Publications by authors named "Sheng-xiang Rao"

Background: Non-invasive methods to diagnose non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an inflammatory subtype of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), are currently unavailable.

Aim: To develop an integrin αvβ3-targeted molecular imaging modality to differentiate NASH.

Methods: Integrin αvβ3 expression was assessed in Human LO2 hepatocytes Scultured with palmitic and oleic acids (FFA).

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  • The study evaluates how the presence of concurrent LR-5 observations impacts the likelihood that LR-3 or LR-4 observations indicate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), using a meta-analysis approach.
  • The research analyzed data from 29 studies involving 2,591 observations across 1,456 patients, examining the predictive values of LR-3 and LR-4 with and without concurrent LR-5 observations.
  • Results showed no significant difference in the positive predictive value for LR-3 and LR-4 observations whether concurrent LR-5 was present or not, suggesting that the presence of LR-5 does not substantially affect HCC diagnosis.
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  • - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can lead to hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) in patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases, increasing risks during and after surgery.
  • - A study using gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI on mice revealed significant differences in MRI parameters between control and experimental groups, indicating effectiveness in diagnosing SOS.
  • - The results showed that certain MRI measurements correlated well with histological scores of SOS and organic anion transporter polypeptide 1 (OATP1) levels, suggesting a potential diagnostic tool for SOS.
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Background & Aims: We aimed to develop a Transformer-based deep learning (DL) network for prognostic stratification in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients undergoing RFA.

Methods: A Swin Transformer DL network was trained to establish associations between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets and the ground truth of microvascular invasion (MVI) based on 696 surgical resection (SR) patients with solitary HCC ≤3 cm, and was validated in an external cohort (n = 180). The multiphase MRI-based DL risk outputs using an optimal threshold of .

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The 2023 update of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) Clinical Guidelines for Gastric Cancer focuses on standardizing cancer diagnosis and treatment in China, reflecting the latest advancements in evidence-based medicine, healthcare resource availability, and precision medicine. These updates address the differences in epidemiological characteristics, clinicopathological features, tumor biology, treatment patterns, and drug selections between Eastern and Western gastric cancer patients. Key revisions include a structured template for imaging diagnosis reports, updated standards for molecular marker testing in pathological diagnosis, and an elevated recommendation for neoadjuvant chemotherapy in stage III gastric cancer.

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Background: Biannual Ultrasound showed insufficient sensitivity in detecting small or early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Abbreviated magnetic resonance imaging (A-MRI) protocols with fewer sequences demonstrated higher HCC detection sensitivity than ultrasound with acceptable cost and examination time.

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic performance of gadoxetic acid-enhanced A-MRI with a full sequence MRI (F-MRI) protocol for small HCC (≤2 cm) in cirrhotic or hepatitis B virus-infected high-risk patients.

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A number of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) suffer from loss of response to infliximab (IFX) therapy. Splenic volume is reported to be enlarged in patients with CD compared to normal individuals. The association between splenic volume and IFX efficacy in CD remains unclear.

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Introduction: Lenvatinib plus an anti-PD-1 antibody has shown promising antitumor effects in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but with clinical benefit limited to a subset of patients. We developed and validated a radiomic-based model to predict objective response to this combination therapy in advanced HCC patients.

Methods: Patients ( = 170) who received first-line combination therapy with lenvatinib plus an anti-PD-1 antibody were retrospectively enrolled from 9 Chinese centers; 124 and 46 into the training and validation cohorts, respectively.

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  • A prognostic model called PIMET score was developed to predict treatment outcomes for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) undergoing lenvatinib monotherapy or in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).
  • Key risk factors identified include PIVKA-II levels and the presence of metastasis, which are associated with overall survival rates.
  • The model demonstrated good predictive efficiency, with a C-index of 0.63 in the training cohort and 0.67 in the validation cohort, allowing for effective patient stratification and treatment decision-making.
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  • A novel circulating immune index (CII) based on white blood cell count and lymphocyte proportion was developed to predict outcomes in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based combination therapy.
  • Patients with a CII of 43.1 or lower had significantly longer overall survival rates compared to those with higher CII values, confirming CII as an independent prognostic factor.
  • Moreover, patients with lower CII levels experienced better tumor response and disease control rates, suggesting that this biomarker could help identify who may benefit most from ICI therapies.
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Rationale And Objectives: To compare the diagnostic performance of contrast enhanced CT (CE-CT), CE-CT combined with non-enhanced MRI (NE-MRI) or contrast enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) for colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM).

Materials And Methods: Sixty-six colorectal cancer patients with 198 focal liver lesions who underwent preoperative abdominal CE-CT and MRI examinations were included respectively. The images were assessed independently by two readers in three protocols (1: CE-CT, 2: CE-CT+NE-MRI, 3: CE-CT+CE-MRI).

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Purpose: Tumor size is an important prognostic factor without consideration of the necrotic and cystic components within tumor for patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). We aimed to extract the enhancing viable component from the tumor using computed tomography (CT) post-processing software and evaluate the value of preoperative CT features for predicting the disease-free survival (DFS) after curative resection for patients with primary gastric GISTs.

Methods: 132 Patients with primary gastric GISTs who underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced CT and curative resection were retrospectively analyzed.

