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.
【Abstract】Objective Stromal cell-derived factor-1(SDF-1, CXCL12) is a member of the CXC subfamily of chemokines which, through its cognate receptor (CXCR4), plays an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. This study analyzed quantitatively the expression of SDF-1 and its relation with clinicopathologic feature and clinical outcome in human breast cancer.Methods Expression of SDF-1 mRNA in 8 breast cancer cell lines, an endothelial cell line HECV and a fibroblast cell MRC5 was studied by using RT-PCR. In addition, the expression of SDF-1 was investigated at both protein (immunohistochemistry) and mRNA(real-time PCR) levels in a group of human normal mammary(n=32) and tumour tissues(n=120). Results SDF-1 expression was identified in MRC5, MDA-MB435s, MDA-MB436, MCF7 cell lines, breast tumour and normal tissues. Significantly higher level of SDF-1 was seen in lymph node positive than in lymph node negative tumours (399.00±210.00 vs 0.89±0.47), P=0.048. The level of SDF-1 expression in patients who developed local recurrence or metastasis, or patients who died of breast cancer was higher than in patients who were disease free as well, (670.00±346.00 vs 0.83±0.35), P=0.01. It was most notable that level of SDF-1 was significantly correlated with over survival (P=0.01) and incidence free survival (P=0.035, by Cox proportion analysis).Conclusion SDF-1 is a factor that is expressed in both stromal cells and some breast cancer cells. Its level are correlated with lymph node involvement, prognosis and survival in patients with breast cancer. SDF-1 may therefore have a potential prognostic value in breast cancer.
ObjectiveTo investigate the predicting effect of PIK3CA mutations for the efficacy and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients received surgical resection. MethodsPCR and DNA sequencing were used to detect the PIK3CA mutation status of 79 HCC tissues, its impact on the short and long term effects of the patients were analyzed. ResultsIn this group of patients, mutation rate of PIK3CA gene exon 9 was 39.24% (31/79), PIK3CA mutation rate correlated with lymph node status and tumor differentiation (P < 0.05). The therapeutic effect of patients with PIK3CA mutation was significantly poor than that of the non-mutated group (P < 0.05). The three-year cumulative survival of patients with PIK3CA mutation (33.33%) was significantly lower than non-mutated group's (60.00%) by Kaplan-Meier (P < 0.05). ConclusionPIK3CA gene mutation in exon 9 could impact the efficiency of surgical resection in patients with HCC and could predict a poor survival prognosis.
ObjectiveTo investigate the association between serum thyroid hormone levels and prognosis for patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) without thyroid disease, and explore the prognostic value of serum thyroid hormone levels for patients with AECOPD.MethodsThe clinical data of 239 hospitalized cases of AECOPD [149 males, 90 females, aged 42-92 (77.7±8.9) years] from January 2013 to November 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Serum thyroid hormone levels including total tetraiodothyronin (TT4), total triiodothyronin (TT3), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free tetraiodothyronin (FT4) and free triiodothyronin (FT3) were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay. All patients were divided into a survival group and a death group according to the prognosis. Serum thyroid hormone levels were compared between two groups. Correlations of serum thyroid hormone levels with the occurrence of death in AECOPD patients were analyzed. The prognostic value of serum thyroid hormone levels for AECOPD patients was explored by receiveroperating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. And the best cut-off value of serum thyroid hormone level in predicting the risk of death was calculated.ResultsSerum TT4, TT3, FT4 and FT3 levels in the survival group were significantly higher than those in the death group [TT4: (89.35±21.45) nmol/L vs. (76.84±21.33) nmol/L; TT3: (1.05±0.34) nmol/L vs. (0.72±0.19) nmol/L; FT4: (16.17±2.91) pmol/L vs. (14.45±2.85) pmol/L; FT3: (3.06±0.81) pmol/L vs. (2.24±0.72) pmol/L; all P<0.05]. The differences of serum TSH level between two groups were not statistically significant [0.98 (0.54-1.83)vs. 0.57 (0.31-1.84), P>0.05]. Spearman correlation analysis showed that serum TT4, TT3, FT4 and FT3 levels were significant correlated with the occurrence of death (r values were 0.226, 0.417, 0.220, 0.387, respectively, P<0.05). And there was no significant correlation between serum TSH level and the occurrence of death (P>0.05). ROC curve analysis was done between serum thyroid hormone levels (TT4, TT3, TSH, FT4 and FT3) and the occurrence of death in the AECOPD patients. The areas under ROC curve were 0.659, 0.793, 0.588, 0.655 and 0.772, respectively. Serum TT3 was the best indicator for predicting the occurrence of death. When serum TT3 level was 0.85nmol/L, the Youden index was the highest (0.486), with a sensitivity of 70.2%, and a specificity of 78.3%. It was the best cut-offl value of serum TT3 to predict the risk of death in AECOPD patients.ConculsionsSerum thyroid hormone levels are significant associated with the prognostic for AECOPD patients. There is certain value of serum thyroid hormone levels in prognostic evaluation of AECOPD patients.
