Radiology and Oncology最新文献

Background: The aim of this nation-wide 2009-2021 cohort study was to analyze postoperative survival of patients with resected appendicular skeletal metastases and endoprosthetic reconstruction in comparison to sarcoma patients and non-oncological reconstructions.

Patients and methods: A single institution nation-wide cohort of 144 consecutive patients with tumor endoprosthetic reconstructions (32 resected metastases, 73 resected sarcomas, 39 non-oncological) were stratified into histopathological groups according to the 2013-SPRING prediction model. Their survival was analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression.

Results: The observed patient survival rates after wide resection of fast/moderate/slow growing metastases were 25/55/88% at 2 years and 10/30/83% at 5 years, while in sarcomas the observed survival rates were 80% at 2 years and 69% at 5 years. Estimated mean postoperative survival after resection of skeletal metastases was significantly shorter in comparison to sarcomas (4.6 years vs. 9.1 years, log-rank p < 0.001). Predictors of worse patient survival included higher age, pathologic fracture or >1 metastasis, diagnostic group fast-growing metastases and higher preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP).

Conclusions: Wide resection and endoprosthetic reconstruction offer a reliable solution in selected patients with skeletal metastases. Higher age, fast-growing metastases (from bladder cancer, colorectal, hepatocellular, lung cancer, malignant melanoma, unknown origin), pathologic fracture or >1 metastasis and elevated CRP predict shorter patient survival and may represent a relative contraindication in this regard.

Background: This study aimed to explore the predictive value of pretreatment peripheral blood immune cell subsets in analyzing the outcomes of patients who underwent radiation therapy for esophageal cancer at their first visit.

Patients and methods: This study included 72 patients with esophageal cancer (EC) treated at Jiangsu University Hospital from December 2021 to December 2023. Among them, 48 were males and 24 were females, with a median age of 64 years (range: 52-98 years). Comprehensive clinical data, laboratory results, and imaging findings were collected to analyze survival differences. The log-rank test was used for univariate analysis to assess the sensitivity of these patients to radiotherapy. The statistically significant and clinically relevant factors identified from the univariate analysis were subsequently incorporated into a Cox proportional hazards regression model for multivariate analysis to investigate the associations between pretreatment peripheral blood immune cell subsets and patient survival.

Results: Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, CD4⁺ T-cell ratio, neutrophil-to-CD4⁺ T-cell ratio (N/CD4), neutrophil-to-CD8⁺ T-cell ratio (N/CD8), and neutrophil-to-B-cell ratio (N/B) were significantly correlated with survival outcomes in patients receiving radiotherapy for tumors. Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis identified N/CD4⁺ T cells and N/CD8⁺ T cells as critical prognostic indicators for these patients. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was employed to evaluate the work characteristics of the subjects, resulting in area under the curve values of 0.763 for both N/CD4 and N/CD8. The analysis also revealed that the optimal cutoff values for N/CD4⁺ T cells and N/CD8⁺ T cells were 0.01053329 and 0.01184294, respectively.

Conclusions: N/CD4 and N/CD8 have emerged as viable prognostic predictors for patients undergoing radiotherapy for EC, offering valuable insights for clinicians to strategize further treatment options. However, the retrospective nature of this study introduces potential bias in assessment, underscoring the necessity for large-scale, prospective, randomized controlled trials to substantiate and validate these findings.

Background: Over the past few decades, many studies have focused on anthracyclines effect on the heart (cardiotoxicity), but only a few have focused on sarcoma. In this study, we harness the capabilities of advanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for characterizing anthracyclines-induced cardiotoxicity in sarcoma and compare the results to those from breast cancer patients.

Patients and methods: The patients receive an MRI exam at three timepoints: baseline (pre-treatment), posttreatment, and at 6-months follow-up.

Results: The results demonstrated a differential response in sarcoma, characterized by increasing left-ventricular (LV) mass and decreasing right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF). In all patients, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) remained > 50% at all timepoints. Myocardial strain was always lower than the normal threshold values and showed small changes between different timepoints. Myocardial T2 and extracellular volume (ECV) showed increasing and decreasing patterns, respectively, in sarcoma, which were the opposite patterns of those in breast cancer. While myocardium T1 showed increasing values in breast cancer, T1 in sarcoma increased post-treatment and then decreased at the 6-months follow-up. The results showed inverse correlation between dose and different strain components in sarcoma, which was not the case in breast cancer. Certain myocardial segments showed high correlation coefficients with dose, which may reflect their increased sensitivity to cardiotoxicity.

Conclusions: Cardiac MRI proved to be a valuable technique for determining anthracycline-induced changes in cardiac function and myocardial tissue composition in sarcoma and differentiating it against breast cancer. It also provides a comprehensive assessment of heart health at baseline, which is important for risk stratification.

Background: Postoperative pneumonia (POP) remains a leading cause of mortality following lung surgery. Recent studies have confirmed that the respiratory tract below the vocal cords is not sterile and often harbours potentially pathogenic microorganisms (PPMs), putting patients with lung malignancies at an increased risk for pulmonary infections.

