Histologic Classification of Thymoma and Its Relationship with Myasthenia Gravis and Clinical Stages of the Tumor

Objective： To investigate the relationship among the latest WHO classification of thymoma, myasthenia gravis （MG） and clinical stages. Methods： To review the pathological sections of 74 patients with thymoma from 1980-2004 using WHO classification （1999）, the statistical software was used to analyze the relationship among the WHO classification, MG and clinical stages. Results： （1） Two cases of type A, 23 cases of type AB, 4 cases of type B1, 27 cases of type B2, 16 cases of type B3 and 2 cases of type C were classified. Type B2 more likely accompanied MG （P〈0.05）, while none with MG occurred for type C. （2） One patient was in stage Ⅰ, 30 were in stage Ⅱ, 38 were in stage Ⅲ, and 5 were in stage Ⅳ. The latest histologic classification was significantly correlated with Masaoka stages （P〈0.01）. Conclusion： The latest WHO classification was correlated with occurrence of MG and finely reflected clinical stage. It can also evaluate the prognosis of patients.

Nab-paclitaxel plus capecitabine as first-line treatment for advanced biliary tract cancers:An open-label,non-randomized,phase II clinical trial

BACKGROUND Biliary tract cancers(BTCs)are a heterogeneous group of tumors with high malignancy,poor prognosis,and limited treatment options.AIM To explore the efficacy and safety of nab-paclitaxel plus capecitabine as first-line treatment for advanced and metastatic BTCs.METHODS This open-label,non-randomized,double-center,phase II clinical trial recruited systemic therapy-naive patients with unresectable or metastatic BTCs between April 2019 and June 2022 at Beijing Cancer Hospital and the First Hospital of China Medical University.Eligible patients were administered nab-paclitaxel(150 mg/m^(2),day 1)and capecitabine(2000 mg/m^(2),twice daily,days 1-7)in 14-day cycles until experiencing intolerable toxicity or disease progression.The primary outcome was the objective response rate(ORR).The secondary outcomes included the disease control rate(DCR),overall survival(OS),progression-free survival(PFS),and safety.RESULTS A total of 44 patients successfully completed the trial,with a median age of 64.00 years(interquartile range,35.00-76.00),and 26(59.09%)were females.Tumor response assessment was impeded for one patient due to premature demise from tumor hemorrhage.Among the remaining 43 patients undergoing at least one imaging assessment,the ORR was 23.26%[95%confidence interval(CI):11.80%-38.60%],and the DCR was 69.77%(95%CI:53.90%-82.80%).The median OS was 14.1 months(95%CI:8.3-19.9),and the median PFS was 4.4 months(95%CI:2.5-6.3).A total of 41 patients(93.18%)experienced at least one adverse event(AE),with 10 patients(22.73%)encountering grade≥3 AEs,and the most frequent AEs of any grade were alopecia(79.50%),leukopenia(54.55%),neutropenia(52.27%),and liver dysfunction(40.91%),and no treatment-related deaths were documented.CONCLUSION Nab-paclitaxel plus capecitabine may be an effective and safe first-line treatment strategy for patients with advanced or metastatic BTCs.

Deep learning model based on primary tumor to predict lymph node status in clinical stage IA lung adenocarcinoma:a multicenter study

Objective:To develop a deep learning model to predict lymph node(LN)status in clinical stage IA lung adeno-carcinoma patients.Methods:This diagnostic study included 1,009 patients with pathologically confirmed clinical stage T1N0M0 lung adenocarcinoma from two independent datasets(699 from Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and 310 from PLA General Hospital)between January 2005 and December 2019.The Cancer Hospital dataset was randomly split into a training cohort(559 patients)and a validation cohort(140 patients)to train and tune a deep learning model based on a deep residual network(ResNet).The PLA Hospital dataset was used as a testing cohort to evaluate the generalization ability of the model.Thoracic radiologists manually segmented tumors and interpreted high-resolution computed tomography(HRCT)features for the model.The predictive performance was assessed by area under the curves(AUCs),accuracy,precision,recall,and F1 score.Subgroup analysis was performed to evaluate the potential bias of the study population.Results:A total of 1,009 patients were included in this study;409(40.5%)were male and 600(59.5%)were female.The median age was 57.0 years(inter-quartile range,IQR:50.0-64.0).The deep learning model achieved AUCs of 0.906(95%CI:0.873-0.938)and 0.893(95%CI:0.857-0.930)for predicting pN0 disease in the testing cohort and a non-pure ground glass nodule(non-pGGN)testing cohort,respectively.No significant difference was detected between the testing cohort and the non-pGGN testing cohort(P=0.622).The precisions of this model for predicting pN0 disease were 0.979(95%CI:0.963-0.995)and 0.983(95%CI:0.967-0.998)in the testing cohort and the non-pGGN testing cohort,respectively.The deep learning model achieved AUCs of 0.848(95%CI:0.798-0.898)and 0.831(95%CI:0.776-0.887)for predicting pN2 disease in the testing cohort and the non-pGGN testing cohort,respectively.No significant difference was detected between the testing cohort and the non-pGGN testing cohort(P=0.657).The recalls of this model for predicting pN2 disease were 0.903(95%CI:0.870-0.936)and 0.931(95%CI:0.901-0.961)in the testing cohort and the non-pGGN testing cohort,respectively.Conclusions:The superior performance of the deep learning model will help to target the extension of lymph node dissection and reduce the ineffective lymph node dissection in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients.

