277 research outputs found
Diagnosis of Gastric Subepithelial Tumors Using Endoscopic Ultrasonography or Abdominopelvic Computed Tomography: Which is Better?
An Esophageal Leiomyoma Mistaken as an Esophageal Duplication Cyst
Esophageal leiomyoma is a benign tumor that accounts for two-thirds of esophageal benign tumors. In general, patients with esophageal leiomyoma are asymptomatic; however, as the tumor grows in size, symptoms such as dysphagia, chest discomfort, obstruction, or bleeding can appear. A 65-year-old man visited our clinic to receive treatment for a subepithelial tumor in the lower esophagus, which was incidentally found during endoscopy for work-up of chest discomfort and indigestion. On endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), the tumor was 2.6×1.9 cm in size, with a cystic lesion located in the submucosal and proper muscle layers and thick cystic wall. Therefore, it was highly likely to be a duplication cyst. As the patient had symptoms such as chest discomfort, surgical resection was performed. The tumor was finally diagnosed as a leiomyoma with cystic degeneration. Leiomyoma with cystic change that has similar EUS features to duplication cyst is rare. Thus, we report the case with a literature review
A lab-on-a-disc platform enables serial monitoring of individual CTCs associated with tumor progression during EGFR-targeted therapy for patients with NSCLC
Rationale: Unlike traditional biopsy, liquid biopsy, which is a largely non-invasive diagnostic and monitoring tool, can be performed more frequently to better track tumors and mutations over time and to validate the efficiency of a cancer treatment. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are considered promising liquid biopsy biomarkers; however, their use in clinical settings is limited by high costs and a low throughput of standard platforms for CTC enumeration and analysis. In this study, we used a label-free, high-throughput method for CTC isolation directly from whole blood of patients using a standalone, clinical setting-friendly platform. Methods: A CTC-based liquid biopsy approach was used to examine the efficacy of therapy and emergent drug resistance via longitudinal monitoring of CTC counts, DNA mutations, and single-cell-level gene expression in a prospective cohort of 40 patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. Results: The change ratio of the CTC counts was associated with tumor response, detected by CT scan, while the baseline CTC counts did not show association with progression-free survival or overall survival. We achieved a 100% concordance rate for the detection of EGFR mutation, including emergence of T790M, between tumor tissue and CTCs. More importantly, our data revealed the importance of the analysis of the epithelial/mesenchymal signature of individual pretreatment CTCs to predict drug responsiveness in patients. Conclusion: The fluid-assisted separation technology disc platform enables serial monitoring of CTC counts, DNA mutations, as well as unbiased molecular characterization of individual CTCs associated with tumor progression during targeted therapy
- …