Abstract: Diseases prognosis is often influenced by multiple factors, and some intricate non-linear relationships exist among those factors. Artificial neural network (ANN), an artificial intelligence model, simulates the work mode of biological neurons and has a b capability to analyze multi-factor non-linear relationships. In recent years, ANN is increasingly applied in clinical medical fields, especially for the prediction of disease prognosis. This article focuses on the basic principles of ANN and its application in disease prognosis research.
ObjectiveTo investigate the relation between disulfidptosis-related genes (DRGs) and prognosis or immunotherapy response of patients with pancreatic cancer (PC). MethodsThe transcriptome data, somatic mutation data, and corresponding clinical information of the patients with PC in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were downloaded. The DRGs mutated in the PC were screened out from the 15 known DRGs. The DRGs subtypes were identified by consensus clustering algorithm, and then the relation between the identified DRGs subtypes and the prognosis of patients with PC, immune cell infiltration or functional enrichment pathway was analyzed. Further, a risk score was calculated according to the DRGs gene expression level, and the patients were categorized into high-risk and low-risk groups based on the mean value of the risk score. The risk score and overall survival of the patients with high-risk and low-risk were compared. Finally, the relation between the risk score and (or) tumor mutation burden (TMB) and the prognosis of patients with PC was assessed. ResultsThe transcriptome data and corresponding clinical information of the 177 patients with PC were downloaded from TCGA, including 161 patients with somatic mutation data. A total of 10 mutated DRGs were screened out. Two DRGs subtypes were identified, namely subtype A and subtype B. The overall survival of PC patients with subtype A was better than that of patients with subtype B (χ2=8.316, P=0.003). The abundance of immune cell infiltration in the PC patients with subtype A was higher and mainly enriched in the metabolic and conduction related pathways as compaired with the patients with subtype B. The mean risk score of 177 patients with PC was 1.921, including 157 cases in the high-risk group and 20 cases in the low-risk group. The risk score of patients with subtype B was higher than that of patients with subtype A (t=14.031, P<0.001). The overall survival of the low-risk group was better than that of the high-risk group (χ2=17.058, P<0.001), and the TMB value of the PC patients with high-risk was higher than that of the PC patients with low-risk (t=5.642, P=0.014). The mean TMB of 161 patients with somatic mutation data was 2.767, including 128 cases in the high-TMB group and 33 cases in the low-TMB group. The overall survival of patients in the high-TMB group was worse than that of patients in the low-TMB group (χ2=7.425, P=0.006). ConclusionDRGs are closely related to the prognosis and immunotherapy response of patients with PC, and targeted treatment of DRGs might potentially provide a new idea for the diagnosis and treatment of PC.
Abstract:Objective To investigate the clinicopathological features and prognostic aspect of basaloid squamous carcinoma (BSC). Methods From July 2000 to May 2003, the clinical data of 1 257 documented cases that underwent potentially curative resection on esophageal carcinoma in our department were retrospectively analysed, and 18 cases of BSC (BSC group) were detected. And 54 cases of typical squamous carcinoma of esophagus(ESC) were randomly selected as control (ESC group), to analyse the clinicopathological and prognostic parameters of BSC patients. Results The age of BSC group patients was higher than that of ESC group (61. 56 ± 7. 62 years vs. 56.11± 10. 58 years; t=-2. 012,P=0. 048), and the ratio of T4 stage was much higher than that in ESC group (27.8% vs. 5.6%;x2= 6. 750, P= 0. 020). The follow-up showed that, comparing with ESC group, the ratio of metastasis was higher(62.5% vs. 25.0%, P=0. 047), and mean survival time(P〈0.05) was significantly shorter in patients of BSC group after curative resection. There were no statisticaly differences in patient gender (P = 0. 494), or ratio of recurrence (P=0. 887) between two groups. Conclusion The BSC is a rare carcinoma involving esophagus, which occurs in elder patients. Both invasiveness and metastasis of BSC are more usual than those of typical ESC.
The QUADAS-2, QUIPS, and PROBAST tools are not specific for prognostic accuracy studies and the use of these tools to assess the risk of bias in prognostic accuracy studies is prone to bias. Therefore, QUAPAS, a risk of bias assessment tool for prognostic accuracy studies, has recently been developed. The tool combines QUADAS-2, QUIPS, and PROBAST, and consists of 5 domains, 18 signaling questions, 5 risk of bias questions, and 4 applicability questions. This paper will introduce the content and usage of QUAPAS to provide inspiration and references for domestic researchers.