Peripheral T-lymphocyte subpopulations in different clinical stages of chronic HBV infection correlate with HBV load

AIM： To characterize the peripheral T-cell subpopulation profiles and their correlation with hepatitis B virus （HBV） replication in different dinical stages of chronic HBV infection. METHODS： A total of 422 patients with chronic HBV infection were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into three stages： immune-tolerant stage, immune active stage, and immune-inactive carrier stage. Composition of peripheral T-cell subpopulations was determined by flow cytometry. HBV markers were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum HBV DNA load was assessed by quantitative real-time poiymerase chain reaction.RESULTS： CD8^＋ T-cells were significantly higher in patients at the immune-tolerant stage than in patients at the immune-active and -inactive carrier stages （36.87 ± 7.58 vs 34.37 ± 9.07, 36.87 ± 7.58 vs 28.09 ± 5.64, P 〈 0.001）. The peripheral blood in patients at the immune-tolerant and immune active stages contained more CD8^＋ T-cells than CD4^＋ T-cells （36.87 ± 7.58 vs 30.23 ± 6.35, 34.37 ± 9.07 vs 30.92 ± 7.40, P 〈 0.01）, whereas the peripheral blood in patients at the immune- inactive carrier stage and in normal controls contained less CD8^＋ T-cells than CD4^＋ T-cells （28.09 ± 5.64 vs 36.85 ±6.06, 24.02 ± 4.35 vs 38.94 ± 3.39, P 〈 0.01）. ANOVA linear trend test showed that CD8^＋ T-cells were significantly increased in patients with a high viral load （39.41 ± 7.36, 33.83 ± 7.50, 31.81 ± 5.95 and 26.89 ± 5.71, P 〈 0.001）, while CD4^＋ T-cells were significantly increased in patients with a low HBV DNA load （37.45 ± 6.24, 33.33 ± 5.61, 31.58 ± 6.99 and 27.56 ± 5.49, P 〈 0.001）. Nultiple regression analysis displayed that log copies of HBV DNA still maintained its highly significant coefficients for T-cell subpopulations, and was the strongest predictors for variations in CD3^＋, CD4^＋ and CD8^＋ cells and CD4^＋/CD8^＋ ratio after adjustment for age at HBV-infection, maternal HBV-infection status, presence of hepatitis B e antigen and HBV mutation.CONCLUSION： Differences in peripheral T-cell subpopulation profiles can be found in different clinical stages of chronic HBV infection. T-cell impairment is significantly associated with HBV load.

