In humans, lymph nodes are the primary site of measles virus (MeV) replication. To understand the immunological events that occur at this site, we infected human lymphoid tissue explants using a pathogenic strain of MeV that expresses GFP. We found that MeV infected 5%-15% of cells across donors. Using single-cell RNA-Seq and flow cytometry, we found that while most of the 29 cell populations identified in the lymphoid culture were susceptible to MeV, there was a broad preferential infection of B cells and reduced infection of T cells. Further subsetting of T cells revealed that this reduction may be driven by the decreased infection of naive T cells. Transcriptional changes in infected B cells were dominated by an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) signature. To determine which of these ISGs were most substantial, we evaluated the proteome of MeV-infected Raji cells by mass spectrometry. We found that IFIT1, IFIT2, IFIT3, ISG15, CXCL10, MX2, and XAF1 proteins were the most highly induced and positively correlated with their expression in the transcriptome. These data provide insight into the immunological events that occur in lymph nodes during infection and may lead to the development of therapeutic interventions.

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC) have emerged as a promising therapeutic avenue for treating autoimmune diseases, eliciting considerable interest and discussion regarding their underlying mechanisms. This study revealed the distinctive ability of human umbilical cord MSC to aggregate within the lymph nodes of mice afflicted with autoimmune diseases, but this phenomenon was not observed in healthy mice. The specific distribution is driven by the heightened expression of the CCL21-CCR7 axis in mice with autoimmune diseases, facilitating the targeted homing of MSC to the lymph nodes. Within the lymph nodes, MSC exhibit a remarkable capacity to modulate Th17 cell function, exerting a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect. Transplanted MSC stimulates the secretion of L-amino-acid oxidase (LAAO), a response triggered by elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in mice with autoimmune diseases through the NF-κB pathway. The presence of LAAO is indispensable for the efficacy of MSC, as it significantly contributes to the inhibition of Th17 cells. Furthermore, LAAO-derived indole-3-pyruvic acid (I3P) serves as a potent suppressor of Th17 cells by activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) pathway. These findings advance our understanding of the global immunomodulatory effects exerted by MSC, providing valuable information for optimizing therapeutic outcomes.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to construct a novel nomogram based on the number of positive lymph nodes to predict the overall survival of patients with pancreatic head cancer after radical surgery.
METHODS: 2271 and 973 patients in the SEER Database were included in the development set and validation set, respectively. The primary clinical endpoint was OS (overall survival). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to screen independent risk factors of OS, and then independent risk factors were used to construct a novel nomogram. The C-index, calibration curves, and decision analysis curves were used to evaluate the predictive power of the nomogram in the development and validation sets.
RESULTS: After multivariate Cox regression analysis, the independent risk factors for OS included age, tumor extent, chemotherapy, tumor size, LN (lymph nodes) examined, and LN positive. A nomogram was constructed by using independent risk factors for OS. The C-index of the nomogram for OS was 0.652 [(95% confidence interval (CI): 0.639-0.666)] and 0.661 (95%CI: 0.641-0.680) in the development and validation sets, respectively. The calibration curves and decision analysis curves proved that the nomogram had good predictive ability.
CONCLUSIONS: The nomogram based on the number of positive LN can effectively predict the overall survival of patients with pancreatic head cancer after surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Preoperative prediction of axillary lymph node (ALN) burden in patients with early-stage breast cancer is pivotal for individualised treatment. This study aimed to develop a MRI radiomics model for evaluating the ALN burden in early-stage breast cancer and to provide biological interpretability to predictions by integrating radiogenomic data.
METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed 1211 patients with early-stage breast cancer from four centers, supplemented by data from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) and Duke University (DUKE). MRI radiomic features were extracted from dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI images and an ALN burden-related radscore was constructed by the backpropagation neural network algorithm. Clinical and combined models were developed, integrating ALN-related clinical variables and radscore. The Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test were used to assess the prognostic differences between the predicted high- and low-ALN burden groups in both Center I and DUKE cohorts. Gene set enrichment and immune infiltration analyses based on transcriptomic TCIA and TCIA Breast Cancer dataset were used to investigate the biological significance of the ALN-related radscore.
RESULTS: The MRI radiomics model demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.781-0.809 in three validation cohorts. The predicted high-risk population demonstrated a poorer prognosis (log-rank P < .05 in both cohorts). Radiogenomic analysis revealed migration pathway upregulation and cell differentiation pathway downregulation in the high radscore groups. Immune infiltration analysis confirmed the ability of radiological features to reflect the heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment.
CONCLUSIONS: The MRI radiomics model effectively predicted the ALN burden and prognosis of early-stage breast cancer. Moreover, radiogenomic analysis revealed key cellular and immune patterns associated with the radscore.

