Comparative Uptake Patterns of Radioactive Iodine and [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in Metastatic Differentiated Thyroid Cancers.

Metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) represents a molecularly heterogeneous group of cancers with varying radioactive iodine (RAI) and [F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake patterns potentially correlated with the degree of de-differentiation through the so-called "flip-flop" phenomenon. However, it is unknown if RAI and FDG uptake patterns correlate with molecular status or metastatic site. A retrospective analysis of metastatic DTC patients (n = 46) with radioactive 131-iodine whole body scan (WBS) and FDG-PET imaging between 2008 and 2022 was performed.

Plasmodium vivax populations in the western Greater Mekong Subregion evaluated using a genetic barcode.

An improved understanding of the Plasmodium vivax populations in the Great Mekong Subregion (GMS) is needed to monitor the progress of malaria elimination. This study aimed to use a P. vivax single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) barcode to evaluate the population dynamics and explore the gene flow among P.

Factors hindering coverage of targeted mass treatment with primaquine in a malarious township of northern Myanmar in 2019-2020.

Targeted mass primaquine treatment (TPT) might be an effective intervention to facilitate elimination of vivax malaria in Myanmar by 2030. In this study, we explored the factors hindering coverage of a TPT campaign conducted in a malarious township of northern Myanmar. From August 2019 to July 2020, a cross-sectional exploratory design including quantitative and qualitative data was conducted in five villages with high P.

Arsenic and heavy metal contents in white rice samples from rainfed paddy fields in Yangon division, Myanmar-Natural background levels?

The presence of potentially toxic metal(loid)s (As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Mo and Co) in 120 white (polished) rice grains (Oryza sativa; 2017 or earlier crop) purchased from farmers in the five most agriculturally active townships near Yangon in the eastern edge on Ayeyarwady Delta was determined by triple quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-QQQ). Their total-As and Ni concentrations (0.16 mg/kg, 0.

Spatio-temporal trends of malaria incidence from 2011 to 2017 and environmental predictors of malaria transmission in Myanmar.

Background: Myanmar bears the heaviest malaria burden in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). This study assessed the spatio-temporal dynamics and environmental predictors of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria in Myanmar.

Methods: Monthly reports of malaria cases at primary health centers during 2011-2017 were analyzed to describe malaria distribution across Myanmar at the township and state/region levels by spatial autocorrelation (Moran index) and spatio-temporal clustering.

Genetic diversity in the transmission-blocking vaccine candidate Plasmodium vivax gametocyte protein Pvs230 from the China-Myanmar border area and central Myanmar.

Background: Sexual stage surface antigens are potential targets of transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs). The gametocyte and gamete surface antigen P230, a leading TBV candidate, is critical for red blood cell binding during exflagellation and subsequent oocyst development. Here, the genetic diversity of Pvs230 was studied in Plasmodium vivax parasite isolates from the China-Myanmar border (CMB) and central Myanmar.

Multidisciplinary Investigations of Sustained Malaria Transmission in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

In the course of malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), malaria epidemiology has experienced drastic spatiotemporal changes with residual transmission concentrated along international borders and the rising predominance of Plasmodium vivax. The emergence of Plasmodium falciparum parasites resistant to artemisinin and partner drugs renders artemisinin-based combination therapies less effective while the potential spread of multidrug-resistant parasites elicits concern. Vector behavioral changes and insecticide resistance have reduced the effectiveness of core vector control measures.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of malaria in Banmauk Township, Sagaing region of Northern Myanmar: characteristics, trends, and risk factors.

Background: While national malaria incidence has been declining in Myanmar, some subregions within the nation continue to have high burdens of malaria morbidity and mortality. This study assessed the malaria situation in one of these regions, Banmauk Township, located near the Myanmar-India border. Our goal was to provide a detailed description of the malaria epidemiology in this township and to provide some evidence-based recommendations to formulate a strategy for reaching the national malaria elimination plan.

Non-Iodine-Avid Disease Is Highly Prevalent in Distant Metastatic Differentiated Thyroid Cancer With Papillary Histology.

Context: Patients with radioactive iodine (RAI) refractory metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) have poor prognosis. Early identification of RAI refractoriness may improve care.

Objective: This work aimed to characterize DTC patients with distant metastases (DM) at diagnosis who presented with non-iodine-avid disease.

Community structure and insecticide resistance of malaria vectors in northern-central Myanmar.

Background: Myanmar is one of the six countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) of Southeast Asia. Malaria vectors comprise many Anopheles species, which vary in abundance and importance in malaria transmission among different geographical locations in the GMS. Information about the species composition, abundance, and insecticide resistance status of vectorial systems in Myanmar is scarce, hindering our efforts to effectively control malaria vectors in this region.

SDHB knockout and succinate accumulation are insufficient for tumorigenesis but dual SDHB/NF1 loss yields SDHx-like pheochromocytomas.

Inherited pathogenic succinate dehydrogenase (SDHx) gene mutations cause the hereditary pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma tumor syndrome. Syndromic tumors exhibit elevated succinate, an oncometabolite that is proposed to drive tumorigenesis via DNA and histone hypermethylation, mitochondrial expansion, and pseudohypoxia-related gene expression. To interrogate this prevailing model, we disrupt mouse adrenal medulla SDHB expression, which recapitulates several key molecular features of human SDHx tumors, including succinate accumulation but not 5hmC loss, HIF accumulation, or tumorigenesis.

