Morphometric evaluation and clinical correlations in pediatric malignant small round cell tumors

An Overview of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment After Radical Resection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

According to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) system, radical resection of early stage primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) mainly includes liver transplantation, surgical resection, and radiofrequency ablation (RFA), which yield 5-year survival rates of about 70-79%, 41.3-69.5%, and 40-70%, respectively. The tumor-free 5-year rate for HCC patients undergoing radical resection only reach up to 13.7 months, so the prevention of recurrence after radical resection of HCC is very important for the prognosis of patients. The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) takes the approach of multitarget and overall-regulation to treat tumors, it can also independently present the "component-target-pathway" related to a particular disease, and its systematic and holistic characteristics can provide a personalized therapy based on symptoms of the patient by treating the patient as a whole. TCM as postoperative adjuvant therapy after radical resection of HCC in Barcelona Clinic liver cancer A or B stages, and the numerous clinical trials confirmed that the efficacy of TCM in the field of HCC has a significant effect, not only improving the prognosis and quality of life but also enhancing patient survival rate. However, with the characteristics of multi-target, multi-component, and multi-pathway, the specific mechanism of Chinese medicine in the treatment of diseases is still unclear. Because of the positive pharmacological activities of TCM in combating anti-tumors, the mechanism studies of TCM have demonstrated beneficial effects on the regulation of immune function, chronic inflammation, the proliferation and metastasis of liver cancer cells, autophagy, and cell signaling pathways related to liver cancer. Therefore, this article reviews the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in reducing the recurrence rate of HCC after radical resection.

Evaluation of Microscopic Changes in Fallopian Tubes of BRCA Mutation Carriers by Morphometric Analysis of Histologic Slides: A Preliminary Pilot Study

Mutations in BRCA genes increase the risk of ovarian cancer, yet no method for early diagnosis is available. Some serous ovarian tumors are hypothesized to stem from cells of the fallopian tube fimbria. Using a novel method of computerized morphometry of the fimbrial epithelium, this study aimed to detect morphologic differences in noncancerous fimbriae between BRCA mutation carriers and noncarriers, and between healthy and serous ovarian cancer patients. Twenty-four fimbriae from healthy women (13 BRCA+, 11 BRCA-) and 21 fimbriae from women with serous ovarian cancer (10 BRCA+, 11 BRCA-), all reported as "normal" by hematoxylin and eosin examination, were subjected to computerized histomorphometric analysis. A Fast Fourier Transformation was applied to images of fimbrial epithelium and the Fast Fourier Transformation 2-dimensional frequency maps were subsequently quantified for nuclear orientation and planar distribution by a cooccurrence matrix analysis. Additional analysis of nuclear contour was applied to the fimbriae of the healthy women. Among the healthy women, significant differences were found in morphometric characteristics between the BRCA mutation carriers and noncarriers. Among the women with ovarian cancer, no significant differences were found between BRCA mutation carriers and noncarriers. Between healthy women and those with ovarian cancer, significant differences were detected, regardless of BRCA mutational status. A novel method, which combined Fast Fourier Transformation with cooccurrence matrix analysis, demonstrated differences in morphometric characteristics in the fimbriae between healthy and ovarian cancer patients, and between BRCA mutation carriers and noncarriers. The clinical significance of these observations should be investigated.