Patients and methods: The study analysed 149 patients who underwent bronchoscopy for lung lesions suspected to be lung cancer. Protected specimen brush (PSB) samples were obtained during bronchoscopy prior to any specific treatment. Bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were conducted on the isolated strains.

Results: Bacterial colonization was detected in 88.6% of patients, with 21.5% carrying PPMs. Notably, patients with type 2 diabetes exhibited a higher rate of PPM colonization compared to others. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed no significant differences in efficacy between amoxicillin with clavulanic acid and first-generation cephalosporin in both colonized patients and those with PPMs. Importantly, no multidrug-resistant bacteria were identified.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate a slightly lower PPM colonization rate compared to previous studies, possibly due to the unique geographic characteristics of the study population. The absence of significant differences in bacterial susceptibility between the two tested antibiotics highlights the need for further research to refine perioperative infection management strategies.

Background: A considerable proportion of metastatic melanoma (mM) patients do not respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). There is a great need to develop noninvasive biomarkers to detect patients, who do not respond to ICIs early during the course of treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of early [¹⁸F]2fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose PET/CT (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) at week four (W4) and other possible prognostic biomarkers of survival in mM patients receiving ICIs.

Patients and methods: . In this prospective noninterventional clinical study, mM patients receiving ICIs regularly underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT: at baseline, at W4 after ICI initiation, at week sixteen and every 16 weeks thereafter. The tumor response to ICIs at W4 was assessed via modified European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) criteria. Patients with progressive metabolic disease (PMD) were classified into the no clinical benefit group (no-CB), and those with other response types were classified into the clinical benefit group (CB). The primary end point was survival analysis on the basis of the W4 ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT response. The secondary endpoints were survival analysis on the basis of LDH, the number of metastatic localizations, and immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Kaplan-Meier analysis and univariate Cox regression analysis were used to assess the impact on survival.

Results: Overall, 71 patients were included. The median follow-up was 37.1 months (952% CI = 30.1-38.0). Three (4%) patients had only baseline scans due to rapid disease progression and death prior to W4 ¹⁸F-FDG-PET/CT. Fifty-one (72%) patients were classified into the CB group, and 17 (24%) were classified into the no-CB group. There was a statistically significant difference in median overall survival (OS) between the CB group (median OS not reached [NR]; 95% CI = 17.8 months - NR) and the no-CB group (median OS 6.2 months; 95% CI = 4.6 months - NR; p = 0.003). Univariate Cox analysis showed HR of 0.4 (95% CI = 0.18 - 0.72; p = 0.004). median OS was also significantly longer in the group with normal serum LDH levels and the group with irAEs and cutaneous irAEs.

Conclusions: Evaluation of mM patients with early ¹⁸F-FDG-PET/CT at W4, who were treated with ICIs, could serve as prognostic imaging biomarkers. Other recognized prognostic biomarkers were the serum LDH level and occurrence of cutaneous irAEs.

Background: This study aimed to develop and validate 2-Dimensional (2D) and 3-Dimensional (3D) radiomics signatures based on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) images for preoperative prediction of the thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) risk and compare the predictive performance with conventional CT features.

Patients and methods: 149 TET patients were retrospectively enrolled from January 2016 to December 2018, and divided into high-risk group (B2/B3/TCs, n = 103) and low-risk group (A/AB/B1, n = 46). All patients were randomly assigned into the training (n = 104) and testing (n = 45) set. 14 conventional CT features were collected, and 396 radiomic features were extracted from 2D and 3D CECT images, respectively. Three models including conventional, 2D radiomics and 3D radiomics model were established using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The discriminative performances of the models were demonstrated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.

Results: In the conventional model, area under the curves (AUCs) in the training and validation sets were 0.863 and 0.853, sensitivity was 78% and 55%, and specificity was 88% and 100%, respectively. The 2D model yielded AUCs of 0.854 and 0.834, sensitivity of 86% and 77%, and specificity of 72% and 86% in the training and validation sets. The 3D model revealed AUC of 0.902 and 0.906, sensitivity of 75% and 68%, and specificity of 94% and 100% in the training and validation sets.

Conclusions: Radiomics signatures based on 3D images could distinguish high-risk from low-risk TETs and provide complementary diagnostic information.

Background: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a local nonsurgical effective tumor treatment in the hand of the clinician for the treatment of patients with liver tumors or metastases. The study aimed to test the technical feasibility and safety of intra-arterial (i.a.) bleomycin administration compared to the established intravenous (i.v.) administration in percutaneous electrochemotherapy (pECT). Furthermore, the equivalence hypothesis was tested between the 2 modalities in terms of local short-term response and progression-free survival.

Patients and methods: Forty-four patients have been recruited and treated by pECT for hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma and liver metastatic lesions from cancers of different origin: 18 were treated with standard i.v., 26 with bleomycin i.a. administration.