Clinical stages of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide,and has relatively high recurrence rates.Few studies have been published on the clinical stages of recurrent HCC.AIM To assess the applicability of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer(BCLC)staging for recurrent HCC and the need to establish clinical stage criteria for recurrent HCC.METHODS The clinicopathological data of 81 patients with recurrent HCC who were admitted to the Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from January 2013 to December 2017 were collected.The patients were divided into three groups according to the BCLC staging system as follows:(1)Group A with BCLC stage A,51 patients;(2)Group B with BCLC stage B,14 patients;and(3)Group C with BCLC stage C,16 patients.The median time to tumor recurrence and the median overall survival were compared.RESULTS The median time to tumor recurrence in groups A,B,and C was 16±1.5 mo,10±2.8 mo,and 6±0.5 mo,respectively,with a statistically significant difference among them(χ^(2)=70.144,P<0.05);no statistically significant difference was noted between group A and group B(χ^(2)=2.659,P>0.05),although there were statistically significant differences between group A and group C and between group B and group C(χ^(2)=62.110,and 19.972,P<0.05).The median overall survival in groups A,B,and C were 42±5.1 mo,22±3.1 mo,and 13±1.8 mo,respectively,with a statistically significant difference among them(χ2=38.949,P<0.05);there were statistically significant differences between group A and group B,group A and group C,and group B and group C(χ2=9.577,37.172,and 7.183,respectively;P<0.05).CONCLUSION There are different prognoses in recurrent HCC patients according to the BCLC staging.Therefore,BCLC staging is applicable to recurrent HCC and it is essential to formulate clinical stage criteria for recurrent HCC.

Assessment of quality of life for the patients with cervical cancer at different clinical stages

With improved overall survival of cervical cancer patients, the importance of the quality of life (QOL) is increasingly recognized. This study was conducted to compare the QOL of women with different stage cervical cancer before and after treatment to facilitate improved cervical cancer prevention and treatment. We used the generic Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36) to collect QOL information. Based on SF-36, we interviewed cervical cancer patients at West China Second Affiliated Hospital and Sichuan Cancer Hospital between May 2010 and January 2011. A total of 92 patients with precancerous lesions, 93 with early cancer, and 35 with advanced cancer responded to our survey. Average physical component summary (PCS) scores were significantly different between the three groups at every time point (P < 0.05). Average mental component summary (MCS) scores were significantly different between the three groups after treatment (P < 0.05). Average PCS and MCS scores increased gradually from the pretreatment to posttreatment period for patients with precancerous lesions. However, they reached the lowest at 1 month after treatment for patients with early and advanced cancers and rebounded between 1 and 6 months after treatment. Our results indicate that patients with precancerous lesions and early cervical cancer show better overall QOL than do those with advanced cervical cancer. Additionally, patients with early cancer recover more quickly than do those with advanced cancer in terms of both physical and mental functions. Thus, early detection and treatment initiatives may improve the QOL for patients with precancerous lesions and cervical cancer.

Clinical Trial Phases

Developers of drugs, biologicals, and medical devices must ensure product safety, demonstrate medical benefit in people, and mass produce the product. Preclinical development starts before clinical trials and the main goals are to determine safety and effectiveness of the intervention. If preclinical studies show that the therapy is safe and effective, clinical trials are started. Clinical trial phases are steps in the research to determine if an intervention would be beneficial or detrimental to humans and include Phases 0, I, II, III, IV, and V clinical studies. Understanding the basis of clinical trial phases will help researchers plan and implement clinical study protocols and, by doing so, improve the number of therapies coming to market for patients.

Comparative proteomic study of colorectal carcinoma with different clinical stages

Objective： Colorectal carcinoma clinical stage associated proteins would be found by comparing differential expressed proteins from colorectal carcinoma tissues with different clinical stages. Methods： Total protein from colorectal carcinoma tissues were extracted; differential proteome profiles were established and analyzed by means of immobilized pH gradient-based two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis （2-DE） and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry （MALDI-TOF-MS）. Results： Well-resolved, reproducible 2-DE profiles of human colorectal carcinoma tissues were obtained. Average protein spots were 970 ± 41,980 ± 32, 1010 ± 43, 1240 ±34 in stage Ⅰ, stage Ⅱ, stage Ⅲ, stage Ⅳ respectively; Compared to stage Ⅰ, differential expressed protein spots was 52.00 ± 12 in stage Ⅱ, 42.00 ± 11 in stage Ⅲ, 72.00 ± 15 in stage Ⅳ; Part of differential expressing proteins were analyzed by mass spectrometry and bioinformation, 19 of them were well characterized. Three proteins were overexpressed in stage Ⅰ, stage Ⅲ, stage Ⅳ, and one protein were overexpressed in stage Ⅳ exclusively. Conclusion： Differential expressed proteins exist in clinical stage of colorectal carcinoma, which would be biomarkers for diagnosis and prediction of prognosis.

