Research on automatic delineation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma target area based on generative adversarial network / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective:To propose a deep learning network model 2D-PE-GAN to automatically delineate the target area of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and improve the efficiency of target area delineation.Methods:The model adopted the architecture of generative adversarial networks which used a UNet similar structure as the generator, and 2D-PE-block was added after each layer of convolution operation of the generator to improve the accuracy of delineation. The experimental data included CT images from 130 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The images were preprocessed before model training. In addition, three models of UNet, GAN, and GAN with an attention mechanism were compared, and Dice similarity coefficient, Hausdorff distance, accuracy, Matthews correlation coefficient, Jaccard distance were employed to evaluate network performance.Results:Compared with UNet, GAN and GAN with the attention mechanism, the average Dice similarity coefficient of 2D-PE-GAN network segmentation of CTV was increased by 26%, 4% and 2%. The average Dice similarity coefficient of GTV segmentation was increased by 21%, 4%, 2%, respectively. Compared with the GAN network with the attention mechanism, the parameters and time of 2D-PE-GAN were reduced by 0.16% and 18%, respectively.Conclusions:Compared with the above three networks, 2D-PE-GAN network can increase the segmentation accuracy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma target area delineation. At the same time, compared with the attention mechanism with similar reasons, 2D-PE-GAN network can reduce the occupation of computing resources when the segmentation accuracy is not much different.

Effects of cervical region Ⅱ and oral target area optimization on salivary gland function and oral mucosal response during radiotherapy for oropharyngeal carcinoma / 肿瘤研究与临床

Objective:To observe the effects of cervical region Ⅱ and oral target area optimization on therapeutic efficacy, salivary gland function and oral mucosal response during intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for oropharyngeal cancer.Methods:A total of 50 patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in Xuzhou Cancer Hospital from January 2012 to May 2017 were collected. According to the random number table, they were divided into normal radiotherapy group (the control group), oral and cervical target area optimization group (the observation group), 25 cases in each group. Both groups were treated with IMRT and platinum-chemotherapy. The control group received bilateral cervical region Ⅱ-Ⅳ lymphatic drainage area irradiation (the positive side of the cervical lymph node included Ⅰ B region), and bilateral cervical region Ⅱ was given a tumor dose of 60 Gy (positive lymph nodes were given intensified irradiation); the observation group was optimized for the target area, and the contralateral cervical region Ⅱ B (the side with no positive lymph node) was given a tumor dose of 50 Gy; the observation group's oral structure was delineated as an organ at risk and the average radiation dose (D mean) was limited to <32 Gy. The differences in radiation dose of parotid gland, acute oral mucosal reaction and long-term xerostomia (6 months after the end of radiotherapy), objective remission rate (ORR), local recurrence rate (LRR), 3-year overall survival (OS) were compared between the two groups. Results:In the control group, the contralateral parotid gland D mean was (29±4) Gy, the proportion of irradiation volume exposed to 34 Gy (V 34) was (48±5)%; in the observation group, contralateral parotid gland D mean was (23±3) Gy, V 34 was (41±5)%, and there are statistically significant differences between the two groups ( t values were 6.14, 4.98, all P < 0.05). In the control group, oral D mean was (35±6) Gy, the proportion of volume exposed to 30 Gy (V 30) was (36±5)%; in the observation group oral D mean was (29±4) Gy, V 30 was (28±4)%, and there were statistically significant differences between the two groups ( t values were 4.11, 5.98, all P < 0.05). The incidence of ≥ grade Ⅱ acute oral mucosal adverse reaction and the duration time of oral mucosal ≥ 2 weeks was 64% (16/25) and 76% (19/25), respectively in the control group, 36% (9/25) and 40% (10/25), respectively in the observation group; and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2 values were 3.92, 6.65; P values were 0.048, 0.009). The incidence of ≥ grade Ⅱ long-term xerostomia reaction was 72% (18/25) and 44% (11/25), respectively in the control group and the observation group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.02, P = 0.044). The ORR, LRR, and 3-year OS rates were 80%, 28%, 48% in the control group, and 76%, 24%, 44% in the observation group. There was no statistically significant difference in the OS between the two groups ( χ2 = 0.04, P = 0.849). Conclusions:Optimization of the target area of the oral and cervical region Ⅱ during IMRT for oropharyngeal carcinoma can improve the function of salivary glands, thereby reducing dry mouth and oral mucosal reactions, improving the quality of life of patients; and it does not affect the efficacy of tumor treatment.

