Carcinosarcoma of the deep lobe of the parotid gland in the parapharyngeal region:A case report

BACKGROUND Salivary carcinosarcoma is an extremely rare tumor containing both malignant epithelial and mesenchymal constituents.This article reports a rare case of carcinosarcoma with salivary duct carcinoma and osteosarcoma as the tumor components.The clinicopathological characteristics,treatment,and prognosis are discussed in conjunction with the literature.CASE SUMMARY A 48-year-old man presented with a complaint of a mass in the right parotid region.Osteosarcoma was first considered for assessment by fine-needle aspiration cytology.Physical examination revealed a mass measuring approximately 4 cm×3.5 cm×3 cm.The mass,the whole lobe of the right parotid gland,and the right mandible were completely removed during surgery.Postoperative histopathology confirmed carcinosarcoma of the salivary gland.CONCLUSION A definite diagnosis of salivary gland carcinosarcoma can only be obtained after complete surgical resection.

microRNAs, an active and versatile group in cancers

microRNAs （miRNAs） are a class of non-coding RNAs that function as endogenous triggers of the RNA interference pathway. Studies have shown that thousands of human protein-coding genes are regulated by miRNAs, indicating that miRNAs are master regulators of many important biological processes, such as cancer development, miRNAs frequently have deregulated expression in many types of human cancers, and play critical roles in tumorigenesis, which functions either as tumor suppressors or as oncogenes. Recent studies have shown that miRNAs are highly related with cancer progression, including initiating, growth, apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis. Furthermore, miRNAs are shown to be responsible for the cancer-related inflam- mation, anti-cancer drug resistance, and regulation of cancer stem ceils. Therefore, miRNAs have generated great interest as a novel strategy in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here we review the versatile roles of miRNAs in cancers and their potential applications for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment as biomarkers.

Cisplatin-based miRNA delivery strategy inspired by the circCPNE1/miR-330-3p pathway for oral squamous cell carcinoma

Circular RNAs(circRNAs)are ideal biomarkers of oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC)because of their highly stable closed-loop structure,and they can act as microRNA(miRNA)sponges to regulate OSCC progression.By analyzing clinical samples,we identified circCPNE1,a dysregulated circRNA in OSCC,and its expression level was negatively correlated with the clinical stage of OSCC patients.Gain-of-function assays revealed the tumor-suppressive effect of circCPNE1,which was then identified as a miR-330-3p sponge.MiR-330-3p was recognized as a tumor promoter in multiple studies,consistent with our finding that it could promote the proliferation,migration,and invasion of OSCC cells.These results indicated that selective inhibition of miR-330-3p could be an effective strategy to inhibit OSCC progression.Therefore,we designed cationic polylysine-cisplatin prodrugs to deliver antagomiR-330-3p(a miRNA inhibitory analog)via electrostatic interactions to form PP@miR nanoparticles(NPs).Paratumoral administration results revealed that PP@miR NPs effectively inhibited subcutaneous tumor progression and achieved partial tumor elimination(2/5),which confirmed the critical role of miR-330-3p in OSCC development.These findings provide a new perspective for the development of OSCC treatments.

Specific convulsions and brain damage in children hospitalized for Omicron BA.5 infection:an observational study using two cohorts

Background SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate over time,and reports on children infected with Omicron BA.5 are limited.We aimed to analyze the specific symptoms of Omicron-infected children and to improve patient care.Methods We selected 315 consecutively hospitalized children with Omicron BA.5 and 16,744 non-Omicron-infected febrile children visiting the fever clinic at our hospital between December 8 and 30,2022.Specific convulsions and body temperatures were compared between the two cohorts.We analyzed potential associations between convulsions and vaccination,and additionally evaluated the brain damage among severe Omicron-infected children.Results Convulsion rates(97.5%vs.4.3%,P<0.001)and frequencies(median:2.0 vs.1.6,P<0.001)significantly differed between Omicron-infected and non-Omicron-infected febrile children.The body temperatures of Omicron-infected children were significantly higher during convulsions than when they were not convulsing and those of non-Omicron-infected febrile children during convulsions(median:39.5 vs.38.2 and 38.6℃,both P<0.001).In the three Omicron-subgroups,the temperature during convulsions was proportional to the percentage of patients and significantly differed(P<0.001),while not in the three non-Omicron-subgroups(P=0.244).The convulsion frequency was lower in the 55 vaccinated children compared to the 260 non-vaccinated children(average:1.8 vs.2.1,P<0.001).The vaccination dose and convulsion frequency in Omicron-infected children were significantly correlated(P<0.001).Fifteen of the 112 severe Omicron cases had brain damage.Conclusions Omicron-infected children experience higher body temperatures and frequencies during convulsions than those of non-Omicron-infected febrile children.We additionally found evidence of brain damage caused by infection with omicron BA.5.Vaccination and prompt fever reduction may relieve symptoms.