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The objectives of the study were to investigate changes in the mRNA expression levels of five genes during antral follicle development and to assess the efficacy of four timed-artificial insemination (TAI) protocols in female yaks (Bos grunniens). RT-qPCR analysis revealed that expression levels were greater for follicle-stimulating hormone receptor and bone morphogenic protein 15 in the small follicle, luteinizing hormone receptor, and kit ligand in the large follicle, and growth differentiation factor 9 in the medium follicle (p < 0.05). Non-suckling yaks were treated as a 7-d CIDR, and PGF2α + eCG at CIDR withdrawal and TAI with frozen yak semen at 56–58 h after PGF2α (PPe-7d); either a 7-d CIDR (PPG-7d) or a 5-d CIDR (PPG-5d), and PGF2α at CIDR withdrawal and TAI + GnRH at 70–72 h after PGF2α; and GnRH treatment on Day 0, followed by PGF2α on Day 7 and TAI + GnRH on Day 9 (GPG-7d). The results showed that the pregnancy rate (P/AI) was greater in PPG-5d than in GPG-7d (p < 0.05), but the P/AI was not different among the other TAI protocols. In conclusion, the expression levels of these genes in follicles are dynamically changed during antral follicle development in yaks. The PPG-5d protocol achieved a greater P/AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. It is controversial and unclear how N-stage would increase the risk of incidence of hypothyroidism (HT) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiotherapy. Our study aimed to explore the correlation between cervical lymph node metastasis and the incidence of HT in NPC. Materials and Methods. A total of 206 patients with NPC treated at the Cancer Hospital of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and their clinical information were retrospectively collected. A series of univariate logistic regression models were performed to explore the association of clinical and lymph node indices with the development of HT. Significant features in univariate analysis were then used to construct three prediction models, for HT prediction using multivariate logistic regression based on Bayesian information criterion. Prediction performance of those models was measured by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) using 10-fold cross-validation. Results. A total of 111 patients developed HT, and the incidence of HT in N2–3 and N0–1 patients was 58.82% and 44.29%, respectively. Compared to Model 1 (consisted of pretreatment TSH concentration, thyroid volume, and N-stage) whose AUCs were 0.801 and 0.766 in training and validation sets, with N-stage be replaced by shortest distance from thyroid, Model 2 achieved more stable AUCs of 0.824 and 0.801. While with numbers of positive lymph nodes in Level IIb additionally added, Model 3 improved its AUCs to 0.841 and 0.813. Conclusion. The shortest distance between the lymph nodes and thyroid gland and the number of lymph nodes in IIb are better predictors of radiation-induced HT than the N-stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. This study explored the relationship between thyroid-associated antibodies, immune cells, and hypothyroidism to establish a predictive model for the incidence of hypothyroidism in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiotherapy. Methods. A total of 170 patients with NPC treated at the Cancer Hospital of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences between January 2015 and August 2018 were included. The complete blood count, biochemical, coagulation function, immune cells, and thyroid-associated antibodies tested before radiotherapy were evaluated. A logistic regression model was performed to elucidate which hematological indexes were related to hypothyroidism development. A predictive model for the incidence of hypothyroidism was established. Internal verification of the multifactor model was performed using the tenfold cross-validation method. Results. The univariate analysis showed that immune cells had no statistically significant differences among the patients with and without hypothyroidism. Sex, N-stage, antithyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab), antithyroglobulin antibody (TG-Ab), thyroglobulin (TG), and fibrinogen (Fb) were associated with hypothyroidism. Males and early N-stage were protective factors of thyroid function, whereas increases in TPO-Ab, TG-Ab, TG, and Fb counts were associated with an increased rate of hypothyroidism incidence. The multivariate analysis showed that TPO-Ab, TG-Ab, TG, and Fb were independent predictors of hypothyroidism. The comprehensive effect of the significant model, including TPO-Ab, TG-Ab, TG, and Fb counts, represented the optimal method of predicting the incidence of radiation-induced hypothyroidism (AUC = 0.796). Tenfold cross-validation methods were applied for internal validation. The AUCs of the training and testing sets were 0.792 and 0.798, respectively. Conclusion. A model combining TPO-Ab, TG-Ab, TG, and Fb can be used to screen populations at a high risk of developing hypothyroidism after radiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We investigated the risk factors of radiation-induced thyroid dysfunction, then combined the clinical factors and optimum thyroid dosimetric parameters to predict the incidence rate of hypothyroidism (HT) and to guide individualized treatment.Methods: A total of 206 patients with histologically proven nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated at the Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences between January 2015 and August 2018 were included. Dose-volume histogram (DVH) data, including mean dose, absolute volume, V20, V25, V30, V35, V40, V45, V50, V55, and V60 were extracted and used as dosimetric parameters. A logistic regression analysis model was built to identify predictors related to HT occurring within 2 years.Results: Sex, N stage, thyroid volume, mean thyroid dose, and thyroid V20 and V50 were significantly different between patients with and without HT. Logistic regression analysis showed that N stage, thyroid volume, and thyroid V50 were independent predictors of HT. The radiosensitivity of the thyroid decreased as the thyroid volume increased. Patients with N stage > 1 had significantly higher HT incidence (37.38%) than patients with N stage ≤1 (13.11%). The incidence of HT was 54.55% in patients with thyroid V50 > 24% and was 34.15% in patients with thyroid V50 ≤ 24%.Conclusions: The incidence of HT is significantly associated with N stage, thyroid volume, and thyroid V50. More attention should be paid to patients with NPC with thyroid volume ≤ 12.82 cm3 and advanced N stage disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Endostar combined with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC were treated with Endostar (7.5 mg/m 2 /d) for 7 days at weeks 1, 3, 5, and 7, while two cycles of docetaxel (65 mg/m 2 ) and cisplatin (65 mg/m 2 ) were administered on days 8 and 36, with concurrent thoracic radiation to a dose of 60–66 Gy. Primary end points were short-term efficacy and treatment-related toxicity. Results Fifty patients were enrolled into the study, and 48 were assessable. Of the 48 patients, 83% had stage IIIB and 65% had N3 disease. Median follow-up was 25.0 months. Overall response rate was 77%. The estimated median progression-free survival (PFS) was 9.9 months, and the estimated median overall survival (OS) was 24.0 months. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year local control rates were 75%, 67%, and 51%, PFS rates were 48%, 27%, and 16%, and OS rates were 81%, 50%, and 30%, respectively. All toxicities were tolerable with proper treatment. Conclusions The combination of Endostar with CCRT for locally advanced NSCLC patients was feasible and showed promising survival and local control rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]