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Background Non-invasive biomarkers are required in clinical practice of glioblastoma (GBM). We have previously reported the liquid biopsy for differentiating glioblastoma, central nervous system primary lymphoma and healthy control. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between the preoperative serum expression of circulating small non-coding RNAs and the prognosis of GBM patients. Methods Preoperative blood samples of GBM, IDH-wildtype patients (N=26) were centrifuged and collected all small RNAs in serum. The expression of small non-coding RNAs were analyzed using a next-generation sequencing system. The small non-coding RNAs that could predict short-term survivals in GBM patients were selected by the stepwise analysis. A diagnostic model was created using the combination of these RNAs and evaluated with ROC curve. Results GBM patients treated with adjuvant therapy of temozolomide and radiotherapy were divided into two groups: (1) a short-term survival group (N=11) with a survival time less than 15 months and (2) a long-term survival group (N=15) with a survival time more than 15 months. In the short-term survival group, the preoperative serum expression levels of small RNA-X and small RNA-Y were high, and the expression levels of small RNA-Z and small RNA-W were low. Using these four small non-coding RNAs, a prognostic model was created. The model was able to predict the short-term survival group of GBM patients with a sensitivity of 90.9% and specificity of 93.3% (AUC: 0.969). Conclusion The prognostic model developed with preoperative small non-coding RNA in GBM patients may be useful for estimating the survival of GBM patients treated with adjuvant therapy of temozolomide and radiotherapy.

Mandibular cortical erosion detected on dental panoramic radiographs (DPRs) may be useful for identifying women with osteoporosis, but little is known about the variation in diagnostic efficacy of observers worldwide. The purpose of this study was to measure the accuracy in identifying women at risk for osteoporosis in a worldwide group of observers using DPRs. We constructed a website that included background information about osteoporosis screening and instructions regarding the interpretation of mandibular cortical erosion. DPRs of 100 Japanese postmenopausal women aged 50 years or older who had completed skeletal bone mineral measurements by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry were digitized at 300 dpi. These were displayed on the website and used for the evaluation of diagnostic efficacy. Sixty observers aged 25 to 66 years recruited from 16 countries participated in this study. These observers classified cortical erosion into one of three groups (none, mild to moderate, and severe) on the website via the Internet, twice with an approximately 2-week interval. The diagnostic efficacy of the Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool (OST), a simple clinical decision rule based on age and weight, was also calculated and compared with that of cortical erosion. The overall mean sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the 60 observers in identifying women with osteoporosis by cortical erosion on DPRs were 82.5, 46.2, 46.7, and 84.0%, respectively. Those same values by the OST index were 82.9, 43.1, 43.9, and 82.4%, respectively. The intra-observer agreement in classifying cortical erosion on DPRs was sufficient (weighted kappa values > 0.6) in 36 (60%) observers. This was significantly increased in observers who specialized in oral radiology (P < 0.05). In the 36 observers with sufficient intra-observer agreement, the overall mean sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV in identifying women with osteoporosis by any cortical erosion were 83.5, 48.7, 48.3, and 85.7%, respectively. The mean PPV and NPV were significantly higher in the 36 observers with sufficient intra-observer agreement than in the 24 observers with insufficient intra-observer agreement. Our results reconfirm the efficacy of cortical erosion findings in identifying postmenopausal women at risk for osteoporosis, among observers with sufficient intra-observer agreement. Information gathered from radiographic examination is at least as useful as that gathered from the OST index.