Clinical Efficacy of Dasatinib in the Treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) Patients with Different Clinical Stages

Objective:To study the efficacy of dasatinib treatment in different clinical stages of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia(CML).Methods:A total of 80 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia(CML)were selected for experimental research.According to different clinical stages,they were divided into chronic phase,accelerated phase and blast phase,and all of them were treated with dasatinib.Results:The complete cytogenetic response remission rate,complete hematologic remission rate,and major molecular biological remission rate in the chronic phase were significantly higher.Besides,the overall survival time and relapse-free survival time in the chronic phase were significantly longer,and the mortality during the follow-up period in the chronic phase was also significantly higher.Furthermore,the incidence of hematological adverse reactions of gradesⅢtoⅣin the chronic phase was significantly lower compared with the corresponding data of patients in the accelerated phase and blast phase with P<0.05.Conclusion:Different clinical stages of CML patients have different curative effects of dasatinib,which can effectively treat patients in chronic stage.

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells to treat spinal cord injury in the early chronic phase: study protocol for a prospective, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blinded clinical trial

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells(hUC-MSCs)support revascularization,inhibition of inflammation,regulation of apoptosis,and promotion of the release of beneficial factors.Thus,they are regarded as a promising candidate for the treatment of intractable spinal cord injury(SCI).Clinical studies on patients with early chronic SCI(from 2 months to 1 year post-injury),which is clinically common,are rare;therefore,we will conduct a prospective,multicenter,randomized,placebo-controlled,single-blinded clinical trial at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University,West China Hospital of Sichuan University,and Shanghai East Hospital,Tongji University School of Medicine,China.The trial plans to recruit 66 early chronic SCI patients.Eligible patients will undergo randomization at a 2:1 ratio to two arms:the observation group and the control group.Subjects in the observation group will receive four intrathecal transplantations of stem cells,with a dosage of 1×106/kg,at one calendar month intervals.Subjects in the control group will receive intrathecal administrations of 10 mL sterile normal saline in place of the stem cell transplantations.Clinical safety will be assessed by the analysis of adverse events and laboratory tests.The American Spinal Injury Association(ASIA)total score will be the primary efficacy endpoint,and the secondary efficacy outcomes will be the following:ASIA impairment scale,International Association of Neural Restoration-Spinal Cord Injury Functional Rating Scale,muscle tension,electromyogram,cortical motor and cortical sensory evoked potentials,residual urine volume,magnetic resonance imaging–diffusion tensor imaging,T cell subtypes in serum,neurotrophic factors and inflammatory factors in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid.All evaluations will be performed at 1,3,6,and 12 months following the final intrathecal administration.During the entire study procedure,all adverse events will be reported as soon as they are noted.This trial is designed to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of subarachnoid transplantation of hUC-MSCs to treat early chronic SCI.Moreover,it will establish whether cytotherapy can ameliorate local hostile microenvironments,promote tracking fiber regeneration,and strengthen spinal conduction ability,thus improving overall motor,sensory,and micturition/defecation function in patients with early chronic SCI.This study was approved by the Stem Cell Research Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University,China(approval No.[2018]-02)on March 30,2018,and was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov(registration No.NCT03521323)on April 12,2018.The revised trial protocol(protocol version 4.0)was approved by the Stem Cell Research Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University,China(approval No.[2019]-10)on February 25,2019,and released on ClinicalTrials.gov on April 29,2019.

Clinical application of oral contrast-enhanced ultrasound in evaluating the preoperative T staging of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND Oral contrast-enhanced ultrasound(OCEUS)is widely used in the noninvasive diagnosis and screening of gastric cancer(GC)in China.AIM To investigate the clinical application of OCEUS in evaluating the preoperative T staging of gastric cancer.METHODS OCEUS was performed before the operation,and standard ultrasound images were retained.The depth of infiltration of GC(T-stage)was evaluated according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th edition of the tumor-nodemetastasis staging criteria.Finally,with postoperative pathological staging as the gold standard reference,the sensitivity,specificity,negative predictive value,positive predictive value,and diagnostic value of OCEUS T staging were evaluated.RESULTS OCEUS achieved diagnostic accuracy rates of 76.6%(T1a),69.6%(T1b),62.7%(T2),60.8%(T3),88.0%(T4a),and 88.7%(T4b),with an average of 75.5%.Ultrasonic T staging sensitivity exceeded 62%,aside from T1b at 40.3%,while specificity was over 91%,except for T3 with 83.5%.The Youden index was above 60%,with T1b and T2 being exceptions.OCEUS T staging corresponded closely with pathology in T4b(kappa>0.75)and moderately in T1a,T1b,T2,T3,and T4a(kappa 0.40-0.75),registering a concordance rate exceeding 84%.CONCLUSION OCEUS was effective,reliable,and accurate in diagnosing the preoperative T staging of GC.As a noninvasive diagnostic technique,OCEUS merits clinical popularization.