Market hog lymph nodes (LNs) can contaminate carcasses with Salmonella, as well as ground and comminuted pork products. The objective of this study was to perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of LNs from several regions and seasons in the United States to establish a Salmonella prevalence and concentration baseline. Six types of LNs (axillary, mesenteric, subiliac, tracheobronchial, superficial inguinal, pre-scapular) and tonsils were sampled from market hog carcasses from different regions (east, central, and west) and seasons (winter, spring, and summer/fall). Salmonella was detected and enumerated using BAX®-System-SalQuant® methods and the BAX®-System Real-Time Salmonella Assay. Salmonella prevalence (N=4,132) was 36% for tonsils, 35% for mesenteric LN, and less than 10% for the other LN types. Of the 601 carcasses tested, 62% were positive for Salmonella, with the highest prevalence occurring during spring in the east (90.9%), and the lowest prevalence occurring during spring in the central region (26.0%). Tonsil prevalence was greatest in the eastern region during spring. Mesenteric LN prevalence was high (>20%) regardless of season or region. Salmonella prevalence in tracheobronchial, subiliac, axillary, and superficial inguinal LNs was generally greatest during the spring or fall and in the eastern region. The median SalQuant® Salmonella concentration was 2.18 log10Salmonella cells/sample. Median SalQuant® concentration for all other sample types fell below the limit of quantification (1 log10Salmonella cells/sample). This longitudinal study can be used by the pork industry for risk assessments and risk-based decision making.

目的： 探讨血管免疫母细胞性T细胞淋巴瘤（AITL）伴单克隆性浆细胞增生的临床病理学特征。 方法： 收集福建医科大学附属龙岩第一医院2019和2021年期间诊断的2例AITL伴单克隆性浆细胞增生病例，采用HE、免疫组织化学染色，观察组织学形态、免疫表型特征，原位杂交的方法检测EB病毒编码RNA，聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测免疫球蛋白（Ig）基因和T细胞受体（TCR）基因克隆性重排，并结合文献进行复习。 结果： 2例AITL伴单克隆性浆细胞增生的病例均为女性，例1和例2患者年龄分别为72岁和48岁；例1为腹股沟淋巴结，例2为颈部淋巴结。主要临床症状为全身淋巴结无痛性肿大，例1伴低热和胸腹腔积液，例2伴卵巢受累。光镜下，淋巴结结构完全或部分破坏，瘤细胞中等到大，胞质丰富、淡染，核不规则、扭曲或圆形，背景见多种炎性细胞浸润，其中浆细胞数量突出，例2伴有较多B免疫母细胞增生。在免疫表型上，CD21示紊乱增生的滤泡树突细胞网，肿瘤细胞表达多个T细胞标志物CD4（2/2）、CD3（2/2）、CD2（2/2）、CD7（2/2）和CD5（1/2）；大部分肿瘤细胞表达滤泡辅助T细胞标志物CXCL13、bcl-6、PD1和ICOS，局灶表达CD10。背景中的浆细胞例1呈Lambda轻链限制性、例2为Kappa轻链限制性。分子检测显示例1 IgH基因克隆性重排检测阳性，例2为TCR基因克隆性重排检测阳性。 结论： AITL伴单克隆性浆细胞增生罕见，病变淋巴结内可伴有明显B免疫母细胞增生，IgH基因可呈克隆性重排，易误诊为浆细胞病变或B细胞淋巴瘤，充分认识AITL多样的形态学及基因重排特征有助于避免误诊。.

OBJECTIVE: We established a novel surgical procedure for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which involves resection of the affected lobe and regional lymph nodes without separation, namely en bloc surgery. We introduced the technical details and early and late outcomes by comparing them with those of conventional surgery.
METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent lobectomy with hilar and mediastinal lymph node dissection for stages I-III NSCLC. A propensity score-matched analysis was performed based on demographic variables.
RESULTS: Propensity score-matching yielded 317 pairs. En bloc surgery was not associated with a longer operation time, a higher amount of intraoperative bleeding, or a higher frequency of postoperative complications. The number of resected lymph nodes (P = 0.277) and frequency of N upstaging (P = 0.587) did not differ between the groups. However, en bloc surgery was associated with higher overall survival in comparison to conventional surgery (P = 0.012). According to a stratification analysis, the survival advantage of en bloc surgery over conventional surgery was remarkable in pathological N-positive disease (P = 0.005), whereas it disappeared in pathological N-negative disease (P = 0.147).
CONCLUSIONS: En bloc surgery is feasible and can be performed in patients with possible N-positive NSCLC.

