METHODS: In this study, curcumin (Cu)-mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were synthesized and characterized using SEM, EDAX, UV spectroscopy, FTIR, and XRD to validate their composition and structural features. The antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of ZnO-CU NPs was investigated through DPPH, ABTS, and zone of inhibition assays. Apoptotic assays and gene expression analysis were performed in KB oral squamous carcinoma cells to identify their anticancer activity.
RESULTS: ZnO-CU NPs showcased formidable antioxidant prowess in both DPPH and ABTS assays, signifying their potential as robust scavengers of free radicals. The determined minimal inhibitory concentration of 40 µg/mL against dental pathogens underscored the compelling antimicrobial attributes of ZnO-CU NPs. Furthermore, the interaction analysis revealed the superior binding affinity and intricate amino acid interactions of ZnO-CU NPs with receptors on dental pathogens. Moreover, in the realm of anticancer activity, ZnO-CU NPs exhibited a dose-dependent response against Human Oral Epidermal Carcinoma KB cells at concentrations of 10 µg/mL, 20 µg/mL, 40 µg/mL, and 80 µg/mL. Unraveling the intricate mechanism of apoptotic activity, ZnO-CU NPs orchestrated the upregulation of pivotal genes, including BCL2, BAX, and P53, within the KB cells.
CONCLUSIONS: This multifaceted approach, addressing both antimicrobial and anticancer activity, positions ZnO-CU NPs as a compelling avenue for advancing oral health, offering a comprehensive strategy for tackling both oral infections and cancer.
OBJECTIVE: The present study analyzes the expression of H19 correlated with clinicopathological parameters, tobacco habit, loco-regional recurrence, and overall survival.
METHODS: A longitudinal study was undertaken using 96 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) OSCC tissues and 30 FFPE adjacent normal mucosa (NM) tissues from patients who had surgery between 2015 and 2018. The tissues were subjected to quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) to determine H19 expression. The differential expression levels of H19 in OSCC were compared to clinicopathological variables and risk habits using the t-test and ANOVA. H19 expression correlated overall survival was analyzed by drawing the Kaplan-Meier curve followed by the log-rank test. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to determine the ability of H19 to independently predict loco-regional recurrence and overall survival for OSCC.
RESULT: H19 was significantly underexpressed in OSCC compared to NM in both the study cases and the TCGA OSCC database. The lower expression of H19 was significantly associated with the tobacco smoking habit and was not associated with any clinical or pathological features. Multivariate Cox's proportional hazards regression analysis indicated that low H19 expression and positive lymph node metastasis were independent predictors of overall survival for OSCC. Higher age, higher TNM staging, and low H19 expression were independent predictors of loco-regional recurrence.
CONCLUSION: The findings in the present study indicate that H19 is a novel prognostic marker and may provide a therapeutic strategy for the targeted treatment of OSCC, and tobacco may play a role in the expression of H19.
Methodology: We identified all cancer research papers from OIC countries in the Web of Science from 2008 to 2017 with a filter based on journal names and title words, with high precision and recall. We analysed the country outputs, the cancer sites investigated, the types of research, sources of funding and the citations to the papers.
Results: There were 49,712 cancer research papers over this period. The leading countries in terms of output were Turkey, Iran, Egypt and Malaysia, but the most cited papers were from Qatar, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. International collaboration was low, except in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The site-specific cancers accounting for most research were breast and blood, correlating with their disease burden in the OIC countries, but lung, cervical and oesophageal cancers were relatively under-researched. Most funding from within the OIC countries was from their own university sector.
Conclusion: Cancer is seriously under-researched in most of the OIC countries. This will undermine the ability of these countries and OIC as a whole to deliver on better cancer control for their populations. New policies, OIC leadership and funding are urgently needed to address this situation.
METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of data from 759 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD (24% with advanced fibrosis), seen at 10 centers in 9 countries in Asia, from 2006 through 2018. By using liver biopsies as the reference standard, we calculated percentages of misclassifications and indeterminate or discordant results from assessments made based on fibrosis scores (NAFLD fibrosis score [NFS] or Fibrosis-4 score) and liver stiffness measurements (LSMs), alone or in combination. The analysis was repeated using randomly selected subgroups with a different prevalence of advanced fibrosis (histologic fibrosis stage ≥F3).