Pharmacokinetic study on five components in phthalide target areas of Chaxiong and its β-CD inclusion compounds based on UPLC-MS/MS / 中国中药杂志

This study aims to establish a method for the determination of the concentration of five main components of phthalide target areas of Chaxiong(CPTA) and its inclusion of β-CD in the plasma of rats, and determine the pharmacokinetic parameters, absolute bioavailability and relative bioavailability of CPTA/β-CD inclusion compound in vivo. The plasma concentrations of senkyunolide A, N-butylphthalide, new osthol lactone, Z-ligustilide and butenyl phthalide were determined with UPLC-MS/MS. The content determination was conducted at the chromatographic conditions as follows: Shim-pack GIST C_(18)-AQ HP column(2.1 mm×100 mm, 3 μm), mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid solution(A)-acetonitrile(B), gradient elution, flow rate of 0.3 mL·min~(-1), column temperature of 35 ℃ and injection volume of 2 μL. The mass spectra were obtained with electrospray ion source(ESI), positive ion mode and multi reaction monitoring. CPTA/β-CD inclusion compound was prepared by grinding method, DAS 2.0 software was used to model the data, and the absolute bioavailability of CPTA and relative bioavailability of inclusion compound were calculated. Finally, the methods for the determination of five components of senkyunolide A, N-butylphthalide, new osthol lactone, Z-ligustilide and butenyl phthalide in CPTA, were successfully established. The linear relationship among the five components was good within their respective ranges, r>0.99. The absolute bioavailability of the five components in rats was 22.30%, 16.32%, 21.90%, 10.16% and 12.43%, respectively. After CPTA/β-CD inclusion was prepared, the relative bioavailability of the five components was 138.69%, 198.39%, 218.01%, 224.54% and 363.55%, respectively, significantly improved. This method is rapid, accurate and sensitive, so it is suitable for the pharmacokinetic study of extracts in traditional Chinese medicine and their preparations.

Abdominal lymph node recurrence after radical surgery in patients with middle thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma:risk factors and guidance for postoperative radiotherapy / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To analyze the risk factors for abdominal lymph node recurrence after radical surgery in patients with middle thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (TE-SCC),and to design the target volume for postoperative radiotherapy based on the results.Methods A retrospective study was performed among 913 patients with middle TE-SCC undergoing radical surgery who were admitted to our hospital from 2007 to 2012.Influencing factors were analyzed for abdominal lymph node recurrence after treatment.The efficacy was compared between different treatment methods in the high-risk population.Comparison of categorical data was made by chi-square test.The overall survival rates (OS) were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed by the univariate log-rank analysis.The influencing factors for abdominal lymph node recurrence were analyzed by the multivariate logistic regression equation.Results After treatment,37 patients had abdominal lymph node recurrence,yielding a recurrence rate of 4.1％.A total of 53 recurrent sites were found.The univariate analysis showed that no/low differentiation,pT3+4 stage,no less than 3 positive postoperative lymph nodes,and positive postoperative abdominal lymph nodes were influencing factors for abdominal lymph node recurrence (P =0.032,0.001,0.009,0.000).The multivariate regression analysis showed that pathological T staging and positive postoperative abdominal lymph nodes were influencing factors for abdominal lymph node recurrence (P=0.011,0.000).For patients with pT3+4 stage disease and positive postoperative abdominal lymph nodes,postoperative radiotherapy improved OS and local control rates but failed to reduce the distant metastasis-free rate.Conclusions T staging and positive postoperative abdominal lymph nodes are important risk factors for abdominal lymph node recurrence after radical surgery in patients with middle TE-SCC.Postoperative adjuvant therapy is recommended for patients with pT3+4 stage disease and positive postoperative abdominal lymph nodes.

