Small Cell Carcinoma:a Rare Subtype of Thyroid Cancer with Unanticipated Prognosis

The prognosis of small cell thyroid carcinoma(SCTC)in a large cohort has not been well reported in the literature.In this study,we analyzed the mortality of SCTC,in comparison to medullary thyroid cancer(MTC)and anaplastic thyroid cancer(ATC),based on the Surveillance,Epidemiology,and End Results(SEER)Program of the National Cancer Institute,to determine the prognosis of SCTC.Information regarding patients with a diagnosis of MTC,ATC,or SCTC,between 2004 and 2013,was acquired from the SEER database.Patient survival curves were assessed by Cox proportional hazards regression analyses,Kaplan-Meier analyses,and log-rank tests.In a Kaplan-Meier analysis of the entire cohort of thyroid cancer patients,cancer-specific survival declined sharply for patients with SCTC,but it declined more modestly for patients with MTC.The cancer-specific survival was not significantly different between SCTC and ATC.Unadjusted Cox regression analysis showed that SCTC had a higher cancer-specific mortality than MTC but a similar prognosis as ATC.SCTC showed a higher cancer-specific mortality than MTC and ATC after adjustments for various confounding factors.SCTC was found to have a more highly lethal clinical course than MTC and had a similar death rate to ATC.Therefore,we recommend that aggressive,radical treatment like surgery or radiation should be performed tor these patients.

Shoot multiplication of Syringa reticulata var.mandshurica from in vitro cultured seedlings

We developed a shoot multiplication protocol for Syringa reticulata Blume vat. mandshurica Hara from in vitro cultured seedlings that derived from in vitro germinated seeds. The shoots could be induced on Murashige and Skoog （MS） medium with proper plant growth regulator combinations of 6-benzylaminopurine （BA） and indole-3-butyric acid （IBA）. The better medium for shoot multiplication and growth was MS ＋ 5 mg L-1 BA ＋ 0.5 mg L-1 IBA ＋ 20 g L-1 sucrose ＋ 7 g L-1 agar, and the corresponding shoot induction rate was 75 %. The plantlets grew well after rooting on I/2MS medium （macro-elements of MS medium are at half-strength） sup- plemented with 1 mg L-1 IBA, and the survival percentage was 〉80 % at 16 weeks after transplanting.

Comparison of methods for extracting high-throughput sequencing RNA from Korean pine seeds

Korean pine （Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc.） is an ecologically and economically important tree species in East Asia. Molecular studies of seed development of this species are limited due to the lack of effective RNA extraction protocols. This study aimed to obtain an effec- tive method to extract high-quality RNA from Korean pine seeds. The TRIzol kit and CTAB methods were used to extract the total RNA from Korean pine seeds at different developmental stages. The bands of RNA extracted by CTAB were not clear, whereas the bands of RNA extracted by the TRIzol kit were brighter and clearer, indicating higher quality and integrity of the RNA products extracted by the TRIzol kit. The 28S rRNA band was approximately 1.5- to 2-fold brighter than the 18S rRNA band on the agarose gel electrophoresis. The absorbance value A 260/280 was 1.8-2.0, and the absorbance value A 260/230 was 〉1.9. The Bioanalyzer RNA integrity results showed that the RNA integrity number of the RNA extracted using the TR/zol kit was acceptable for high-throughputsequencing. Therefore, the total RNA extracted using the TRIzol kit method can be used for high-throughput sequencing and other molecular biology experiments.

Urinary concentrations of phenols, oxidative stress biomarkers and thyroid cancer: Exploring associations and mediation effects

Phenols have been shown to influence the cellular proliferation and function of thyroid in experimental models. However, few human studies have investigated the association between phenol exposure and thyroid cancer, and the underlying mechanisms are also poorly understood. We conducted a case-control study by age- and sex-matching 143 thyroid cancer and 224 controls to investigate the associations between phenol exposures and the risk of thyroid cancer, and further to explore the mediating role of oxidative stress. We found that elevated urinary triclosan (TCS), bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol S (BPS) levels were associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer (all P for trends < 0.05), and the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) comparing the extreme exposure groups were 3.52 (95% confidence interval (CI):2.08, 5.95), 2.06 (95% CI: 1.06, 3.97) and 7.15 (95% CI: 3.12, 16.40), respectively. Positive associations were also observed between urinary TCS, BPA and BPS and three oxidative stress biomarkers measured by 8-hydroxy-2 -deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), 8-iso-prostaglandin F(8-iso PGF) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-mercapturic acid (HNE-MA), as well as between urinary 8-iso PGFand HNE-MA and the risk of thyroid cancer. Mediation analysis showed that urinary 8-iso PGFmediated 28.95%, 47.06% and 31.08% of the associations between TCS, BPA and BPS exposures and the risk of thyroid cancer, respectively (all P < 0.05). Our results suggest that exposure to TCS, BPA and BPS may be associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer and lipid peroxidation may be an intermediate mechanism. Further studies are warranted to confirm the findings.