ObjectiveTo introduce the research status of the immunoregulation function of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in tumor microenvironment.MethodThe literatures in recent years on the studies of role of CAFs in the regulation of immune response in the tumor microenvironment were collected and summarized.ResultsThe CAFs played a critical role as the components of the tumor microenvironment. The CAFs could product various growth factors and cytokines that were contributed to the immunoregulation including the polarization of the immune cells and the regulation of the function of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and eventually resulted in the carcinogenesis, tumor progression, invasion, metastasis and therapy resistance.ConclusionCAFs play a significant role in the immunoregulation in tumor microenvironment, but as a potential target for breast cancer, more studies are still needed to discover the specific markers, heterogeneity, and key signaling pathways.
ObjectiveTo discover the indicators and develop a model for predicting protracted hypoparathyroidism (HPT) after thyroid cancer surgery in order to guide the early therapy for patients with HPT.MethodsThe clinical and postoperative pathological data of patients with thyroid cancer who received surgical treatment in the Xuanwu Hospital and Beijing Pinggu Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The potential indicators of postoperative HPT and protracted HPT were analyzed by logistic and LASSO regression analysis. A nomogram for predicting protracted HPT was constructed in the training set, and the discrimination and consistency of the nomogram were verified in the training set and the validation set respectively.ResultsAccording to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 464 patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer were finally included in the study. Among the 100 patients with postoperative HPT (except 1 case of incomplete data), 62 patients showed short-term HPT and 37 patients developed protracted HPT. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the preoperative intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) level [OR=0.953, 95%CI (0.931, 0.976), P<0.001], lobectomy with contralateral partial lobectomy [OR=3.247, 95%CI (1.112, 9.485), P=0.031], and total thyroidectomy [OR=11.096, 95%CI (5.432, 22.664), P<0.001] were related to postoperative HPT. The multivariant logistic regression analysis revealed that postoperative iPTH level was a predictive factor for protracted HPT [OR=0.719, 95%CI (0.588, 0.879), P=0.001]. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of postoperative iPTH level in predicting protracted HPT was 0.848 [95%CI (0.755, 0.942)]; The cut-off value was 9.405 ng/L, and its specificity and sensitivity were 0.659 and 0.944, respectively. Moreover, the AUC value of the nomogram model including postoperative iPTH level and other clinicopathologic features (extraglandular invasion, cumulative maximum tumor diameter, and central lymph node dissection) for predicting protracted HPT was 0.900 [95%CI (0.817, 0.982)]; The cut-off score was 118.891, and its specificity and sensitivity were 0.772 and 0.944, respectively; The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test indicated good fit of nomogram (χ2=8.605, P=0.377). The AUC value of the nomogram was 0.640 [95%CI (0.455, 0.826)] in the validation set (Pinggu Hospital data). The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test also indicated good fit of nomogram (χ2=12.266, P=0.140).ConclusionsThe postoperative iPTH level is an important influencing factor of protracted HPT. The nomogram prediction model based on postoperative iPTH level and other clinicopathologic features has a favorable predictive value for protracted HPT.
Objective To investigate the value of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in predicting the metastasis of central cervical lymph nodes (CCLN) in differentiated thyroid carcinoma, and to explore reasonable program for CCLN dissection. Methods This retrospective analysis was performed basing on the clinical data of 407 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma who were admitted to the Department of General Surgery of Xuanwu Hospital from June 2013 to December 2016, including 237 patients with microcarcinoma. Results ① The results of the lymph nodes detection. All patients had detected 7 766 lymph nodes (1 238 metastatic lymph nodes were detected from 219 patients), and 2 085 sentinel lymph nodes were detected (448 metastatic sentinel lymph nodes were detected from 189 patients). In the patients with microcarcinoma, there were 3 614 lymph nodes were detected (390 metastatic lymph nodes were detected from 97 patients), and 1 202 sentinel lymph nodes were detected (149 metastatic sentinel lymph nodes were detected from 82 patients). ② The value of SLNB to predict CCLN metastasis. The sensitivity, specificity, false positive rate, false negative rate, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of SLNB to predict CCLN metastasis for all patients was 86.30% (189/219), 100% (188/188), 0 (0/189), 13.70% (30/219), 100% (189/189), and 86.24% (188/218) respectively; for patients with microcarcinoma was 84.54% (82/97), 100% (140/140), 0 (0/82), 15.46% (15/97), 100% (82/82), and 90.32% (140/155), respectively. ③ The value of SLNB to predict the presence of additional positive lymph nodes (APLN). The sensitivity, specificity, false positive rate, false negative rate, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of SLNB to predict the APLN for all patients was 81.48% (132/162), 76.73% (188/245), 23.27% (57/245), 18.52% (30/162), 69.84% (132/189) and 86.24% (188/218), respectively; for patients with microcarcinoma was 73.68% (42/57), 77.78% (140/180), 22.22% (40/180), 26.32% (15/57), 51.22% (42/82) and 90.32% (140/155) respectively. ④ The value of positive sentinel lymph node ratio (PSLNR) to predict the presence of the APLN. The sensitivity, specificity, false positive rate, false negative rate, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of PSLNR to predict the APLN for all patients was 71.97%, 78.95%, 21.05%, 28.03%, 88.79%, and 54.88% respectively, and the cutoff for PSLNR was 0.345 2. For patients with microcarcinoma, the sensitivity, specificity, false positive rate, false negative rate, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of PSLNR to predict the APLN was 83.33%, 67.50%, 32.50%, 16.67%, 72.92%, and 79.41% respectively, and the cutoff for PSLNR was 0.291 7. Conclusion There is an important predicted value of SLNB for CCLN dissection in the patients suffered from differentiated thyroid carcinoma, and the PSLNR is a reliable basis for CCLN dissection.
Objective To explore the potential indicators of cervical lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) patients and to develop a nomogram model. Methods The clinicopathologic features of PTMC patients in the SEER database from 2004 to 2015 and PTMC patients who were admitted to the Center for Thyroid and Breast Surgery of Xuanwu Hospital from 2019 to 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The records of SEER database were divided into training set and internal verification set according to 7∶3. The patients data of Xuanwu Hospital were used as the external verification set. Logistic regression and Lasso regression were used to analyze the potential indicators for cervical lymph node metastasis. A nomogram was developed and whose predictive value was verified in the internal and external validation sets. According to the preoperative ultrasound imaging characteristics, the risk scores for PTMC patients were further calculated. The consistency between the scores based on pathologic and ultrasound imaging characteristics was verified. Results The logistic regression analysis results illustrated that male, age<55 years old, tumor size, multifocality, and extrathyroidal extension were associated with cervical lymph node metastasis in PTMC patients (P<0.001). The C index of the nomogram was 0.722, and the calibration curve exhibited to be a fairly good consistency with the perfect prediction in any set. The ROC curve of risk score based on ultrasound characteristics for predicting lymph node metastasis in PTMC patients was 0.701 [95%CI was (0.637 4, 0.765 6)], which was consistent with the risk score based on pathological characteristics (Kappa value was 0.607, P<0.001). Conclusions The nomogram model for predicting the lymph node metastasis of PTMC patients shows a good predictive value, and the risk score based on the preoperative ultrasound imaging characteristics has good consistency with the risk score based on pathological characteristics.