For breast cancer patients with physical exam node negative but radiological finding node abnormal (cN0/rNa), the NCCN and ASCO guidelines recommend sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) as the first-line axillary staging. However, patients who undergo surgery firstly may be upstaged to pathological II-III status, and these patients happen to be the adaptive population of neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). There is no consensus on the optimal management of cN0/rNa patients. The aim is to explore the optimal management strategy of these patients. We performed a retrospective real-world study of 1414 cN0/rNa patients from June 2014 to October 2022. There were 1003 patients underwent surgery first and 411 patients underwent surgery after NAT. We analyzed the real-world conditions of these patients, compared axilla tumor burden between these two groups. In addition, we compared benefit ratio of axillary surgery and regional nodal irradiation (RNI) de-escalation under the two strategies. Among 1003 patients underwent surgery first, the positive and negative rates of fine needle aspiration (FNA) were 18.5% and 81.5%, respectively. There were 66.1% had ≤ 2 lymph nodes+. There were 40.8% of FNA+ patients could be exempted from ALND underwent surgery first. In 411 patients underwent surgery after NAT, the FNA positive and negative rates were 60.8% and 49.2%, respectively. There were 54.4% of FNA+ patients achieved axilla pathologic complete response (apCR) and could omit ALND after NAT. The apCR was 67.3% in HER2+/TNBC subtypes. According to the NSABP-B51 trial, there were 0 and 54.4% of FNA+ patients could omit RNI among surgery first and after NAT, respectively. Among 1-2 sentinel lymph node (SLN)-positive patients underwent surgery first, with a median follow-up 49 months, there was no difference of survival benefit between SLNB-only and SLNB-ALND. Compared with 1-2 SLN+ patients without RNI, RNI could bring better invasive disease-free survival (97.38% vs. 89.36%, P = 0.046) and breast cancer special survival (100% vs. 94.68%, P = 0.020). It is safe to perform SLNB omitting ALND when detected 1-2 positive SLNs in cN0/rNa patients. Patients with HER2+/TNBC subtypes underwent surgery after NAT had more chance to benefit from dual de-escalation, including axillary surgery and RNI de-escalation.

BACKGROUND: The log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) was considered a superior staging system to N stage in colon cancer, yet its value in determining the optimal duration of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer patients has not been evaluated. This study aims to assess the prognostic value of a model that combines LODDS with clinicopathological information for stage III colon cancer patients and aims to stratify these patients using the model, identifying individuals who could benefit from varying durations of adjuvant chemotherapy.
METHODS: A total of 663 consecutive patients diagnosed with stage III colon cancer, who underwent colon tumor resection between November 2007 and June 2020 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and Longyan First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, were enrolled in this study. Survival outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier, Cox regression. Nomograms were developed to forecast patient DFS, with the Area Under the Curve (AUC) values of time-dependent Receiver Operating Characteristic (timeROC) and calibration plots utilized to assess the accuracy and reliability of the nomograms.
RESULTS: Multivariate analysis revealed that perineural invasion (HR = 1.776, 95% CI: 1.052-3.003, P = 0.032), poor tumor differentiation (HR = 1.638, 95% CI: 1.084-2.475, P = 0.019), and LODDS groupings of 2 and 1 (HR = 1.920, 95% CI: 1.297-2.842, P = 0.001) were independent predictors of disease-free survival (DFS) in the training cohort. Nomograms constructed from LODDS, perineural invasion, and poor tumor differentiation demonstrated robust predictive performance for 3-year and 5-year DFS in both training (3-year AUC = 0.706, 5-year AUC = 0.678) and validation cohorts (3-year AUC = 0.744, 5-year AUC = 0.762). Stratification according to this model showed that patients in the high-risk group derived significant benefit from completing 8 cycles of chemotherapy (training cohort, 82.97% vs 67.17%, P = 0.013; validation cohort, 89.49% vs 63.97%, P = 0.030).
CONCLUSIONS: The prognostic model, integrating LODDS, pathological differentiation, and neural invasion, demonstrates strong predictive accuracy for stage III colon cancer prognosis. Moreover, stratification via this model offers valuable insights into optimal durations of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is a standard procedure for early-stage breast cancer (BC) patients with three or more positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). However, ALND can lead to significant postoperative complications without always providing additional clinical benefits. This study aims to develop machine-learning (ML) models to predict non-sentinel lymph node (non-SLN) metastasis in Chinese BC patients with three or more positive SLNs, potentially allowing the omission of ALND.
METHODS: Data from 2217 BC patients who underwent SLN biopsy at Shantou University Medical College were analyzed, with 634 having positive SLNs. Patients were categorized into those with ≤ 2 positive SLNs and those with ≥ 3 positive SLNs. We applied nine ML algorithms to predict non-SLN metastasis. Model performance was evaluated using ROC curves, precision-recall curves, and calibration curves. Decision Curve Analysis (DCA) assessed the clinical utility of the models.
RESULTS: The RF model showed superior predictive performance, achieving an AUC of 0.987 in the training set and 0.828 in the validation set. Key predictive features included size of positive SLNs, tumor size, number of SLNs, and ER status. In external validation, the RF model achieved an AUC of 0.870, demonstrating robust predictive capabilities.
CONCLUSIONS: The developed RF model accurately predicts non-SLN metastasis in BC patients with ≥ 3 positive SLNs, suggesting that ALND might be avoided in selected patients by applying additional axillary radiotherapy. This approach could reduce the incidence of postoperative complications and improve patient quality of life. Further validation in prospective clinical trials is warranted.