Results: The 2 groups were similar for anagraphic and anamnestic data, as well as for most relevant disease specific characteristics. Technical success of the treatment was obtained in 95% and 100% of patients in i.v. and i.a. groups respectively. Short-term local response was similar in the 2 groups with a slightly higher complete remission (CR) rate in the i.a. group. There were 61.9% CR, 23.8% partial remission (PR), 4.8% stable disease (SD) in the i.v. group, and 80.6%, CR 12.9% PR, 3.2% PD (p = 0.3454). One-year progression free survival was 60% (C.I. 33%-88%) in the i.v. group and 67% (C.I. 42%-91%) in the i.a. group (p = 0.5849).

Conclusions: The results of this study confirmed the safety and feasibility of super-selective i.a. bleomycin administration. Analysis of local response and progression free survival confirmed the equivalence hypothesis of the new modality compared to standard i.v. administration in the treatment of primary and secondary liver malignancies by pECT.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the epidemiological aspects of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) patients in Slovenia, to evaluate the relationship between coronary CT angiography (CCTA)-derived epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) density and coronary artery calcifications (CAC) in patients with and without DISH, and study influencing factors of these parameters.

Patients and methods: The research comprised patients referred for CCTA due to a clinical suspicion of coronary artery disease. DISH, CAC score and EAT attenuation were quantified using non-contrast imaging. Diagnosis of DISH was based on Resnick criteria. The CCTA was assessed for the presence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). The association between DISH and the extent of CAC was explored, using correlation analysis and multivariate regression.

Results: The study cohort included 219 participants. The prevalence of DISH was 7.8%. In univariate logistic regression, body mass index (BMI) (odds ratio [OR] 1.133, p = 0,005), age (OR 1.055, p = 0,032) and diabetes (OR 3.840, p = 0,015) were significantly associated with the condition. However, this association did not persist on multinomial multivariate analysis, but gender, age, hypertension and EAT attenuation were found to be significantly associated with the increasing CAC strata.

Conclusions: The prevalence of DISH found is comparable with prior literature. There was no independent relationship between the prevalence of DISH and CAC. Our data point to a more nuanced and perhaps non-causal link between coronary artery disease and DISH.

Background: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a condition caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. Curative treatments aren't identifiable, and conservative surgery is often the best option to preserve respiratory functions. To date monoclonal antibodies are considered to be a treatment choice with both good efficacy and safety profile.

Materials and methods: A web-based search of MEDLINE/PubMed library from 2000 to 2024 of English-language papers was performed to identify articles by using "respiratory or laryngeal papillomatosis" and "HPV respiratory infection, papillomatosis treatment, papillomatosis vaccine immunization, papillomatosis systemic treatment". Furthermore, a manual screening of references from original articles was done to identify additional studies. We selected 34 articles.

Results: Since 2009, the systemic administration of Bevacizumab has been used to treat RRP not responding to surgical treatment. The efficacy of an anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody in RRP lesions can be related to their vascular nature. The major concern is the rebound papilloma growth within the cessation of treatment. An interesting solution could be the concomitant use of immunotherapy to both reduce the burden of residual disease and activate the immune system against the HPV-infected cells.

Conclusions: Bevacizumab has a safe profile with a short-term local eradication of HPV. Further prospective research with long-term follow-up is needed to better define its safety and results against the disease recurrence. Considering the role of the anti-HPV vaccine, both, in the prophylaxis of the infection and in the adjuvant setting, the actual data underline the need for evaluation of its therapeutic efficacy for the management of RRP.

Background: Focal ablation techniques are integral in the surgical intervention of diseased tissue, where it is necessary to minimize damage to the surrounding parenchyma and critical structures. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) and high-frequency IRE (H-FIRE), colloquially called pulsed-field ablation (PFA), utilize high-amplitude, low-energy pulsed electric fields (PEFs) to nonthermally ablate soft tissue. PEFs induce cell death through permeabilization of the cellular membrane, leading to loss of homeostasis. The unique nonthermal nature of PFA allows for selective cell death while minimally affecting surrounding proteinaceous structures, permitting treatment near sensitive anatomy where thermal ablation or surgical resection is contraindicated. Further, PFA is being used to treat tissue when tumor margins are not expected after surgical resection, termed margin accentuation. This review explores both the theoretical foundations of PFA, detailing how PEFs induce cell membrane destabilization and selective tissue ablation, the outcomes following treatment, and its clinical implications across oncology and cardiology.

Conclusions: Clinical experience is still progressing, but reports have demonstrated that PFA reduces complications often seen with thermal ablation techniques. Mounting oncology data also support that PFA produces a robust immune response that may prevent local recurrences and attenuate metastatic disease. Despite promising outcomes, challenges such as optimizing field delivery and addressing variations in tissue response require further investigation. Future directions include refining PFA protocols and expanding its application to other therapeutic areas like benign tissue hyperplasia and chronic bronchitis.