Struma ovarii (SO) represents a rare subset of ovarian germ cell tumors, with approximately 5% transforming into malignant SO (MSO). This study retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 23 SO patients treated at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between January 2013 and December 2023, including 17 benign SO and 6 MSO cases. Additionally, a systematic review of 164 cases of MSO confined to the ovary, reported in the literature from 1946 to 2024, was conducted. Data on pathological type, treatment, and prognosis were extracted, and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors for recurrence in stage I MSO. The median age at diagnosis was higher for benign SO compared to MSO (58 vs. 42.5 years), with 70.6% of patients being postmenopausal. Benign SO commonly presented with abdominal distension or mass, with more than half having ascites, while MSO patients were asymptomatic and lacked ascites. Cox regression analyses revealed that ovarian cystectomy was adversely associated with recurrence risk in stage I MSO, likely due to surgically induced capsular rent and potential tumor spillage. Significantly lower recurrence risks were observed in patients who underwent unilateral or bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (HR = 0.36, P = 0.019; HR = 0.19, P = 0.004, respectively). This study highlights the importance of the surgical approach in the management of stage I MSO. A thorough preoperative discussion of the benefits and risks of different surgical approaches is recommended for patients desiring fertility preservation. Postoperative adjuvant therapy has not been shown to have a significant impact on prognosis. For the treatment of recurrent MSO, selecting appropriate surgical and adjuvant therapeutic strategies is essential to improve the long-term prognosis of MSO patients.

Background: Perineural invasion (PNI) is associated with aggressive tumor behavior in several malignancies, but its independent prognostic value in early-stage cervical cancer remains uncertain. We evaluated the clinical significance of PNI and explored molecular and immune features associated with PNI. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 499 patients with FIGO 2009 stage IB–IIA cervical cancer treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Associations between PNI, clinicopathological variables, recurrence-free survival, and overall survival were assessed using Kaplan–Meier methods and Cox regression. An independent cohort of 286 cervical cancers from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was analyzed to characterize PNI-associated transcriptomic patterns, pathway enrichment, immune cell composition, and microRNA profiles. Results: PNI was identified in 11.6% of cases and was associated with larger tumor size, deep stromal invasion, and lymphovascular space invasion. PNI was not an independent prognostic factor in the overall cohort; however, it was associated with increased recurrence risk in the subgroup without high-risk factors and not meeting Sedlis criteria, with a modest improvement in 5-year recurrence discrimination when incorporated into Sedlis-based models. In TCGA, PNI was associated with differential gene expression and enrichment of oncogenic and immune-related pathways, an increased estimated abundance of resting mast cells, and six differentially expressed microRNAs. Conclusions: In early-stage cervical cancer, PNI is strongly correlated with established adverse pathological features and shows a subgroup-specific association with recurrence in an otherwise low-risk postoperative population. The multi-omics findings are exploratory and support biological hypotheses regarding tumor–nerve–immune interactions; external validation is needed before PNI can be used to guide postoperative management.

This preliminary study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of enhanced terahertz (THz) scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) for the label-free, nanoscale imaging of ovarian cancer cells. Leveraging an advanced THz s-SNOM platform integrated with zero-intermediate frequency radar detection and atomic force microscopy (AFM), we investigated the morphological and intrinsic dielectric properties of ovarian cancer cells under various preparation protocols. Paraffin-embedded cell sections deposited on silicon dioxide (SiO ₂ ) and gold substrates demonstrated clear correlations between AFM-derived topographical maps and THz near-field images, revealing subcellular structures such as distinct nuclear and cytoplasmic domains without the use of exogenous labels. Additionally, imaging of air-dried ES-2 ovarian cancer cell suspensions on gold substrates further improved morphological preservation and contrast resolution compared to paraffin-embedded sections. Our findings indicate that THz s-SNOM enables label-free, nanoscale characterization of cellular architecture and composition, yielding insights into cellular heterogeneity relevant to ovarian cancer research and diagnostics.

Biological cell imaging in the sub-terahertz (sub-THz) regime is exceptionally challenging due to the intrinsically low dielectric contrast of weakly scattering specimens. Here, we present a sub-THz scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) system, specifically engineered to overcome this limitation. Superior near-field sensitivity is achieved through a strategically designed zero-intermediate-frequency (Zero-IF) architecture, featuring high transmitter-receiver isolation (39.95 dB at 105.87 GHz), and a custom-designed probe with a 100 nm tip radius. This probe design deliberately maximizes the near-field scattering efficiency for low-dielectric materials. We validated the system's performance by imaging ovarian cancer cells in three distinct preparations: cell-suspension, thick-sliced (5 μm), and ultrathin-sliced (100-200 nm) samples. The system successfully generated high-fidelity, nanoscale images with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) up to 50.3 dB, clearly resolving subcellular structures. This success demonstrates the potential of the s-SNOM platform to serve as a powerful label-free, non-invasive imaging tool for cellular biology and clinical diagnostic research.