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Objective To explore the predictive effect of systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) on pathological complete response (pCR) of breast cancer patients to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and its relation with p53. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological data of 387 female breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery. Logistic regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analyses. Results In this study, 72 (18.6%) patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and obtained pCR, including 48 patients in the low SII group and 24 patients in the high SII group; 39 cases in the p53 negative group and 33 cases in the positive group. Univariate analysis showed that pCR was correlated with clinical T stage, hormone receptor status, HER2, Ki67 value, molecular subtype, p53 and SII (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that clinical T stage, Ki67 value, molecular typing, p53 and SII were independent predictors of pCR in breast cancer patients. The pCR rate of the low SII group with negative p53 was the highest. Conclusion Systemic immune inflammation index is an independent predictor of pathological complete response of breast cancer patients to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, with the characteristics of simplicity, convenience and high repeatability. The pCR rate of patients in the low SII group with negative p53 is high.

Introduction: Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) low expression breast malignant tumors have become a research hotspot in recent years, but it is still unclear whether HER-2 low expression represents a special subtype of breast cancer. However, this molecular type requires more effective treatment regimens in the neoadjuvant therapy stage. Methods: This study enrolled breast cancer patients who were treated at Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital with neoadjuvant treatment between October 2011 and May 2019 and was a single-center retrospective study. Results: A total of 1,053 breast cancer patients who received preoperative therapy, including 279 (26%) HER-2 low expression patients, were included in this retrospective study. The HER-2 low expression group had a higher proportion of patients under 50 years old than the other two molecular subtype groups (p = 0.047, 62.0% vs. 57.2% and 52.5%), and the percentage of patients with Ki67 index above 15% was lower than that in HER-2-negative and HER-2-positive patients (p < 0.001, 50.2% vs. 63.6% and 71.5%). Most of the patients with HER-2 low expression were hormone receptor (HR) positive (p < 0.001, 85.7% vs. 60.4% and 36.0%), and their pathologic complete response (pCR) rate after neoadjuvant therapy was significantly lower than that of HER-2-negative and HER-2-positive patients (p < 0.001, 5.7% vs. 11.8% and 20.5%). The results of the subgroup analysis showed HR-positive patients with HER-2 low expression had a lower pCR rate (p < 0.001, 4.6% vs. 14.6%) and objective response rate (p = 0.001, 77.8% vs. 91.0%) than HER-2-positive patients and had no significant difference in these rates compared to HER-2-negative patients. There were no significant differences in overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) up to 67 months (the median follow-up time) among HER-2 low, HER-2-negative, and HER-2-positive patients. The results of Cox hazard proportional showed that the Ki67 index and T stage (T3) were independent influencing factors for DFS. In terms of OS, Ki67 index, P53, T stage, and objective response were independent influencing factors for OS in HER-2 low expression patients. Conclusions: In general, further studies are needed to confirm that HER-2 low expression is a special breast cancer molecular subtype. The efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy in patients with HER-2 low expression is relatively poor, and the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy can predict the prognosis of patients with HER-2 low expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eddy Zheng emigrated to the U.S. from China with his family in early 1980s. His parents bear the hope of providing a better education for the kids. Four years later, he committed armed robbery and was sent to San Quentin. He was only 16. Now he works with troubled youth in the Chinatown area of San Francisco. He encourages young Asian Americans to be more involved in community affairs. “This is your country,” he says. “And you should be proud.”President Johnson signed the Immigration Act in 1965, leading to a rapid growth in the Asian immigrant population in the U.S.. Between 1971 and 2002, more than seven million people arrived from Vietnam, China, Laos, Thailand, and others. Steeped in their own cultural and political traditions, Asians are generally reluctant to voice their opinions to take action to safeguard their rights. “Immigrants are more concerned about survival, getting a job, economic security,” says Harvey Dong, who teaches Asian American studies at U.C. Berkeley. “They can be targeted and scapegoated.” To become fully participating American citizens, they must undergo great personal change. In recent years, an increasing number of Asian immigrants have become active in community affairs. This is closely related to the efforts of Asian American community leaders, who have committed themselves to helping immigrants deal with both hardships and opportunities they might not have faced in their home countries. This series of stories profiles three such leaders. Ming Ho arrived in Oakland from Hong Kong in early 1980s. He was born in southern China but smuggled himself into Hong Kong in 1976 to escape from the Cultural Revolution. He was a businessman before he retired in 2003, paying no attention to community affairs. But now he has become a dedicated volunteer in Oakland’s Chinatown, helping with all sorts of issues, small and large. Torm Nompraseurt fled from Laos in 1975 to avoid political prosecution due to his role in the Laotian Civil War, arriving in Richmond as a war refugee. Having noticed that a lot of Laotian immigrants neither understood their rights nor knew how to stand up for them, he started educating them regarding local social and environmental issues and training them in how to made their voices heard in the local government. Eddy Zheng, Ming Ho, and Torm Nompraseurt: Three immigrants from very different backgrounds who all ended up serving the Asian community after they settled in the U.S. This series of profiles explore their journeys from Laos and China to the Bay Area, where they created new lives.

Effective radiosensitizers are urgently needed due to the serious negative effects that high radiation doses might have. We created an integrated nano-system (Cuhemin–Au) made of Cuhemin nanosheets and Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) for sensitizing radiotherapy to solve this issue. This system can manifest enzyme-like activities to universally suppress the resistance pathways in breast cancer cells for amplifying radiation damage. Cuhemin–Au NPs increase the energy deposition of radiation owing to the high X-ray attenuation coefficient of Au. In addition, Cuhemin–Au has peroxidase (POD)-like and glucose oxidase (Gox)-like activity, and can also consume intracellular GSH, which can reduce intracellular GSH levels to reduce tumor cells' capacity to repair DNA and deplete intracellular glucose via their characteristic Gox-like catalytic activities, which can cause an increase in the oxidative stress and further produce H2O2. Cuhemin–Au then produced ˙OH, which upsets redox equilibrium and destroys mitochondria, leading to radiation sensitivity, after reacting with enough hydrogen peroxide in tumor cells. Cuhemin–Au combined with low dose RT (4 Gy) could significantly limit tumor development with fewer adverse effects, according to in vivo and in vitro experiments. This platform generated a fresh concept for the construction of a radiotherapy sensitization system and accomplished synergistic radiotherapy sensitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-circular gear transmission is a new type of mechanical transmission mechanism relative to circular gear transmission, which can realize special movement, improve mechanism performance and improve mechanism motion conditions. With the improvement of non-circular gear transmission design ability and the increase of application scope, the research on non-circular gear transmission is increasing. This study introduces the current research status of non-circular gear transmission applications, summarizes the research progress of non-circular gear transmission design and analysis, discusses the methods and strategies for manufacturing non-circular gear drives, summarizes the problems faced by the current development of non-circular gear transmission, and looks forward to the research directions of non-circular gear transmission in applications, design and analysis, and processing and manufacturing.