The Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency Is Similar between Thyroid Nodule and Thyroid Cancer Patients

Introduction. There are reported associations between vitamin D deficiency and breast, prostate, and colon cancer, but the relationship in thyroid cancer has not been evaluated. Methods. We evaluated serum calcium, creatinine, albumin, and 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-OH-D) in 42 thyroid nodule, 45 thyroid cancer in remission, and 24 active thyroid cancer patients. Results. 25-OH-D was not different between groups. The percent with 25-OH-D levels <75 nmol/L was not significantly different between groups and was not affected by season of measurement, age, or cancer stage. Multivariate regression showed a BMI of ≥30 kg/m2 to be the only significant predictor of vitamin D deficiency. Conclusions. Rates of vitamin D deficiency are similar in thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer, although higher than the general population. This is different than previous studies for other cancers, which show higher rates of vitamin D deficiency. BMI was the only predictor of vitamin D deficiency

S4S8-RPA phosphorylation as an indicator of cancer progression in oral squamous cell carcinomas.

Oral cancers are easily accessible compared to many other cancers. Nevertheless, oral cancer is often diagnosed late, resulting in a poor prognosis. Most oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas that predominantly develop from cell hyperplasias and dysplasias. DNA damage is induced in these tissues directly or indirectly in response to oncogene-induced deregulation of cellular proliferation. Consequently, a DNA Damage response (DDR) and a cell cycle checkpoint is activated. As dysplasia transitions to cancer, proteins involved in DNA damage and checkpoint signaling are mutated or silenced decreasing cell death while increasing genomic instability and allowing continued tumor progression. Hyperphosphorylation of Replication Protein A (RPA), including phosphorylation of Ser4 and Ser8 of RPA2, is a well-known indicator of DNA damage and checkpoint activation. In this study, we utilize S4S8-RPA phosphorylation as a marker for cancer development and progression in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). S4S8-RPA phosphorylation was observed to be low in normal cells, high in dysplasias, moderate in early grade tumors, and low in late stage tumors, essentially supporting the model of the DDR as an early barrier to tumorigenesis in certain types of cancers. In contrast, overall RPA expression was not correlative to DDR activation or tumor progression. Utilizing S4S8-RPA phosphorylation to indicate competent DDR activation in the future may have clinical significance in OSCC treatment decisions, by predicting the susceptibility of cancer cells to first-line platinum-based therapies for locally advanced, metastatic and recurrent OSCC

A case study on automated fuzz target generation for large codebases

Fuzz Testing is a largely automated testing technique that provides random and unexpected input to a program in attempt to trigger failure conditions. Much of the research conducted thus far into Fuzz Testing has focused on developing improvements to available Fuzz Testing tools and frameworks in order to improve efficiency. In this paper however, we instead look at a way in which we can reduce the amount of developer time required to integrate Fuzz Testing to help maintain an existing codebase. We accomplish this with a new technique for automatically generating Fuzz Targets, the modified versions of programs on which Fuzz Testing tools operate. We evaluated three different Fuzz Testing solutions on the codebase of our industry partner and found a fully automated solution to result in significantly more bugs found with respect to the developer time required to implement said solution. Our research is an important step towards increasing the prevalence of Fuzz Testing by making it simpler to integrate a Fuzz Testing solution for maintaining an existing codebase.Matthew Kelly, Christoph Treude, Alex Murra

Serum Thyroglobulin: Preoperative Levels and Factors Affecting Postoperative Optimal Timing following Total Thyroidectomy

Objective. We evaluated if preoperative TG levels affected postoperative levels and if other factors may influence the optimal time to check postoperative TG. Methods. This is a prospective, observational pilot study. We approved and enrolled 50 subjects≥19 years scheduled for total thyroidectomy and measured serum TG, thyroglobulin antibody (TG ab), and TSH preoperatively and post thyroidectomy at 7-14 days, 4 and 6 weeks, and 3 months in subjects with benign pathology, with additional 6- and 12-month measurements in subjects with thyroid cancer. Results. Preoperative TG was significantly higher in the benign (median 167.5 ng/mL vs 30.8 ng/mL) than in the malignant (p=0.0006) group. In the benign group, 76.5% (13/17) of subjects had an undetectable TG<0.2 ng/mL by 12 weeks postoperatively. In the malignant group, 70.6% (12/17) of those who did not receive RAI therapy and 25% (1/4) of those who did receive RAI had undetectable TG<0.2 ng/mL by 12 weeks. Subset analysis showed 94.1% (16/17) of the benign, 70.6% of the malignant without RAI, and 50% (2/4) of the malignant with RAI achieved TG<1.0 ng/mL by 6 weeks postoperatively. Four subjects in the malignant group reached undetectable TG levels as early as 7-14 days postoperatively. Conclusion. Preoperative TG levels did not predict the risk of malignancy nor time to TG nadir postoperatively. We did not find a difference in TG elimination half-life between the benign and malignant groups. The median time to reach undetectable TG levels in both benign and malignant groups who did not receive RAI therapy was 12 weeks. However, those with preexisting hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism had lower levels of TG overall in the malignant group which can be taken into consideration besides other known factors that can affect TG levels post thyroidectomy. This trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02347683