scholarly journals P005 Regulators of the guanylate cyclase pathway are potential novel markers of mucosal healing in IBD

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S131-S132
Author(s):  
L E Jeffery ◽  
U N Shivaji ◽  
D Zardo ◽  
A Acharjee ◽  
O M Nardone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Guanylate Cyclase ◽  
Biologic Therapy ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Mucosal Healing ◽  
Endoscopic Examination ◽  
Response To Therapy ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
University Hospitals ◽  
Therapy Assessment ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Background Intestinal guanylate cyclase C (GC-C) present in epithelial cells has been shown to have a role in gut homeostasis. The downstream effects of activation of GC-C are due to production of cyclic-GMP. GC-C is encoded by the gene GUCY2C, mutations in which are implicated in Familial Diarrhoea Syndrome and noted as risk factors for Crohn’s disease. GUCY2C and its activator, GUCA2A have been shown to be downregulated in IBD. We hypothesised that regulation of this pathway might be important in remission and response to therapy. Methods Forty-four patients with IBD and 7 patients with polyps (controls) at University Hospitals Birmingham, UK were recruited under ethical consent. Relevant demographic and clinical data were extracted from the hospital EMR. All patients had disease activity recorded on endoscopic examination of mucosa and intestinal biopsies collected for analysis. Mucosal healing was defined as MES = 0 (UC) and SES-CD <6 (CD). Of 44 patients, 14 had matched baseline and 12-week post-biologic therapy assessment and had tissues collected. Intestinal biopsies were analysed by 3’RNA-sequencing using the Illumina Nextseq sequencer. FASTQ files were generated through BaseSpace and reads de-multiplexed, trimmed, aligned, and quantified using the GeneGlobe (Qiagen) workflow. Expression was compared between groups using either Wilcoxon tests or Kruskal–Wallis with Dunn post-hoc analysis as appropriate. Results Expression of Guanylate cyclase activators GUCA2A and GUCA2B in patients who showed mucosal healing was equivalent to controls, but GUCA2A was down-regulated in those with active disease (non-healing) (p = 0.006). The same pattern was observed for transcriptional regulators of GUCY2C, including HNF4A (p = 0.0248) and CDX2 (0.0062). Correspondingly, GUCY2C was reduced in non-healing mucosa, although the difference was not significant (Figure 1). In patients who responded to biologic therapy, both GUCA2A (p = 0.0234) and GUCA2B (p = 0.0117) were increased at follow-up but no change was observed for those who did not respond. Change in GUCY2C expression did not reach statistical significance in either group, although an increase was observed for a large proportion of responders. Conclusion Our findings suggest that regulation of the Guanylate Cyclase pathway may be involved in the restoration of a stable mucosa in IBD and that expression of its regulators may be used to indicate response to treatment.

scholarly journals Determination of Robust Regional CT Radiomics Features for COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahbubunnabi Tamal
Keyword(s):  
Pleural Effusion ◽  
Ground Glass Opacity ◽  
Ct Images ◽  
Accurate Diagnosis ◽  
Response To Therapy ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Z Score ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Severity Of The Disease

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe lung CT images of COVID-19 patients can be characterized by three different regions – Ground Glass Opacity (GGO), consolidation and pleural effusion. GCOs have been shown to precede consolidations. Quantitative characterization of these regions using radiomics can facilitate accurate diagnosis, disease progression and response to treatment. However, according to the knowledge of the author, regional CT radiomics analysis of COVID-19 patients has not been carried out. This study aims to address these by determining the radiomics features that can characterize each of the regions separately and can distinguish the regions from each other.Methods44 radiomics features were generated with four quantization levels for 23 CT slice of 17 patients. Two approaches were the implemented to determine the features that can differentiate between lung regions – 1) Z-score and correlation heatmaps and 2) one way ANOVA for finding statistically significantly difference (p<0.05) between the regions. Radiomics features that show agreement for all cases (Z-score, correlation and statistical significant test) were selected as suitable features. The features were then tested on 52 CT images.Results10 radiomics features were found to be the most suitable among 44 features. When applied on the test images, they can differentiate between GCO, consolidation and pleural effusion successfully and the difference provided by these 10 features between three lung regions are statistically significant.ConclusionThe ten robust radiomics features can be useful in extracting quantitative data from CT lung images to characterize the disease in the patient, which in turn can help in more accurate diagnosis, staging the severity of the disease and allow the clinician to plan for more successful personalized treatment for COVID-19 patients. They can also be used for monitoring the progression of COVID-19 and response to therapy for clinical trials.

RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, PROGNOSTIC FACTORS AND RESPONSE OF TREATMENT OF RECTAL CANCER

QJM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 114 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesham Mahmoud El Wakiel ◽  
Mai Mohamed Ali Ezz El DinDinEl Ghamry ◽  
Ahmed Essam Mohamed Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Rectal Cancer ◽  
Overall Survival ◽  
Prognostic Factors ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
University Hospitals ◽  
Rectal Cancers ◽  
Disease Free

Abstract Background Rectal cancers have always been considered as a part of CRCs in related epidemiological studies, it’s one of the major public health problems. Rectal cancers are the second most common (28%) cancers in large intestine after proximal colon cancers (42%).Colorectal cancer is the third most frequently diagnosed malignancy just behind lung and breast cancer, accounting for about 1.8 million cases each year, and the second cancer causing death worldwide, accounting to more than 850,000 deaths per year. Objective To evaluate the clinico-epidemiological factors in rectal cancer patients with response to treatment, duration of response and overall survival outcome. Methods This is a retrospective study which enrolled 60 patients diagnosed with rectal cancer treated at Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Department at AinShams University Hospitals in the period between January 2012 and December 2015. Data collected from the files of Ain Shams University. Results Among the studied population enrolled in our study, we found that major factors affected both OS & DFS were ECOGPS,histopathological differentiation, pathological staging, CRM, LVSI, PNI. While factors affected OS only with no impact on DFS were gender variant, clinical T & N stage, ECE and there is statistical significance in DFS and the tumor site. The median of overall, disease-free and progression free survival of all studied population were 37, 29 and 9 months respectively. Conclusion The fact that identified epidemiological and prognostic factors for disease free and overall survival in rectal cancer were not novel, this work reflect real life management of care and outcomes of rectal cancer patients.

COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF MULTIPARAMETRIC ENDORECTAL ULTRASOUND AND ENHANCED IMAGING COLONOSCOPY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF EARLY COLORECTAL CANCER

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
E. M. Bogdanova ◽  
Yu. L. Trubacheva ◽  
O. M. Yugai ◽  
S. V. Chernyshov ◽  
E. G. Rybakov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Muscle Layer ◽  
Endorectal Ultrasound ◽  
Diagnostic Methods ◽  
Early Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Morphological Examination ◽  
Optical Magnification ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Enhanced Imaging

AIM: to compare multiparametric endorectal ultrasound (ERUS) and enhanced imaging colonoscopy in the diagnosis of early colorectal cancer.PATIENTS AND METHODS: the study included 78 patients with epithelial rectal tumor. All the patients underwent multiparametric ERUS and colonoscopy with examination by narrow beam imaging (NBI) at optical magnification. All the patients were operated.RESULTS: a morphological examination removed specimens revealed adenomas in 48 cases, in 19 specimens – adenocarcinomas in situ and T1, and in 11 specimens – adenocarcinomas with invasion of the muscle layer or deeper. When calculating the accuracy indicators of diagnostic methods for groups of patients with adenoma, Tis-T1 adenocarcinoma, and T2-T3 adenocarcinoma, the difference in the sensitivity and specificity of the methods in none of the presented groups did not reach the level of statistical significance (p>0.05).ROC analysis showed that ultrasound has a prognostic value comparable to colonoscopy. The area difference was 0.013 (p=0.85).CONCLUSION: endoscopy and ultrasound have similar value in the diagnosis of malignant transformation of rectal adenomas.

