Intestinal therapeutic agent delivery microrobot with magnetic targeting and pH-triggered degradation abilities.

Oral drug delivery remains a clinically preferred route for colorectal cancer therapy due to its noninvasive nature and patient compliance. However, conventional formulations suffer from premature degradation in the gastric environment and poor site-specific targeting in the intestine, significantly reducing therapeutic efficacy. Here, we introduce an intestinal therapeutic agent delivery microrobot (ITAM) composed of a therapeutic agent (TA) encapsulated core, a magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) layer for precise magnetic guidance, and a protective layer to minimize the loss of functional materials.

Rose-Bengal-Tethered Polymer Encapsulant for Carbon-Nanohorn Conjugates: Theranostic Potential for Multimodal Imaging and Phototherapy.

This paper presents the molecular design of a rose-bengal-containing functional polymer for the encapsulation of carbon nanohorns (CNHs). The polymer chain consists of hydrophilic monomers and dangling oxirane moieties that tether the rose bengal units. It exhibits high biocompatibility with CNHs and excellent coating ability, resulting in a carbon-based nanoconjugate with a core-shell nanostructure.

Prognostic Value of 18 F-FDG PET in Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma : Assessing Interim Metabolic Response for Improving Patient Stratification.

Purpose Of The Report: The usefulness of brain 18 F-FDG PET/CT in primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) remains underexplored. This study investigated whether early metabolic responses in interim brain FDG PET/CT serve as a prognostic indicator of PCNSL treatment outcomes.

Patients And Methods: This prospective study included 53 patients with PCNSL who underwent a high-dose methotrexate-based treatment.

Machine learning-assisted label-free colorectal cancer diagnosis using plasmonic needle-endoscopy system.

Early and accurate detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) is critical for improving patient outcomes. Existing diagnostic techniques are often invasive and carry risks of complications. Herein, we introduce a plasmonic gold nanopolyhedron (AuNH)-coated needle-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor, integrated with endoscopy, for direct mucus sampling and label-free detection of CRC.

Endoscopic Hyperspectral Imaging System to Discriminate Tissue Characteristics in Tissue Phantom and Orthotopic Mouse Pancreatic Tumor Model.

In this study, we developed an endoscopic hyperspectral imaging (eHSI) system and evaluated its performance in analyzing tissues within tissue phantoms and orthotopic mouse pancreatic tumor models. Our custom-built eHSI system incorporated a liquid crystal tunable filter. To assess its tissue discrimination capabilities, we acquired images of tissue phantoms, distinguishing between fat and muscle regions.

Prognostic Significance Of Sequential 18f-fdg Pet/Ct During Frontline Treatment Of Peripheral T Cell Lymphomas.

Background/aims: The prognostic significance of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) in peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are controversial. We explored the prognostic impact of sequential 18F-FDG PET/CT during frontline chemotherapy of patients with PTCLs.

Methods: In total, 143 patients with newly diagnosed PTCLs were included.

Molecular imaging approaches to facilitate bacteria-mediated cancer therapy.

Bacteria-mediated cancer therapy is a potential therapeutic strategy for cancer that has unique properties, including broad tumor-targeting ability, various administration routes, the flexibility of delivery, and facilitating the host's immune responses. The molecular imaging of bacteria-mediated cancer therapy allows the therapeutically injected bacteria to be visualized and confirms the accurate delivery of the therapeutic bacteria to the target lesion. Several hurdles make bacteria-specific imaging challenging, including the need to discriminate therapeutic bacterial infection from inflammation or other pathologic lesions.

Precise characterization of a solitary pulmonary nodule using tumor shadow disappearance rate-corrected F-18 FDG PET and enhanced CT.

We aimed to characterize solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) using imaging parameters for F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) or enhanced CT corrected by tumor shadow disappearance rate (TDR) to reflect the tissue density.We enrolled 51 patients with an SPN who underwent PET/CT and chest CT with enhancement. The FDG uptake of SPN was evaluated using maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) on PET/CT.

Bacteria and bacterial derivatives as delivery carriers for immunotherapy.

