Background:Nowadays, social media tools such as short message service, Twitter, video, and web-based systems are more and more used in clinical follow-up, making clinical follow-up much more time- and cost-effective than ever before. However, as the most popular social media in China, little is known about the utility of smartphone WeChat application in follow-up. In this study, we aimed to investigate the feasibility and superiority of WeChat application in clinical follow-up.Methods:A total of 108 patients diagnosed with head and neck tumor were randomized to WeChat follow-up (WFU) group or telephone follow-up (TFU) group for 6-month follow-up. The follow-ups were delivered by WeChat or telephone at 2 weeks, 1, 2, 3, and 6 months to the patients after being discharged. The study measurements were time consumption for follow-up delivery, total economic cost, lost-to-follow-up rate, and overall satisfaction for the follow-up method.Results:Time consumption in WFU group for each patient (23.36 ± 6.16 min) was significantly shorter than that in TFU group (42.89 ± 7.15 min) (P < 0.001); total economic cost in WFU group (RMB 90 Yuan) was much lower than that in TFU group (RMB 196 Yuan). Lost-to-follow-up rate in the WFU group was 7.02% (4/57) compared with TFU group, 9.80% (5/51), while no significance was observed (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.176–2.740; P = 0.732). The overall satisfaction rate in WFU group was 94.34% (50/53) compared with 80.43% (37/46) in TFU group (95% CI: 0.057–0.067; P = 0.034).Conclusions:The smartphone WeChat application was found to be a viable option for follow-up in discharged patients with head and neck tumors. WFU was time-effective, cost-effective, and convenient in communication. This doctor-led follow-up model has the potential to establish a good physician-patient relationship by enhancing dynamic communications and providing individual health instructions.Trial Registration:Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-IOR-15007498; http://www.chictr.org.cn/ showproj.aspx?proj=12613.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNA molecules which are involved in tumorigenesis and development. To investigate their role in primary laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), miRNA GeneChips were used to screen the differentially expressed miRNA, and then validated by real-time quantitative PCR in LSCC samples, we found that miR-375 was frequently downregulated in primary LSCC tissues. The tumor-suppressive effect of miR-375 was determined by in vitro assays; through gain-of-function studies we demonstrated that miR-375 can inhibit LSCC cell (SNU-48 and SNU-899) proliferation, motility, and invasion, and promote their apoptosis. In addition, bioinformatics tools TargetScan, PicTar, and Miranda were used to investigate the potential target of miR-375; bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assay indicated that IGF1R was a novel direct target of miR-375. Ectopic transfection of miR-375 led to a significant reduction in IGF1R and its downstream signaling molecule AKT at both the mRNA and protein levels in LSCC cells. Our results suggested that downregulation of miR-375 is one of the molecular mechanisms for the development and progression of LSCC by directly targeting IGF1R and affecting its downstream AKT signaling pathways. Furthermore, miR-375 and IGF1R may serve as a novel therapeutic target for LSCC.

This work is aimed to study the clinical and prognostic features of relapsing polychondritis (RP) in China. A total of 158 RP cases from 1985 to 2013 in China were included and compared with international case series in terms of clinical features, systemic involvement, differential diagnosis and prognosis. (1) The average age at the onset was 45.3 years old, the average age for initial symptoms was 14.4 months, female/male ratio was 0.7:1 and misdiagnosis rate was 47 %. (2) The incidence of arthritis was lower than that in Caucasians. The incidences of auricular chondritis (68 %: 84-95 %), ocular inflammation (44 %: 49-65 %) and renal involvement (3 %: 7-26 %) were lower, and laryngotracheal symptoms (69 %: 31-67 %), skin (46 %: 4-38 %) and neurological involvement (12 %: 2-8 %) were higher during the follow-up period. The proportion of associated autoimmune disease and systemic vasculitis were 5 and 3 %, respectively, similar to that in Japanese (4 and 2 %), but less than that in Caucasians (12-31 and 8-18 %) except the Francès's study (7 and 3 %). The primary death cause is respiratory failure due to RP, followed by lung infections and cardiovascular events. (3) Juvenile RP (onset ≤18 years) was more severe than adults, similar to results from the Caucasians. However, Chinese juvenile RP had more severe ocular inflammation (57 %: 40-47 %), arthritis (100 %: 71-90 %), cardiovascular (14 %: 3-10 %) and skin involvement (20 %: 10-11 %) than Caucasian juvenile RP. Although sharing most of the clinical features with case series in previous literature, Chinese patients with RP have its unique characteristics.

The authors have withdrawn their manuscript whilst they perform additional experiments to test some of their conclusions further. Therefore, the authors do not wish this work to be cited as reference for the project. If you have any questions, please contact the corresponding author.