No abstract

Esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) is one of the leading malignant cancer in the world and especially in China with high incidence and mortality. The exploration of novel serum biomarkers is required for early detection of ESCC. We investigated the diagnostic value of serum insulin like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) in ESCC, evaluating its potential to improve the diagnosis of ESCC. The serum samples of 106 patients with ESCC and 107 normal controls were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The levels of IGFBP7 in ESCC group were significantly higher than that in normal controls, compared by the Mann-Whitney U test ( P<0.0001 ). Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the diagnostic value of serum IGFBP7 was demonstrated. Versus normal group, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of all ESCC was 0.794 (95%CI: 0.735-0.853) and early-stage ESCC was 0.725 (95%CI: 0.633-0.817). With optimized cutoff value of 2.993 ng/mL, IGFBP7 showed certain diagnostic value with specificity of 90.7%, sensitivities of 40.6% and 32.4% in ESCC and early-stage ESCC, respectively. Considering the correlation between clinical data and IGFBP7, no significant association was found (all P>0.05 ). Thus, we supposed that serum IGFBP7 might be a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of ESCC.

Objective Obesity risk transmits from parents to children. Underlying neural mechanisms were investigated in this study by evaluating influences of familial obesity risk defined by maternal obesity and influences of current overweight on three indices of brain structure in adolescents. Methods In total, 22 lean adolescents with lean mothers (lean low‐risk), 25 lean adolescents with mothers with obesity/overweight (lean high‐risk), and 36 adolescents with obesity/overweight underwent structural MRI scans for estimation of regional gray and white matter volume and cortical thickness. Results The lean high‐risk compared with the lean low‐risk group demonstrated lower gray and white matter volume and cortical thickness in the postcentral gyrus (somatosensory cortex), lower gray and white matter volume in the opercular cortex (taste cortex), lower gray matter volume and cortical thickness in the anterior cingulate cortex, and lower cortical thickness in the precuneus. Comparisons of the lean and obesity/overweight groups revealed further structural alterations in the postcentral gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus. Conclusions Familial obesity risk and current obesity/overweight were associated with overlapping and distinct patterns of brain structure alterations. Longitudinal studies are warranted to investigate whether structural changes associated with familial obesity risk predict future weight trajectories.