Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of graded motor imagery (GMI) on fear of movement, pain, and rehabilitation in patients with kinesiophobia after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for lung cancer.

Methods: Fifty-eight participants with kinesiophobia after VATS were randomly assigned into two groups: one receiving usual care (the control group) and the other receiving usual care plus GMI (the GMI group). The GMI was delivered in three stages: left/right limb identification, motor imagery, and mirror therapy delivered by two researchers every afternoon starting on the first postoperative day, once a day for about 40 min, at least twice. Level of fear of movement, pain-related patient-reported outcomes (PROs), rehabilitation exercise participation, and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were compared between the two groups.

Results: Twenty-seven eligible participants were included in the GMI group and 29 in the control group. Compared to the reports on the first postoperative day, the participants who received GMI reported at discharge significant reductions in kinesiophobia, intensity of worst pain and least pain, and interference of pain with activities and emotions, and increases in rehabilitation exercise participation and PEF than those in the control group (p < 0.05). An unexpected finding was a reduced surgery-to-discharge interval in the patients who received GMI (almost a day earlier than those in the control group).

Conclusion: GMI can reduce fear of movement, improve pain-related PROs, and increase rehabilitation exercise participation and PEF for lung cancer patients with kinesiophobia after VATS.

The study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2300072612).

Background: Breast cancer is a major cause of mortality globally. Oncolytic virotherapy is a promising treatment modality that directly destroys cancer cells and induces an immune response against them. Among natural oncolytic viruses, Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has shown selective tumor cell infection.

Materials and methods: In this study, we investigated the efficacy of variable doses of NDV and cyclophosphamide on 4T1 cancer cell line and BALB/c mouse tumors for the first time.

Results: Compared with the control group, the combination treatment group with NDV and cyclophosphamide showed a significant increase in the expression levels of P21, P27, and P53 genes by 38%, 46%, and 81%, respectively (p < 0.05). In contrast, the expression levels of CD34, integrin α5, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) genes significantly decreased by 47%, 45%, 42%, and 23%, respectively (p < 0.05). The reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation assay evaluated with 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) staining showed a significant increase in ROS levels within 4T1 cells treated with NDV compared with the untreated group after 24 h (p < 0.01). Furthermore, Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) double staining analysis showed that the proportion of apoptotic cells in the NDV-treated group decreased by 0.61% and 1.63% after 6 h and 12 h, respectively (p < 0.05). After 12 days, tumor volume in the NDV-treated groups decreased by 72%−87% compared with a 48% increase in the control group, reflecting a net reduction in tumor volume relative to the control group (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that NDV in combination with chemotherapy drugs may be a promising therapeutic option for cancer patients. However, several other factors need to be considered. These results indicate that NDV may have potential effects on cancer treatment.

Background: The Fn14 fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 (Fn14) can stimulate cell migration and promote cancer lessions. Progranulin (GP88) protein has been identified as an epidermal growth factor and participates in many biological processes. The aim of the present work was to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of Fn14 and GP88 proteins in relation to the clinical parameters in women's invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and to explore their role as novel prognostic biomarkers.

Methods: The qualitative and quantitative immunohistochemical techniques were used to evaluate the expression levels of Fn14 and GP88 in 100 fresh samples of Egyptian women who had breast lesions. They were divided into three groups: control healthy tissues (10 samples from woman lesions), benign group (30 cases), and IDC group (60 cases).

Results: The histopathological results of 60 cases with IDC have been reported with 45 cases being grade Ⅱ and 15 cases being grade Ⅲ. The immunohistochemical results showed that the degree of strong positive staining for both markers was increased in grade Ⅲ compared to that in grade Ⅱ. The integrated optical density was significantly increased in grade Ⅲ (p < 0.05). Also, the result revealed a highly significant correlation between the two markers and the tumor size, grades, and lymph node metastasis, as well as a correlation to normal and benign breast lesions.

Conclusion: The quantitative immunohistochemistry of Fn14 and GP88 proteins revealed the correlation between the two markers and clinical parameters. Therefore, the two markers may be serviceable as prognostic and therapeutic markers in IDC patients.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding molecules that play critical roles in cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis, and they can target multiple genes at the mRNA level.