There is growing interest in the role of microorganisms in human health and disease, with evidence showing that new types of biotherapy using engineered bacterial therapeutics, including bacterial derivatives, can address specific mechanisms of disease. The complex interactions between microorganisms and metabolic/immunologic pathways underlie many diseases with unmet medical needs, suggesting that targeting these interactions may improve patient treatment. Using tools from synthetic biology and chemical engineering, non-pathogenic bacteria or bacterial products can be programmed and designed to sense and respond to environmental signals to deliver therapeutic effectors.

Multimodal Imaging-Based Potential Visualization of the Tumor Microenvironment in Bone Metastasis.

Bone metastasis (BM) is the most common malignant bone tumor and a significant cause of morbidity and mortality for patients with cancer. Compared to other metastatic organs, bone has unique characteristics in terms of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Precise assessments of the TME in BM could be an important step for developing an optimized management plan for patient care.

Recent Progress on Molecular Photoacoustic Imaging with Carbon-Based Nanocomposites.

For biomedical imaging, the interest in noninvasive imaging methods is ever increasing. Among many modalities, photoacoustic imaging (PAI), which is a combination of optical and ultrasound imaging techniques, has received attention because of its unique advantages such as high spatial resolution, deep penetration, and safety. Incorporation of exogenous imaging agents further amplifies the effective value of PAI, since they can deliver other specified functions in addition to imaging.

Clinical impact of radioactive iodine dose selection based on the number of metastatic lymph nodes in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma: A multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate whether the number of metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) could be used as a basis in the radioactive iodine (RAI) dose selection for patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

Patients: A total of 595 patients with PTC who received first RAI therapy after total or near-total thyroidectomy and had no evidence of disease in treatment response assessment were retrospectively enroled from five hospitals. The patients were classified into two subgroups based on the number of metastatic LNs (>5).

Increasing Use of Cardiac PET/CT for Inflammatory and Infiltrative Heart Diseases in Korea.

Recently the incidence of inflammatory and infiltrative heart diseases is increasing in Korea. Cardiac PET/CT is a useful technology evaluating inflammatory and infiltrative heart diseases. This study analyzed trends in the use of cardiac PET/CT for evaluating inflammatory and infiltrative heart diseases in the Chonnam National University Hospital and Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital.

Change of Therapeutic Response Classification According to Recombinant Human Thyrotropin-Stimulated Thyroglobulin Measured at Different Time Points in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Purpose: We investigated whether response classification after total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy could be affected by serum levels of recombinant human thyrotropin (rhTSH)-stimulated thyroglobulin (Tg) measured at different time points in a follow-up of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

Methods: A total of 147 PTC patients underwent serum Tg measurement for response assessment 6 to 24 months after the first RAI therapy. Serum Tg levels were measured at 24 h (D1Tg) and 48-72 h (D2-3Tg) after the 2 injection of rhTSH.

A Stepwise Approach Using Metastatic Lymph Node Ratio-Combined Thyroglobulin for Customization of [F]FDG-PET/CT Indication to Detect Persistent Disease in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Cancer.

We investigated whether an indication for [F]FDG-PET/CT to detect FDG-avid persistent disease (PD) could be identified precisely using the extent of metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) and serum thyroglobulin (Tg) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients. This retrospective study included 429 PTC patients who underwent surgery and radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy. [F]FDG-PET/CT and serum Tg were evaluated just before RAI therapy.

In Vivo Quantitative Vasculature Segmentation and Assessment for Photodynamic Therapy Process Monitoring Using Photoacoustic Microscopy.

Vascular damage is one of the therapeutic mechanisms of photodynamic therapy (PDT). In particular, short-term PDT treatments can effectively destroy malignant lesions while minimizing damage to nonmalignant tissue. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of label-free quantitative photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) for monitoring the vasculature changes under the effect of PDT in mouse ear melanoma tumors.

Differences in diagnostic impact of dual-tracer PET/computed tomography according to the extrahepatic metastatic site in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objectives: We compared the diagnostic performance of C-11 acetate and F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/computed tomography (CT) for the detection of extrahepatic metastasis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and evaluated whether the improvement in the diagnostic performance of dual tracer PET/CT differs by the metastatic site.

