The Characteristics and Survival Outcomes in Patients Aged 70 Years and Older with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in the Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy Era / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: We aim to examine nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) characteristics and survival outcomes in patients aged 70 years and older in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) era. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2006 to 2013, 126 non-metastatic NPC patients aged ≥ 70 years who were treated with IMRT +/‒ chemotherapy were included. Adult Comorbidity Evaluation 27 (ACE-27) was used to measure patient comorbidities. The overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS)were calculatedwith the Kaplan-Meier method, and differenceswere compared using the log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to carry out multivariate analyses. RESULTS: For the entire group, only two patients (1.6%) presented stage I disease, and up to 84.1% patients had stage III-IVB disease. All patients had a comorbidity score of 0 in 24 (19.0%), 1 in 45 (35.7%), 2 in 42 (33.3%), and 3 in 15 (11.9%) patients. The main acute grade during radiotherapy was 3-4 adverse events consisting of mucositis (25.4%), bone marrow suppression (16.7%), and dermatitis (8.7%). After treatment, four patients (3.2%) developed temporal lobe injury. Five-year CSS and OS rates were 67.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 58.6% to 77.4%) and 54.0% (95% CI, 45.6% to 63.9%), respectively. Five-year OS was significantly higher for ACE-27 score 0-1 than ACE-27 score 2-3 (72.9% and 39.9%, respectively; p 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest IMRT +/– chemotherapy has a manageable toxicity and provides an acceptable survival in patients aged ≥ 70 years with NPC. ACE-27 score was significantly associated with survival outcomes in this group population.

Prevalence of smoking status in ethnic Hui and Han adult residents in Ningxia / 中华疾病控制杂志

Objective To investigate the adults smoking status of Hui and Han in Ningxia. Methods Among 6 monitoring sites in Ningxia from 2013 to 2014, multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method was used, information about risk factors of chronic diseases by were collected questionnaire investigation, a total of 3 527 subjects were effective sample for smoking analysis among 3 540 adults aged 18 and over. After the complex weighting, the smoking status of different nationalities, sexes and age was analyzed. Results The current smoking rate was 29.42% (95% CI:27.91%-30.92%), the current smoking rate of male(56.73%, 95％ CI:54.25%-59.20%) was higher than female (0.92%, 95％ CI:0.50％-1.34％) (P<0.001); The current smoking rate of Han (32.04%, 95% CI:30.24%-33.85%) was higher than Hui (23.09%, 95% CI:20.41%-25.76%). The daily smoking rate of Han (27.98%, 95% CI: 26.25%-29.72%) was higher than that of Hui nationality (19.83%, 95% CI:17.30%-22.36%) (P=0.001), and that of male (49.41%, 95% CI: 46.92%-51.91%) was higher than that of female (0.73%, 95% CI: 0.36%-1.11%) (P<0.001). The average daily smoking of male (20) was higher than that of female (8) (Z=-4.448, P<0.001). Smokers quit smoking rate was 12.54% (95% CI:10.50%-14.57%). Adult secondhand smoke exposure rate was 54.44% (95% CI:52.53%-56.36%). Conclusions The smoking rate of adult residents is high in Ningxia province, but the quit smoking rate is low, male smoking rate is higher than female, Han smoking rates higher than the Hui. The sample population was highly exposed to secondhand smoke. Tobacco control interventions should be taken against high-risk groups.

Separation of choline from Coptidis Rhizoma and impact on glucose metabolism of berberine in HepG2 cells / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate action of hydrophilic constituents from Coptidis Rhizoma on glucose-lowering effect metabolism of berberine in HepG2 cells.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Hydrophilic fractions of Coptidis Rhizoma were prepared by high speed counter current chromatography and separated by silica gel column chromatography. MTT assay was used to monitor the proliferation of HepG2 cells, and Kit was used to test the glucose consumption in culture solution.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Choline was separated from Coptidis Rhizoma for the first time. Cell assay showed choline can significantly increase the glucose lowering effect of berberine and improve the cytotoxicity of berberine within test concentration. Compared with same dose of berberine, berberine 38 mg x L(-1) in combination with choline 100 mg x L(-1) can make glucose consumption increase by 34% and elevate cell livability up to 75% in HepG2 cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The results suggest that choline had a synergistic effect on improving glucose absorption of berberine and decreasing cytotoxicity of berberine.</p>