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Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of microwave ablation (MWA) plus ethanol ablation (EA) for different types of benign mixed thyroid nodules. Methods: A total of 81 patients with 81 benign mixed thyroid nodules were enrolled into the study; 39 were divided to the MWA group and 42 to the combined group (MWA combined with EA). Nodule ablation rate, volume reduction rate (VRR) and surgical complications of all patients were analyzed before and after treatment. Results: The mean ablation rate were 86.49 ± 6.68% and 90.09 ± 5.79% in the microwave and combined groups respectively, and the ablation rate of nodule decreased as the nodule volume increased. For nodules ≥15 ml in volume, the mean ablation rate of the combined group was higher than that of the microwave group (all P< 0.05). The mean VRR at 12 months postoperatively was 89.58 ± 4.32% in the microwave group and 92.92 ± 3.49% in the combined group, showing statistical significantly different between both arms (P= 0.001). The combined group decreased in volume more significantly than the microwave group for nodules with 20–50% or 50–80% cystic proportions or >15 ml in volume (all P< 0.05). The complication rate was 23.08% and 2.38% respectively. Conclusion: MWA combined with EA is more effective than MWA for treating mixed thyroid nodules. MWA combined with EA may be the first approach for nodules with >20% cystic proportions or volume >15 ml.

Micropapillary features are seen in pure mucinous carcinoma of breast (PMC), which is termed mucinous carcinoma with micropapillary features (MPMC). However, whether MPMC can be identified as a morphologically, clinically or genetically distinct entity from PMC remains controversial. In this study, a retrospective review of 161 cases of breast mucinous carcinoma was conducted to assess the clinicopathologic features, prognostic implications, and genomic alterations of MPMC and PMC. MPMCs were identified in 32% of mucinous carcinomas showing an excellent interobserver agreement (ICC = 0.922). MPMCs occurred at a younger age and exhibited higher nuclear grade, more frequent lymph nodal metastasis, lymphovascular invasion, and HER2 amplification compared with PMCs. Survival analyses revealed that MPMCs show decreased progression-free survival compared with PMCs in both unmatched and matched cohorts. A similar outcome of distant disease-free survival was observed only in the unmatched cohort. However, no statistical difference in recurrence score was observed between MPMC and PMC using a 21-gene assay. Notably, both MPMCs and PMCs displayed low mutation burden, common mutations affecting TTN, GATA3, SF3B1, TP53, recurrent 6q14.1-q27 losses, and 8p11.21-q24.3 gains. GATA3, TP53, and SF3B1 were recurrently mutated in MPMCs, while PIK3CA mutations were exclusively detected in PMCs. Moreover, MPMCs harbored 17q and 20q gains as well as 17p losses, while PMCs displayed gains at 6p. PI3K-Akt, mTOR, ErbB, and focal adhesion pathways were more frequently deregulated in MPMCs than in PMCs, which may responsible for the aggressive tumor behavior of MPMCs. Our findings suggest that MPMC is morphologically, clinically, and genetically distinct from PMC.

Matrix Gla protein (MGP) and trichorhinophalangeal syndrome type 1 (TRPS1) have recently emerged as novel breast-specific immunohistochemical (IHC) markers, particularly for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and metaplastic carcinoma. The present study aimed to validate and compare the expression of MGP, TRPS1 and GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) in metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC), invasive breast carcinoma (IBC) with special features, including special types of invasive breast carcinoma (IBC-STs) and invasive breast carcinoma of no special type with unique features, and mammary and non-mammary salivary gland-type tumours (SGTs). Among all enrolled cases, MGP, TRPS1 and GATA3 had comparable high positivity for ER/PR-positive (p=0.148) and HER2-positive (p=0.310) breast carcinoma (BC), while GATA3 positivity was significantly lower in TNBC (p<0.001). Similarly, the positive rates of MGP and TRPS1 in MBCs (99.4%), were higher than in GATA3 (90.9%, p<0.001). Among the IBC-STs, 98.4% of invasive lobular carcinomas (ILCs) were positive for all three markers. Among neuroendocrine tumours (NTs), all cases were positive for TRPS1 and GATA3, while MGP positivity was relatively low (81.8%, p=0.313). In the neuroendocrine carcinoma (NC) subgroup, all cases were positive for GATA3 and MGP, while one case was negative for TRPS1. All carcinomas with apocrine differentiation (APOs) were positive for GATA3 and MGP, while only 60% of the cases demonstrated moderate staining for TRPS1. Among mammary SGTs, MGP demonstrated the highest positivity (100%), followed by TRPS1 (96.0%) and GATA3 (72.0%). Positive staining for these markers was also frequently observed in non-mammary SGTs. Our findings further validate the high sensitivity of MGP and TRPS1 in MBCs, IBC-STs, and breast SGTs. However, none of these markers are capable of distinguishing between mammary and non-mammary SGTs.

