Around 70% of breast cancers (BCs) are estrogen receptor-α (ERα)-positive. Adjuvant endocrine therapy is used to reduce estrogen levels and inhibit signal transduction through the ER. The anti-estrogen drugs that are most commonly used in endocrine therapy belong to the selective ER modulator (SERM) class and include tamoxifen. Although it has been used for three decades in cases of early-stage and ERα-positive BC, resistance to tamoxifen is a common problem. microRNAs (miRNAs) have a potential role in demonstrating BC resistance to tamoxifen therapy. Hence, there is a need to investigate the expression of miRNA-221 (miR-221) in luminal-subtype BC patients receiving tamoxifen therapy. This case-control study investigated luminal-subtype BC patients who had undergone endocrine therapy for at least 1 year. The case group comprised patients with local or metastatic recurrence, and the control group comprised patients without local or metastatic recurrence. There was a significant difference in miR-221 expression (p = 0.005) between the case and control groups. There were no significant differences between the groups that were positive and negative for the progesterone receptor (PR) (p = 0.25), had high and low marker of proliferation Ki-67 levels (p = 0.60), were positive and negative for lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.14), and had stage 2 and stage 3 cancer (p = 0.25). miR-221 expression was higher in tamoxifen-resistant BC cases. miR-221 is a potential biomarker of tamoxifen resistance.

Telepointer is a powerful tool in the telemedicine system that enhances the effectiveness of long-distance communication. Telepointer has been tested in telemedicine, and has potential to a big influence in improving quality of health care, especially in the rural area. A telepointer system works by sending additional information in the form of gesture that can convey more accurate instruction or information. It leads to more effective communication, precise diagnosis, and better decision by means of discussion and consultation between the expert and the junior clinicians. However, there is no review paper yet on the state of the art of the telepointer in telemedicine. This paper is intended to give the readers an overview of recent advancement of telepointer technology as a support tool in telemedicine. There are four most popular modes of telepointer system, namely cursor, hand, laser and sketching pointer. The result shows that telepointer technology has a huge potential for wider acceptance in real life applications, there are needs for more improvement in the real time positioning accuracy. More results from actual test (real patient) need to be reported. We believe that by addressing these two issues, telepointer technology will be embraced widely by researchers and practitioners.

In previous studies, the use of thyroid cartilage needle electrodes (TCN) was defined as an inexpensive method for intra-operative nerve monitoring (IONM) in thyroid surgery. This multi-center retrospective study aims to determine the effectiveness and reliability of TCN in thyroid surgery. Patients operated on between January 2018 and August 2023 from five centers were included in this study. Demographic data, indications, type of surgery, IONM recording system, pre–post-resection vagus nerve (V1–V2), pre–post-resection recurrent laryngeal nerve (R1-R2) amplitudes and latency values, type of loss of signal (LOS), adverse event (AE), intra-operative injury mechanism, and post-operative vocal cord examination (VCE) were evaluated. Patients with abnormal preoperative vocal cord examination were excluded. A total of 2105 patients (3772 nerves at risk) were included [1626 (77%) female, 479 (23%) male]; within this study, 1112 patients (53%) received a diagnosis of malignancy, while 993 (47%) were diagnosed with benign conditions. The mean initial vagus amplitude was 1093.74 µV (± 861.39). LOS occurred in 63 patients [Type 1 (84%), Type 2 (16%)] and AE in 36. No false-positive LOS occurred. Forty-six (87%) of LOS type 1 patients and nine (90%) of LOS type 2 patients had vocal cord palsy (VCP) during VCE (p < 0.05). In AE patients, there were only two (5.5%) patients who had vocal cord palsy during VCE (p < 0.05). VCP occurred in 57(2.7%) patients, with 9 (0.42%) remaining permanent. TCN is an inexpensive and feasible alternative to endotracheal tube electrodes and a system with satisfying amplitudes. It can also precisely predict post-operative vocal cord functions.

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) contains mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), but their contribution to PTC progression is not clear. In this study, we compared the transcriptional signatures of normal thyroid (NT) and PTC-derived MSCs with the aim of determining if these have distinct transcriptomes that might influence PTC progression. We used flow cytometry in combination with a panel of MSC clusters of differentiation (CD) markers and showed that both thyroid MSC populations expressed MSC markers and lacked expression of markers not normally expressed by MSCs. In addition, we determined that both MSC populations could differentiate to adipocytes and osteocytes. Analysis of single cell RNA sequencing data from both MSC populations revealed, regardless of tissue of origin, that both contained similar numbers of subpopulations. Cluster analysis revealed similarity in expression of both MSC populations for stromal markers, the vascular marker VEGFA and the smooth muscle marker CALD1, while smaller subpopulations expressed markers of more lineage-committed thyroid cells. PTC MSCs also showed upregulated expression of 28 genes, many of which are known to be involved in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and/or disease progression in several types of cancers, including but not limited to breast cancer, gastric cancer, cervical carcinoma, bladder cancer and thyroid cancer. This included several members of the S100 and IGFBP gene families. Taken together, these data support a role for PTC MSCs in PTC progression.

Advanced thyroid carcinoma involving the upper aerodigestive tract confers a poor prognosis mainly due to airway complications. The management of thyroid carcinoma with infiltration to the aerodigestive tract has been widely discussed with no consensus regarding the best surgical technique. Complete surgical resection is the aim of the surgery. However, it has high morbidity if the postsurgical care is compromised, which will lead to airway obstruction, bleeding, infection, and anastomotic dehiscence. In our center, complete resection was achieved through cricotracheal window resection with partial closure and tracheostomy tube insertion. This procedure was chosen due to the time-sensitive nature of surgery in these patients with airway compromise and postoperative limitation of intensive care unit (ICU) bed availability. In our case series, we present six cases of papillary and follicular thyroid carcinoma complicated with intraluminal laryngotracheal infiltration and discuss its management and outcome.