Background: The impact of tumor size on the survival and chemotherapy reponse of early-stage colon cancer remains unclear. Our study explored the effect of tumor size on overall survival (OS) and postoperative chemotherapy efficacy in patients with stage I/II colon cancer. Methods: Stage I/II colon cancer patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database and a China center were extracted as two cohorts respectively. X-tile program was adopted to acquire optimal cutoff points of tumor size (16mm and 49mm). Harrell\'s concordance index (c-index) and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were used to indicate discrimination ability of prognostic factors. Results: Overall, 104,908 and 168 stage I/II postoperative colon cancer patients from SEER database and a China center were eligible, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that large tumor size was associated with poor OS in two cohorts. The effect of tumor size on OS gradually decreased as the T stage increased both before PSM (c-index 0.535 for T1N0M0 and 0.506 for T4N0M0, p<0.05) and after PSM (c-index 0.543 for T1N0M0, p<0.05; c-index 0.543 for T4N0M0, p>0.05). Stratified analyses showed that chemotherapy improved the OS rate by 9.5% (chemotherapy vs. non-chemotherapy: 83.5% vs. 73.0%) or 12.8% (chemotherapy vs. non-chemotherapy: 85.7% vs. 72.9%) before and after PSM in T2N0M0 patients with tumor size >49 mm, but not in T1N0M0. The survival benefit provided by chemotherapy for T2N0M0 patients with large tumor was also validated in the Chinese cohort. Conclusions: Large tumor size was a risk factor for stage I/II colon cancer, especially for T1N0M0. Tumor size could serve as a complementary factor guiding postoperative chemotherapy for T2N0M0 patients.

The prognostic significance of tumor size in T3b differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) remains debated and underexplored. This study aimed to examine the varying impact of T3b based on tumor size, analyzing disease-specific survival, disease-free survival, and overall survival. A retrospective review of 6282 DTC patients who underwent thyroid surgery at Seoul St. Mary\'s Hospital from September 2000 to December 2017 was conducted. T3b was classified into three subcategories, T3b-1 (≤2 cm), T3b-2 (2-4 cm), and T3b-3 (>4 cm), using the same size criteria for T1, T2, and T3a. T3b-1 showed no significant difference in disease specific survival compared to T1, and both disease-free and disease-specific survival curves were sequentially ranked as T1, T3b-1, T2, T3a, T3b-2, and T3b-3. The modified T category, reclassifying T3b-1 as T1, demonstrated superior staging performance compared to the classic T category (c-index: 0.8961 vs. 0.8959 and AUC: 0.8573 vs. 0.8518). Tumors measuring 2 cm or less within the T3b category may require downstaging, and a modified T category could improve the precision of prognostic staging compared to the current T category.

There is no consensus about whether relatively large mediastinal tumors (≥ 5.0 cm) are suitable for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Therefore, this study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of intercostal approach VATS for large-sized anterior mediastinal tumors (5.0-10.0 cm) with no invasion to the surrounding tissues and organs. A total of 129 patients with anterior mediastinal tumors who received surgery in our hospital between January 2018 and July 2022 were consecutively enrolled. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on mediastinal tumor diameter: Group A (tumor size between 1.0 and 4.9 cm) and Group B (tumor size between 5.0 and 10.0 cm). The primary endpoints were operation time, blood loss, and postoperative pain, and the secondary endpoints were the volume of drainage, drainage duration, postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative complications. Significant differences were found in the volume of drainage between the two groups (Group A: 218.4 ± 140.6, Group B: 398.9 ± 369.3, P < 0.001). However, no differences were found in operation time, blood loss, drainage duration, postoperative hospital stay and duration of postoperative oral analgesics (P > 0.05). In addition, there existed no significant differences in the postoperative complications. Intercostal approach VATS is regarded as a feasible and safe surgical method for large-sized anterior mediastinal tumors (5.0-10.0 cm) with no invasion to the surrounding tissues and organs.

