin in the liver.
  • In a double-blind trial involving 655 patients, those receiving vutrisiran had a lower risk of death and cardiovascular events compared to those on placebo, demonstrating significant efficacy.
  • Vutrisiran also improved patient outcomes, showing less decline in walking distance and quality of life measurements over the study period compared to placebo.
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  • - Crystalline active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can show differences in their surface characteristics due to how they're processed, like crystallization or milling, which is important for predicting drug performance.
  • - The study focuses on Odanacatib samples made by different methods that all meet size requirements for similar drug performance, emphasizing the need to understand surface properties like chemistry and wettability.
  • - Researchers used various advanced techniques (like IGC, BET, contact angle measurements, and XPS) to analyze how processing affects surface properties, explaining variations in the bulk properties of the powders.
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Background: Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare, aggressive cancer whose diagnosis and treatment depend on histological grading. However, tumor variability can lead to underestimation, affecting treatment, and patient survival.

Objective: To evaluate MRI features associated with Grade III ASPS and to determine the relationship between MRI features and patient prognosis.

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Background: According to the T1ρ value of nucleus pulposus, our previous study has found that intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) can be divided into three phases based on T1ρ-MR, which is helpful for the selection of biomaterial treatment timing. However, the routine MR sequences for patients with IDD are T1- and T2-MR, T1ρ-MR is not commonly used due to long scanning time and extra expenses, which limits the application of T1ρ-MR based IDD phases.

Purpose: To build a deep learning model to achieve the classification of T1ρ-MR based IDD phases from routine T1-MR images.

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Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) provide modest but unsatisfactory benefits for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). Developing strategies for treating ES-SCLC is critical.

Methods: We preliminarily explored the outcomes of salvage low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT) plus ICI on refractory SCLC patients.

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