The precancer risk of betel quid chewing, tobacco use and alcohol consumption in oral leukoplakia and oral submucous fibrosis in southern Taiwan

In areas where the practise of betel quid chewing is widespread and the chewers also often smoke and drink alcohol, the relation between oral precancerous lesion and condition to the three habits is probably complex. To explore such association and their attributable effect on oral leukoplakia (OL) and oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), a gender–age-matched case–control study was conducted at Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. This study included 219 patients with newly diagnosed and histologically confirmed OL or OSF, and 876 randomly selected community controls. All information was collected by a structured questionnaire through in-person interviews. A preponderance of younger patients had OSF, while a predominance of older patients had OL. Betel quid chewing was strongly associated with both these oral diseases, the attributable fraction of OL being 73.2% and of OSF 85.4%. While the heterogeneity in risk for areca nut chewing across the two diseases was not apparent, betel quid chewing patients with OSF experienced a higher risk at each exposure level of chewing duration, quantity and cumulative measure than those who had OL. Alcohol intake did not appear to be a risk factor. However, cigarette smoking had a significant contribution to the risk of OL, and modified the effect of chewing based on an additive interaction model. For the two oral premalignant diseases combined, 86.5% was attributable to chewing and smoking. Our results suggested that, although betel quid chewing was a major cause for both OL and OSF, its effect might be difference between the two diseases. Cigarette smoking has a modifying effect in the development of oral leukoplakia

COVID-19 in cancer patients on systemic anti-cancer therapies: outcomes from the CAPITOL (COVID-19 Cancer PatIenT Outcomes in North London) cohort study

Background: Patients with cancer are hypothesised to be at increased risk of contracting COVID-19, leading to changes in treatment pathways in those treated with systemic anti-cancer treatments (SACT). This study investigated the outcomes of patients receiving SACT to assess whether they were at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 or having more severe outcomes. / Methods: Data was collected from all patients receiving SACT in two cancer centres as part of CAPITOL (COVID-19 Cancer PatIenT Outcomes in North London). The primary outcome was the effect of clinical characteristics on the incidence and severity of COVID-19 infection in patients on SACT. We used univariable and multivariable models to analyse outcomes, adjusting for age, gender and comorbidities. / Results: A total of 2871 patients receiving SACT from 2 March to 31 May 2020 were analysed; 68 (2.4%) were diagnosed with COVID-19. Cancer patients receiving SACT were more likely to die if they contracted COVID-19 than those who did not [adjusted (adj.) odds ratio (OR) 9.84; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.73–16.9]. Receiving chemotherapy increased the risk of developing COVID-19 (adj. OR 2.99; 95% CI = 1.72–5.21), with high dose chemotherapy significantly increasing risk (adj. OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.35–6.48), as did the presence of comorbidities (adj. OR 2.29; 95% CI 1.19–4.38), and having a respiratory or intrathoracic neoplasm (adj. OR 2.12; 95% CI 1.04–4.36). Receiving targeted treatment had a protective effect (adj. OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.30–0.95). Treatment intent (curative versus palliative), hormonal- or immunotherapy and solid versus haematological cancers had no significant effect on risk. / Conclusion: Patients on SACT are more likely to die if they contract COVID-19. Those on chemotherapy, particularly high dose chemotherapy, are more likely to contract COVID-19, while targeted treatment appears to be protective

A computationally efficient method for hand–eye calibration

Purpose: Surgical robots with cooperative control and semiautonomous features have shown increasing clinical potential, particularly for repetitive tasks under imaging and vision guidance. Effective performance of an autonomous task requires accurate hand–eye calibration so that the transformation between the robot coordinate frame and the camera coordinates is well defined. In practice, due to changes in surgical instruments, online hand–eye calibration must be performed regularly. In order to ensure seamless execution of the surgical procedure without affecting the normal surgical workflow, it is important to derive fast and efficient hand–eye calibration methods. Methods: We present a computationally efficient iterative method for hand–eye calibration. In this method, dual quaternion is introduced to represent the rigid transformation, and a two-step iterative method is proposed to recover the real and dual parts of the dual quaternion simultaneously, and thus the estimation of rotation and translation of the transformation. Results: The proposed method was applied to determine the rigid transformation between the stereo laparoscope and the robot manipulator. Promising experimental and simulation results have shown significant convergence speed improvement to 3 iterations from larger than 30 with regard to standard optimization method, which illustrates the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method

Comparing factors affecting commencement and cessation of betel quid chewing behavior in Taiwanese adults

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Betel quid is the fourth most common used substance in the world after tobacco, alcohol and caffeine. Although factors related to betel quid chewing or cessation of behaviors were reported previously, few studies simultaneously compared both behaviors in the same population. In addition, it is essential to consider time-to-event concept, since the chance of developing or stopping habit may vary over time. The purpose of this study was to compare the risk factors for commencement and cessation of betel quid chewing behaviors in a time-to-event setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A stratified multi-stage cluster sampling with selection probabilities proportional to size (PPS) was designed for Taiwanese adults with aged 18 years old and above. Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to compare and calculate the hazard rate ratios for related factors to commencement or cessation of chewing habits.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In Taiwan, men had a higher betel quid chewing rate (M: 20.9%, W: 1.2%), but woman chewers had a lower cessation rate (M: 27.5%, W: 12.7%). The hazard rate ratio (HRR) of having chewing habit changed from 4.22 (men vs women) univariately to 1.38 multivariablely, which indicated gender differences were confounded by other factors. In multivariable analysis, the risk factors of gender, education and ethnicity were significantly associated with both starting and cessation of betel quid chewing behavior. The factors of occupation, cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking were only associated with starting habit.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Commencement or cessation of chewing behavior involves a scenario of time, hence it is preferable to use a time-to-event approach for the comparison. The cessation rates of betel quid chewing were decreasingly associated with the daily consumption of betel quid. Hence, reducing of daily amount in betel quid cessation program may be associated with future stopping habit.</p

