BackgroundMicrowave ablation (MWA) has attracted a worldwide attention gradually in treating inoperable pulmonary malignancies. However, in the lung tissues treated with MWA recurrence of tumor may still occur and few data in large patient groups till now were reported about the safety or effectiveness of microwave ablation in treating primary lung cancer and metastatic pulmonary malignancies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical curative effect (local control, survival data) MWA and its safety as well.MethodsFrom 1 January 2005 to 1 January 2008, retrospective analyses, 69 patients underwent computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous MWA of pulmonary malignancies. All patients were deemed medically inoperable. The correlation of tumor sizes and local progression after ablation was analyzed and the survival rates within 3 years post surgery were compared between non-small-cell lung cancer and pulmonary metastases groups also.ResultsPneumothorax was the most frequent complication and occurred in 24.64% patients after ablation. Neither needle track implantation was found nor did patient death occur in these patients within 30 days. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival rates were 66.7%, 44.9% and 24.6%, respectively. The overall survival rates for NSCLC patients in 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years were 75.0%, 54.2%, and 29.2%, respectively. The overall survival rates for pulmonary metastatic tumor patients in 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years were 47.6%, 23.8%, and 14.3%, respectively. The recurrence-free survival rates for NSCLC patients in 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years were 72.9%, 50.0%, and 27.1%, respectively. The mortality rates for pulmonary metastatic tumor patients in 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years were 47.6%, 19.0%, and 14.3%, respectively.ConclusionsPercutaneous microwave coagulation therapy was one safe and effective method and could be beneficial for the improvement of inoperable pulmonary malignancies treatment effect.

We aimed to reveal the true status of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in Chinese patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after lung resections. EGFR mutations of surgically resected fresh tumor samples from 697 Chinese NSCLC patients were analyzed by Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS). Correlations between EGFR mutation hotspots and clinical features were also explored. Of the 697 NSCLC patients, 235 (33.7%) patients had tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKIs) sensitive EGFR mutations in 41 (14.5%) of the 282 squamous carcinomas, 155 (52.9%) of the 293 adenocarcinomas, 34 (39.5%) of the 86 adenosquamous carcinomas, one (9.1%) of the 11 large-cell carcinomas, 2 (11.1%) of the 18 sarcomatoid carcinomas, and 2 (28.6%) of the 7 mucoepidermoid carcinomas. TKIs sensitive EGFR mutations were more frequently found in female patients (p < 0.001), non-smokers (p = 0.047) and adenocarcinomas (p < 0.001). The rates of exon 19 deletion mutation (19-del), exon 21 L858R point mutation (L858R), exon 21 L861Q point mutation (L861Q), exon 18 G719X point mutations (G719X, including G719C, G719S, G719A) were 43.4%, 48.1%, 1.7% and 6.8%, respectively. Exon 20 T790M point mutation (T790M) was detected in 3 squamous carcinomas and 3 adenocarcinomas and exon 20 insertion mutation (20-ins) was detected in 2 patients with adenocarcinoma. Our results show the rates of EGFR mutations are higher in all types of NSCLC in Chinese patients. 19-del and L858R are two of the more frequent mutations. EGFR mutation detection should be performed as a routine postoperative examination in Chinese NSCLC patients.