ObjectiveTo observe the prognosis index in acute arsenic trihydride poisoning patients in order to provide references for early clinical treatment. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 20 acute arsenic trihydride poisoning patients treated between July 2010 and January 2014. The patients were divided into death group and survival group according to survival situation 90 days later. The length of time from onset to treatment, urine arsenic concentration, blood routine, hepatic and renal function, electrolyte, myocardial enzyme, arterial blood gas analysis were observed by single factor analysis, and the positive indexes were analyzed by logistic regression analysis to seek the potential influencing factors for survival. ResultsCompared with the survival group, the length of time from onset to treatment, urine arsenic, serum total bilirubin, creatinine, creatine kinase of the death group were significantly higher (P<0.05), while the value of pH, HCO3-, BE of the survival group were significantly lower (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that these indexes remarkably affected patients' survival rate. ConclusionTherapeutic time window, extent of damage of heart, liver, kidney and acid-base imbalance are closely associated with the survival rate of arsenic trihydride poisoning patients, and timely treatment for above factors can be useful for improving prognosis.
ObjectiveTo detect the expression of Krüppel like factor 8 (KLF8) in breast cancer tissues and cells and to explore the clinical significance of KLF8.Methods① The Oncomine database was used to analyze the differential expression of KLF8 mRNA in the breast cancer tissues. The Kaplan-Meier Plotter database was used to analyze the relationship between KLF8 mRNA expression and prognosis (relapse free survival, overall survival, post-progression survival, and distant metastasis-free survival) of patients with breast cancer. ② The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the KLF8 expression levels in the 16 clinical patients with breast cancer and 7 breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MCF-12A, Hs-578T, MCF-7, BT-474, MDA-MB-453, ZR-75-30) and normal breast epithelial cell lines MCF-10A, and the immunofluorescence was used to further detect the localization of KLF8 expression in the 2 breast cancer cell lines with higher KLF8 expression level. ③ The immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of KLF8 protein in 135 cases of breast cancer tissue microarrays, and the relationships between KLF8 protein expression and clinicopathologic characteristics or overall survival were analyzed.Results① The Oncomine database showed that KLF8 mRNA expression in the breast cancer tissues was higher than that in the normal breast tissues (P<0.001). The median KLF8 mRNA expression level was taken as the cut-off point for high or low KLF8 expression. The results of Kaplan-Meier Plotter data analysis showed that the prognosis (relapse free survival, overall survival, postprogression survival, and distant metastasis-free survival) of patients with low KLF8 mRNA expression were better than those of patients with high KLF8 mRNA expression (P<0.05). ② The results of qRT-PCR and Western blot all showed that the KLF8 mRNA and protein expression levels in the breast cancer tissues were higher than those in the adjacent normal tissues (P=0.002, P<0.001). In addition, the Western blot results showed that the expression of KLF8 protein in the 7 breast cancer cell lines was higher than that in the normal breast epithelial cell lines MCF-10A respectively, and KLF8 protein mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of breast cancer cells and highly expressed in the nuclear of a few cells. ③ There were 63 cases of high KLF8 expression and 72 cases of low KLF8 expression by the immunohistochemical analysis of 135 patients with breast cancer tissue microarray (the H-score of the immunohistochemical test results was 75 as the cut-off point, H-score >75 was the high KLF8 expression and H-score ≤75 was the low KLF8 expression), the differences of statuses of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) between the patient with high KLF8 expression and low KLF8 expression were significant (P<0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the prognosis of patients with high KLF8 expression was worse than that of patients with low KLF8 expression (P=0.002). The univariate analysis showed that the TNM stage, statuses of ER and PR, and KLF8 expression were related to the prognosis of patients with breast cancer (P<0.05), further multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis indicated that the later stage of TNM and high KLF8 expression were the independent risk factors (P<0.05).ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that KLF8 highly expresses in both breast cancer tissues and breast cancer cells, which is related to the statuses of ER and PR and prognosis of patients with breast cancer. KLF8 might be involved in the progression of breast cancer as an oncogenic gene, or it might provide a new direction for prognosis judgment and molecular targeted therapy of breast cancer.