Failure patterns of radical surgery in patients with T1-4N0-1M0 thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: implications for the target area design of postoperative therapy / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective To analyze the failure patterns and prognostic factors of radical surgery in patients with T1-4N0-1M0 thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (TESCC),and the implications for the target area design of postoperative therapy.Methods We retrospectively analyzed 1 191 patients with TESCC who underwent radical surgery at our institution.The failure patterns,the prognostic factors,as well as the effects of lesion locations and N stage on the failure patterns were analyzed.Results The thoracic-region recurrence rate and the distant metastasis rate was 31.7％ and 16.4％ in all patients.The multivariate analysis showed that the lesion locations,the degree of inflammatory adhesion,T staging,N staging and the rate of lymph nodes metastasis were independent factors affecting the regional recurrence (P ＜ 0.05).Gender,tumor differentiation and the rate of lymph nodes metastasis were independent factors affecting distant metastasis (P ＜ 0.05).The intrathoracic lymph nodes recurrence rate of upper/middle TESCC was significantly higher than that of the lower TESCC (x2 =6.179,P =0.046),while the abdomen lymph nodes recurrence rate of the lower was significantly higher than that of upper/middle TESCC (x2 =15.853,P ＜ 0.05).The recurrence rate and distant metastasis rate of stage N1 patients were significantly higher than that of N0 patients (x2 =7.764-56.495,P ＜ 0.05).The abdomen lymph nodes recurrence rate of stage N1 patients was significantly higher than that of N0 in upper TESCC (x2 =7.905,P ＜0.05).The supraclavicular and intrathoracic lymph nodes recurrence rates of stage N1 patients were significantly higher than that of N0 patients in middle TESCC (x2 =12.506,18.436,P ＜ 0.05).The supraclavicular lymph nodes,anastomosis and abdomen lymph node recurrence rates of stage N1 were significantly higher than that of N0 patients in lower TESCC (x5 =5.272,4.878,18.006,P ＜ 0.05).The anastomotic recurrence rate of stage T3+4 was higher than that of T1+2 in middle/lower TESCC (x2 =4.341,7.154,P ＜ 0.05),and the abdominal lymph nodes recurrence rate of stage T3 +4 was higher than that of T1 +2 in lower TESCC (x2 =5.366,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The lymphatic drainage regions for postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) are selective.We suggest that abdominal lymph nodes drainage area should be noted for the stage N1 patients with upper TESCC,and the supraclavicular lymph nodes drainage area should be noted for the N1 patients with lower TESCC.In addition,the anastomosis is suggested to be included in PORT target area for stage T3/T4 middle/lower TESCC patients.

Dosimetric differences between volumetric modulated arc therapy plans with different arc numbers for cervical cancer / 医疗卫生装备

Object To study the effects of the number of arcs in the treatment of cervical cancer with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) on the treatment plan, and to provide reference for the selection of the number of arcs in the clinical application.Methods CT images of 10 patients with cervical cancer were selected, it's the radiation therapist that delineated the target area and organs, the prescribed dose was 5040 cGy per 28 times to the target area, and single arc (Arc1), double arc (Arc2) and three (Arc3) plan were designed by RayStation planning system to compare the differences with the dosimetry characteristics of target and organs. The time required for planning optimization was recorded, and the difference between the monitor unit and the delivery time in the three plans was analyzed. A dose validation tool for PTW was used to verify the dose to analyze the influence of the number of arc on the passing rate of gamma verification.Results Single arc plan (Arc1), double arc plan (Arc2) and three arc plan (Arc3) for 10 cases of cervical cancer all proved to meet the clinical requirements. With the increase of arc number, the target area distribution got improved, V40, V45 and Dmean in the organs at risk of rectum, bladder, and femoral head gradually decreased in case of doses of 40 and 45 Gy, and V35, V40 and V45 in the normal tissue were lowered in case of the doses of 35, 40 and 45 Gy. With the increase of the arc number, the optimization time and the delivery time of the plan increased, while the difference between the monitor unit of the three plans was smaller. The passing rate of the three plans was more than 99.5％, and the difference was small.Conclusion Cervical cancer VMAT plan has the target dose distribution and the protection of organs at risk enhanced with the increase of the number of arcs, while the treatment time and cost increased. Therefore, it is necessary to take comprehensive considerations on the number of VMAT plan arcs.