ObjectiveThis article aims to investigate the expression of vacuolar-H + −ATPase (V-ATPase) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its variations with pathological type and grade. Furthermore, to evaluate the chemotherapy drug sensitivity of different cancer tissues as well as its correlation with V-ATPase expression in NSCLC.MethodsV-ATPase expression was examined in 92 NSCLC tissue samples using the immunohistochemical Envision method and immunofluorescence assay. The location of V-ATPase expression was observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy and the difference of its expression rate was evaluated. The sensitivity of cancer tissues to chemotherapy drug was examined using MTT assay and its correlation with the V-ATPase expression was tested in NSCLC by Spearman rank correlation analysis.ResultsV-ATPase expression was mainly localized in the cell membrane and cytoplasm. The expression rate of V-ATPase was 71.43% in squamous cell lung cancer, significantly lower than that of the lung adenocarcinoma (83.72%, P = 0.000). In different pathological grades of squamous cell lung cancer, the expression rate of V-ATPase was 58.33% in grade II, significantly lower than that of the grade III (84.00%, P = 0.014). The expression rate of V-ATPase in grade II lung adenocarcinoma was 76.67%, significantly lower than that of the grade ΙΙΙ adenocarcinoma (100.0%, P = 0.012). Correlation analysis showed that the sensitivity of NSCLC tissues to cyclophosphamide, gemcitabine, doxorubicin, paclitaxel and cisplatin was significantly correlated with the V-ATPase expression rate (P < 0.05).ConclusionsV-ATPase was overexpressed in NSCLC. The expression of V-ATPase was related to the pathological type and grade of cancer and was likely associated with chemotherapy drug resistance in NSCLC.Virtual slidesThe virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/7515811511020000

Objectives Successful pregnancy involves the homeostasis between maternal decidua and fetoplacental units, whose disruption contributes to compromised pregnancy outcomes, including recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). The role of cell heterogeneity of maternal decidua in RSA is yet to be illustrated. Materials and methods A total of 66,078 single cells from decidua samples isolated from patients with RSA and healthy controls were analysed by unbiased single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq). Results Our scRNA‐seq results revealed that stromal cells are the most abundant cell type in decidua during early pregnancy. RSA samples are accompanied by aberrant decidualization and obviously obstructed communication between stromal cells and other cell types, such as abnormal activation of macrophages and NK cells. In addition, the over‐activated TNF superfamily member 12 (TNFSF12, TWEAK) and FASLG in RSA are closely related to stromal cell demise and pregnancy failure. Conclusions Our research reveals that the cell composition and communications in normal and RSA decidua at early pregnancy and provides insightful information for the pathology of RSA and will pave the way for pregnancy loss prevention.

BackgroundATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 2 (ABCG2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ABCG2 gene. ABCG2 participates in efflux of many chemotherapeutic agents. ABCG2 is often expressed in hematopoietic progenitor or stem cells. Vacuolar-H + −ATPase (V-ATPase) plays a key role in adjusting and maintaining intracellular pH and in regulating the drug tolerance of cells. The TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours (TNM) is a cancer staging system that describes the extent of cancer in a patient’s body. In this study, the expression of ABCG2 and V-ATPase in esophageal squamous cancer cells was detected.MethodsImmunohistochemistry staining and Immunofluorescence double staining were used to detect the expression of ABCG2 and V-ATPase in in 66 cases of esophageal squamous cancer cells. Associations and differences in expression of ABCG2 with that of V-ATPase were analyzed.ResultsPositive staining patterns for both ABCG2 (66.67%) and V-ATPase (68.18%) were located mainly in the plasma membrane and cytoplasm. Marked differences in expression were also shown (P < 0.001) among 3 groups of pathological grades and TNM stages in these carcinomas. Marked differences were also found for ABCG2 expression between the two groups in the pathological grades and in the TNM staging groups (P < 0.01), but not between the αb and βgroups. V-ATPase expression was statistically significant between the 2 groups in the pathological grades and TNM stages (P < 0.05). This was not evident between α and β groups of pathological grades or between αb and βof the TNM stages. Marked differences in expression of ABCG2 and V-ATPase were found between metastatic and non-metastatic groups in the same carcinomas (P < 0.0001). There was also a clear correlation between the expression of ABCG2 and V-ATPase (P ≤ 0.001) in the various groups of pathological grades and TNM stages.ConclusionsBoth ABCG2 and V-ATPase were over-expressed in esophageal squamous cancer cells. Their expression was associated with pathological grade, TNM stage and tumor metastasis in esophageal squamous cancer cells, suggesting interaction relationship between them. ABCG2 and V-ATPase expression may be strongly associated with drug resistance and tumor metastasis.Virtual slidesThe virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/3823783918433897