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With the SARS-COV-2 spreading worldwide, COVID-19 has induced enormous disaster and challenges to the world public health since 2019. To development effective diagnostic and treatment methods for the SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for the control of the COVID-19 spreading. DNA aptamers, short single DNA oligonucleotides, have shown an immense application potential as molecular probes for early diagnosis and therapy of various diseases. Compared with antibodies, DNA aptamers are easier to synthesize, with high stability and low immunogenicity, which allows it to be widely and rapidly used in various bio-sensing and therapy to against COVID-19 since then. Thus, we here reviewed the development and prospected potential applications of DNA aptamers in diagnosis and treatment of SARS-COV-2.

Background: Accurate differentiation of angiomyolipoma (AML) from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is important in RCC diagnosis. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of different supervised machine learning (ML) algorithms for RCC based on computed tomography (CT) examinations. Patients and Methods: The CT images of known cases of RCC or renal AML were collected and divided into training and testing groups. The texture features of CT images were drawn and quantified in MaZda software; a total of 352 features were drawn from each image. Top 10 features with statistical significance for differentiation of RCC from benign tumors in the training group were selected to establish diagnosis models based on 16 supervised ML algorithms. Next, the models were compared regarding accuracy and specificity. The trained models were further examined by comparison with data from the testing group. Results: Among 16 classifiers trained in this study, the logistic regression, linear discriminant analysis, k-nearest neighbor algorithm, support vector machines (SVMs), ridge classifier, AdaBoost classifier, gradient boosting classifier, and CatBoost classifier showed good performance in discriminating RCC from AML (accuracy, ≥ 0.7; area under the [receiver operating characteristic [ROC]] curve [AUC] ≥ 0.75) in both training and testing datasets. Conclusion: Based on the ML algorithms for big data, diagnostic classifiers can be valuable tools for an accurate diagnosis of RCC. By comparing different algorithms, the present results indicated potential algorithms for the development of RCC diagnostic classifiers.

Zhenzhou Xu,* Liang Huang,* Tao Dai,* Xiaming Pei, Longzheng Xia, Gongqian Zeng, Mingji Ye, Kan Liu, Fuhua Zeng, Weiqing Han, Shusuan Jiang Department of Urology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Hunan Cancer Hospital, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Zhenzhou Xu; Shusuan JiangDepartment of Urology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Hunan Cancer Hospital, 283# Tongzipo Road, Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan, 4100013, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 18874728621; +86 18608408523Fax +86 73189762270Email xuzhenzhou@hnca.org.cn; jiangshusuan@hnca.org.cnBackground: Almost all metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancers (mHSPC) will develop into metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The expression level of squalene monooxygenase (SQLE) is increased in CRPC cells and regulates cholesterol metabolism. This study verified the biological function and mechanisms of SQLE in CRPC.Methods: The expression of SQLE in human prostate cancer cells was overexpressed or silenced and its efficacy on cell survival was determined by the MTS test. Energy metabolism phenotype test was evaluated by XF real-time ATP rate assay, XF cell mitochondrial stress test, XF glycolysis stress test and XF mito fuel flex test. Cell migration and invasion were evaluated by colony formation assays and transwell assays; the expression of mRNA and protein was assessed by RT-qPCR and Western blot, respectively. Moreover, BALB/c nude mice model was performed to evaluate the lymph node metastasis.Results: In our study, we found that the expression level of SQLE was significantly increased in bicalutamide-resistant-C4-2B cells compared to LNCaP cells. SQLE knockdown partly restored the sensitivity of drug-resistant cells to bicalutamide and reduced lymph node metastasis by inhibiting fatty acid oxidation in mitochondria. We also found that terbinafine, the specific inhibitor of SQLE, can enhance the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to bicalutamide.Conclusion: Our study revealed that SQLE is involved in the progression of castration resistance in CRPC through mediating metabolic reprogramming, presenting SQLE as a new target for the treatment of mCRPC.Keywords: SQLE, bicalutamide, CRPC, ADT, lymph node metastasis

To parallelly compare the efficacy of neoadjuvant immunotherapy (tislelizumab), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (gemcitabine and cisplatin), and neoadjuvant combination therapy (tislelizumab + GC) in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and explore the efficacy predictors, we perform a multi-center, real-world cohort study that enrolls 253 patients treated with neoadjuvant treatments (combination therapy: 98, chemotherapy: 107, and immunotherapy: 48) from 15 tertiary hospitals. We demonstrate that neoadjuvant combination therapy achieves the highest complete response rate and pathological downstaging rate compared with neoadjuvant immunotherapy or chemotherapy. We develop and validate an efficacy prediction model consisting of pretreatment clinical characteristics, which can pinpoint candidates to receive neoadjuvant combination therapy. We also preliminarily reveal that patients who achieve pathological complete response after neoadjuvant treatments plus maximal transurethral resection of the bladder tumor may be safe to receive bladder preservation therapy. Overall, this study highlights the benefit of neoadjuvant combination therapy based on tislelizumab for MIBC.

