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This letter to the editor discusses the use of topical hyaluronic acid (HA) microneedle insertion as a cosmetic treatment and its potential systemic effects. The study used a mouse model of imiquimod-induced psoriasis to investigate the effects of HA microneedle insertion on organs beyond the skin. The results showed that HA treatment reduced skin inflammation and improved skin lesions. Additionally, gene expression analysis revealed downregulation of inflammatory factors in the heart, brain, and liver of the treated mice. The authors suggest that further research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which HA alleviates skin lesions and extracutaneous inflammation. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Regulatory T cells(Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells(MDSCs) represent two immunosuppressive cell populations that are important in the establishment and maintenance of cancer immune tolerance. MDSCs can express IDO and promote immune tolerance via expansion of Treg cell.Method: We use needle biopsy breast cancer tissues prior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NCT) staining for CD33, Foxp3 and IDO by immunohistochemistry to evaluate whether they were correlated with subsequent treatment responses in breast cancer.Results: Expressions of IDO, CD33+MDSCs and Foxp3+Tregs were correlated with each other. Immunohistochemical double staining revealed that IDO expression in CD33+MDSCs was positively correlated with Foxp3+Tregs (P < 0.05). CD33+MDSCs, Foxp3+Tregs, and IDO expression in tumor tissues were associated with advanced clinical stage prior to NCT (P < 0.05). CD33+MDSCs, Foxp3+Tregs, IDO expression, IDO expression in CD33+MDSCs and clinical T3-T4 stage prior to NCT, pathological T3-T4 stage, ER(+), luminal type were correlated with clinical responses of PD+SD (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that CD33+MDSCs, IDO expression, IDO expression in CD33+MDSCs, and advanced pathological T stage were risk factors for PD+SD. Focusing on the pCR of NCT, only CD33+MDSCs, clinical T3-T4, and N1-N3 stage prior to NCT were associated with no-pCR (P < 0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that advanced clinical T stage and N stage were risk factors for no-pCR. Clinical stage prior to NCT were significantly correlated with progression free survival (P = 0.021), while Foxp3+Tregs and clinical T stage were significantly correlated with overall survival (P = 0.022 and P = 0.001, respectively). Foxp3+Treg was significant risk factor for overall survival after adjusting covariates by COX regression.Conclusion: Tumor-infiltrating MDSCs, Tregs, IDO expression and IDO expression in MDSCs were correlated with clinicopathological features, NCT response, and prognosis of breast cancer patients, suggesting that they might be potential markers for clinical outcomes of NCT and help clinical decision-making for improved therapies for breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There was few study concentrated on the correlation between the evaluated tumor markers and lymph node metastasis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between the CA724, CA242, CAI 99, CEA and the lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer and assess the prognostic value of them in different N stage patients. Methods: We analyzed the correlation between serum level of CA724, CA242, CA199, CEA and lymph node metastasis in 1501 gastric cancer patients. Results: Lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer was related with tumor location, Bormann type, tumor size, histological type, depth of invasion and TNM stage (p<0.05). The values of CA724, CA242, CAI 99 and CEA were positively correlated with the metastatic lymph node counts and the N stage (p <0.05). The later the N stage was, the levels of CA724, CA242 and CA199 were higher. The later the N stage was, the positive rates of tumor markers were higher (p<0.05). In comparing with single tumor markers, the positive rates of tumor markers combination were higher. The combination of CA724 + CA242 + CA199 + CEA had highest positive rate. The higher CEA level related to N1 stage patients while higher CAI 99 was related with poor prognosis for N1 stage patients. For NO and N2 stage patients, evaluation of CA724 indicated poorer prognosis. For N1 and N2 stage gastric patients, the patients with increased CA242 inclined to have shorter survival time. Conclusions: The tumor makers CA724, CA242, CAI 99 and CEA were evaluated significantly in the gastric patients with later N stage. The combination of these four tumor markers maybe prefer diagnostic index of gastric cancer and its lymph node metastasis. These tumor markers can be a possible indicator of poorer prognosis in different N stage patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The presence of discontinuous or 'skip' metastases in breast cancer is crucial for determining the optimal therapeutic choice. In this study, we compared the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with or without skip metastases (SMs). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 1,502 breast cancer patients who underwent radical mastectomy and a separate group of 118 patients who had sentinel lymph node biopsies (SLNB). The median follow-up time was 10 years. Results: Axillary lymph nodes (ALN) were involved in 814/1502 patients, and SMs was found in 119 patients (14.6%%). Age, tumor size, location, clinical stage, and the proportion of interpectoral lymph node (IPN) metastases were similar in patients with or without SMs ( p > .05). In stage I and II disease, the event-free survival rate of patients with SMs was significantly lower than patients without ( p < .05); there was no significant difference in stage III patients ( p > .05). The Cox multivariate analysis showed that the tumor size, number of lymphatic metastases, lymph node involvement, and SMs were important prognostic factors. The false-negative rate of SLNB was 12.0%% (3/25). Conclusion: Axillary lymphatic SM is difficult to predict, but their presence can predict a poorer prognosis for stage I and II patients. SM could occur in SLNB-negative patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]