Anatomical and molecular imaging of skin cancer

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer types. It is generally divided into two categories: melanoma (∼ 5%) and nonmelanoma (∼ 95%), which can be further categorized into basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and some rare skin cancer types. Biopsy is still the gold standard for skin cancer evaluation in the clinic. Various anatomical imaging techniques have been used to evaluate different types of skin cancer lesions, including laser scanning confocal microscopy, optical coherence tomography, high-frequency ultrasound, terahertz pulsed imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, and some other recently developed techniques such as photoacoustic microscopy. However, anatomical imaging alone may not be sufficient in guiding skin cancer diagnosis and therapy. Over the last decade, various molecular imaging techniques (in particular single photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography) have been investigated for skin cancer imaging. The pathways or molecular targets that have been studied include glucose metabolism, integrin αvβ3, melanocortin-1 receptor, high molecular weight melanoma-associated antigen, and several other molecular markers. Preclinical molecular imaging is thriving all over the world, while clinical molecular imaging has not lived up to the expectations because of slow bench-to-bedside translation. It is likely that this situation will change in the near future and molecular imaging will truly play an important role in personalized medicine of melanoma patients

Radionuclide-Based Cancer Imaging Targeting the Carcinoembryonic Antigen

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), highly expressed in many cancer types, is an important target for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Radionuclide-based imaging techniques (gamma camera, single photon emission computed tomography [SPECT] and positron emission tomography [PET]) have been extensively explored for CEA-targeted cancer imaging both preclinically and clinically. Briefly, these studies can be divided into three major categories: antibody-based, antibody fragment-based and pretargeted imaging. Radiolabeled anti-CEA antibodies, reported the earliest among the three categories, typically gave suboptimal tumor contrast due to the prolonged circulation life time of intact antibodies. Subsequently, a number of engineered anti-CEA antibody fragments (e.g. Fab’, scFv, minibody, diabody and scFv-Fc) have been labeled with a variety of radioisotopes for CEA imaging, many of which have entered clinical investigation. CEA-Scan (a 99mTc-labeled anti-CEA Fab’ fragment) has already been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for cancer imaging. Meanwhile, pretargeting strategies have also been developed for CEA imaging which can give much better tumor contrast than the other two methods, if the system is designed properly. In this review article, we will summarize the current state-of-the-art of radionuclide-based cancer imaging targeting CEA. Generally, isotopes with short half-lives (e.g. 18F and 99mTc) are more suitable for labeling small engineered antibody fragments while the isotopes with longer half-lives (e.g. 123I and 111In) are needed for antibody labeling to match its relatively long circulation half-life. With further improvement in tumor targeting efficacy and radiolabeling strategies, novel CEA-targeted agents may play an important role in cancer patient management, paving the way to “personalized medicine”

Marsupialization facilitates movement of the cystic lesion-associated deeply impacted mandibular third molar in spite of its mature roots

Background: The odontogenic cystic lesions happened in the angle and ramus region are frequently associated with impacted mandibular third molars. The treatment plan was difficult to work out for the huge cystic lesions with deeply impacted third molars, since the enucleation with simultaneously removing the deeply impacted teeth may cause serious complications. Therefore, the marsupialization of the cystic lesions followed by enucleation with tooth removal has also been advocated. The aim of this study was to explore the movement of cystic lesion-associated deeply impacted mandibular third molars (IMTM) after marsupialization. Material and Methods: Between July 2009 and December 2015, patients who had mandibular cystic lesion associated with IMTM and underwent marsupialization followed by enucleation with tooth extraction were included in our retrospective study. The clinical and pathological data was collected. The distance and direction of movement of the IMTM after marsupialization was measured on panoramic radiograph and computed tomography. Results: Four male and six female patients whose ages ranged from 14 years to 67 years were enrolled in this study. Among the all impacted molars, there were 3 cases with mature roots. After marsupialization, all the cystic lesions shrunk and all impacted teeth moved toward the bony windows, and the distance of tooth movement were from 8.3mm to 12.1mm. The complications included swelling and pain, while no numbness of the ipsilateral lower lip was happened. Conclusions: Marsupialization can promote the movement of impacted teeth with or without mature roots, and may be an optimal treatment approach for the huge posterior mandibular cystic lesions with deeply impacted third molar. Key words:Mandibular cystic lesion, impacted third mandibular molar, marsupialization, mature root

Evaluation of the true precocious puberty rats induced by neonatal administration of Danazol: Therapeutic effects of nourishing "Yin"- removing "Fire" Chinese herb mixture