Criteria positive and criteria negative anaphylaxis, with a focus on undifferentiated somatoform idiopathic anaphylaxis: A review and case series

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 436-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Rosloff ◽  
Kunal Patel ◽  
Paul J. Feustel ◽  
Jocelyn Celestin
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Criteria ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Poor Response ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Fisher Exact Test ◽  
Subjective Symptoms ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Physical Findings ◽  
Idiopathic Anaphylaxis

Background: Undifferentiated somatoform (US) idiopathic anaphylaxis (IA) is considered a psychogenic disorder characterized by a lack of observable physical findings and poor response to treatment. Although failure to diagnose true anaphylaxis can have disastrous consequences, identification of US-IA is crucial to limit unnecessary expenses and use of health care resources. Objective: To better define the presentation and understand the potential relationship between US-IA and underlying psychiatric comorbidities. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 110 visits by 107 patients to our institution for evaluation and management of anaphylaxis over a 1-year period. The patients were classified as having either criteria positive (CP) or criteria negative (CN) anaphylaxis based on whether they met Second National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease/Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network Symposium criteria for the clinical diagnosis of anaphylaxis. Patient characteristics, including objective and subjective signs and symptoms, and the presence of psychiatric diagnoses were collected and analyzed. Statistical significance was assessed by using the Fisher exact test. A literature review of US-IA and other psychogenic forms of anaphylaxis was performed. Results: Patients with CP anaphylaxis were more likely to present with hypotension, wheezing, urticaria, and vomiting than were patients with CN anaphylaxis. The patients with CN anaphylaxis were more likely to present with subjective symptoms of sensory throat tightness or swelling compared with patients with CP anaphylaxis. No significant difference was detected in the prevalence of psychiatric conditions between the two groups. Conclusion: Patients who met previously established diagnostic criteria for anaphylaxis were more likely to present with objective physical findings than those who did not meet criteria for true anaphylaxis. CN patients who presented for treatment of anaphylaxis were more likely to present with subjective symptoms. Formal diagnostic criteria should be used by clinicians when evaluating patients with suspected anaphylaxis.

Melanoma: Prognostic Factors and Factors Predictive of Response to Therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (17) ◽  
pp. 2792-2813
Author(s):  
Martina Strudel ◽  
Lucia Festino ◽  
Vito Vanella ◽  
Massimiliano Beretta ◽  
Francesco M. Marincola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prognostic Factors ◽  
Lactate Dehydrogenase ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Elevated Serum ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers ◽  
Response To Therapy ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Prognostic Features ◽  
Programmed Death

Background: A better understanding of prognostic factors and biomarkers that predict response to treatment is required in order to further improve survival rates in patients with melanoma. Predictive Biomarkers: The most important histopathological factors prognostic of worse outcomes in melanoma are sentinel lymph node involvement, increased tumor thickness, ulceration and higher mitotic rate. Poorer survival may also be related to several clinical factors, including male gender, older age, axial location of the melanoma, elevated serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase and S100B. Predictive Biomarkers: Several biomarkers have been investigated as being predictive of response to melanoma therapies. For anti-Programmed Death-1(PD-1)/Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) checkpoint inhibitors, PD-L1 tumor expression was initially proposed to have a predictive role in response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment. However, patients without PD-L1 expression also have a survival benefit with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy, meaning it cannot be used alone to select patients for treatment, in order to affirm that it could be considered a correlative, but not a predictive marker. A range of other factors have shown an association with treatment outcomes and offer potential as predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy, including immune infiltration, chemokine signatures, and tumor mutational load. However, none of these have been clinically validated as a factor for patient selection. For combined targeted therapy (BRAF and MEK inhibition), lactate dehydrogenase level and tumor burden seem to have a role in patient outcomes. Conclusions: With increasing knowledge, the understanding of melanoma stage-specific prognostic features should further improve. Moreover, ongoing trials should provide increasing evidence on the best use of biomarkers to help select the most appropriate patients for tailored treatment with immunotherapies and targeted therapies.

