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Lymphocyte antigen 6 family member K (LY6K) is upregulated in a number of types of cancer and promotes tumor cell proliferation and metastasis. In addition, LY6K is involved in tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer. However, the in vivo molecular mechanism of LY6K has not yet been investigated. In the present study, transgenic mice overexpressing human LY6K (hLY6K) were generated using the pMAMneo vector, and the effect of LY6K upregulation in vivo was investigated. A total of 4 transgenic mice were generated, and the gene copy number was examined using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). RT-qPCR demonstrated that mRNA of hLY6K was overexpressed in the thymus and spleen of the transgenic mice compared with wild-type mice. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the proportions of B and T cells in the spleen were similar in wild-type and transgenic mice; however, the proportion of thymic mature T cells decreased in the transgenic mice, while there was an increase in the proportion of naïve T cells. These findings suggest that the overexpression of LY6K suppresses T cell development, and that LY6K is a potential therapeutic target for cancer.

Oseteoid osteoma is a well-known type of benign bone-forming tumor, which has previously been diagnosed using plain radiograph imaging. However, diagnosis of osteoid osteoma may be delayed due to ambiguities on plain radiograph images; despite the increasing use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this type of misdiagnosis is not uncommon. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of radionuclide imaging scans for the diagnosis of osteoid osteoma, as this form of imaging was proposed to be a more sensitive test. The characteristics of 18 cases of osteoid osteoma were analyzed based on diagnostic imaging and the time from initial recognition of symptoms by the patient to diagnosis. Diagnostic modalities included plain radiograph, computed tomography (CT), MRI and radionuclide imaging. Among the 18 patients, 14 patients had unique positive findings in plain radiographs. The mean duration between initial cognition of symptoms to the diagnosis for these patients was 5.2 months (range, 3.8–9.3 months). A total of 4 patients exhibited no radiographic abnormalities in the initial plain radiographs and were diagnosed a mean of 18.5 months (range, 17–20 months) following the onset of symptoms. Overall, radionuclide imaging was performed on 16 patients and all of the cases demonstrated positive findings. In these cases, 28.6% of osteoid osteoma patients with clinical indications revealed no abnormal findings in plain radiographs. Therefore, in situations such as these, radionuclide imaging may be a useful indicator for diagnosis, as these results have demonstrated that it positively identified all cases of osteoid osteoma. In addition, the results of the present study indicated that if the radionuclide imaging was positive, CT scan was a more valuable diagnostic tool, whereas if the radionuclide imaging was negative, MRI should be recommended for the diagnosis of other undiscovered disease entities.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) findings in patients with T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL). In total, 9 patients with histopathologically confirmed T-LBL were included in the study. Bone marrow (BM) involvement and leukemic transformation (LT) were evaluated through iliac crest marrow biopsy and peripheral blood blast count. FDG-PET scans were performed at the initial pre-treatment point. Two experienced nuclear medicine physicians evaluated the FDG-PET images by visual analysis and using the maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) of the malignant lesions. Overall, 8 out 9 patients presented with BM involvement; 7 showed LT, while 1 showed BM involvement without LT. All involved T-LBL lesions were FDG-avid with variable uptake. The mean SUVmax was 6.4±3.3. T-LBL patients with BM involvement showed diffuse or nodular marrow uptake. In addition, all the patients with LT showed diffuse marrow FDG activity. However, the patient with BM involvement but no LT showed nodular FDG uptake in the marrow. In conclusion, the present study indicates that it is possible to use FDG-PET for the evaluation of the disease extent of T-LBL. Furthermore, the imaging technique could provide a diagnostic clue for determining BM involvement or LT.