Clinical outcomes in patients with stage non-seminomatous germ cell cancer

This study assesses the long-term outcomes in Han Chinese patients with clinical stage I non-seminomatous germ cell testicular cancer （CSI NSGCT） treated with surveillance, retroperitoneal lymph node dissection （RPLND） and adjuvant chemotherapy. We retrospectively evaluated 89 patients with a mean age of 26.5 years. After orchiectomy, 37 patients were treated with surveillance, 34 underwent RPLND and 18 were managed with chemotherapy. The overall survival rate, the recurrence-free survival rate and the risk factors were evaluated. The median follow-up length was 92 months （range： 6-149 months）. Thirteen of the 89 patients （14.6%） had relapses, and one died by the evaluation date. The overall survival rate was 98.9%. The cumulative 4-year recurrence-free rates were 80.2%, 92.0% and 100% for the surveillance, RPLND and chemotherapy groups, respectively. The disease-free period tended to be briefer in patients with a history of cryptorchidism and those with stage Is. Therefore, surveillance, RPLND and adjuvant chemotherapy might be reliable strategies in compliant patients with CSI NSGCT. Surveillance should be recommended for patients with the lowest recurrence rate, especially those without lymphovascular invasion. This study might aid the establishment of a standard therapy for CSI NSGCT in China.

Quality Management Model for Phase I Clinical Drug Trials:A Structural Equation Model

This study aimed to construct a quality management model for phase I clinical drug trials.A cross-sectional survey was conducted and data were collected from 604 respondents at 69 institutions in China engaged in phase I clinical drug trials.Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to develop the survey tool.Structural equation modeling was used to construct a quality management model for phase I clinical drug trials.The results showed that the final survey tool had good reliability and validity(Cronbach’sα=0.938,root mean square error of approximation=0.074,comparative fit index=0.962,and Tucker—Lewis index=0.955).The model included five dimensions:government regulation,industry management,medical institution management,research team management,and contract research organization(CRO)management.In total,22 measurement items were obtained.The structural equation model indicated government regulation,industry management,medical institution management,and CRO management significantly affected the quality of phase I clinical drug trials(β=0.195,β=0.331,β=0.279,andβ=−0.267,respectively;P<0.05).Research team management had no effect on the quality of trials(β=0.041,P=0.610).In conclusion,the model is valuable for identifying factors influencing phase I clinical drug trials and guiding quality management practices.

Pharmacological intervention for chronic phase of spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury is an intractable traumatic injury. The most common hurdles faced during spinal cord injury are failure of axonal regrowth and reconnection to target sites. These also tend to be the most challenging issues in spinal cord injury. As spinal cord injury progresses to the chronic phase, lost motor and sensory functions are not recovered. Several reasons may be attributed to the failure of recovery from chronic spinal cord injury. These include factors that inhibit axonal growth such as activated astrocytes, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, myelin-associated proteins, inflammatory microglia, and fibroblasts that accumulate at lesion sites. Skeletal muscle atrophy due to denervation is another chronic and detrimental spinal cord injury–specific condition. Although several intervention strategies based on multiple outlooks have been attempted for treating spinal cord injury, few approaches have been successful. To treat chronic spinal cord injury, neural cells or tissue substitutes may need to be supplied in the cavity area to enable possible axonal growth. Additionally, stimulating axonal growth activity by extrinsic factors is extremely important and essential for maintaining the remaining host neurons and transplanted neurons. This review focuses on pharmacotherapeutic approaches using small compounds and proteins to enable axonal growth in chronic spinal cord injury. This review presents some of these candidates that have shown promising outcomes in basic research(in vivo animal studies) and clinical trials: AA-NgR(310)ecto-Fc(AXER-204), fasudil, phosphatase and tensin homolog protein antagonist peptide 4, chondroitinase ABC, intracellular sigma peptide,(-)-epigallocatechin gallate, matrine, acteoside, pyrvate kinase M2, diosgenin, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, and fampridine-sustained release. Although the current situation suggests that drug-based therapies to recover function in chronic spinal cord injury are limited, potential candidates have been identified through basic research, and these candidates may be subjects of clinical studies in the future. Moreover, cocktail therapy comprising drugs with varied underlying mechanisms may be effective in treating the refractory status of chronic spinal cord injury.