Background: Bone is one of the most frequent sites for breast cancer metastasis. Breast cancer bone metastasis (BCBM) leads to skeletal morbidities including pain, fractures, and spinal compression, all of which severely impact quality of life. Immunotherapy is a promising therapy for patients with advanced cancer, but whether it may provide benefit to metastatic bone cancer is currently unknown. Thus, a better understanding of the immune landscape of bone-disseminated breast cancers may reveal new therapeutic strategies. In this study, we use histopathological analysis to investigate changes within the immune microenvironment of primary breast cancer and paired BCBM. Methods: Sixty-three patients with BCBM, including 31 with paired primary and bone metastatic lesions, were included in our study. The percentage of stroma and stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was evaluated by histopathological analysis. The quantification of stromal TILs (CD4 + and CD8 +), macrophages (CD68 + and HLA-DR +), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), and programmed cell death protein ligand 1 (PD-L1) was evaluated through immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. Statistical analysis was performed with paired ttest, Wilcoxon test, spearman correlation test, and univariate and multivariate cox regression. Results: Median survival after BCBM pathological diagnosis was 20.5 months (range: 3–95 months). Of the immune parameters measured, none correlated with survival after bone metastasis was diagnosed. Compared to the primary site, bone metastases exhibited more tumor stroma (mean: 58.5% vs28.87%, p&lt; 0.001) and less TILs (mean: 8.45% vs14.03%, p= 0.042), as determined by H&E analysis. The quantification of primary vs metastatic tissue area with CD4 + (23.95/mm2vs51.69/mm2, p= 0.027 and with CD8 + (18.15/mm2vs58.95/mm2, p= 0.004) TILs similarly followed this trend and was reduced in number for bone metastases. The number of CD68 + and HLA-DR + macrophages showed no significant difference between primary sites and bone metastases. PD-1 expression was present in 68.25% of the bone metastasis, while PD-L1 expression was only present in 7.94% of the bone metastasis. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that compared to the primary breast cancer site, bone metastases harbor a less active immune microenvironment. Despite this relatively dampened immune landscape, expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in the bone metastasis indicates a potential benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors for some BCBM cases.

Targeting the PI3K–AKT–mTOR pathway is a promising therapeutic strategy for breast cancer treatment. However, low response rates and development of resistance to PI3K–AKT–mTOR inhibitors remain major clinical challenges. Here, we show that MYC activation drives resistance to mTOR inhibitors (mTORi) in breast cancer. Multiomic profiling of mouse invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) tumors revealed recurrent Myc amplifications in tumors that acquired resistance to the mTORi AZD8055. MYC activation was associated with biological processes linked to mTORi response and counteracted mTORi-induced translation inhibition by promoting translation of ribosomal proteins. In vitro and in vivo induction of MYC conferred mTORi resistance in mouse and human breast cancer models. Conversely, AZD8055-resistant ILC cells depended on MYC, as demonstrated by the synergistic effects of mTORi and MYCi combination treatment. Notably, MYC status was significantly associated with poor response to everolimus therapy in metastatic breast cancer patients. Thus, MYC is a clinically relevant driver of mTORi resistance that may stratify breast cancer patients for mTOR-targeted therapies.

The process of urbanization is formed by regular movements of human beings. It yields different functional zones in a city, such as residential zone and commercial zone. Consequently, there exists a close connection between the human mobility pattern and the city's zones. However, it is not easy to collect large-scale society-wide data that can precisely capture the underlying relations between the individual's movement and the regional functions. Hence, our knowledge for understanding the basic patterns of human mobility is still limited. In order to discover the functions of different regions in a city, we propose an affinity based method in this paper. The affinity is a recently introduced metric for measuring the correlation of two connecting node in a complex network. The proposed model groups different functional zones by measuring user's arrival/departure distribution via relative entropy. In addition to this, we also identify the intensity of each functional zone by taking kernel density estimation (KDE) method. In the end, some experiments are conducted to evaluate our method with a large-scale real-life dataset, which consists of 3 million cellphone users' records from a period of one month. Our findings on the interaction between the mobility pattern and the regional functions can capture the city dynamics efficiently and provide a valuable reference for urban planners.

Features several traditional shops in Qianmen Street in Beijing, China. First pedestrian street in Beijing; Old commercial establishments in the area.

Reports on the donation of three million yuan to Project Hope by Motorola Electronics China Ltd. Goal for Motorola's long-term development.

Reports that American company Motorola Co. launched a new digital mobile telephone service in China. Selection of Chines or English languages; Simplicity of operation.

Reports on the implementation of a project funded by the Sweden Sanddvik International Co. Ltd. (SSIC) in China. Development of the Langfang Development Zone.

Reports that the Shanxi business development delegation attending the First Bohai Rim Sino-Foreign Economic and Technological Cooperation Symposium consummated contracts for 42 projects with foreign representatives.

Reports on preparations for the 1994 Salem Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China. Participants of the tennis tournament; Organization and sponsorship of the event; Participation of Michael Chang, the acclaimed best Chinese-American tennis player.

Reports on the conduction of a `Treating Through Art' ceremony for a hospital painting activity at the Beijing Institute for Tumor Prevention and Treatment. Sponsors; Aims of the project.