45S rDNA Regions Are Chromosome Fragile Sites Expressed as Gaps In Vitro on Metaphase Chromosomes of Root-Tip Meristematic Cells in Lolium spp

BACKGROUND: In humans, chromosome fragile sites are regions that are especially prone to forming non-staining gaps, constrictions or breaks in one or both of the chromatids on metaphase chromosomes either spontaneously or following partial inhibition of DNA synthesis and have been well identified. So far, no plant chromosome fragile sites similar to those in human chromosomes have been reported. METHODS AND RESULTS: During the course of cytological mapping of rDNA on ryegrass chromosomes, we found that the number of chromosomes plus chromosome fragments was often more than the expected 14 in most cells for Lolium perenne L. cv. Player by close cytological examination using a routine chromosome preparation procedure. Further fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) using 45S rDNA as a probe indicated that the root-tip cells having more than a 14-chromosome plus chromosome fragment count were a result of chromosome breakage or gap formation in vitro (referred to as chromosome lesions) at 45S rDNA sites, and 86% of the cells exhibited chromosome breaks or gaps and all occurred at the sites of 45S rDNA in Lolium perenne L. cv. Player, as well as in L. multiflorum Lam. cv. Top One. Chromatin depletion or decondensation occurred at various locations within the 45S rDNA regions, suggesting heterogeneity of lesions of 45S rDNA sites with respect to their position within the rDNA region. CONCLUSIONS: The chromosome lesions observed in this study are very similar cytologically to that of fragile sites observed in human chromosomes, and thus we conclude that the high frequency of chromosome lesions in vitro in Lolium species is the result of the expression of 45S rDNA fragile sites. Possible causes for the spontaneous expression of fragile sites and their potential biological significance are discussed

ERCC2 2251A>C genetic polymorphism was highly correlated with early relapse in high-risk stage II and stage III colorectal cancer patients: A preliminary study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early relapse in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is attributed mainly to the higher malignant entity (such as an unfavorable genotype, deeper tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and advance cancer stage) and poor response to chemotherapy. Several investigations have demonstrated that genetic polymorphisms in drug-targeted genes, metabolizing enzymes, and DNA-repairing enzymes are all strongly correlated with inter-individual differences in the efficacy and toxicity of many treatment regimens. This preliminary study attempts to identify the correlation between genetic polymorphisms and clinicopathological features of CRC, and evaluates the relationship between genetic polymorphisms and chemotherapeutic susceptibility of Taiwanese CRC patients. To our knowledge, this study discusses, for the first time, early cancer relapse and its indication by multiple genes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Six gene polymorphisms functional in drug-metabolism – <it>GSTP1 </it>Ile105Val, <it>ABCB1 </it>Ile1145Ile, <it>MTHFR </it>Ala222Val, <it>TYMS </it>double (2R) or triple (3R) tandem repeat – and DNA-repair genes – <it>ERCC2 </it>Lys751Gln and <it>XRCC1 A</it>rg399Gln – were assessed in 201 CRC patients using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique and DNA sequencing. Patients were diagnosed as either high-risk stage II (T2 and 3 N0 M0) or III (any T N1 and 2 M0) and were administered adjuvant chemotherapy regimens that included 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and leucovorin (LV). The correlations between genetic polymorphisms and patient clinicopathological features and relapses were investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, the distributions of <it>GSTP1 </it>(<it>P </it>= 0.003), <it>ABCB1 </it>(<it>P </it>= 0.001), <it>TYMS </it>(<it>P </it>< 0.0001), <it>ERCC2 </it>(<it>P </it>< 0.0001) and <it>XRCC1 </it>(<it>P </it>= 0.006) genotypes in the Asian population, with the exception of <it>MTHFR </it>(<it>P </it>= 0.081), differed significantly from their distributions in a Caucasian population. However, the unfavorable genotype <it>ERCC2 </it>2251A>C (<it>P </it>= 0.006), tumor invasion depth (<it>P </it>= 0.025), lymph node metastasis (<it>P </it>= 0.011) and cancer stage (<it>P </it>= 0.008) were significantly correlated with early relapse. Patients carrying the <it>ERCC2 </it>2251AC or2251CC genotypes had a significantly increased risk of early relapse (OR = 3.294, 95% CI, 1.272–8.532).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We suggest that <it>ERCC2 </it>2251A>C alleles may be genetic predictors of early CRC relapse.</p

A Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Susceptibility Variants for Type 2 Diabetes in Han Chinese

To investigate the underlying mechanisms of T2D pathogenesis, we looked for diabetes susceptibility genes that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in a Han Chinese population. A two-stage genome-wide association (GWA) study was conducted, in which 995 patients and 894 controls were genotyped using the Illumina HumanHap550-Duo BeadChip for the first genome scan stage. This was further replicated in 1,803 patients and 1,473 controls in stage 2. We found two loci not previously associated with diabetes susceptibility in and around the genes protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type D (PTPRD) (P = 8.54×10−10; odds ratio [OR] = 1.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.36–1.82), and serine racemase (SRR) (P = 3.06×10−9; OR = 1.28; 95% CI = 1.18–1.39). We also confirmed that variants in KCNQ1 were associated with T2D risk, with the strongest signal at rs2237895 (P = 9.65×10−10; OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.19–1.40). By identifying two novel genetic susceptibility loci in a Han Chinese population and confirming the involvement of KCNQ1, which was previously reported to be associated with T2D in Japanese and European descent populations, our results may lead to a better understanding of differences in the molecular pathogenesis of T2D among various populations