Unlike somatotroph tumors, the data on correlates of tumor granulation patterns in functional TPIT lineage pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (corticotroph tumors) have been less uniformly documented in most clinical series. This study evaluated characteristics of 41 well-characterized functional corticotroph tumors consisting of 28 densely granulated corticotroph tumors (DGCTs) and 13 sparsely granulated corticotroph tumors (SGCTs) with respect to preoperative clinical and radiological findings, tumor proliferative activity (including mitotic count and Ki-67 labeling index), and postoperative early biochemical remission rates. The median (interquartile range (IQR)) tumor size was significantly larger in the SGCT group [16.00 (16.00) mm in SGCT vs 8.5 (9.75) mm in DGCT, p = 0.049]. T2-weighted signal intensity and T2 intensity (quantitative) did not yield statistical significance based on tumor granulation; however, the T2 intensity-to-white matter ratio was significantly higher in SGCTs (p = 0.049). The median (IQR) Ki-67 labeling index was 2.00% (IQR 1.00%) in the DGCT group and 4.00% (IQR 7.00%) in the SGCT group (p = 0.043). The mitotic count per 2 mm2 was higher in the SGCT group (p = 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, the sparse granulation pattern (SGCT) remained an independent predictor of a lower probability of early biochemical remission irrespective of the tumor size and proliferative activity (p = 0.012). The current study further supports the impact of tumor granulation pattern as a biologic variable and warrants the detailed histological subtyping of functional corticotroph tumors as indicated in the WHO classification of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors. More importantly, the assessment of the quantitative T2 intensity-to-white matter ratio may serve as a preoperative radiological harbinger of SGCTs.

Low-coverage whole genome sequencing was performed for tissue samples from thyroid patients who received surgery treatment from 2015 to 2021. The potential biological significance of CD147 protein in thyroid cancer was explored through correlation analysis of CD147 protein expression level and clinical features of thyroid cancer patients. Low coverage whole genome sequencing was performed on the extracted DNA samples. The copy number analysis software was used to analyze the sequencing data, calculate the copy number of CD147 gene, further verify the expression of CD147 gene, and analyze its association with clinical features. The relationship between CIN and high risk was evaluated in the internal cohort. The association of CIN with the disease-free survival was validated in the cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas Program. Thyroglobulin plays a key role in regulating thyroid function and maintaining normal metabolic rate. By sequencing tissue samples from this study, we can gain a deeper understanding of the association between cin and thyroid disease. The percentage of high risk patients in the multiple CIN group (77.8 %) was significantly higher than that in the 22q negative group (31.3 %), BRAF V600E group (22.2 %) and all negative group (25.0 %; p = 0.043).

BACKGROUND: The rate of distant metastasis in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) is 20%-50% at the time of initial diagnosis. However, whether tumor size can predict distant metastasis for PNETs remains unknown up to date.
METHODS: We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) population-based data to collect 6089 patients with PNETs from 2010 to 2019. The optimal cut-off point of tumor size to predict distant metastasis was calculated by Youden\'s index. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to figure out the association between tumor size and distant metastasis patterns.
RESULTS: The most common metastatic site was liver (27.2%), followed by bone (3.0%), lung (2.3%) and brain (0.4%). Based on an optimal cut-off value of tumor size (25.5 mm) for predicting distant metastasis determined by Youden\'s index, patients were categorized into groups of tumor size < 25.5 mm and ≥ 25.5 mm. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that, compared with < 25.5 mm, tumor size ≥ 25.5 mm was an independent risk predictor of overall distant metastasis [odds ratio (OR) = 4.491, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.724-5.416, P < 0.001] and liver metastasis (OR = 4.686, 95% CI: 3.886-5.651, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Tumor size ≥ 25.5 mm was significantly associated with more overall distant and liver metastases. Timely identification of distant metastasis for tumor size ≥ 25.5 mm may provide survival benefit for timely and precise treatment.

BACKGROUND: Among oral diseases, oral cancer is the primary cause of death and poses a serious health risk. Primary tumor (T) - regional lymph node (N) - distant metastasis (M) comprising (TNM) staging is crucial for planning treatment strategies for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the predictive accuracy of clinical TNM staging of OSCC to histopathological staging (pTNM) in an institutional setting.
METHODS: Fifty-four consecutive histologically confirmed, surgically treated OSCC cases were evaluated for TNM staging. The study compared the clinical staging at the time of surgery with the pathological staging obtained from excisional biopsy reports. Microsoft Excel (Microsoft® Corp., Redmond, WA, USA) was used for the data compilation and descriptive analysis. The chi-square test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey\'s Honest Significant Difference (HSD) posthoc test were used to compare the data for statistical significance with p value <0.05 using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, IBM Corp., Version 23.0, Armonk, NY).
RESULTS: The alveolar mucosa (n=22, 40.74%) was the most frequently occurring site, followed by the tongue (n=17, 31.48%). Out of the 54 included cases, based on clinical tumor size, there were T1 (n=6), T2 (n=13), T3 (n=13), T4a (n=16) and T4b (n=6). T2 tumors were usually upstaged (n=7) while T4a (n=8) tumors were most often downstaged. T4a (n=8) had the best concordance between clinical and histopathological staging, followed by T2, T3, and T1. In nodal status, N1 showed the most variation. The chi-squared test showed statistical significance for tumor size comparison (p <0.001) and nodal status comparison (p=0.002). ANOVA test did not show any statistical significance. Tukey\'s HSD posthoc test showed statistical significance (p=0.034) for N0 and N1 status. The highest concordance was shown by N0 and N1 followed by N2b.
CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative radiological and clinical assessments are essential for deciding on a patient\'s course of treatment. However, not all patients may require radiographs to determine tumor size or nodal status assessment. Accurate diagnosis is vital for the treatment planning of OSCC.