Methods: Fifty-eight patients who had extrahepatic metastasis on either C-11 acetate or F-18 FDG PET/CT were enrolled, and 193 metastatic lesions were analyzed in this retrospective study. The metastatic lesions were categorized based on six sites of involvement.

Non-Oncologic Applications of Nanomedicine-Based Phototherapy.

Phototherapy is widely applied to various human diseases. Nanomedicine-based phototherapy can be classified into photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT). Activated photosensitizer kills the target cells by generating radicals or reactive oxygen species in PDT while generating heat in PTT.

Clinical Impact of F-18 FDG PET-CT on Biopsy Site Selection in Patients with Suspected Bone Metastasis of Unknown Primary Site.

Purpose: We investigated the clinical role of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) in the identification of the primary site and the selection of the optimal biopsy site in patients with suspected bone metastasis of unknown primary site.

Methods: The patients with suspected bone metastasis who underwent PET-CT for evaluation of primary site were enrolled in this study. The primary sites were identified by the histopathologic or imaging studies and were classified according to the FDG uptake positivity of the primary site.

Artificial intelligence and lung cancer treatment decision: agreement with recommendation of multidisciplinary tumor board.

Background: IBM Watson for Oncology (WFO) is a cognitive computing system helping physicians quickly identify key information in a patient's medical record, surface relevant evidence, and explore treatment options. This study assessed the possibility of using WFO for clinical treatment in lung cancer patients.

Methods: We evaluated the level of agreement between WFO and multidisciplinary team (MDT) for lung cancer.

Combined role of lymph node ratio and serum thyroglobulin levels in predicting prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate a prognostic value of the extent of metastatic lymph node combined with TSH-stimulated serum thyroglobulin (sTg) measured just before radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).

Methods: The retrospective study included 468 patients with PTC who underwent total thyroidectomy with neck dissection and postoperative RAI therapy. The extent of metastatic lymph node was evaluated with the lymph node ratio (LNR) which was defined as the number of metastatic lymph nodes out of the number of total removed lymph nodes.

Optimization of serum thyroglobulin measured at different time points for prognostic evaluation in differentiated thyroid carcinoma patients.

Although serum thyroglobulin (Tg) is a reliable differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) prognostic marker, its cutoff values can be affected by TSH stimulation status. Serum Tg prognostic values measured at different time points before and after radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy prepared with recombinant human TSH (rhTSH) in DTC patients, were investigated.This study included 160 DTC patients who underwent surgery followed by rhTSH-aided RAI therapy.

Optimization of Predictive Performance for the Therapeutic Response Using Iodine Scan-Corrected Serum Thyroglobulin in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma.

We investigated whether the performance of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) for response prediction could be improved based on the iodine uptake pattern on the post-therapeutic I-131 whole body scan (RxWBS) and the degree of thyroid tissue damage with radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy. A total of 319 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma who underwent total thyroidectomy and RAI therapy were included. Based on the presence/absence of focal uptake at the anterior midline of the neck above the thyroidectomy bed on RxWBS, patients were classified into positive and negative uptake groups.

The clinical meaning of pre- and post-ablation thyroglobulin levels at first radioiodine therapy in patients with papillary thyroid cancer.

Background/aims: This study was conducted to identify prognostic factors in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) at the time of first radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy, and to evaluate the clinical value of the thyroglobulin (Tg) increase after RAI.

Methods: Serum Tg was sampled prior to (pre-Tg) and 7 days after RAI (post-Tg) in 680 patients with PTC. Patients were classified into excellent response (ER), biochemical incomplete response (BCIR), structural incomplete response (SIR), and indeterminate response (IR) groups using dynamic risk stratification at 6 to 18 months after RAI therapy.

Risk factors of malignant fluorodeoxyglucose-avid lymph node on preablation positron emission tomography in patients with papillary thyroid cancer undergoing radioiodine ablation therapy.

F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-avid metastatic lesions are associated with a poor response to radioiodine ablation therapy (RIT) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). This study evaluated the significance of preablative FDG positron emission tomography (PET) for the assessment of risk factors and frequency of malignant FDG-avid lymph nodes in patients with PTC undergoing RIT.The study included 339 consecutive patients (mean age 46.