Background: Solute carrier family 7 member 2 (SLC7A2), a cationic amino acid transporter, is lowly expressed in ovarian and hepatocellular cancers, which is associated with their worse prognosis. However, its roles in the prognosis, drug resistance and immune infiltration in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are unclear. Methods: We chose SLC7A2 from RNA-Seq of paclitaxel/cisplatin-resistant A549 cells, then bioinformatics, cell lines construction, RT-qPCR, and CCK8 were performed to investigate SLC7A2 role. Result: We analyzed the 223 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from RNA-Seq of paclitaxel/cisplatin-resistant A549 cells and found that SLC7A2 expression was down-regulated in NSCLC. Lower SLC7A2 expression was associated with worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) in NSCLC. SLC7A2 silencing enhanced the proliferation of NSCLC cells and their insensitivity to paclitaxel, cisplatin, and gemcitabine in vitro. Activation of AMPK has up-regulated SLC7A2 expression and enhanced the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to anti-tumor drugs, which could be attributed to E2F1’s regulation. In addition, the levels of SLC7A2 expression were correlated to the numbers of infiltrated neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells and their marker genes, like CD86, HLA-DPA1 and ITGAM. Conclusions: SLC7A2 may act as a tumor suppressor to modulate drug sensitivity, immune infiltration and survival in NSCLC.

Fork head box p3 (FOXP3), the specific transcription factors of Tregs, not only in Tregs, but also expressed in cancer cells of certain malignant tumors. The histological positioning of FOXP3 in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its biological significance are still unclear. This study aims to clarify the biological function of FOXP3 in NSCLC through bioinformatics analysis. Tumor immune estimation resource database was used to analyze the mRNA expression of FOXP3 in pan cancer, and to analyze the correlation between FOXP3 expression and tumor microenvironment cell infiltration. Overall survival and disease-free survival analyses were performed using a Kaplan–Meier plotter. Immunohistochemistry staining of FOXP3 was performed using human protein atalas (HPA) database, and immunofluorescence (IF) staining was used to verify gene expression and identify cell types. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks were drawn using STRING and visualized by Cytoscape. The functional and pathway enrichment analysis of FOXP3 used the DAVID database. In NSCLC, whether it is lung squamous cell carcinoma (P < .001) or lung adenocarcinoma (P < .001), FOXP3 is highly expressed in cancer tissue compared with normal tissue. Immunohistochemistry results showed that FOXP3 was mainly expressed in Tregs, but not in lung cancer tissues. IF staining showed that FOXP3 and CD3 (a marker of T cells) were co-expressed in immune cells. Moreover, survival analysis showed that high FOXP3 expression could be used as a predictor of poor overall survival (HR: 1.25, P = .00065) and disease-free survival (HR: 1.88, P = 1.1E-10) in patients with NSCLC. Next, we identified an important module containing 11 genes in the PPI network, including JUN, NFATC, STAT3, IRF4, IL2, IFGN, CTLA4, TNFRSF18, IL2A, KAT5, and FOXP3. KEGG signaling pathway was enriched in T cell receptor signaling pathway, Jak-STAT signaling pathway, cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction. Finally, we observed that FOXP3 expression correlated with infiltration of CD8 + T cells (R = 0.276, P = 5.90E−10), CD4 + T cells (R = 0.643, P = 6.81E−58), neutrophils (R = 0.525, P = 1.57E−35), and dendritic cells (R = 0.608, P = 1.35E−50) in lung adenocarcinoma, the same results were observed in lung squamous cell carcinoma. The infiltration of FOXP3-positive Tregs might promote the malignant progression of NSCLC, and targeted intervention of Tregs may be a potential treatment option for patients with NSCLC.

Background: Studies suggested that the immunophenotype of hyaline vascular type Castleman disease (HVCD) lacked characteristics, which was easy to be confused with other diseases.Methods: From January 2010 to June 2022, 17 cases of HVCD were selected from the Department of Pathology of Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital and the Department of Pathology of Shaanxi Provincial Cancer Hospital. 13 cases of reactive hyperplastic lymph nodes (RHL) and 11 cases of follicular lymphoma (FL) were selected as the control group. All cases were performed CD3, CD20, CD21 and BCL2 immunohistochemical staining.Results: (i) In 17 cases of HVCD, the negative area of BCL2 of germinal center was significantly smaller than the negative area of CD3 of germinal center. However, in 13 cases of RHL, the negative area of CD3 of germinal center was basically consistent with the negative area of germinal center of BCL2 of germinal center. In 11 cases of FL, in neoplastic follicles, the negative area of CD3 was basically consistent with the positive area of BCL2. The difference between HVCD group and other two groups of diseases was statistically significant (P < 0.05). (ii) In 17 cases of HVCD, the negative area of BCL2 of germinal center was significantly smaller than the follicular dendritic cell (FDC) meshworks expressed by CD21. However, in 13 cases of RHL, the FDC meshworks expressed by CD21 were basically consistent with the negative area of BCL2 of germinal center. In 11 cases of FL, in neoplastic follicles, the FDC meshworks expressed by CD21 was basically consistent with the positive area of BCL2. The difference between HVCD group and other two groups of disease was statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusions: HVCD has unique immunophenotypic characteristics. The negative area of BCL2 of germinal center is significantly smaller than the negative area of CD3. The negative area of the BCL2 of germinal center is significantly smaller than the FDC meshworks expressed by CD21. These two immunophenotypic features in HVCD are very important in diagnosis and differential diagnosis.

