Comparison of 6q25 Breast Cancer Hits from Asian and European Genome Wide Association Studies in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC)

Peer reviewe

Results of Gastric Pull-up Reconstruction for Pharyngolaryngo-oesophagectomy in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer and Cervical Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

To study long-term clinical swallowing function and survival outcome in head and neck and cervical oesophageal cancer patients who underwent pharyngolaryngo-oesophagectomy (PLE). Methods: The clinical data of 48 patients who were treated with PLE were analysed. All patients had advanced disease, so the construction required a transposed stomach. Body weight and clinical swallowing function were evaluated postoperatively. The swallowing function was assessed at an interview concerning food ingestion and regurgitation. The survival group was studied using a Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Results: Forty-one cases of hypopharyngeal cancer and four cases of cervical oesophageal cancer were studied. In three cases (6%), hypopharyngeal and thoracic oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma occurred together. Most cases had good-to-fair results. The average body weight gain was increased after surgery. There was one hospital death. The most common complications were pulmonary (4%). Median survival was 27 months. Conclusion: A pharyngogastric anastomosis after PLE can be performed with low morbidity and good swallowing function

Scaffold Library for Tissue Engineering: A Geometric Evaluation

Tissue engineering scaffold is a biological substitute that aims to restore, to maintain, or to improve tissue functions. Currently available manufacturing technology, that is, additive manufacturing is essentially applied to fabricate the scaffold according to the predefined computer aided design (CAD) model. To develop scaffold CAD libraries, the polyhedrons could be used in the scaffold libraries development. In this present study, one hundred and nineteen polyhedron models were evaluated according to the established criteria. The proposed criteria included considerations on geometry, manufacturing feasibility, and mechanical strength of these polyhedrons. CAD and finite element (FE) method were employed as tools in evaluation. The result of evaluation revealed that the close-cellular scaffold included truncated octahedron, rhombicuboctahedron, and rhombitruncated cuboctahedron. In addition, the suitable polyhedrons for using as open-cellular scaffold libraries included hexahedron, truncated octahedron, truncated hexahedron, cuboctahedron, rhombicuboctahedron, and rhombitruncated cuboctahedron. However, not all pore size to beam thickness ratios (PO : BT) were good for making the open-cellular scaffold. The PO : BT ratio of each library, generating the enclosed pore inside the scaffold, was excluded to avoid the impossibility of material removal after the fabrication. The close-cellular libraries presented the constant porosity which is irrespective to the different pore sizes. The relationship between PO : BT ratio and porosity of open-cellular scaffold libraries was displayed in the form of Logistic Power function. The possibility of merging two different types of libraries to produce the composite structure was geometrically evaluated in terms of the intersection index and was mechanically evaluated by means of FE analysis to observe the stress level. The couples of polyhedrons presenting low intersection index and high stress level were excluded. Good couples for producing the reinforced scaffold were hexahedron-truncated hexahedron and cuboctahedron-rhombitruncated cuboctahedron

Study of the mechanical properties of photo-cured epoxy resin fabricated by stereolithography process

Stereolithography process enables various freeform geometries to be manufactured, which are beneficial to manyresearch and development fields, particularly on medicine. The mechanical properties of stereolithography models can begenerally but not only influenced by the material characteristics, but also by the method of manufacturing. Since thestereolithography process involves building three dimensional objects by depositing material layer-by-layer as well as thepost-curing by ultraviolet light, it is therefore possible for stereolithography models to exhibit a directional dependence of themechanical properties. The objectives of the study focused on the influence of build orientations and ultraviolet post-curingperiod on the mechanical properties. In the experiments, Watershed 11122 commercial epoxy photo-curable resin was used.The in-house developed stereolithography machine of the National Metal and Materials Technology Center of Thailand wasused to fabricate tensile test specimens (American Society for Testing Materials Standard D638) with different build orientations. Main build orientations included flat and edge. Each main build orientation contained three sub-build orientationswhich were 0 degree, 45 degrees, and 90 degrees to the x-axis. The mechanical properties including elastic modulus, ultimatetensile strength, elongation at ultimate tensile strength, and elongation at break were evaluated by tensile test with a universal testing machine. The results indicated that the mechanical properties of specimens were slightly different among thesub-build orientations. The larger differences of mechanical properties of specimens were found between main build orientations. The mechanical strength of specimens improved corresponding to the increase of UV post-curing period ranged from0 to 4 hours whereas the post-curing period using 4 hours onward, the mechanical properties of specimens were nearlyconstant

Real-life clinical pattern, management, and survival in Thai patients with early-stage or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

OBJECTIVES:To characterize the clinical pattern and evaluate real-life practices in the management of patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in Thailand. METHODS:In this multicenter, prospective, observational cohort, females (aged ≥18 years) with histologically and immunohistochemically confirmed TNBC were enrolled. Patient data was collected at four study visits-an inclusion visit (for enrollment), and three subsequent follow-up visits at 12±1, 24±1, and 36±1 months after completion of first day of any planned chemotherapy. RESULTS:Of the 293 enrolled patients, 262 (89.4%) had early-stage TNBC (Stage I: 46 patients, Stage II: 151 patients, and Stage III: 65 patients) and 31 (10.6%) had metastatic TNBC (mTNBC). Chemotherapy was prescribed to 95.4% of the early-stage patients and to 100.0% of the mTNBC patients; most commonly as anthracycline-based in combination with cyclophosphamide and other agents. Patients' performance status and consensus guidelines were the major factors affecting choice of treatment. In early-stage patients, median disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) had not been reached for Stage I and II patients, and were calculated to be 37.0 months and 40.0 months, respectively, in Stage III patients. In mTNBC patients, progression-free survival (PFS) and OS were found to be 10.0 months and 14.0 months, respectively. In Stage III patients, anthracycline-based regimens were found to be associated with increase in DFS (p = 0.0181) and OS (p = 0.0027) compared to non-anthracycline-based regimens. In mTNBC patients, non-taxane-based regimens were associated with an increase in PFS (p = 0.0025). The 3-year survival rates in early-stage and mTNBC patients were 85.0% and 21.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION:Clinical management of TNBC in Thailand follows the general guidelines for treatment of TNBC. However, prognosis and survival outcomes are suboptimal, especially in progressive disease. This study is the first assessment in the existing practices in which the results could pave to way to improve the treatment outcome of TNBC in Thailand