UNASSIGNED: Endoscopic obstruction (eOB) is associated with a poor prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC). Our study aimed to investigate the association between tumor location and eOB, as well as the prognostic differences among non-endoscopic obstruction (N-eOB), eOB with tumor size ≤ 5 cm, and eOB with tumor size > 5 cm in non-elderly patients.
UNASSIGNED: We retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathological variables of 230 patients with CRC who underwent curative surgery. The multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors for eOB. The association between eOB with tumor size ≤ 5 cm and disease-free survival (DFS) was evaluated using multivariate cox regression analysis.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 87 patients had eOB while 143 had N-eOB. In multivariate analysis, preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (p = 0.014), tumor size (p = 0.010), tumor location (left-side colon; p = 0.033; rectum; p < 0.001), and pT stage (T3, p = 0.009; T4, p < 0.001) were significant factors of eOB. The DFS rate for eOB with tumor size ≤ 5 cm was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in survival analysis. The eOB with tumor size ≤ 5 cm (p = 0.012) was an unfavorable independent factor for DFS.
UNASSIGNED: The patients with eOB were significantly associated with right-side colon cancer as opposed to left-side colon cancer and rectal cancer. The eOB with tumor size ≤ 5 cm was an independent poor prognostic factor. Further studies are needed to target these high-risk groups.

UNASSIGNED: Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common pediatric hepatic malignancy. Despite the progress in HB treatment, investigating HB pathomechanisms to optimize stratification and therapies remains a focal point to improve the outcome for high-risk patients.
UNASSIGNED: Here, we pointed to explore the impact of these mechanisms in HB. An observational study was performed on liver samples from a cohort of 17 patients with a diagnosis of HB and two normal liver samples. The in vitro experiments were executed on the Huh6 human HB cell line treated with the FAK inhibitor TAE226.
UNASSIGNED: Our results highlight a significant up-regulation of mRNA and protein expression of FAK in livers from HB with respect to normal livers. The increased protein expression of total and Tyr397 phosphorylated FAK (pTyr397FAK) was significantly correlated with the expression of some epigenetic regulators of histone H3 methylation and acetylation. Of note, the expression of pTyr397FAK, N-methyltransferase enzyme (EZH2) and tri-methylation of the H3K27 residue correlated with tumor size and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. Finally, TAE226 caused a significant reduction of pTyr397FAK, epigenetic regulators, AFP, EPCAM, OCT4, and SOX2, in association with anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects on HB cells.
UNASSIGNED: Our results suggest a role of FAK in HB that requires further investigations mainly focused on the exploration of its effective diagnostic and therapeutic translatability.

It\'s a major public health problem of global concern that malignant gliomas tend to grow rapidly and infiltrate surrounding tissues. Accurate grading of the tumor can determine the degree of malignancy to formulate the best treatment plan, which can eliminate the tumor or limit widespread metastasis of the tumor, saving the patient\'s life and improving their prognosis. To more accurately predict the grading of gliomas, we proposed a novel method of combining the advantages of 2D and 3D Convolutional Neural Networks for tumor grading by multimodality on Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The core of the innovation lies in our combination of tumor 3D information extracted from multimodal data with those obtained from a 2D ResNet50 architecture. It solves both the lack of temporal-spatial information provided by 3D imaging in 2D convolutional neural networks and avoids more noise from too much information in 3D convolutional neural networks, which causes serious overfitting problems. Incorporating explicit tumor 3D information, such as tumor volume and surface area, enhances the grading model\'s performance and addresses the limitations of both approaches. By fusing information from multiple modalities, the model achieves a more precise and accurate characterization of tumors. The model I s trained and evaluated using two publicly available brain glioma datasets, achieving an AUC of 0.9684 on the validation set. The model\'s interpretability is enhanced through heatmaps, which highlight the tumor region. The proposed method holds promise for clinical application in tumor grading and contributes to the field of medical diagnostics for prediction.