Review on non-surgical treatment for elderly patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

With the aging of population, the elderly (≥65 years old) cancer patients have become one of the main populations for cancer care. For inoperable locally advanced head and neck squamous carcinomas, cisplatin-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy is the first-line choice. Several large clinical studies have shown that patients under 70 years of age can still benefit from concurrent chemoradiotherapy, while it should be cautious to apply chemotherapy to patients aged 70-80 years. For elderly patients who are intolerant to cisplatin, carboplatin or other regimens with less gastrointestinal and renal toxicity should be considered. Although anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies combined with radiotherapy has been proved to be more effective than radiotherapy alone in total patient population, age-subgroup analysis showed limited benefit in elderly patients. The safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors in elderly patients has been validated and those with high programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression may benefit from concurrent or neoadjuvant immunotherapy, however, high-level evidence is still lacking. For patients older than 80 years, radiotherapy alone may be superior to concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and hypofractionated radiotherapy for palliative purposes can be safely used in this population.

Hypofractionated radiotherapy of head and neck cancer: research progress and clinical value in COVID-19 pandemic / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Radiotherapy is an essential part of comprehensive treatment, as well as a radical treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC). The COVID-19 has continued so far, imposing a great impact on cancer care. Since conventional fractionated radiotherapy (CFRT, 2 Gy/F) requires as long as more than six weeks of treatment time, a huge challenge for epidemic control is created for both hospitals and patients. Hypofractionated radiotherapy (Hypo-RT) may be more suitable than CFRT for patients during pandemic by increasing the fraction size, thus reducing fraction number and treatment duration. Early studies have explored the application of Hypo-RT in HNC in palliative setting, which partially proved its safety and effectiveness. Recently, the efforts have been made in definitive treatment using hypofractionated regimen, as well as its combination with systemic treatment and immunotherapy. Indeed, regarding the pandemic of COVID-19, Hypo-RT has been recommended by several expert consensus in the HNC. In this review, relevant research progress was summarized and clinical implication of Hypo-RT in COVID-19 pandemic era was discussed.

Research progress about the effect of gut microbiome on the formation process of calcium oxalate stone through gut-kidney axis / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Calcium oxalate (CaOx) stone is the main type, and its formation is closely related to the metabolism of oxalic acid and calcium. Gut Microbiome is normal microflora which settled in the human intestinal tract and plays an important role in regulating a variety of metabolism in the body. In the past, Oxalobacter formigenes in gut was a protective factor for the formation of CaOx stones. Recently, it has been found that the bacteria regulating oxalate metabolism were not limited to Oxalobacter formigenes. Gut Microbiome of CaOx stones formers is different from healthy people. It regulates the metabolism of oxalic acid in the body through the gut-kidney axis and affect the formation of CaOx stone. The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of intestinal flora in patients with CaOx stones, and to summarize its potential function in the formation of CaOx stones and its possible clinical application in the future.

Feasibility of helical CT multiplanar reconstruction in evaluation of C2 pedicle screw placement / 中国医学影像技术

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of the posterior C2 pedicle screw placement (C2 PSP) by MPR techniques of helical CT.Methods Totally 250 patients (500 sides) who underwent head and neck CTA examination were enrolled.The bony parameters and the arterial parameters were measured after MPR.The bony parameters included pedicle diameter (D),isthmus height (T),internal height (H),and the arterial parameters included medial shifting:lateral (L),neutral (N),medial (M);and the degree of riding included below (b),within (w),above (a).The prevalence of narrow pedicles,high-riding vertebral arteries (HRVA) and the subtypes of IAVA in the general population were calculated,and the statistical analysis between narrow pedicles,HRVA,IAVA and C2 vertebral arteries groove (C2 VAG) injury were performed.Results The rate of narrow pedicles and HRVA were 14.40％ (72/500) and 24.60％ (123/500;x2=141.984,P＜0.001).When it came to the simulation of the C2 PSP inserting,the incidence of C2 VAG injuries was 19.40％ (97/500).In narrow pedicle and HRVA patients,the C2 VAG injuries incidence were higher than that of without narrow pedicle and HRVA patients (both P＜0.001).In 58 sides (58/500,11.60 ％),the narrow pedicles and HRVA occurred simultaneously.There were statistical significance differences of narrow pedicles and HRVA and the C2 VAG injuries in different types of IAVA (all P＜0.001),the subtypes of IAVA M-a consisted most common,which account for 55.56％ (40/72),46.34％ (57/123) and 48.45％ (47/97),respectively.Conclusion Most of the C2 VAG injuries happened in narrow pedicles,HRVA or IAVA M-a type patients.MPR can be used to comprehensively evaluate osseous and arterial parameters,which will provide anatomy foundation to the screw placement of C2 pedicles.