OBJECTIVE: To discuss the clinical properties, operative results of thoracic spinal stenosis and factors correlating with prognosis. METHODS: From September 1992 to January 2001, 16 patients who suffered from thoracic spinal stenosis caused by degeneration, ossified ligamentum flavum, diffuse idiopathic hyperostosis and trauma, were decompressed by operation. The operative method was selected according to the compressed position of spinal cord. All patients were followed up 6 months to 9 years. The pain severity, ambulatory status and paraplegia index were compared between before operation and after operation. The correlation between prognosis and ages, the length of stenosis and the duration of disease was studied. RESULTS: The results of Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test show significant difference in pain severity, ambulatory status and paraplegia index between before operation and after operation (P lt; 0.01). The results of partial correlation analyzing show that only the duration of disease was correlated with paraplegia index (P lt; 0.05). CONCLUSION: Thoracic spinal stenosis frequently develops in the lower-thoracic segments in middle and old aged men. Decompression by operation early can achieve a good clinical result. Duration of disease affects the prognosis.
ObjectiveTo identify the risk factors of postoperative recurrence and survival for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma within Milan criteria following liver resection. MethodsData of 267 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma within Milan criteria who received liver resection between 2007 and 2013 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. ResultsAmong the 267 patients, 123 patients suffered from recurrence and 51 patients died. The mean time to recurrence were (16.9±14.5) months (2.7-75.1 months), whereas the mean time to death were (27.5±16.4) months (6.1-75.4 months). The recurrence-free survival rates in 1-, 3-, and 5-year after operation was 76.8%, 56.3%, and 47.6%, respectively; whereas the overall survival rates in 1-, 3-, and 5-year after operation was 96.6%, 82.5%, and 74.5%, respectively. Multivariate analyses suggested the tumor differentiation, microvascular invasion, and multiple tumors were independent risk factors for postoperative recurrence; whereas the tumor differentiation, positive preoperative HBV-DNA load, and preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio adversely influenced the postoperative survival. ConclusionsFor patients with hepatocellular carcinoma within Milan criteria after liver resection, the tumor differentiation, microvascular invasion, and multiple tumors contribute to postoperative recurrence; whereas the tumor differentiation, positive preoperative HBV-DNA load, and preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio adversely influence the postoperative survival.
Stomach cancer is a malignancy arising from the stomach mucous epithelium. It accounts for 95% of all stomach malignancy cancer. The prevalence of stomach cancer is high in China and the treatment is debated, especially regarding choice of chemotherapy and treatment duration. In order to identify the best treatment and follow-up for patient with stage T2N0M0 stomach sinus cancer, we searched MEDLINE, SUMsearch, The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2004), Clinical Evidence (Issue 4, 2003) and CBMdisc (1981 to 2004). A total of 3 systematic reviews, 28 randomized controlled trails, 3 cohort studies and 3 observational studies were identified. We evaluated the quality of included studies.All studies were divided into 5 grades by the levels and grades of recommendation. We drew a conclusion by synthesizing the results of included studies: The primary treatment for the patient was surgery treatment including gastric deuto-total resection and D1 lymph node dissection. There was no evidence supporting chemotherapy use in either systematic or abdominal cavity after surgery. The survival rate was high in 5 years and 10 years, so the follow-up time should not be long and the follow-up infermission should not less than 1 year. Follow-up included the dynamic and delayed MR sequence with Gd-DTPA, the level of serum CA199, endoscope, and stool occult blood test.
ObjectiveTo discuss the role of primary tumor resection in breast cancer of stage Ⅳ.MethodsTo search and review retrospective and prospective clinical trials about primary tumor resection in breast cancer of stage Ⅳ in recent years at home and abroad.ResultsThe results of most retrospective clinical trials were that primary tumor resection in breast cancer of stage Ⅳ was beneficial. But there were some obvious bias: younger patients, smaller tumors, non-randomized design, and so on. The results of several prospective studies abroad were inconsistent. In the MF07-01, hazard of death was lower in the surgery group and subgroup analysis showed that the risk of death was lower in the surgery group with respect to positive-hormone receptor, negative-human epidermal growth factor 2, patients younger than 55 years, and patients with solitary bone-only metastases when other prospective studies come to the different conclusions. Several Chinese retrospective studies also had similar results that primary tumor resection was beneficial.ConclusionPrimary tumor resection in breast cancer of stage Ⅳ can benefit some patients, whom need more prospective studies to choose.