OBJECTIVE. Tumor thickness in oral tongue cancer is an important independent prognostic factor for local recurrence, nodal metastasis, and patient survival. An accurate preoperative assessment of tumor thickness is therefore essential for optimal treatment planning. The aim of our study was to evaluate the accuracy of MRI findings for the preoperative measurement of tumor thickness.SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Eighteen patients with oral tongue cancer underwent preoperative MRI of the tongue. After surgery, the glossectomy specimens were serially sectioned. The radiologic tumor thickness of contrast-enhanced T1-weighted and T2-weighted images was compared with the histologic tumor thickness using our proposed tumor thickness staging classifications. These included stage I (tumor ≤ 3 mm), stage II (> 3 mm but ≤ 9 mm) and stage III (> 9 mm).RESULTS. The overall accuracy in assessment of proposed tumor thickness staging using contrast-enhanced T1-weighted and T2-weighted images was 83% and 56%, respectively. The ra...

This retrospective study determined for the first time the role of baseline antral follicle count (AFC) and serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) level in the first in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycle in predicting cumulative live birth from one stimulation cycle. We studied 1,156 women (median age 35 years) undergoing the first IVF cycle. Baseline AFC and AMH level on the day before ovarian stimulation were analysed. The main outcome measure was cumulative live birth in the fresh plus all the frozen embryo transfers after the same stimulation cycle. Serum AMH was significantly correlated with AFC. Both AMH and AFC showed significant correlation with age and ovarian response in the stimulated cycle and total number of transferrable embryos. Baseline AFC and serum AMH were significantly higher in subjects attaining a live birth than those who did not in the fresh stimulated cycle, as well as those attaining cumulative live birth. There was a significant trend of higher cumulative live birth rate in women with higher AMH or AFC. However, logistic regression revealed that both AMH and AFC were not significant predictors of cumulative live birth after adjusting for age and number of embryos available for transfer. Considering only one single predictor, the areas under the ROC curves for AMH (0.646, 95% CI 0.616–0.675) and age (0.648, 95% CI 0.618–0.677) were slightly higher than that for AFC (0.617, 95% CI 0.587–0.647) in predicting cumulative live birth. However, a model combining AMH (with or without AFC) and age of the women only classified an addition of less than 2% of subjects correctly compared to the model with age alone. Baseline AFC and serum AMH have only modest predictive performance on the occurrence of cumulative live birth, and may not give additional value on top of the women's age.

STUDY QUESTION How do the three new anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) assay methods, manufactured by Beckman Coulter, Roche and Ansh Labs compare with each other and with the Gen II assay? SUMMARY ANSWER The three new AMH assays are well correlated among themselves and with the Gen II assay, although differences in calibration do exist. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY The Gen II assay has been the mainstay method for AMH measurement in the past few years. Recently, a few new AMH measurement methods have come to the market. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This was a prospective assay evaluation performed on 178 human serum samples. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS AMH concentration was measured in residual serum samples donated by female patients in a reproductive medicine centre. The three new assay methods were tested in parallel and the numerical values obtained were compared among themselves and with those obtained by the Gen II assay. The assay stability upon different sample storage conditions, intra-assay and inter-assay precision, linearity and dilution recovery, and diagnostic performance for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) of the three new AMH assay methods were also compared. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE AMH values measured by the Gen II kit and the three new assay methods have good correlations (R > 0.9 for all pairwise correlations). Values measured by the Ansh Labs assay were significantly higher, whereas those by the Roche assay were significantly lower, than those from the Gen II and Beckman-Coulter automated assays (P < 0.05). AMH values were significantly different when measured on the fresh and frozen–thawed serum sample (at −20^oC and −80^oC) for all three new methods (P < 0.05), but the magnitude of difference was very small with the Beckman-Coulter automated assay and Roche assay. The intra-assay coefficients of variation (CVs) were 0.7–2.2%, 0.5–1.4%, and 1.4–5.4% for the Beckman-Counter automated, Roche and Ansh Labs assays, respectively. Their inter-assay CVs were 0.9–2.5%, 0.7–1.9%, and 6.2–13.5%, respectively. All three new assay methods showed acceptable linearity, and provided excellent discrimination of PCOS from controls. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The precision and dilution linearity experiments involved a small sample size, although these were not the primary outcome measures and have been properly evaluated in previous publications. The study was not designed or powered for determining diagnostic cut-off values. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS The results demonstrate that the three new AMH assay methods are all valid methods to be adopted in the field of reproduction and are a basis for further work on their clinical application. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) The authors have no competing interest to declare. The execution of this study was funded by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Hong Kong.