ObjectiveTo detect expressions of transient receptor potential channel C5 (TRPC5) and microRNA-320a (miR-320a) in thyroid cancer and explore clinical significances of them in thyroid cancer.MethodsThe expressions of TRPC5 and miR-320a mRNA in the thyroid cancer were investigated by searching the Ualcan database. While the expressions of TRPC5 and miR-320a mRNA in 80 cases of thyroid cancer, 35 cases of thyroid adenoma and 32 cases of normal thyroid tissues adjacent to thyroid adenoma tissues in the Zhengzhou Seventh People’s Hospital from March 2014 to March 2015 were tested. Real time PCR was used to detect the expressions of TRPC5 mRNA and miR-320a mRNA in the various tissues and Western blot was used to detect the TRPC5 protein in the thyroid cancer tissues. Therelationships between the expressions of TRPC5 and miR-320a mRNAs and clinicopathologic features of thyroid cancer were analyzed. The correlation between expressions of TRPC5 and miR-320a mRNA was analyzed by Pearson method. The risk factors influencing the prognosis were analyzed by univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model.ResultsThe results of Ualcan database showed that the expression level of TRPC5 mRNA in the thyroid cancer was higher than that in the normal thyroid tissue (P<0.001), while the expression level of miR-320a mRNA was lower than that in the normal thyroid tissue (P<0.001). The results of clinical cases showed that the expression level of TRPC5 mRNA was significantly higher, while the expression of miR-320a mRNA was significantly lower in the thyroid cancer tissues as compared with the normal thyroid tissues (P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between the expression level of TRPC5 and miR-320a mRNA in the thyroid cancer (r=−0.653, P<0.001). The expressions of TRPC5 and miR-320a mRNA were correlated with the degree of differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis found that the patients with higher expression level of TRPC5 and lower expression level of miR-320a showed the poor prognosis, and multivariate analysis found that the lower tumor differentiation, later TNM stage, with lymph node metastasis, higher expression level of TRPC5 mRNA, and lower expression level of miR-320a mRNA were the risk factors affecting prognostic survival (P<0.05).ConclusionsFrom the database and clinical case data, it is concluded that TRPC5 mRNA is highly expressed, while miR-320a mRNA is lowly expressed in thyroid cancer tissues, and expressions of TRPC5 and miR-320a mRNA are related to degree of tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, TNM staging, and prognosis in patients with thyroid cancer. TRPC5 and miR-320a mRNA might be used as potential indicators for clinical and prognostic monitoring.
ObjectiveTo summarize the application status and prospect of laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD).MethodThe relevant literatures about studies of LPD at home and abroad were reviewed.ResultsLPD was a difficult operation, mainly suitable for pancreatic head and periampullary benign and malignant tumors. With the development of laparoscopic techniques in recent years, LPD combined the superior mesenteric vein and portal vein resection and reconstruction, or combined multi-visceral resection was feasible, but the survival benefit of LPD with arterial resection and reconstruction and extended lymph node dissection remained to be discussed. At present, there was no clear requirement on the way to reconstruct the pancreatic fluid outflow tract, but the pancreaticojejunostomy for digestive tract reconstruction was chose by the most surgeons. The most studies had confirmed that LPD was minimally invasive and had a short-term prognosis that was not inferior to that of open pancreaticoduodenectomy. However, the results of large sample analysis about long-term survival rate and oncology results were lacking, so it was difficult to judge the advantages and disadvantages of long-term prognosis of the two methods.ConclusionsLPD is a safe, feasible, reasonable, and effective surgical method. With improvement of laparoscopic technology, LPD is expected to become a standard operation method for treatment of pancreatic head cancer and periampullary carcinoma, and oncology benefits of LPD will be further confirmed in future by large-sample clinical randomized control trials and studies of long-term prognosis follow-up.
Objective To observe the clinical characteristics and influencing factors of post-stroke epilepsy. Methods Our research wasaretrospective study, the data came from the information of patients diagnosed with post-stroke epilepsy from our hospital on October 2000 to December 2014 withatotal of 160 cases. With the general collection of clinical data, including gender, past history, clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations and treatment informations. Results The shortest time of post-stroke seizures were occur immediately, the longest was 15 years after the stroke. Peak onset is as early as onset of stroke immediately, late-onset seizures after stroke peaks between 6 months to 1.5 years. 59 patients occurred early epileptic seizures, partial seizures were the most common, accounting for 47.46%; 101 patients occurred late epilepsy, generalized tonic-clonic seizures were the most common, accounting for 56.44%. 25% of patients wereasingle-site lesions, the most common site was temporal lobe; 75% of patients were multifocal lesions. Most were located in the temporal lobe, frontal lobe and the basal ganglia. 42 cases of patients performed EEG, 30 patients (71.43%) of the EEG abnormalities, including 22 cases (73.33%) recurrent epileptic seizures; 12 cases (28.57%) patients with an edge or normal EEG, including 3 cases (25%) relapsed. 54.38% patients with drug therapy to single-agent therapy, two patients with refractory epilepsy to be combination therapy. Conclusions This group of post stroke epilepsy patients were more common as late-onset epilepsy, early onset of stroke peaks is the first day, and delayed the onset of the peak after stroke is within 6 months to 18 months. Lesions in the cortex:alarge area and multiple lesions were risk factors for post-stroke epilepsy, cortical damage to the temporal lobe is most prevalent. 71.43% of patients may have abnormal EEG, EEG abnormalities have higher relapse rate in patients with epilepsy.