Modern radiation therapy for extranodal lymphomas:field and dose guidelines from international lymphomaradiation oncology group / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Extranodal lymphomas (ENLs) comprise about a third of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL).Radiation therapy (RT) is frequently used as either primary therapy (particularly for indolent ENL),consolidation after systemic therapy,salvage treatment,or palliation.The wide range of presentations of ENL,involving any organ in the body and the spectrum of histological sub-types,poses a challenge both for routine clinical care and for the conduct of prospective and retrospective studies.This has led to uncertainty and lack of consistency in RT approaches between centers and clinicians.Thus far there is a lack of guidelines for the use of RT in the management of ENL.This report presents an effort by the International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group (ILROG) to harmonize and standardize the principles of treatment of ENL,and to address the technical challenges of simulation,volume definition and treatment planning for the most frequently involved organs.Specifically,detailed recommendations for RT volumes are provided.We have applied the same modern principles of involved site radiation therapy as previously developed and published as guidelines for Hodgkin lymphoma and nodal NHL.We have adopted RT volume definitions based on the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU),as has been widely adopted by the field of radiation oncology for solid tumors.Organ-specific recommendations take into account histological subtype,anatomy,the treatment intent,and other treatment modalities that may be have been used before RT.

Effects of magnetic resonance diffusion weighted image on the target volume delineation of advanced esophageal cancer / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

Objective To investigate the value of DWI imaging combined with T2WI imaging and CT image fusion technology and explore the role of DWI imaging in the determination of target areas in radiotherapy for advanced esophageal cancer.Methods Twenty-three patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer were included in this study.All the patients were fixed by a heat plastic device.Each patient was examined by CT,T2WI and DWI scan in the same position as the radiotherapy treatment.Images obtained from the three sequences were transmitted to the Eclipse 11.0 treatment planning system.All images were registered at Eclipse workstation as to normalized mutual information registration.The target areas were delineated by the clinical radiation physicians in the CT imaging,and CT and DWI fusion images.The target areas of the two kinds of image were evaluated using fusion function and statistical function of the treatment planning system.Results Target parameters differed significantly between CT base and CT/MRI fusion base.The results of the target volume outline closer by CT and MRI fusion image base in the three groups of clinicians.Conclusion The target volume between the groups is closer by using CT and DWI fusion image.DWI image has a good assisting effect in determining the target area of locally advanced esophageal cancer.

Modern radiation therapy for nodal non-Hodgkin lymphom-target definition and dose guidelines from the international lymphoma radiation oncology group / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

The guidelines represent an agreed consensus view of the ILROG steering committee on the use of RT in NHL in the modern era. The roles of reduced volume and reduced doses are addressed,integrating modern imaging with 3-dimensional planning and advanced techniques of RT delivery. In the modern era,combined-modality treatment with systemic therapy is appropriate. A new concept,involved-site RT,defines the clinical target volume. For indolent NHL,often treated with RT alone,larger fields should be considered. Newer treatment techniques,including intensity modulated RT,breath holding,image guided RT,and 4-dimensional imaging,should be implemented,and their use is expected to decrease significantly the risk for normal tissue damage while still achieving the primary goal of local tumor control.

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy effect on non-target areas in various renal stones / 实用医学杂志

Objective To observe the effect of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy on non target areas for various renal calculi. Methods Six thousand,one hundred and forty-nine cases of renal calculi patients were divided into 3 groups based on the calculi positions ,including the superior renal calices group ,the middle renal calices group and the inferior renal calices group. We compared the renal CT perfusion parameters in the non target areas of renal stones,successful rates of removing stones and complications. Results Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy had renal injures on both target areas and non target areas. When the extracorporeal energy is greater than 11 kV,the kidney damages became severe rapidly. When the E < 9,lithotripsy successful rate was signifi-cantly higher than that of E≥9;when E≥11 ,the energy wave lithotripsy complication rates were less than that of E<11 energy wave lithotripsy. Conclusions When the shock wave energy is in the range of 9~11 kV,there is not only low injuries on non target areas ,but also low successful rates of removing stones and complication rates. So the shock wave energy in a range of 9~11 kV is the best choice of energy regimen in treatment of patients with renal stones.