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Abstract Poor selectivity, low bioavailability and serious systemic side-effects have limited the application of traditional chemotherapy method for treatment of prostate cancer. Stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems for chemotherapy are mainly based on the unique characteristics of tumor microenvironment. In this study, the GSH-sensitive poly-TTG-SS@DTX NPs (DTX-loaded poly-Tetraethylene glycol nanoparticles) were designed and synthesized, which were characterized with nanosized diameter (92.8 ± 2.5 nm) and negatively charged surface charge (−24.7 ± 5.56 mV). Experiments in vitro showed that poly-TTG-SS@DTX NPs had good compatibility to healthy cells and strong anti-tumor effect because of rapid and sustained drug release of DTX from poly-TTG-SS@DTX NPs under the tumor-microenvironment condition. The cellular activity remained greater than 90% when the concentration of poly-TTG-SS NPs reached as high as 100 µg/mL treated on healthy cells. The killing effect of DTX loading NPs group on C4-2 cells was stronger than that of free anti-tumor drug and free DTX combined with the blank nano-carrier (25.21% vs 19.93% vs 20.96%). In conclusion, poly-TTG-SS@DTX NPs may provide a new therapeutic strategy for the chemotherapy of prostate cancer. Graphical Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of virtual touch tissue quantification (VTTQ) combined with B-mode ultrasonograpgy (US), strain elastography (SE) combined with B-mode US and B-mode US alone in differentiating the properties of breast lesions. Methods A retrospective database was queried for 283 healthy subjects and 100 consecutive patients with 130 breast lesions. All the cases were examined by B-mode US, VTTQ and SE. Histological diagnosis was used as the reference standard. The area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) values of each data set was compared.Results Twenty-two lesions were determined as malignant and 108 as benign. The best cutoff point of VTTQ was 7.82 m/s. The AUC of B-mode US combined with VTTQ or SE was greater than that of B-mode US alone (0.913 or 0.918 vs. 0.797) (P = 0.007 and 0.012).Conclusion Both VTTQ and SE could give help to B-mode US in distinguishing benign from malignant breast lesions about elastography values. There was no difference between them.

The gastrointestinal tract, particularly the colon, represents a rare site of metastatic carcinoma. It is difficult to diagnose because of its nonspecific clinical and imaging features. Herein, we reported the case of a 64-year-old Asian male who presented with a solitary mass on his right colon. We successively performed contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT) and colonoscopy. Colonoscopy-guided biopsy revealed inflammatory granulomatous and necrotic tissue. The mass was resected and identified as a metastatic carcinoma of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The details of the case and review of related articles are presented.

Objective: The present study aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of a newly designed microwave ablation (MWA) system in ex vivo and in vivo liver model.Methods: A new MWA system (HRMW-01, Hengrui Medical, Guangzhou, China) was tested on porcine liver ex vivo with different parameter settings (50-70 W for 5-20 min). Ablation volums were measured on the gross specimens. In an in vivo study, MWA was performed at 60 W for 5 min in canine liver. Ablation volumes were identified and measured using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) 1 w after the ablation. All animals underwent routine hematological, biochemical, and coagulation tests before ablation at 1 d and 1 w after ablation. For comparison, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was performed using a Cool-tip system (Valleylab, Boulder, CO, USA) with an automated power setting for 12 min in both ex vivo and in vivo studies. Results: In ex vivo studies, the mean volumes of MWA coagulation ranged from 27.8 ± 7.3 cm3 to 144.6 ± 35.9 cm 3 and increased with ablation duration and power output. MWA was prone to creating larger volume but less spherical ablation shape than RFA (P < 0.05). In in vivo studies, MWA created larger ablation volumes with shorter ablation time compared to RFA (P < 0.05). Laboratory data showed significantly higher alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels 1 d after ablation than based line levels (P < 0.05) while the levels decreased close to pre-ablation levels 1 w after ablation (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The newly designed MWA system is safe and more efficient than a commonly used RFA system. However, further clinical studies are warranted.