The efficacy and safety of high dose versus standard dose radiotherapy in concurrent chemoradiotherapy for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective@#To compare the efficacy and treatment-related toxicity of high dose versus standard dose radiotherapy in concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).@*Methods@#From 2005 to 2012, 183 pairs of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University were enrolled, all had undergone CCRT based on three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) or intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). A propensity score was constructed to match the cohort. The overall survival (OS), local control (LC) probability, as well as the acute and late toxicities between standard-dose and high-dose groups were compared.@*Results@#Patients in the high-dose group had significantly better OS and LC probability compared with those in the standard-dose group: the 3-, 5- and 10-year LC rate were 60.9%, 57.6%, 52.3% versus 50.8%, 46.4%, 30.8%, respectively (P=0.032). The 3-, 5- and 10-year OS were 44.3%, 36.9% and 24.5% for high-dose group, and 31.7%, 20.6% and 14.1% for the standard-dose group, respectively(P=0.002). The incidence of acute radiation esophagitis (especially in grade 2 and 3) was 63.9% in high-dose group, which was significantly higher than that in the standard-dose group (59.6%). Severe (≥ grade 3) late-onset esophagitis was observed in neither group. The grade 4 acute esophagitis was rare. There was no significant difference in the incidence of radiation pneumonitis, gastrointestinal reactions or hematological toxicities between the two groups. Six patients in high-dose group and two patients in standard-dose group experienced ≥ grade 4 leukocytopenia, while no one experienced > grade 3 thrombocytopenia and anemia in both group.@*Conclusions@#60 Gy was the preferred dosage of CCRT in patients with ESCC. Compared with standard-dose, the high-dose CCRT yielded slightly increased mild to moderate acute radiation esophagitis, while life-threatening toxicities were not increased.

Thinking on safety of "toxic" traditional Chinese medicine for external use / 中国中药杂志

In recent years,the safety of " toxic" traditional Chinese medicine has received great attention. Similarly,the safety of " toxic" Chinese medicines for external use should not be ignored. In this paper,the adverse reactions of toxic Chinese medicine for external use were systematically studied; the causes for adverse reactions were analyzed; and the key problems on the external use of toxic Chinese medicine in modern clinical practice were put forward. For example,usage dosage(time,area),specific efficacy of external use,early warning index of toxicity,toxic dose,adverse effects,toxic symptoms and corresponding treatment measures all had no reference basis,lacking a systematic toxicity evaluation medication criteria for clinical external use of toxic Chinese medicine. Attention shall be paid to the toxicity of toxic Chinese medicine for external use,and the theory of toxicity evaluation should be established for the external use of " toxic" traditional Chinese medicine under specific conditions. The early warning mechanism for toxic and adverse effects were clarified,and relevant early warning sensitive indicators applicable to clinical use were established in this study to control its risk factors. The study on the mechanism of pharmacodynamics and toxicology of " toxic" traditional Chinese medicine for external use was strengthened to clarify the usage and specific effects of external use. On the basis of this,the study of synergism and reduction of toxicity was carried out to maximize the efficacy of external use of traditional Chinese medicine under specific conditions. A toxicity standard of " toxic" Chinese medicines for external use was put forward,which was of great significance to guide clinical safety,rationality,effectiveness as well as the research and development of new dosage forms for external use of traditional Chinese medicine.

Research advances in postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy(CCRT)for high-risk early stage cervical cancer / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Cervical cancer is one of the most common gynecologic malignancy,ranking fourth in new cases and deaths in 2012.High-risk early stage cervical cancer after operative need adjuvant treatment.Compared with postoperative radiotherapy alone,CCRT can reduce the pelvic recurrence rates and improve survival rates. And CCRT can extend median survival time and survival rates than sequential CRT after operative. CCRT plus consolidation chemotherapy may play a potential role in further improving survival outcomes for high-risk early stage cervical cancer patients compared with CCRT alone. Retrospective studies show that CCRT had equivalent effects with postoperative chemotherapy alone,but further research is needed. Factors influencing the efficacy of postoperative CCRT include chemotherapy regimens,radiotherapy technology,the interval time between surgery and CCRT,multiple pelvic lymph node metastasis and number of pelvic lymph node dissection. Toxicities mainly include hematologic and gastrointestinal toxicity. Hematologic toxicity is the most common. The incidence of toxicity can be reduced by improving radiotherapy techniques.

Children with Functional Abdominal Pain Treated with Shaoyao Gancao Decoction / 浙江中医药大学学报

Objective] To observe the clinical effect of Shaoyao Gancao Decoction on treating children functional abdominal pain to offer reference for further observation. [Method] Choose 200 children patients in pediatric outpatient department of Changxing County TCM Hospital, randomly divide them into treatment and control groups in order, n=100. The treatment one was administered revised Shaoyao Gancao Decoction, the control one orally took Medilac-Vita; both for 4 courses, then observe the cure effects. [Result] In treatment group, total effective rate 94.00%; for control one, it was 86.00%. The comparison of both had difference of statistical meaning( P<0.05). On comparing their abdominal pain relieve, in treatment group, there's more in first 2w and showed marked summit value in the first week; while in control one, there's no marked summit value; so the treatment group was more obvious than other one on relieving pain in the first 2w(P<0.05). The side effect occurrence rate of treatment group was less than other one, the difference between them had statistical meaning(P<0.05). [Conclusion] The revised Saoyao Gancao Decoction has marked cure effect on children functional abdominal pain, worth clinical promotion.

Investigate the application of animal disease models in non-clinical safety evaluation / 中国药理学通报

The current drug non-clinical safety evalua-tion has been highly systematized and standardized, but the standard toxicology model is still some inade-quacies, need to consider other animal models of safety evaluation. This paper will expound the need of animal disease models using in safety evaluation from the as-pect of scientific theories, data requirements and the need of clinical. Then recognizing on the perspective of drug regulatory agencies to explore the feasibility of u-sing animal disease models for safety evaluation and the deficiencies, in order to predict as accurately as possi-ble of the adverse drug reactions in clinical, applied to reduce the risk of clinical patients ( patients benefit ) , and reduce the risk of drug development failures ( pharmaceutical companies benefit ) . All in all we should attach great importance to the applications of animal disease models in non-clinical safety evalua-tion.