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PURPOSE We aimed to assess the performance of quantitative 3D shape analysis in the differential diagno- sis of pancreatic serous oligocystic adenoma (SOA) and mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN). METHODS Four hundred thirty-two patients diagnosed with serous cystic neoplasms (SCNs) or MCNs were retrospectively reviewed from August 2014 to July 2019 and finally 87 patients with MCNs (n = 45) and SOAs (n = 42) were included. Clinical data and magnetic resonance morphologic fea- tures with 3D shape analysis of lesions (shape sphericity, compacity, and volume) were recorded and compared between MCNs and SOAs according to the pathology.

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Background: To compare potential of ultrashort time-to-echo (UTE) T2* mapping and T2* values from T2*-weighted imaging for assessing lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD),with Pfirrmann grading as a reference standard.

Methods: UTE-T2* and T2* values of 366 lumbar discs (L1/2-L5/S1) in 76 subjects were measured in 3 segmented regions: anterior annulus fibrosus, nucleus pulposus (NP), and posterior annulus fibrosus. Lumbar intervertebral discs were divided into 3 categories based on 5-level Pfirrmann grading: normal (Pfirrmann grade I),early disc degeneration (Pfirrmann grades II-III), and advanced disc degeneration (Pfirrmann grades IV-V).

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Background: Assessment of microvascular invasion (MVI) in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) by using a noninvasive method is an unresolved issue. Deep learning (DL) methods based on multiparametric fusion of MR images have the potential of preoperative assessment of MVI.

Purpose: To investigate whether a multiparametric fusion DL model based on MR images can be used for preoperative assessment of MVI in ICC.

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Purpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver cancer worldwide, and early recurrence of HCC after curative hepatic resection is indicative of poor prognoses. We aim to develop a predictive model for postoperative early recurrence of HCC based on deep and radiomics features from multi-phasic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Materials And Methods: A total of 472 HCC patients were included and divided into the training (n = 378) and validation (n = 94) cohorts in the retrospective study.

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Objectives: To explore the importance of three-dimensional (3D) quantitative analysis during gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of microvascular invasion (MVI) and early recurrence (< 2 years) after surgery of single hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ≤ 3 cm.

Methods: Two hundred fourteen patients with pathologically confirmed HCC (training cohort: n = 169; validation cohort: n = 45) were included retrospectively. The 3D quantitative parameters (volume, sphericity, and compacity) and conventional MRI features were analyzed.

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Background And Aim: Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the most critical cells responsible for liver fibrosis, and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is the most prominent mitogen for HSCs in fibrogenesis. This study aimed to explore the potential of gadolinium (Gd)-labeled cyclic peptides (pPB) targeting PDGF receptor-β (PDGFR-β) as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiotracer to identify the progression of liver fibrosis by imaging hepatic PDGFR-β expression.

Methods: Mice treated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl ) were used to mimic hepatic fibrosis in vivo.

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Purpose: To evaluate the value of preoperative computed tomography (CT) features including morphologic and quantitative features for predicting the Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67LI) of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs).

Methods: We retrospectively included 167 patients with gastric GISTs who underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced CT. We assessed the morphologic features of preoperative CT images and the quantitative features including the maximum diameter of tumor, total tumor volume, mean total tumor CT value, necrosis volume, necrosis volume ratio, enhanced tissue volume, and mean CT value of enhanced tissue.

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There exist differences in the epidemiological characteristics, clinicopathological features, tumor biological characteristics, treatment patterns, and drug selections between gastric cancer patients from the Eastern and Western countries. The Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) has organized a panel of senior experts specializing in all sub-specialties of gastric cancer to compile a clinical guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer since 2016 and renews it annually. Taking into account regional differences, giving full consideration to the accessibility of diagnosis and treatment resources, these experts have conducted expert consensus judgment on relevant evidence and made various grades of recommendations for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer to reflect the value of cancer treatment and meeting health economic indexes in China.

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Background: Gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely used in clinical practice. However, scientific evidence is lacking for recommending a particular sequence for measuring tumor size.

Purpose: To retrospectively compare the size of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) measured on different gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI sequences using pathology as a reference.

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Purpose: To investigate whether an isotropic T1-weighted gradient echo (T1-GRE) sequence using a compressed sensing (CS) technique during liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can improve the image quality compared to that using a standard parallel imaging (PI) technique in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Forty-nine patients with single pathologically confirmed HCC were included in the prospective study, who underwent a 3.0 T MRI including the two T1-GRE sequences (CS and PI).

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Article Synopsis
  • A new evaluation method called D-RECIST was developed to better assess responses in patients with colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) receiving bevacizumab therapy.
  • The study found that using D-RECIST provided a clearer distinction between patients with significant and minor responses, leading to better predictions of disease-free survival.
  • This approach showed that patients identified as responders by D-RECIST had significantly longer median disease-free survival compared to non-responders, highlighted its potential over traditional RECIST criteria.
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Objectives: To develop radiomics-based nomograms for preoperative microvascular invasion (MVI) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) prediction in patients with solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ≤ 5 cm.

Methods: Between March 2012 and September 2019, 356 patients with pathologically confirmed solitary HCC ≤ 5 cm who underwent preoperative gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MRI were retrospectively enrolled. MVI was graded as M0, M1, or M2 according to the number and distribution of invaded vessels.

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Objective: Accuracy of preoperative T-staging for colon cancer remains disappointing and may potentially influenced by patients' individual characteristics including visceral adipose tissue (VAT). We sought to clarify the impact of VAT on the accuracy of T-staging by CT.

Methods: This study of 216 consecutive patients who underwent elective surgery was conducted in a single cancer center, to control other potentially confounding factors.

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