Renal cell carcinoma is abbreviated as renal carcinoma, and its clinical symptoms are basically hematuria, lumbago, and abdomen bump. As people’s lifestyles change, the incidence of renal carcinoma continues to rise due to factors such as smoking and obesity. At present, surgical treatment is mostly used in clinical practice. Traditional open radical nephrectomy (ORN) is one of the main methods for clinical treatment of renal carcinoma. However, due to its large wound and large amount of intraoperative blood loss, the renal function of patients after surgery is poor, which is not conducive to the postoperative recovery of patients. Retroperitoneal laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (RLRN) has been widely used in the surgical treatment of renal cancer due to its advantages of small wound, less bleeding, and rapid recovery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of RLRN in the treatment of renal cancer patients and its effect on renal function and to analyze the related factors affecting postoperative recurrence of patients. We adopt ORN and RLRN, two kinds of treatment, in patients with renal cancer surgery way, contrast analysis of the two groups of operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative intestinal function recovery time, drainage tube indwelling time, length of hospital stay, and other clinical indicators and renal function indexes and use the single factor analysis and multifactor analysis, the relevant factors that affect kidney cancer patients with postoperative recurrence. The results showed that, compared with ORN treatment, RLRN treatment of renal cancer patients has a short operation time, less trauma, quick recovery after surgery, and fewer complications and can effectively alleviate the renal function injury and the body’s inflammatory response, which is worthy of promotion. Postoperative recurrence was related to age, tumor diameter, TNM stage, surgical method, and postoperative immunotherapy.

Nanoparticles have been widely used in cancer therapy because of its nanoscale, high surface ratio, multifuntions and so on. With specific construction of nanoparticles, such as choosing magnetic nanomaterials or citric acid coated nanoparticle, scientists can kill tumor cells effectively and accurately，importantly， reducing the side effect of conventional chemotherapy. Currently, they have been continually applied in cancer therapeutics research. Scientists not only designed nanoparticles loading with therapeutic drugs, but also equipped with targeted molecules. These works make nanoparticles become a multifuntional nanocarrier. In the construction of multifunctional nanocarriers, nanoparticles play the important work of drug delivery. Normally, enabling drugs delivery to tumor tissues is a difficult task. During the period of internal circulation, it is hard to keep the nanocarriers stability. As well as not attach to normal cells or serum. With the application of stimulus-responsive nanomaterials, scientists develop many nanocarriers with controllable drug release. These controllable drug delivery systems can quickly respond to microenvironmental changes (PH, enzyme, etc.) or external stimuli (photo, heat, magnetic or electric fields). Thus, it is to overcome the side effects by controllable drug delivery systems in vivo. In this article, we summarize the various kinds of stimulus-responsive nanocarriers for cancer therapy and discuss its possibilities and challenges in future application.

Resection of completely endophytic renal tumors is a huge challenge for surgeons due to a lack of definite visual clues, especially in the laparoscopic approach. Three-dimensional (3D) kidney models, which can illustrate the clear relationship between renal masses and surrounding health tissues, were considered as reliable tools for understanding renal tumor characteristics in previous studies. We hypothesized that 3D kidney models can be used not only for planning but also for navigating laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) in patients with completely endophytic renal tumors. In this study, we successfully constructed five cases of 3D kidney models for assisted planning and navigation for LPN in endophytic renal tumors. The renal masses and surrounding normal parenchyma of the patient-specific 3D models were dyed by different colorants for clear illustration. All patients experienced acceptable perioperative outcomes, and no patient suffered serious relative complications. The 3D kidney models were considered as a reliable tool based on clinical outcome and postoperative questionnaire results. This study is the first report of 3D kidney models for patients with completely endophytic tumors. 3D kidney models can aid surgeons in understanding the characteristics of renal tumors and potentially support assisted planning and performance of LPN in endophytic tumor cases.

In the present study, the case of a 51-year-old female with a metastatic tumor in the left kidney originating from cervical carcinoma, is reported. The patient had undergone chemoradiotherapy for stage IIB squamous-cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix 3 years earlier. Computed tomography (CT) identified low-density left renal nodules, which were diagnosed post-operatively as renal cysts during the follow-up conducted 2 years later. The next year, the patient was admitted to the Hunan Provincial Tumor Hospital (The Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Xiangya Medical College, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China) with a fever of unknown origin, left-sided flank pain and hematuria. CT examination detected irregular low-density nodules in the left kidney and heterogeneous enhancement on enhanced CT. Subsequently, the patient was subjected to a nephrectomy. Post-surgical analysis of subsequent biopsies indicated kidney tumor metastasis originating from cervical carcinoma. Renal metastases are rare in patients with cervical carcinoma. The present study reported a case of renal metastasis originating from cervical carcinoma and also reviewed previous case reports on patients presenting with this unusual type of cancer.

To explore the clinical features of acute urine retention (AUR) ocurring in patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH).Clinical data from 548 patients diagnosed with BPH were retrospectively studied, and the clinical parameters of these patients with or without AUR were analyzed by statistical methods.Development of AUR was found in 164 patients (29.9%). Patients' age, IPSS, maximum flow rate (Q(max)), residual urine volume, prostate volume, transition zone volume, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) density, total PSA (tPSA) and free PSA (fPSA) including the ratio of free to total PSA(f/tPSA) were significantly different in the 2 groups (P0.05), while there were no significant differences in the disease duration and transition zone index between the 2 groups (P0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that IPSS score, residual urine volume, tPSA, and Q(max) were risk factors for predicting the development of AUR.BPH patient's age, IPSS, Q(max), residual urine volume, prostate volume, transition zone volume, tPSA and fPSA, and PSA density all influence the occurrence of AUR, in which symptom severity, residual urine volume, total PSA and Q(max) are the principal risk factors for prognosing AUR.