Clinical Study of Qingpeng Ointment Treatment of Shoulder-Hand Syndrome After Cerebral Hemorrhage During the Rehabilitation Period

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruihuan Pan ◽  
Shanshan Ling ◽  
Haodong Yang ◽  
Yan Huang ◽  
Lechang Zhan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Group ◽  
Cerebral Hemorrhage ◽  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
External Rotation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Hand Function ◽  
Tibetan Medicine ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Control Group ◽  
The Difference

Background: Shoulder-hand syndrome (SHS) refers to a syndrome causing sudden edema, shoulder pain and limited hand function. Qingpeng ointment, a kind of Tibetan medicine, can reduce swelling, relieve pain, tonify stagnation and clear the meridians, which is consistent with the pathological mechanism of SHS after stroke. Therefore, if clinical trials can be used to explore the effectiveness of Qingpeng ointment for treatment of poststroke SHS and promote its application in clinical medicine, this is of specific significance for the treatment of poststroke SHS. Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of Qingpeng ointment in the treatment of poststroke SHS. To provide an objective basis for a better therapeutic treatment for poststroke SHS． Method: A prospective, randomized, controlled study was conducted. This study recruited 120 patients with poststroke SHS who met the inclusion criteria. They were randomized into the treatment group and the control group, with 60 patients allocated to each group. The treatment group received routine medical treatment and rehabilitative care after using the Qingpeng ointment, while the patients in the control group received only routine treatment without the ointment. All patients received clinical assessment with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), measurement of the range of motion (ROM) of the upper-limb joints, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Upper Extremity (FMA-U) and the Modified Barthel Index Score (MBI) before and after the whole treatment. Results: After 4 weeks of treatment, the VAS scores of both groups were decreased significantly (P＜0.05), and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There is no statistical significance for the difference between the treatment group and control group in terms of the FMA-U and MBI scores and the forward bend, backward, outstretch, external rotation and pronation angles after treatment. The increases in the values of VAS, FMA-M and MBI in the treatment group were greater than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The increases in the values of the forward bend, outreach and external rotation angles in the treatment group were greater than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The treatment group showed better results than the control group in terms of the relief of pain symptoms, the improvement of motor function and the improvement of the activities of daily living for patients with shoulder-hand syndrome after cerebral hemorrhage. Qingpeng ointment is effective and safe in treating poststroke SHS.

Defining ‘Satisfactory Response’ to Therapy in Abdominal Tuberculosis: A Work in Progress

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishal Sharma ◽  
Harjeet Singh ◽  
Harshal S. Mandavdhare
Keyword(s):  
Intestinal Tuberculosis ◽  
Abdominal Tuberculosis ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Mucosal Healing ◽  
Response To Therapy ◽  
Satisfactory Response ◽  
Reactive Protein ◽  
Resistant Tuberculosis ◽  
Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis ◽  
Low Sensitivity

Abdominal tuberculosis is difficult to diagnose due to low sensitivity of microbiological tests and the low histological yield. Satisfactory response to therapy has long been used a criteria for the diagnosis of abdominal tuberculosis. However, the appropriate definitions of response to therapy in abdominal tuberculosis have remained unclear. Recent evidence suggests that mucosal healing of ulcers at the end of therapy or at two months (early mucosal response) is a helpful criteria of response to therapy. This also helps in exclusion of multidrug resistant tuberculosis and alternative diagnosis like Crohn’s disease. Further limited literature suggests the use of some biomarkers like C-reactive protein in the follow-up of patients with peritoneal or intestinal tuberculosis.

Baseline apparent diffusion coefficients: Validation study of new predictor of survival in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma following chemoembolization

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Lichao Xu ◽  
Shiqin Wang ◽  
Shengping Wang ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
Wentao Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Roc Curve ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Roc Curve Analysis ◽  
Adc Value ◽  
Apparent Diffusion Coefficients ◽  
Apparent Diffusion ◽  
Response Biomarker ◽  
The Difference

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether the baseline apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) can predict survival in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients receiving chemoembolization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of HCC patients is performed within 2 weeks before chemoembolization. The ADC of the largest index lesion is recorded. Responses are assessed by mRECIST after the start of the second course of chemoembolization. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis is performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance and determine optimal cut-off values. Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier survival analyses are used to explore the differences in overall survival (OS) between the responders and non-responders. RESULTS: The difference is statistically significant in the baseline ADC between the responders and non-responders (P <  0.001). ROC analyses indicate that the baseline ADC value is a good predictor of response to treatment with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.744 and the optimal cut-off value of 1.22×10–3 mm2/s. The Cox regression model shows that the baseline ADC is an independent predictor of OS, with a 57.2% reduction in risk. CONCLUSION: An optimal baseline ADC value is a functional imaging response biomarker that has higher discriminatory power to predict tumor response and prolonged survival following chemoembolization in HCC patients.

