Liquid Biopsies in Oncology: Revolutionizing Cancer Diagnosis and Monitoring

Oncology has been transformed by liquid biopsies, which offer non-invasive techniques for cancer detection and tracking. This article examines how circulating tumour cells (CTCs), extracellular vesicles (EVs), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), and their therapeutic uses might revolutionise cancer therapy. CTCs provide information on tumour heterogeneity and metastatic potential since they are excreted from primary or metastatic tumours. Released by necrotic or apoptotic tumour cells, cfDNA is a genetically altered material that helps track the effectiveness of therapy. EVs, which are made up of microvesicles and exosomes, are capable of carrying cancer biomarkers and transferring biomolecules. Stable in circulation, miRNAs show dysregulation in cancer and are therefore useful indicators for both diagnosis and prognosis. Clinical uses include tracking illness development, evaluating treatment response, and early identification. Early therapies are made possible by the diagnosis of minimal residual illness by liquid biopsies. Therapeutic decisions are guided by real-time monitoring of treatment response, and dynamic evaluations facilitate the development of individualised treatment plans. Technical difficulties, problems with standardisation, concerns with cost-effectiveness, and difficulties interpreting data are among the challenges. The development of technology, its incorporation into clinical practice, personalised medicine, the identification of biomarkers, and cooperative efforts to overcome obstacles are the main focuses of future directions

Identification of genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair xenoderma pigmentosum group D gene and its association with head and neck cancer susceptibility in rural Indian population: a hospital based case-control study from south-western Maharashtra, India

Background: Smoking and alcohol related head and neck cancer is a major concern of health risk in developing countries, such as India. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency of polymorphisms in DNA repair gene, xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group D (XPD) at codon (cd) 156, cd199, cd320, cd751 in patients of oral cancer from South-Western Maharashtra, India and to evaluate their association with oral cancer development.Methods: We used polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to analyze XPD gene polymorphisms in 320 patients with oral cancer and in 400 age and sex matched disease-free controls.Results: There was no significant difference in the genotype distribution between oral cancer patients and controls for each polymorphism (p>0.05) except XPD199. The result from our study showed that allele frequencies of selected genes were not statistically different between the groups for XPD Arg156, XPD Asn320, XPD Gln751. XPDMet199 (OR=29.44; 95% CI= (18.47-46.92); p≤0.0001) genotypes significantly increased the risk of head and neck cancer.Conclusions: This study indicates that polymorphisms in cd199 of XPD gene could play a role in modifying genetic susceptibility of individual to head and neck cancer inMaharashtra patients. Thus, the case-control study suggest that selected DNA repair genes represent genetic determinants in oral carcinogenesis along with other risk factors in the rural Indian population.

Clinicopathological study of acute myeloid leukemia in a tertiary care hospital

Background- The diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia is based on peripheral blood smear and bone marrow examination. Immunophenotyping characteristics and cytogenetics have clinical relevance besides morphological features in these cases. Present study aims at clinicohematological evaluation of cases of acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed at hematology unit of our tertiary care hospital. Objectives –Present study aimed to diagnose and classify cases of acute myeloid leukemia with clinicohematological correlation. Material and methods- newly diagnosed cases of acute myeloid leukemia within a period of 1 year from May 2020 to May 2021 were included in this cross sectional and prospective study. In addition to hematological work up, flow cytometry, cytogenetics and molecular studies were taken into consideration for clinicohematological evaluation.Result- The study included 14 cases of acute myeloid leukemia which were classified as per FAB classification as AML M1- 7 cases, M3 – 3 cases and M4 and M5 – 2 cases each

Clinicopathological Study of Acute Myeloid Leukemia in A Tertiary Care Hospital

Background- The diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia is based on peripheral blood smear and bone marrow examination. Immunophenotyping characteristics and cytogenetics have clinical relevance besides morphological features in these cases. Present study aims at clinicohematological evaluation of cases of acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed at hematology unit of our tertiary care hospital. Objectives –Present study aimed to diagnose and classify cases of acute myeloid leukemia with clinicohematological correlation. Material and methods- newly diagnosed cases of acute myeloid leukemia within a period of 1 year from May 2020 to May 2021 were included in this cross sectional and prospective study. In addition to hematological work up, flow cytometry, cytogenetics and molecular studies were taken into consideration for clinicohematological evaluation.Result- The study included 14 cases of acute myeloid leukemia which were classified as per FAB classification as AML M1- 7 cases, M3 – 3 cases and M4 and M5 – 2 cases each

Identification of genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair xenoderma pigmentosum group D gene and its association with head and neck cancer susceptibility in rural Indian population: a hospital based case-control study from south-western Maharashtra, India

Background: Smoking and alcohol related head and neck cancer is a major concern of health risk in developing countries, such as India. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency of polymorphisms in DNA repair gene, xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group D (XPD) at codon (cd) 156, cd199, cd320, cd751 in patients of oral cancer from South-Western Maharashtra, India and to evaluate their association with oral cancer development.Methods: We used polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to analyze XPD gene polymorphisms in 320 patients with oral cancer and in 400 age and sex matched disease-free controls.Results: There was no significant difference in the genotype distribution between oral cancer patients and controls for each polymorphism (p>0.05) except XPD199. The result from our study showed that allele frequencies of selected genes were not statistically different between the groups for XPD Arg156, XPD Asn320, XPD Gln751. XPDMet199 (OR=29.44; 95% CI= (18.47-46.92); p≤0.0001) genotypes significantly increased the risk of head and neck cancer.Conclusions: This study indicates that polymorphisms in cd199 of XPD gene could play a role in modifying genetic susceptibility of individual to head and neck cancer inMaharashtra patients. Thus, the case-control study suggest that selected DNA repair genes represent genetic determinants in oral carcinogenesis along with other risk factors in the rural Indian population.

Tomographic Reconstruction of Tissue Properties and Temperature Increase for High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Applications

The acoustic and thermal properties as well as the temperature change within a tissue volume during high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation are critically important for treatment planning and monitoring. Described in this article is a tomographic reconstruction method used to determine the tissue properties and increase in temperature in a 3-D volume. On the basis of the iterative finite-element solution to the bioheat equation coupled with Tikhonov regularization techniques, our reconstruction algorithm solves the inverse problem of bioheat transfer and uses the time-dependent temperature measured on a tissue surface to obtain the acoustic absorption coefficient, thermal diffusivity and temperature increase within the subsurface volume. Numerical simulations were performed to validate the reconstruction algorithm. The method was initially conducted in ex vivo experiments in which time-dependent temperature on a tissue surface was measured using high-resolution, non-invasive infrared thermography