Materials and methods: Some online tools like TargetScan, miRDIP, miRmap, and miRanda were used to evaluate the validated target genes. Before choosing target genes, we took advantage of some bioinformatics tools including STRING, GeneMANIA, and TRED to predict the target genes. Finally, the expression levels of the target genes were measured in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor and their adjacent normal tissues via SYBR Green-based quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

Results: According to bioinformatics tools, BCL2 and AKT3 were selected as target genes for miR-15/16, and BCL2 was shown to demonstrate a robust negative correlation with miR-15a in our previous analysis of NSCLC tumor samples. Furthermore, we found a significant correlation between BCL2 expression level and stage Ⅲ (p = 0.04). PTEN was assumed as a validated target gene of miR-21 that presented a significant decrease in tumor tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. IRS1 was assigned as a target gene of miR-126/miR-128, and finally, HIF1A was selected as the target gene of miR-210. There was a significant negative association between IRS1 expression level and miR-126/miR-128, but a positive correlation was demonstrated between miR-210 and HIF1A at mRNA level.

Conclusion: Restoration of miR-15/16, miR-126, and miR-128 in NSCLC might be therapeutic candidates to control cell proliferation and apoptosis.

Aims: Vanuatu is a lower- and middle-income country in the Pacific with a cervical cancer incidence of 100 per 100,000 women. An opportunistic screening program has existed since 2008, with continuous data collection related to this since 2015.

Methods: We analysed all cervical cancer screening data for Vanuatu over 6 years, and conducted a descriptive analysis of number of women screened, the results of screening, the treatment rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) positivity or cytological abnormalities detected through screening, and the incidence of cervical cancer. The challenges encountered during the implementation of the screening program are also described.

Results: Data were available from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2020. Based on census data, 70,081 women were eligible for screening, and 15,696 (22.4%) women underwent screening at least once. Screening coverage included 13.2% of individuals under 30 years, 33.2% of individuals in the 30−50 age group, and 15.8% of people over 50 years. A total of 8910 HPV tests were conducted, of which 876 (9.8%) were positive. Among the HPV-positive cases, 316 received large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) treatment, 156 (49.4%) of which were high grade and 2 (0.6%) of which were cancer. A total of 13,396 Pap smear tests were conducted, with 315 (2.4%) showing high-grade results and 226 (1.7%) indicating possible high-grade results. Overall, 119 cancers were diagnosed from 15,696 women screened (0.8%), including 6/3297 (0.2%) of < 30 years, 75/10,089 (0.7%) of 30−50 years, 38/2310 (1.6%) of > 50 years.

Conclusion: One in five eligible Ni-Vanuatu women have undergone cervical cancer screening since 2015, with 7.6 per 1000 women having malignant results and 40.4 per 1000 women having high-grade or possible high-grade results.

Background: Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is a rare disorder that belongs to the broad group of non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis. It is characterized by one or more nodules with predilection sites on the head, neck, and trunk, and lesions that may be several millimeters in diameter. These are reddish or yellowish benign papules or nodules that usually resolve spontaneously. The involvement of organs other than the skin is termed systemic juvenile xanthogranuloma (SJXG). The eye is the most frequent extracutaneous location of the JXG.

Case presentation: We report a case of SJXG in a male child, with onset in the second month of life. He presented with several nodules, approximately 5 mm in diameter and tan-orange in color, located on the head, face, and trunk. The nodules enlarged to 10 mm in diameter, and new lesions were found in the right eye, which resulted in spontaneous hyphema and secondary glaucoma without treatment. The pathological findings suggested that the nodule was of histiocytic origin, and immunohistochemical analysis resulted in the diagnosis of JXG. Chemotherapy based on the Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) regimen resulted in a good prognosis.

Conclusion: SJXG has low morbidity, but is unpredictable, and rare and self-limited. Treatment is required for patients with extracutaneous involvement, who may have increased morbidity. The LCH-Ⅲ protocol of the International Histiocyte Society is the most commonly used and effective chemotherapy regimen.