scholarly journals Implementing Personalized Medicine in COVID-19 in Andalusia: An Opportunity to Transform the Healthcare System

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 475
Author(s):  
Joaquín Dopazo ◽  
Douglas Maya-Miles ◽  
Federico García ◽  
Nicola Lorusso ◽  
Miguel Ángel Calleja ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Personalized Medicine ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Response To Therapy ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Specific Patient

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented opportunity to exploit the advantages of personalized medicine for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, surveillance and management of a new challenge in public health. COVID-19 infection is highly variable, ranging from asymptomatic infections to severe, life-threatening manifestations. Personalized medicine can play a key role in elucidating individual susceptibility to the infection as well as inter-individual variability in clinical course, prognosis and response to treatment. Integrating personalized medicine into clinical practice can also transform health care by enabling the design of preventive and therapeutic strategies tailored to individual profiles, improving the detection of outbreaks or defining transmission patterns at an increasingly local level. SARS-CoV2 genome sequencing, together with the assessment of specific patient genetic variants, will support clinical decision-makers and ultimately better ways to fight this disease. Additionally, it would facilitate a better stratification and selection of patients for clinical trials, thus increasing the likelihood of obtaining positive results. Lastly, defining a national strategy to implement in clinical practice all available tools of personalized medicine in COVID-19 could be challenging but linked to a positive transformation of the health care system. In this review, we provide an update of the achievements, promises, and challenges of personalized medicine in the fight against COVID-19 from susceptibility to natural history and response to therapy, as well as from surveillance to control measures and vaccination. We also discuss strategies to facilitate the adoption of this new paradigm for medical and public health measures during and after the pandemic in health care systems.

scholarly journals Busulfan plus melphalan versus melphalan alone conditioning regimen after bortezomib based triplet induction chemotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 204062072110129
Author(s):  
Songyi Park ◽  
Dong-Yeop Shin ◽  
Junshik Hong ◽  
Inho Kim ◽  
Youngil Koh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Myeloma ◽  
Induction Chemotherapy ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Conditioning Regimen ◽  
Progression Free Survival ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Newly Diagnosed ◽  
Cell Engraftment ◽  
The Difference ◽  
High Dose Melphalan

Background: High dose melphalan (HDMEL) is considered the standard conditioning regimen for autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Recent studies showed superiority of busulfan plus melphalan (BUMEL) compared to HDMEL as a conditioning regimen. We compared the efficacy of HDMEL and BUMEL in newly diagnosed Asian MM patients, who are often underrepresented. Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective study including MM patients who underwent ASCT after bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone (VTD) triplet induction chemotherapy between January 2015 and August 2019. Result: In the end, 79 patients in the HDMEL group were compared to 31 patients in the BUMEL group. There were no differences between the two groups with regards to sex, age at ASCT, risk group, and stage. The HDMEL group showed better response to pre-transplant VTD compared to BUMEL, but after ASCT the BUMEL group showed better overall response. In terms of progression-free survival (PFS), although BUMEL showed trends towards better PFS regardless of pre-transplant status and age, the difference did not reach statistical significance. The BUMEL group more often experienced mucositis related to chemotherapy, but there was no difference between the two groups with regards to hospitalization days, cell engraftment, and infection rates. Conclusion: BUMEL conditioning deserves attention as the alternative option to HDMEL for newly diagnosed MM patients, even in the era of triplet induction chemotherapy. Specifically, patients achieving very good partial response (VGPR) or better response with triplet induction chemotherapy might benefit the most from BUMEL conditioning. Tailored conditioning regimen, based on patient’s response to induction chemotherapy and co-morbidities, can lead to better treatment outcomes.

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