In a prospective study of 6198 subjects receiving the FIT and colonoscopy, we found that the FIT detected SSA/Ps with significantly lower levels of sensitivity than conventional adenoma. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of these findings on the effectiveness of FIT-based colorectal cancer screening program.

BackgroundWhole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) has been the treatment of choice for patients with brain metastases. However, change/decline of neurocognitive functions (NCFs) resulting from impaired hippocampal neurogenesis might occur after WBRT. It is reported that conformal hippocampal sparing would provide the preservation of NCFs. Our study aims to investigate the hippocampal dosimetry and to demonstrate the correlation between hippocampal dosimetry and neurocognitive outcomes in patients receiving hippocampal sparing during WBRT (HS-WBRT).MethodsForty prospectively recruited cancer patients underwent HS-WBRT for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes. Before receiving HS-WBRT, all participants received a battery of baseline neurocognitive assessment, including memory, executive functions and psychomotor speed. The follow-up neurocognitive assessment at 4 months after HS-WBRT was also performed. For the delivery of HS-WBRT, Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) with two full arcs and two non-coplanar partial arcs was employed. For each treatment planning, dose volume histograms were generated for left hippocampus, right hippocampus, and the composite hippocampal structure respectively. Biologically equivalent doses in 2-Gy fractions (EQD2) assuming an alpha/beta ratio of 2 Gy were computed. To perform analyses addressing the correlation between hippocampal dosimetry and the change in scores of NCFs, pre- and post-HS-WBRT neurocognitive assessments were available in 24 patients in this study.ResultsScores of NCFs were quite stable before and after HS-WBRT in terms of hippocampus-dependent memory. Regarding verbal memory, the corresponding EQD2 values of 0, 10, 50, 80 % irradiating the composite hippocampal structure with <12.60 Gy, <8.81, <7.45 Gy and <5.83 Gy respectively were significantly associated with neurocognitive preservation indicated by the immediate recall of Word List Test of Wechsler Memory Scale-III. According to logistic regression analyses, it was noted that dosimetric parameters specific to left sided hippocampus exerted an influence on immediate recall of verbal memory (adjusted odds ratio, 4.08; p-value, 0.042, predicting patients’ neurocognitive decline after receiving HS-WBRT).ConclusionsFunctional preservation by hippocampal sparing during WBRT is indeed achieved in our study. Providing that modern VMAT techniques can reduce the dose irradiating bilateral hippocampi below dosimetric threshold, patients should be recruited in prospective trials of hippocampal sparing during cranial irradiation to accomplish neurocognitive preservation while maintaining intracranial control.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials NCT02504788Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13014-015-0562-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The use of nanotechnology to overcome multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells has been predominant.

Blood collection is a common experimental procedure for which there are many different methods, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Researchers should use methods that minimize pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm to animals while meeting study requirements. The authors evaluated stress, activity and tissue damage in BALB/cO1aHsd mice after collecting blood using one of six methods: retrobulbar bleeding with thin or thick capillaries, tail vein bleeding, saphenous vein bleeding, facial vein bleeding or jugular vein bleeding. The authors compared in-cage activity, corticosterone concentration and performance in open-field tests between treatment groups and collected histologic samples at 1 h, 3 d and 14 d after bleeding. Mice that underwent retrobulbar bleeding with a thick capillary had a smaller change in corticosterone concentration and higher in-cage activity immediately after blood collection, whereas mice that underwent jugular vein bleeding had a greater change in corticosterone concentration and lower in-cage activity and open-field activity. Mice that underwent saphenous vein bleeding had a high incidence of histological change at 1 h, 3 d and 14 d after blood collection, but few indicators of histological change were present in other groups at 14 d after blood collection. These results suggest that, when collecting a small volume of blood, retrobulbar bleeding with a thick capillary and without anesthesia causes the least stress in mice, whereas jugular vein bleeding and facial vein bleeding cause the most stress and saphenous vein bleeding causes the most lasting damage in mice.