RESULTS: In groups in which 3.7% and 10% of patients had advanced fibrosis, a 2-step approach (using the NFS followed by LSM only for patients with indeterminate or high NFS) and using a gray zone of 10 to 15 kPa for LSM, produced indeterminate or discordant results for 6.9% of patients and misclassified 2.7% of patients; only 25.6% of patients required LSM. In the group in which 10% of patients had advanced fibrosis, the same approach produced indeterminate or discordant results for 7.9% of patients and misclassified 6.6% of patients; only 27.4% of patients required LSM. In groups in which 24% and 50% of patients had advanced fibrosis, using LSM ≥10 kPa alone for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis had the highest accuracy and misclassified 18.1% and 18.3% of patients, respectively. These results were similar when the Fibrosis-4 score was used in place of NFS.
CONCLUSIONS: In a retrospective analysis, we found that a 2-step approach using fibrosis scores followed by LSM most accurately detects advanced fibrosis in populations with a low prevalence of advanced fibrosis. However, LSM ≥10 kPa identifies patients with advanced fibrosis with the highest level of accuracy in populations with a high prevalence of advanced fibrosis.
METHODS AND MATERIALS: This retrospective cohort study identified all phase three RCTs evaluating anticancer therapies published from 2014 to 2017. RCTs were classified according to anticancer modality and country of origin. Descriptive statistics were used to compare key characteristics of radiotherapy RCT studies according to study design characteristics, tumor types evaluated, types of intervention appraised, treatment intent and main funding sources.
RESULTS: The study cohort included 694 RCTs of which 64 were radiotherapy RCTs (9%) compared to 601 (87%) systemic therapy RCTs. 47% of all radiotherapy RCTs focused on two areas of evaluation; combining radiotherapy with systemic agents (25%) and changes in dose fractionation (22%). The most common cancers studied were head and neck (22%), lung (22%) and breast (14%) with cervical cancer trials only representing 3% of the cohort. 33% of radiotherapy RCTs met their primary end point. 62% of radiotherapy RCTs assessed interventions in the curative setting compared to 31% in systemic therapy RCTs. 77% of the radiotherapy RCTs were performed in high-income countries (HIC), 13% in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) and 11% in both HIC and LMICs. 17% of radiotherapy RCTs received funding from industry compared to 79% of systemic therapy RCTs.
CONCLUSION: This study has highlighted the need for greater investment in radiotherapy RCTs and the disparities in conduct of RCTs globally. The study emphases the urgent need for more capacity building for cancer clinical trials in LMICs and more sustainable funding sources.
METHODS: The system typically consists of segmenting the calcium region from the CT scan into slices based on Hounsfield Unit-based threshold, and subsequently computing the summation of the calcium areas in each slice. However, when the carotid volume has intermittently higher concentration of contrast agent, a dependable approach is adapted to correct the calcium region using the neighboring slices, thereby estimating the correct volume. Furthermore, mitigation is provided following the regulatory constraints by changing the system to semi-automated criteria as a fall back solution. We evaluate the automated and semi-automated techniques using completely manual calcium volumes computed based on the manual tracings by the neuroradiologist.
RESULTS: A total of 64 patients with calcified plaque in the internal carotid artery were analyzed. Using the above algorithm, our automated and semi-automated system yields correlation coefficients (CC) of 0.89 and 0.96 against first manual readings and 0.90 and 0.96 against second manual readings, respectively. Using the t-test, there was no significant difference between the automated and semi-automated methods against manual. The intra-observer reliability was excellent with CC 0.98.
CONCLUSIONS: Compared to automated method, the semi-automated method for calcium volume is acceptable and closer to manual strategy for calcium volume. Further work evaluating and confirming the performance of our semi-automated protocol is now warranted.
CASE PRESENTATION: A 50-year male was admitted with low-grade fever, night sweats, weight loss (13 kg), malaise, and generalized weakness for the past 6 months. On clinical examination, he was febrile with 39.0°C, an average heart rate of 54 bpm, and 100/40 mmHg blood pressure. On cardiovascular examination, S1 and S2 were soft with pan systolic murmur present in the mitral area, and the early diastolic murmur was present in the left third intercostal space. Electrocardiography was suggestive of third-degree heart block with AV dissociation. Transthoracic echocardiography showed mobile vegetations attached to multiple valves- an aortic valve (18.2x11.9mm) and a mitral valve (2.9x7.5mm) with perivalvular abscess. He was given oral doxycycline (100mg B.D.) and rifampicin (600mg/day); the patient responded, but the AV block did not resolve.
CONCLUSION: This report has drawn attention to multivalvular involvement and cardiac rhythm abnormalities in Brucellosis (in this case, A.V. dissociation was present) because early diagnosis and treatment can cause a significant decrease in morbidity as well as mortality by appropriate treatment.