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Objective To establish a nomogram for predicting the pathologic complete response (pCR) in breast cancer (BC) patients after NAC by applying magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US). Methods A total of 607 LABC women who underwent NAC before surgery between January 2016 and June 2022 were retrospectively enrolled, and then were randomly divided into the training (n  = 425) and test set (n  = 182) with the ratio of 7:3. MRI and US variables were collected before and after NAC, as well as the clinicopathologic features. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied to confirm the potentially associated predictors of pCR. Finally, a nomogram was developed in the training set with its performance evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) and validated in the test set. Results Of the 607 patients, 108 (25.4%) achieved pCR. Hormone receptor negativity (odds ratio [OR], 0.3; P  <  .001), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positivity (OR, 2.7; P  =  .001), small tumour size at post-NAC US (OR, 1.0; P  =  .031), tumour size reduction ≥50% at MRI (OR, 9.8; P  <  .001), absence of enhancement in the tumour bed at post-NAC MRI (OR, 8.1; P  =  .003), and the increase of ADC value after NAC (OR, 0.3; P  =  .035) were all significantly associated with pCR. Incorporating the above variables, the nomogram showed a satisfactory performance with an AUC of 0.884. Conclusion A nomogram including clinicopathologic variables and MRI and US characteristics shows preferable performance in predicting pCR. Advances in knowledge A nomogram incorporating MRI and US with clinicopathologic variables was developed to provide a brief and concise approach in predicting pCR to assist clinicians in making treatment decisions early. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The bone remodeling during orthodontic treatment for malocclusion often requires a long duration of around two to three years, which also may lead to some complications such as alveolar bone resorption or tooth root resorption. Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS), a noninvasive physical therapy, has been shown to promote bone fracture healing. It is also reported that LIPUS could reduce the duration of orthodontic treatment; however, how LIPUS regulates the bone metabolism during the orthodontic treatment process is still unclear., Aim: To investigate the effects of LIPUS on bone remodeling in an orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) model and explore the underlying mechanisms., Methods: A rat model of OTM was established, and alveolar bone remodeling and tooth movement rate were evaluated via micro-computed tomography and staining of tissue sections. In vitro , human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) were isolated to detect their osteogenic differentiation potential under compression and LIPUS stimulation by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, and Alizarin red staining. The expression of Yes-associated protein (YAP1), the actin cytoskeleton, and the Lamin A/C nucleoskeleton were detected with or without YAP1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) application via immunofluorescence., Results: The force treatment inhibited the osteogenic differentiation potential of hBMSCs; moreover, the expression of osteogenesis markers, such as type 1 collagen (COL1), runt-related transcription factor 2, ALP, and osteocalcin (OCN), decreased. LIPUS could rescue the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs with increased expression of osteogenic marker inhibited by force. Mechanically, the expression of LaminA/C, F-actin, and YAP1 was downregulated after force treatment, which could be rescued by LIPUS. Moreover, the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs increased by LIPUS could be attenuated by YAP siRNA treatment. Consistently, LIPUS increased alveolar bone density and decreased vertical bone absorption in vivo. The decreased expression of COL1, OCN, and YAP1 on the compression side of the alveolar bone was partially rescued by LIPUS., Conclusion: LIPUS can accelerate tooth movement and reduce alveolar bone resorption by modulating the cytoskeleton-Lamin A/C-YAP axis, which may be a promising strategy to reduce the orthodontic treatment process., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)