Therapeutic efficacy of chloroquine for uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax malaria in southeastern and western border areas of Myanmar.

Background: In the Greater Mekong Subregion of Southeast Asia, Plasmodium vivax malaria is endemic and causes significant morbidity. In this study, the efficacy of chloroquine for treating uncomplicated P. vivax malaria at the eastern and western borders of Myanmar was investigated.

The acceptability of targeted mass treatment with primaquine for local elimination of vivax malaria in a northern Myanmar township: a mixed-methods study.

Background: Radical cure of the Plasmodium vivax latent liver stage is required to effectively manage vivax malaria. Targeted mass treatment with primaquine may be an effective mechanism for reducing reservoirs of the disease. Since community engagement and high coverage are essential for mass treatment programs, this study aimed to determine the acceptability of mass primaquine treatment in a targeted community in a northern Myanmar township.

Performance of Malaria Volunteers regarding Malaria Control Activities in Southeastern Myanmar: A Study in the Areas under Coverage of an Ethnic Health Organization.

Malaria volunteers (MVs) play an essential role in resolving malaria problems by delivering greater access to diagnosis and treatment services, mainly for the underserved community residing in hard-to-reach rural areas. The Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) has implemented community-based malaria control activities among the ethnic minorities in southeastern Myanmar by promoting the roles of MVs. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the performance of MVs regarding malaria control activities in the area.

Predictors of malaria rapid diagnostic test positivity in a high burden area of Paletwa Township, Chin State in Western Myanmar.

Background: Despite major reductions in malaria burden across Myanmar, clusters of the disease continue to persist in specific subregions. This study aimed to assess the predictors of test positivity among people living in Paletwa Township of Chin State, an area of persistently high malaria burden.

Methods: Four villages with the highest malaria incidence from Paletwa Township were purposively selected.

Efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine for treating uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum cases and molecular surveillance of drug resistance genes in Western Myanmar.

Background: Currently, artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the first-line anti-malarial treatment in malaria-endemic areas. However, resistance in Plasmodium falciparum to artemisinin-based combinations emerging in the Greater Mekong Sub-region is a major problem hindering malaria elimination. To continuously monitor the potential spread of ACT-resistant parasites, this study assessed the efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine (AL) for falciparum malaria in western Myanmar.

Molecular surveillance for drug resistance markers in Plasmodium vivax isolates from symptomatic and asymptomatic infections at the China-Myanmar border.

Background: In the Greater Mekong sub-region, Plasmodium vivax has become the predominant species and imposes a major challenge for regional malaria elimination. This study aimed to investigate the variations in genes potentially related to drug resistance in P. vivax populations from the China-Myanmar border area.

Plasmodium vivax HAP2/GCS1 gene exhibits limited genetic diversity among parasite isolates from the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Background: Antigens expressed in sexual stages of the malaria parasites are targets of transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs). HAP2/GCS1, a TBV candidate, is critical for fertilization in Plasmodium. Here, the genetic diversity of PvHAP2 was studied in Plasmodium vivax parasite populations from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).

Genetic diversity, natural selection and haplotype grouping of Plasmodium vivax Duffy-binding protein genes from eastern and western Myanmar borders.

Background: Merozoite proteins of the malaria parasites involved in the invasion of red blood cells are selected by host immunity and their diversity is greatly influenced by changes in malaria epidemiology. In the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), malaria transmission is concentrated along the international borders and there have been major changes in malaria epidemiology with Plasmodium vivax becoming the dominant species in many regions. Here, we aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity of P.

Genetic Variations Associated with Drug Resistance Markers in Asymptomatic Infections in Myanmar.

The emergence and spread of drug resistance is a problem hindering malaria elimination in Southeast Asia. In this study, genetic variations in drug resistance markers of were determined in parasites from asymptomatic populations located in three geographically dispersed townships of Myanmar by PCR and sequencing. Mutations in dihydrofolate reductase (), dihydropteroate synthase (), chloroquine resistance transporter (), multidrug resistance protein 1 (), multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (), and Kelch protein 13 () were present in 92.

Immunohistochemical Mapping of Bcl9 Using Two Antibodies that Recognize Different Epitopes Is Useful to Characterize Juvenile Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Myanmar.

B-cell lymphoma 9 (Bcl9) is the core component of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and overexpressed in nuclei of various tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the extent of Bcl9 expression relative to HCC differentiation stage and its functional aspects are poorly understood. In this study, we examined the expression pattern of Bcl9 immunohistochemically, using two anti-Bcl9 antibodies; one was a conventional polyclonal-antibody (anti-Bcl9) against amino acid no.

Small Cell Lung Cancer with Pituitary Metastasis Presenting as Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency: A Case Report and Literature Review.

BACKGROUND Pituitary gland metastasis is rarely the initial presentation of metastatic cancer. Most cases of pituitary gland metastasis are asymptomatic with diabetes insipidus being the most common symptomatic presentation. It can rarely present with symptoms of hormone underproduction such as secondary adrenal insufficiency.

Pericardial effusion due to pembrolizumab-induced immunotoxicity: A case report and literature review.

The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized cancer treatment. These novel agents have provided promising treatment options in patients with different types of cancers. One of these agents is pembrolizumab, which works by blocking the binding of T-lymphocytes to programmed cell death ligand 1 receptors on tumor cells, thus enabling immune activation of T-lymphocytes against tumor cells.