Objective. To investigate the association of the plasma level of cytokines and blood routine indexes with clinical characteristics in patients with cancer. Methods. We analyzed plasma samples derived from 134 cancer patients. Interleukins (IL) 1β, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12p70, 17, IFN-γ, IFN-α, and TNF-α, and blood routine indexes were measured. The associations of the levels of cytokine and blood routine indexes with demographic and clinical characteristics of cancer patients were analyzed. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis was employed to identify cancer metastasis using these plasma cytokine metrics as input. We compared the predictive effectiveness of numeric machine learning algorithms using these indexes and showed a promising model implemented with random forest. Results. Plasma levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in cancer patients with metastases were higher than those without metastases ( ). Cancer patients without metastases had significantly higher levels of plasma IL-12p70 and percentage of lymphocytes as compared with those with metastases ( ). Our random forest model showed the highest prediction performance (upper quantile AUC, 0.885) among the six machine learning algorithms we evaluated. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-12p70 and the percentage of lymphocytes could predict the recurrence, metastasis, and progression of cancer. Our findings will provide guidance for tumor monitoring and treatment.

Objective: Effective health communication is a cornerstone of public health promotion. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a pedagogical model to equip future physicians with essential skills in audience-tailored science communication, thereby contributing to the public health workforce. Methods: The study involved 79 undergraduate students enrolled in the elective science communication course. The newly proposed A-SPIRE model (Anchoring, Searching, Processing, Integrating, Realizing, Evaluating) was applied in a teaching unit on “Precision Science Communication.” A pre-post design was used, with data collected via questionnaires, knowledge tests, and analysis of student-created communication works. Results: Students’ understanding of precision science communication concepts and recognition of its importance significantly improved post-course ( P < 0.05). The overall distribution of knowledge test scores shifted upward ( P < 0.05). The student-created works effectively addressed the needs and characteristics of different target populations, demonstrating strong relevance, targeting, and effectiveness. The student-created works demonstrated a strong ability to address the specific needs and characteristics of different target populations (adolescents, young/middle-aged adults, older adults). 92.6% of students were satisfied with the model, and 96.3% reported improved communication abilities. Conclusion: The A-SPIRE model effectively enhances medical students’ competency in precision health communication. It represents a feasible and scalable educational strategy to bridge medical training and public health needs by cultivating a future workforce capable of designing and delivering effective, audience-specific health promotion interventions.

Background: Oncology education often focuses on disease burden and mortality, which may reduce students’ learning interest and reinforce negative perceptions of cancer. Although positive psychology has shown educational benefits in promoting motivation, resilience, and professional development, its integration into oncology education remains insufficiently explored. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a positive psychology–integrated oncology teaching model (4C-HOPE) in undergraduate medical education. Methods: Sixty-eight undergraduate medical students at Sun Yat-sen University participated in the 4C-HOPE teaching intervention during the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) chapter of their oncology course. Knowledge tests and questionnaires were administered before and after the intervention to assess educational outcomes. Student satisfaction and subsequent clinical clerkship performance were also evaluated. Results: Knowledge test scores improved significantly, with the median score increasing from 60 to 100 ( P < 0.001). The proportion of students reporting strong interest in learning about HCC increased from 50.0% to 85.0% ( P < 0.001). Agreement that physicians should provide holistic care increased from 89.7% to 95.0% ( P = 0.480), while willingness to apply positive psychology-based communication skills increased from 60.3% to 77.5% ( P = 0.089). Overall, 87.5% of students expressed high satisfaction with the teaching model. During subsequent clerkships, students exposed to the 4C-HOPE model achieved higher examination scores than controls (81.49 ± 7.87 vs. 77.45 ± 8.58, P = 0.014). Conclusions: The 4C-HOPE teaching model significantly improved knowledge acquisition and learning interest among undergraduate medical students, with favorable trends in holistic care awareness and communication willingness. The sustained benefits observed in clerkship performance further support its pedagogical value. This model offers a feasible framework for fostering both academic learning and professional development in oncology education.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a major cause of cancer-related mortality, and responses to immune checkpoint blockade are often limited. Casein kinase 2 beta (CK2beta), encoded by CSNK2B, has established tumor-intrinsic functions, but its relationship with immune states in HCC remains unclear. Methods: We integrated TCGA-LIHC, six GEO cohort-platform combinations, GSE149614 single-cell RNA sequencing data, CIBERSORTx deconvolution, broad-compartment CellChat inference, and public proteomic resources. We evaluated CSNK2B expression, overall survival, a prespecified GDF15-associated Treg/checkpoint transcriptional module, tumor microenvironment features, compartment-level localization, and protein-level support. Results: CSNK2B was upregulated in TCGA-LIHC and all six external cohort-platform comparisons but was not a robust prognostic marker. The strongest immune association was with the GDF15-associated Treg/checkpoint module (Spearman rho = 0.371, q = 2.9 × 10⁻¹²); the direction was positive in all six GEO analyses and four passed BH-FDR. Deconvolution results were small and heterogeneous. CSNK2B and GDF15 were most prominent in hepatocyte-like compartments, while the candidate hepatocyte-to-T/NK GDF15–TGFBR2 pair was not reproduced in pooled data or in any of 10 patient-stratified CellChat runs. Public proteomic datasets supported tumor-side elevation of both proteins. Conclusions: CSNK2B expression aligns with a reproducible GDF15-associated transcriptional state in HCC, accompanied by selective stromal, endothelial, and immune-context changes. The evidence is associative and provides hypotheses for perturbation, spatial, and co-culture validation rather than a causal or treatment-prediction claim.