Early intratreatment DW imaging has the potential to allow prediction of treatment response at the primary site in patients with HNSCC.

MR imaging is comparable to CT for the detection of necrosis. The sensitivity of MR imaging and CT is better than that of US.

Oestrogen stimulates proliferation of thyroid cancer cells, associated with increase in Bcl-2 and decrease in Bax levels in an ERK1/2-related pathway. Imbalance between ERalpha and ERbeta may contribute to thyroid carcinogenesis.

Single ADC measurements pre- or intra-treatment did not predict response, but ADC post-treatment was a marker for LF. Serial change in ADC was an even stronger marker, when using an early or late treatment fall in ADC to identify LF.

Thyroid cancer occurs three times more frequently in females than in males, and in females the incidence decreases after menopause. This gender difference suggests that the growth and progression of thyroid cancer may be influenced by female sex hormones, particularly estrogens. Experimental data have clearly demonstrated that estrogens can influence cancer cell growth. The action of estrogens on target sites is mediated through related but distinct estrogen receptors, designated estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) and estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta), both of which are known to be expressed in thyroid cancer cells. The proliferation of thyroid cancer cells is promoted by an ERalpha agonist, whereas the proliferation is reduced by the enhanced expression of ERbeta or by an ERbeta agonist. When ERbeta is down-regulated, the proliferation of thyroid cells is significantly increased. Studies have shown that the expression of ERalpha in thyroid cancer cells is increased while the expression of ERbeta is either very low or absent. In conclusion, it appears that estrogens have opposite effects on the growth of thyroid cancer cells, depending on the balance between ERalpha and ERbeta in the cells. The modulation of ERalpha and ERbeta and the intervention of their pathways may open up new potential targets for the treatment of thyroid cancer.

MR imaging is an accurate test for the diagnosis of NPC. MR imaging depicts subclinical cancers missed at endoscopy and endoscopic biopsy and helps identify the majority of patients who do not have NPC and who therefore do not need to undergo invasive sampling biopsies.

We conclude that estradiol promotes KAT5 cell proliferation and that the underlying mechanism may be associated with up-regulation of Bcl-xL expression. The data provide insight into the molecular mechanism underlying the epidemiologic data that shows a two- to threefold increased prevalence of thyroid carcinoma in women relative to men. From the therapeutic point of view, the finding that estradiol enhances anti-apoptotic signaling pathways may be significant in the search for novel prevention and treatment strategies of thyroid carcinomas.

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