Background: Abnormalities of some facial bones derived from the ectomesenchyme have been found in ectodermal dysplasia (ED) patients, but the characteristics of the zygoma are unknown.Purpose: Comparison between ED patients and normal individuals to understand the anatomical features of the zygoma in ED patients.Materials and Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with ED based on clinical features and/or gene sequence tests and 80 normal individuals were recruited from 2016 to 2018. The thickness of the zygomatic body at 12 points on the superior, middle, and inferior areas and the length of four lines were measured on a three‐dimensional cone beam computed tomography image. Differences between ED patients and normal individuals were then compared.Results: The zygomatic thicknesses and lengths were smaller in ED patients than in normal individuals. For ED patients, the largest thicknesses on the superior, middle, and inferior areas of the zygoma were 8.47 ± 1.49, 7.03 ± 1.56, and 5.99 ± 1.22 mm.Conclusion: The development of zygomatic thickness on the inferior area and the zygomatic length were insufficient in ED patients with oligodontia. Consequently, zygomatic hypoplasia presented difficulties for the “quad approach” to zygomatic implants in this group of patients.

Background Currently, neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy (NCIT) is widely used in the perioperative treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, the patterns of lymph node metastasis following this novel treatment approach remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to elucidate the distribution and frequency of postoperative lymph node metastasis (LNM) after NCIT. Methods We retrospectively analyzed cases from March 2020 to March 2023 in our hospital and selected patients who underwent NCIT followed by R0 resection for esophageal cancer. A total of 257 patients with clinical stage T3N0 or T1-3N + thoracic esophageal cancer were included. The distribution and frequency of metastatic lesions in each lymph node station were recorded according to the Japan Esophageal Society (JES) staging system. Additionally, we analyzed the patterns of lymph node metastasis based on the location of the thoracic tumor. Results Among the 257 patients, 110 (42.8%) had pathologically positive lymph nodes postoperatively. Common sites of lymph node metastasis included station 107 (12.8%), station 106recR (11.7%), and station 7 (12.5%). The lymph node stations with lower metastasis rates were station 105, station 106tbL, and station 111, each with a metastasis rate of 2.3%. In upper thoracic (Ut) cases, station 106recR (23.7%) was the most common site of lymph node metastasis, while in middle thoracic (Mt) cases, station 107 (16.7%) had the highest metastasis rate, and in lower thoracic (Lt) cases, station 7 (17.6%) had the highest metastasis rate. Lymph node metastasis (LNM) was more likely to occur in station 101R in Ut and Mt cases than in Lt cases (13.2% and 8.6%; p < 0.01). Conclusions This study reveals the frequency and distribution patterns of lymph node metastasis following NCIT, highlighting the different patterns of lymph node metastasis based on tumor location. These findings can provide guidance for lymph node dissection during surgery.

PD-1 inhibitor and chemotherapy demonstrated durable antitumor activity with a manageable safety profile as the first-line treatment in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors plus different dose intensity neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced ESCC. Patients with locally advanced but resectable thoracic ESCC, staged as T3 or T4a, N0–3, and M0 or M1 lymph node metastasis (confined to the supraclavicular lymph nodes), were enrolled in this study. The eligible patients received tislelizumab plus different dose intensity chemotherapy for a 21-day cycle with repeated 2–4 cycles before surgery. The primary endpoints are pathological complete response (pCR) and major pathological response (MPR), and the secondary endpoints are objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and disease-free survival (DFS). From November 2019 to February 2022, 122 cases received at least two cycles neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and were evaluated by imaging examination. Subsequently, 99 patients underwent surgery and were evaluated by pathological evaluation. According to chemotherapy dose intensity, the patients were divided into three cohorts: cohort 1 (<80% dose intensity), cohort 2 (80–90% dose intensity), cohort 3 (90–100% dose intensity). All surgery patients underwent minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE). The average pCR was identified in 22.22%; 16% had pCR in cohort 1, 17.65% had pCR in cohort 2, and 30.00% had pCR in cohort 3. MPR was observed in 9 (36.00%) patients in cohort 1, 18 (52.94%) patients in cohort 2, 22 (55.00%) patients in cohort 3. In univariable and multivariable analysis, dose intensity was significantly associated with MPR (p = 0.048) in patients who underwent esophagectomy. For surviving patients, the median follow-up was 13.76 months after esophagectomy. Compared to cohort 1, cohorts 2 and 3 had better DFS (p = 0.056). In addition, the prognosis of patients with MPR was better than that of patients without MPR (p = 0.014). The robust antitumor activity of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy for locally advanced but resectable thoracic ESCC was confirmed. More than 80% of chemotherapy dose intensity combined with immunotherapy resulted in a high pCR rate and prolonged DFS.

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is a key biomarker for predicting the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). With the successful application of perioperative immunotherapy, understanding PD-L1-associated clinical and molecular characteristics in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is essential. We analyzed 3185 NSCLC patients undergoing targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) and PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC). Associations between PD-L1 expression and molecular profiles were compared across early- (I-III) and advanced-stage (IV) cohorts. In early-stage NSCLC (n = 974), high PD-L1 expression was less common than in advanced-stage patients (lung adenocarcinoma [LUAD]: 7.52% vs. 15.98%, p < 0.001; lung squamous cell carcinoma [LUSC]: 18.33% vs. 20.84%, p = 0.058). For LUAD, high PD-L1 expression was more frequent in older patients, males and smokers. Additionally, LUSC overall showed a higher rate of high PD-L1 expression than LUAD. In LUAD, early-stage patients had a lower proportion of tumor mutation burden-high (TMB-H) compared to advanced-stage patients (p < 0.001), but no significant difference was observed in LUSC (p = 0.597). Early-stage patients also had a lower proportion of immunotherapy resistance genes than advanced-stage (LUAD: 31.15% vs. 48.50%, p = 0.014; LUSC: 13.64% vs. 45.24%, p = 0.0067). Moreover, among LUAD patients with high PD-L1 expression and all LUSC patients, early-stage patients exhibited more significantly different genetic features compared to advanced-stage patients. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of immunotherapy-related biomarker rates in early-stage NSCLC patients, offering insights for perioperative immunotherapy research and biomarker analysis. Not applicable.