ABSTRACT
Objective To study the synergistic effect of taxol and irradiation on programmed cell death induction in the human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line (CNE) in vitro.Methods Cell viability was evaluated by clonogenic assay. Cell cycle perturbation was assessed by flow cytometric analysis and apoptosis was determined with TUNEL.Results The intensity of cytotoxicity depended on the taxol dose used to CNE cells during the first 24 hrs. A G 2+M block was present with exposure to the drug of 100 nmol/L. When CNE cells were irradiated after 24 hrs of taxol exposure, synergistic effect was demonstrated with a taxol SER of 1.23. The same level apoptosis was induced by 10 ?mol/L taxol for 24 hrs or 2 Gy X-ray radiation in CNE cells.By both,the increase of induced apoptotic cells was over their additive results. Conclusion Taxol combined with radiation is able to enhance the radiosensitivity in the CNE cell line.
ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate 18 F deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) in the detection of suspicious recurrence in head and neck cancers , as compared with CT/MRI imaging. Methods Thirty seven patients with clinically suspicious recurrences in head and neck cancers underwent FDG PET, with 34 checked with CT/MRI imaging. The final diagnosis of recurrence were proved by pathology or clinical following up. Results FDG PET detected recurrence successfully in 32 of 37(86.5%) patients with 3 false positives and 2 false negatives. The FDG PET sensitivity, specificity and accuracy in defining local recurrence were 91.7%, 76.9%, 86.5%, respectively; and those of CT/MRI were 68.2%, 75.0%, 61.8%, respectively. Conclusion In comparison with CT/MRI, FDG PET possesses a higher accuracy in detecting recurrence in head and neck cancers.