BACKGROUND: Nourishing "Yin"-Removing "Fire" Chinese Herb Mixture, a traditional herb-based formulation, has been successfully used for the management of idiopathic true precocious puberty (IPP) for more than thirty years. Precocious puberty rat model by neonatal administration of Danazol was used to investigate the effects of the herb mixture on the advanced sexual development of the rats, and the expression of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is the important regulator for the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis, particularly at puberty. METHODS: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: intact normal (N), IPP model (M), vehicle with no IPP (V), IPP model exposed to herb mixture (HM) and IPP model exposed to saline (S). Rats at 5 days of age were given a single subcutaneous injection of 300 microgram of Danazol dissolved in 25 microliter vehicle of propylene glycol-ethanol (1:1, v/v), to establish the precocious puberty model. From the day 15, rats in HM and S groups were continuously fed with either Nourishing "Yin"-Removing "Fire" Chinese Herb Mixture 2 ml or saline 2 ml, until 3 consecutive regular estrous cycles were established. The day of vaginal opening and the day of setup regular estrous cycle of the rats were observed. Blood concentration of estrogen was determined by radioimmunoassay. Immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR analysis were used to explore the expression of GnRH. RESULTS: The day of vaginal opening and first estrous showed significant advancement in M compared with N and V (p < 0.05, respectively). The blood estrogen level increased significantly in M compared with those in other groups (about 28 days of age, at the time of vaginal opening in M rats) (p < 0.05, respectively). GnRH cells in rostral medial septum (MS), Broca diagonal band nucleus (DBB) and the medial preoptic area (MPOA), were calculated. The number in M was less than those in N and V (p < 0.05, respectively). The number was significantly higher in HM than that in M (p < 0.05). The GnRH mRNA expression increased significantly in M compared with that in N and V (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The true precocious puberty model by neonatal administration of Danazol in female rats showed augmented expression of hypothalamic GnRH; the Nourishing "Yin"-Removing "Fire" Chinese Herb Mixture down-regulated the increased GnRH expression, and significantly delayed the sexual development of the precocious puberty rat

Recent progress in the synthesis of metal–organic frameworks

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted considerable attention for various applications due to their tunable structure, porosity and functionality. In general, MOFs have been synthesized from isolated metal ions and organic linkers under hydrothermal or solvothermal conditions via one-spot reactions. The emerging precursor approach and kinetically tuned dimensional augmentation strategy add more diversity to this field. In addition, to speed up the crystallization process and create uniform crystals with reduced size, many alternative synthesis routes have been explored. Recent advances in microwave-assisted synthesis and electrochemical synthesis are presented in this review. In recent years, post-synthetic approaches have been shown to be powerful tools to synthesize MOFs with modified functionality, which cannot be attained via de novo synthesis. In this review, some current accomplishments of post-synthetic modification (PSM) based on covalent transformations and coordinative interactions as well as post-synthetic exchange (PSE) in robust MOFs are provided

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus associated with periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges in a patient with syphilis

AbstractNonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) has been increasingly recognized as a cause of impaired level of consciousness in the ICU and emergency rooms. The confirmation of NCSE is largely based on the EEG, given the nonspecific and pleomorphic clinical manifestations. Debate remains over electroencephalograms (EEG) criteria for NCSE. Periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs), have sparked controversy with regard to being part of the ictal vs. interictal spectrum. We report a case of a patient with syphilis who had cognitive decline and damaged consciousness with PLEDs and T2 hyperintensity at temporal and occipital lobe in MRI. After antiepileptic treatment only, his consciousness improved markedly together with the EEG in few days, while the change of MRI was still serious. In this case PLEDs is the sign of NCSE and change of MRI is limbic encephalitis (LE). This report discusses the association of PLEDs and NCSE, and supports the concept of PLEDs as an ictal pattern in some condition

Sclerotherapy for the recurrent granulomatous epulis with pingyangmycin

Relapse of granulomatous epulis is common after surgery because of local irritations, hormonal level in vivo, or incomplete resection. Currently, if recurrence occurs, then extraction of the teeth adjacent to the lesion is commonly performed, which may influence the aesthetics or masticatory function. Thus, a more effective and less aggressive treatment method is urgently demanded, particularly for the recurring lesion. This study investigated the effects of the intralesional pingyangmycin (PYM) injections for the recurrent granulomatous epulis and assessed the complications. A total of 16 patients with recurrent granulomatous epulis underwent intralesional PYM injections, between July 2010 and June 2014. The effects and complications of the treatment were retrospectively reviewed. The total number of injections performed was 48 (for all patients). The median number of injections per patient was three (range, two to four). All cases completely recovered with no recurrence and resorption of the alveolar bone after a follow-up of more than 12 months. The complications included slight bleeding, local swelling and pain following injection. All these symptoms resolved 7 to 10 days after the injection. In summary, intralesional PYM injections may be a preferred option for recurring granulomatous epulis