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Wang L, Yi S, Teng Y, Li W, Cai J. Role of the tumor microenvironment in the lymphatic metastasis of cervical cancer (Review). Exp Ther Med 2023; 26:486. [PMID: 37753293 PMCID: PMC10518654 DOI: 10.3892/etm.2023.12185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Lymphatic metastasis is the primary type of cervical cancer metastasis and is associated with an extremely poor prognosis in patients. The tumor microenvironment primarily includes cancer-associated fibroblasts, tumor-associated macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, immune and inflammatory cells, and blood and lymphatic vascular networks, which can promote the establishment of lymphatic metastatic sites within immunosuppressive microenvironments or promote lymphatic metastasis by stimulating lymphangiogenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation. As the most important feature of the tumor microenvironment, hypoxia plays an essential role in lymph node metastasis. In this review, the known mechanisms of hypoxia, and the involvement of stromal components and immune inflammatory cells in the tumor microenvironment of lymphatic metastasis of cervical cancer are discussed. Additionally, a summary of the clinical trials targeting the tumor microenvironment for the treatment of cervical cancer is provided, emphasizing the potential and challenges of immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lufang Wang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, P.R. China
| | - Shuyan Yi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, P.R. China
| | - Yun Teng
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, P.R. China
| | - Wenhan Li
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, P.R. China
| | - Jing Cai
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, P.R. China
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Huang W, Wang K, Huang W, He Z, Zhang J, Zhang B, Xiong Z, Gillen KM, Li W, Chen F, Yang X, Zhang S, Tian J. Carbonic anhydrase IX stratifies patient prognosis and identifies nodal status in animal models of nasopharyngeal carcinoma using a targeted imaging strategy. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2022; 49:4427-4439. [PMID: 35925443 DOI: 10.1007/s00259-022-05922-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Accurate identification of nodal status enables adequate neck irradiation for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, most conventional techniques are unable to pick up occult metastases, leading to underestimation of tumor extensions. Here we investigate the clinical significance of carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) in human NPC samples, and develop a CAIX-targeted imaging strategy to identify occult lymph node metastases (LNMs) and extranodal extension (ENE) in animal studies. METHODS A total of 211 NPC samples are performed CAIX staining, and clinical outcomes are analyzed. The metastatic murine models are generated by foot pad injection of NPC cells, and a CAIX-targeted imaging agent (CAIX-800) is intravenously administered. We adopt fluorescence molecular tomography and ultrasonography (US)-guided spectroscopic photoacoustic (sPA) imaging to perform in vivo studies. Histological and immunohistochemical characterization are carried out via node-by-node analysis. RESULTS For clinical samples, 90.1% (91/101) primary tumors, 73.3% (66/90) metastases, and 100% (20/20) local recurrences are CAIX positive. In metastases group, 84.7% (61/72) nodal metastases and 22.2% (4/18) organ metastases are CAIX positive. CAIX expression in primary tumors is significantly associated with NPC stage and prognosis. For animal studies, CAIX-800-based fluorescence imaging achieves 81.3% sensitivity and 93.8% specificity in detecting occult LNMs in vivo, with a minimum detectable diameter of 1.7 mm. Coupled with CAIX-800, US-guided sPA imaging could not only detect subcapsular deposits of metastatic cancer cells 2 weeks earlier than conventional techniques, but also successfully track pathological ENE. CONCLUSION CAIX remarkably expresses in human NPCs and stratifies patient prognosis. In preclinical studies, CAIX-800-based imaging successfully identifies occult LNMs and tracks early stage of pathological ENE. This attractive method shows potential in clinic, allowing medical workers to longitudinally monitor nodal status and helping to reduce unnecessary nodal biopsy for patients with NPC. The schematic diagram for the study. CAIX, carbonic anhydrase IX; NPC, nasopharyngeal carcinoma; US, ultrasonography; sPA, spectroscopic photoacoustic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenhui Huang
- College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, 110057, Shenyang, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, the State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 95 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, China.,Medical Imaging Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu West Road, Tianhe District, 510632, Guangzhou, China
| | - Kun Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, the State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 95 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Weiyuan Huang
- Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), 570311, Haikou, China
| | - Zicong He
- Medical Imaging Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu West Road, Tianhe District, 510632, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jingming Zhang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8, Xishiku Road, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100034, China
| | - Bin Zhang
- Medical Imaging Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu West Road, Tianhe District, 510632, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhiyuan Xiong
- Department of Chemical and Bio-Molecular Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Kelly McCabe Gillen
- Department of Radiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 407 E 61st Street, New York, NY, USA
| | - Wenzhe Li
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Chen
- Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), 570311, Haikou, China
| | - Xing Yang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8, Xishiku Road, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100034, China.
| | - Shuixing Zhang
- Medical Imaging Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu West Road, Tianhe District, 510632, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Jie Tian
- College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, 110057, Shenyang, China. .,CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, the State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 95 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, China. .,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Big Data-Based Precision Medicine, School of Engineering Medicine, Beihang University, 100191, Beijing, China.
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Borrelli P, Larsson M, Ulén J, Enqvist O, Trägårdh E, Poulsen MH, Mortensen MA, Kjölhede H, Høilund-Carlsen PF, Edenbrandt L. Artificial intelligence-based detection of lymph node metastases by PET/CT predicts prostate cancer-specific survival. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging 2020; 41:62-67. [PMID: 32976691 DOI: 10.1111/cpf.12666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Lymph node metastases are a key prognostic factor in prostate cancer (PCa), but detecting lymph node lesions from PET/CT images is a subjective process resulting in inter-reader variability. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods can provide an objective image analysis. We aimed at developing and validating an AI-based tool for detection of lymph node lesions. METHODS A group of 399 patients with biopsy-proven PCa who had undergone 18 F-choline PET/CT for staging prior to treatment were used to train (n = 319) and test (n = 80) the AI-based tool. The tool consisted of convolutional neural networks using complete PET/CT scans as inputs. In the test set, the AI-based lymph node detections were compared to those of two independent readers. The association with PCa-specific survival was investigated. RESULTS The AI-based tool detected more lymph node lesions than Reader B (98 vs. 87/117; p = .045) using Reader A as reference. AI-based tool and Reader A showed similar performance (90 vs. 87/111; p = .63) using Reader B as reference. The number of lymph node lesions detected by the AI-based tool, PSA, and curative treatment was significantly associated with PCa-specific survival. CONCLUSION This study shows the feasibility of using an AI-based tool for automated and objective interpretation of PET/CT images that can provide assessments of lymph node lesions comparable with that of experienced readers and prognostic information in PCa patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Borrelli
- Department of Clinical Physiology, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Måns Larsson
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Eigenvision AB, Malmö, Sweden
| | | | - Olof Enqvist
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Eigenvision AB, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Elin Trägårdh
- Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Mads Hvid Poulsen
- Department of Urology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | | | - Henrik Kjölhede
- Department of Urology, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Urology, Institute of Clinical Science, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Poul Flemming Høilund-Carlsen
- Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.,Department of Nuclear Medicine, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
| | - Lars Edenbrandt
- Department of Clinical Physiology, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
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