Thyroid cancer is one of the most common carcinomas of the endocrine system with an increasing incidence. A growing number of studies have focused on the diagnostic and prognostic values of dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) in thyroid carcinoma. However, differences in the measurement platforms, variations in lab protocols, and small sample sizes can make gene profiling data incomparable. A meta‐review of the published studies that compared miRNA expression data of thyroid carcinoma and paired normal tissues was performed to identify potential miRNA biomarkers of thyroid carcinoma with the vote‐counting strategy. Two hundred and thirty‐six aberrantly expressed miRNAs were reported in 19 microRNA expression profiling studies. Among them, 138 miRNAs were reported in at least two studies. We also provided a meta‐signature of differentially expressed miRNAs between individual histological types of thyroid carcinoma and normal tissues. The experimental validation with qRT‐PCR analysis verified that the profiles identified with the meta‐review approach could effectively discriminate papillary thyroid carcinoma tissues from paired noncancer tissues. The meta‐review of miRNA expression profiling studies of thyroid carcinoma would provide information on candidate miRNAs that could potentially be used as biomarkers in thyroid carcinoma.

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BackgroundTotally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG) has been developed in the hope of improving surgical quality and overcoming the limitations of conventional laparoscopic assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of evidence in support of these ideals.MethodsA systematic review of the two operation types (LADG and TLDG) was carried out to evaluate short-term outcomes including duration of operation, retrieved lymph nodes, estimated blood loss, resection margin status, technical postoperative complications, and hospital stay.ResultsTwelve non-randomized observational clinical studies involving 2,255 patients satisfied the eligibility criteria. Operative time was not statistically different between groups (P > 0.05). The number of retrieved lymph nodes and the resection margin length in TLDG were comparable with those in LADG. Estimated blood loss was significantly less in TLDG than that in LAG (P < 0.01). Compared to LADG, TLDG also involved lesser postoperative hospital stay (P < 0.01) and earlier time to soft diet intake (P < 0.05). Time to flatus and postoperative complications were similar for those two operative approaches.ConclusionsTLDG may be a technically safe, feasible, and favorable approach in terms of better cosmesis, less blood loss, and faster recovery compared with LADG.

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Objective Postoperative delirium (POD) has rarely been investigated in breast cancer patients. Herein, we assessed the association between serum levels of the inflammatory biomarker translocator protein (TP) and the occurrence of POD in breast cancer patients. Methods In this prospective, observational study, TP levels were detected in preoperative and postoperative serum samples from 152 elderly breast cancer patients, samples from 152 healthy elderly women, and samples from 152 elderly women with benign breast diseases. The relationship between serum TP levels and POD was investigated using multivariate analysis. Results TP levels in postoperative patient serum samples were significantly higher than in preoperative patient serum samples and serum from women in the two control groups. Postoperative serum TP levels were independently correlated with serum C-reactive protein levels and the occurrence of POD. Postoperative serum TP levels had a high discriminatory ability for POD under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Conclusions Increased postoperative serum TP levels are independently associated with the degree of inflammatory response and the risk of POD in elderly breast cancer patients, substantializing TP as an inflammatory biomarker that can efficiently discriminate POD after breast cancer surgery.