Node Metastasis Staging System Research Articles

MR Imaging of Thymic Epithelial Neoplasms.

Thymic epithelial neoplasms are malignant lesions that originate from the thymus and include thymoma, thymic carcinoma, and thymic neuroendocrine tumors. Although computed tomography (CT) is typically considered the imaging modality of choice for identifying thymic tumors, characterizing the primary neoplasm, and staging of disease, the role of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging continues to expand. MR imaging is effective in distinguishing thymic epithelial neoplasms and other malignant tumors from benign lesions in the prevascular mediastinum, can be used to characterize and stage thymic tumors in those patients with contraindications to contrast-enhanced CT, and can reveal morphologic features of thymic tumors. At least 15 different stage classifications have been proposed for thymic epithelial neoplasms and used to varying degrees in clinical practice. Recently, an official, consistent tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging system has been recognized by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), based on an analysis of a retrospective database performed by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and the International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group (ITMIG). In this article, we discuss the appropriate utilization of MR imaging in the evaluation of patients with thymic epithelial neoplasms, key imaging features of the tumors, and the impact of imaging findings on overall staging.

Profiling miRNAs in nasopharyngeal carcinoma FFPE tissue by microarray and Next Generation Sequencing

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a non-lymphomatous, squamous-cell carcinoma that occurs in the epithelial lining of the nasopharynx. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma has a geographically well-defined distribution worldwide, with the highest prevalence in China, Southeast Asia, and Northern Africa. Symptoms of nascent NPC may be unapparent or trivial, with diagnosis based on the histopathology of biopsied tissue following endoscopy of the nasopharynx. The tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging system is the benchmark for the prognosis of NPC and guides treatment strategy. However, there is a consensus that the TNM system is not sufficiently specific for the prognosis of NPC, as it does not reflect the biological heterogeneity of this tumor, making another biomarker for the detection of NPC a priority. We have previously reported on different approaches for microRNA (miRNA) biomarker discovery for Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded (FFPE) NPC tissue samples by both a targeted (microarray) and an untargeted (small RNA-Seq) discovery platform. Both miRNA discovery platforms produced similar results, narrowing the miRNA signature to 1–5% of the known mature human miRNAs, with untargeted (small RNA-Seq approach) having the advantage of indicating “unknown” miRNAs associated with NPC. Both miRNA profiles strongly associated with NPC, providing two potential discovery platforms for biomarker signatures for NPC. Herein, we provide a detailed description of the methods that we used to interrogate FFPE samples to discover biomarkers for NPC.