Specification of phase Ⅰ of new drugs' clinical tolerance trials

Phase Ⅰ of clinical trials is the first stage of clinical pharmacology and body safety evaluation,including body tolerance test and pharmacokinetics test.The aim is providing evidence for dosage regimen and be the cornerstone of the preliminary assessment of efficacy and safety of phase Ⅱ of clinical trials.This text discussed the technique and requirement of phase Ⅰ of new drugs' clinical tolerance trials.

PHASE II CLINICAL TRIAL OF LASTET CAPSULE IN COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY OF MALIGNANT TUMORSIN CHINA

This study reports the efficacy of prolonged administration of oral etoposide in the treatment of 86 cases with solid tumor,malignant lymphoma and other cancer.The oral etoposide used was the Lastet capsule (Las-c).An overall response rate(RR)of 62.8% was achieved with CR rate being 23.3% and PR rate 39.5%. Different combination chemotherapy regimens led to different response rates but no significant difference was found. The Las-C containing regimens used in this study have not caused any serious side effects.

The Effect of Luteal-Phase Support with Triptrolin Administration on Implantation and Clinical Pregnancy Rate in Assisted Reproductive Technology

Background: Luteal phase support with GnRH agonist administration has been shown to be effective in improving the outcome of assisted reproductive technology. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of single dose Triptrolin (a GnRH agonist) on the probability of the clinical pregnancy rate following embryo transfer (ET) in assisted reproductive techniques (ART). Methods: In this double blinded randomized clinical trial, 340 infertile women who were candidates for intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were randomly assigned to receive GnRH agonist (Triptrolin) in the luteal phase or placebo. In the intervention group, 0.1 mg Triptrolin was injected subcutaneously, while the control group received normal saline. The clinical pregnancy and implantation rate were compared between the two groups using chi-2 and t-test. P-values less than 0.05 were considered significant. The registration number of this clinical trial is IRCT 2014030916912N1. Results: Administration of 0.1 mg Triptrolin on day 6 after oocyte pick up showed no superiority over placebo in implantation (16.9% - 14%, P = 0.40) and clinical pregnancy rates (32% - 29%, P = 0.66), but the rate of clinical pregnancy was higher in women who were below 27 years of age and those with PCO. Conclusion: Administration of Triptrolin was not superior to placebo for luteal phase support.

Relationship between C-reactive protein and clinical stage in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective： The aim of our study was to explore the correlations between C-reactive protein （CRP） levels and clinical stages of nasopharyngeal carcinoma （NPC）. Methods： We analyzed 108 cases, among them, 68 cases were NPC, 20 cases were benign inflammatory diseases of nasopharynx, 20 cases were healthy volunteers as control. CRP was determined with immunoturbidimetry （ITM）. Results： The mean concentrations of CRP in NPC （19.76 rag/L） were significantly increased compared to that in the control group （6.23 mg/L）, while were significantly lower than that in benign inflammatory group （45.63 mg/L）; The mean concentrations of CRP in T4 group （25.58 mg/L） were higher than that in T1 group （17.35 mg/L）, T2 group （18.65 mg/L） and T3 group （15.61 mg/L）. The mean concentrations of CRP in N3 group （28.04 mg/L） were higher than that in NO （17.62mg/L）, N1 （21.27 mg/L）, N2 （18.62 mg/L） respectively, the mean concentrations of CRP in IV （25.74 mg/L） were higher than that in I （14.20 mg/L）, II （16.10 mg/L）, III （23.01 mg/L）, respectively. Conclusion： The serum CRP level is associated with the occurrence of NPC and benign inflammatory disease of nasopharynx. In NPC, the CRP level has positive relationship with the TNM stage.

Microstructure and Stability of Fe_(73.5) Cu_1Nb_3Si_(13.5)B_9 Alloy at Different Stages of Phase Transformation

The microstructure and the stability of Fe_73.5Cu_1Nb_3Si_13.5B_9 alloy at different stages of phase transformation were investigated through the observation of X-ray difraction and transmission electron microscopy and the measurement of magnetic aftereffect (MAE). It was found that the dependence of the volume fraction of amorphous phase and the MAE in the samples annealed from 450 to 700℃ on the annealing temperature is similar.