Purpose: This study examines the protein expression and mRNA levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) in patients with Kikuchi's disease, and explores the association between the MPO‐463G/A polymorphism and Kikuchi's disease.Methods: Paraffin blocks from 43 patients with Kikuchi's disease were collected, and paraffin blocks from patients with reactive hyperplastic lymph nodes, granulomatous inflammation, and myeloid sarcoma were used as controls. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain Reaction (qRT‐PCR) and Sanger sequencing were used to detect the relevant variants.Results: The positive rate of MPO protein expression in the Kikuchi's disease group was 100% by IHC. In comparison to the control group, patients with Kikuchi's disease exhibited elevated MPO mRNA expression levels, which demonstrated a positive correlation with protein expression levels. Kikuchi's disease and reactive hyperplastic lymph nodes displayed distinct genotypes at the MPO‐463 locus, with mutation phenotypes of 7% and 30%, respectively. The G allele at this locus emerged as a risk factor.Conclusions: In Kikuchi's disease, both the protein and mRNA expression levels of MPO are elevated, and the high expression of mRNA is positively correlated with the protein expression levels. The polymorphism at the MPO‐463 locus may be associated with the occurrence of Kikuchi's disease.

The BRAF V600E mutation is the most frequent driver alteration in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and plays an important role in diagnosis, risk stratification, and treatment planning. Commonly used detection methods include immunohistochemistry (IHC), amplification-refractory mutation system PCR (AMRS-PCR), and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). However, their relative performance and their ability to identify low-frequency mutations have not been fully clarified. This retrospective study included 1571 patients diagnosed with PTC between December 2021 and January 2025. All patients underwent IHC testing, and 871 also received AMRS-PCR for BRAF V600E detection. Sixty cases with discordant IHC and AMRS-PCR results were further analyzed using ddPCR. Detection rates, concordance, sensitivity, specificity, and variant allele frequency (VAF) were compared across the three methods. Among the 871 patients with both IHC and AMRS-PCR results, the overall concordance rate was 93.2 %, and 59 cases showed discordant findings. ddPCR confirmed the presence of BRAF V600E in 24 discordant cases (40.7 %). The ddPCR positivity rate was higher in the IHC-negative and AMRS-PCR-positive group than in the IHC-positive and AMRS-PCR-negative group (52.2 % vs. 33.3 %, P = 0.033), and the former group also showed a markedly higher VAF (mean 6.97 % vs. 2.82 %). AMRS-PCR demonstrated better sensitivity and specificity (75.0 % and 85.7 %) than IHC (25.0 % and 14.3 %). AMRS-PCR provides greater sensitivity and specificity than IHC for detecting BRAF V600E mutations and is appropriate for routine molecular testing. ddPCR offers excellent sensitivity for low-frequency mutations and is valuable for resolving discordant results. A multimodal testing strategy may improve detection accuracy and support personalized management of patients with PTC.

Background: Recent studies have shown that tumor cell membranes exhibit lower polarity than normal cell membranes, a characteristic that can be harnessed for cancer diagnosis. TPAS (viscosity-responsive plasma membrane probe), a recently developed staining method using cell membrane polarity probes, may selectively visualize cervical cancer cells by targeting membrane polarity differences, offering a potential new approach for cervical cancer screening.To investigate the diagnostic value of TPAS staining combined with liquid-based thin-layer cytological testing (TCT) and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing in detecting cervical cancer. Methods: A total of 100 patients with suspected cervical precancerous lesions from the People’s Hospital of Shaanxi Province between May 2024 and May 2025 were studied. All patients underwent TPAS testing, HPV testing and TCT. Biopsy results were the gold standard for evaluating positivity rates and diagnostic values of the tests, both individually and in combination. Results: Among the 100 participants, the positive rates of the tests were as follows: TPAS detection rate was 86.7%, HPV detection rate was 80%, TCT rate 66.7%, and TCT + HPV rate was 35.00%. The combined TPAS + HPV testing showed higher accuracy (72.00%) and sensitivity(70.6%) than TCT + HPV (58.0%)and (54.1%), and the differences were statistically significant ((χ2 = 14.00, P = 0.0002). Conclusion: TPAS combined with HPV testing has high specificity, sensitivity and accuracy, making it a promising approach for cervical cancer diagnosis.