Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth leading cause of deaths in gynecological malignancies. Although the etiology of CC has been extensively investigated, the exact pathogenesis of CC remains incomplete. Recently, single-cell technologies demonstrated advantages in exploring intra-tumoral diversification among various tumor cells. However, single-cell transcriptome analysis (single-cell RNA sequencing [scRNA-seq]) of CC cells and microenvironment has not been conducted. In this study, a total of 20,938 cells from CC and adjacent normal tissues were examined by scRNA-seq. We identified four tumor cell subpopulations in tumor cells, which had specific signature genes with different biological functions and presented different prognoses. Among them, we identified a subset of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that was related to the developmental hierarchy of tumor progression. Then, we compared the expressive differences between tumor-derived endothelial cells (TECs) and normal ECs (NECs) and revealed higher expression of several metabolism-related genes in TECs. Then, we explored the potential biological function of ECs in vascularization and found several marker genes, which played a prior role in connections between cancer cells and ECs. Our findings provide valuable resources for deciphering the intra-tumoral heterogeneity of CC and uncover the developmental procedure of ECs, which paves the way for CC therapy.

Objective The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical outcomes of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) 6 months after loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). We explored the risk factors of persistent cervical HSIL after LEEP and evaluated the methods of follow-up. Patients and Methods This retrospective study included women who underwent a LEEP and had a diagnosis of HSIL in their LEEP specimen during 2011 to 2015. The purpose was to determine the risk factors among these women for having persistent HSIL disease at their 6-month follow-up visit. At their follow-up visit, each woman underwent cervical cytology and high-risk human papilloma virus (hrHPV) testing, colposcopy-directed punch biopsy, and/or endocervical curettage. Results A total of 3582 women were enrolled. There were 9 cases invasive cervical cancer found and 101 women had persistent HSIL. The persistence rate was higher in women 50 years or older. The circumference, length, and width of LEEP specimens did not differ statistically between the persistent and nonpersistent group. The persistence rate among women with positive LEEP specimen margins was higher than among women with negative margins. Positive endocervical margins were associated with a higher rate of persistence than positive ectocervical margins. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that age, positive margins, abnormal cytology, and positive hrHPV during follow-up were all independent risk factors for persistent HSIL lesions. Conclusions Being 50 years or older, positive margins, particularly endocervical margins, and having abnormal cytology and positive hrHPV testing during follow-up were risk factors for persistent HSIL lesions after LEEP conization. Colposcopy plays an indispensable role in the diagnosis of persistent HSIL and progression.

No abstract

Immune cells are essential for defending the body's balance and have increasingly been implicated in controlling tumor growth. In cervical cancer (CC), the immune landscape is extensively connected with human papillomavirus (HPV) status. Recent insights from studies have revealed that as a result of infection with HPV, immune cell populations such as lymphocytes or monocytes change during carcinogenesis. Immune therapy, in particular checkpoint inhibitors, those targeting PD-1 or PD-L1, has shown promising efficacy. This article reviews the immune landscape and immunotherapy of CC.

Partially coherent radially polarized (PCRP) beam was introduced and generated in recent years. In this paper, we investigate the statistical properties of a PCRP beam embedded with a vortex phase (i.e., PCRP vortex beam). We derive the analytical formula for the cross-spectral density matrix of a PCRP vortex beam propagating through a paraxial ABCD optical system and analyze the statistical properties of a PCRP vortex beam focused by a thin lens. It is found that the statistical properties of a PCRP vortex beam on propagation are much different from those of a PCRP beam. The vortex phase induces not only the rotation of the beam spot, but also the changes of the beam shape, the degree of polarization and the state of polarization. We also find that the vortex phase plays a role of resisting the coherence-induced degradation of the intensity distribution and the coherence-induced depolarization. Furthermore, we report experimental generation of a PCRP vortex beam for the first time. Our results will be useful for trapping and rotating particles, free-space optical communications and detection of phase object.