High expression of FGFR3 predicts a better prognosis for patients with non-small cell lung cancer in a Chinese population.

Background: This study sought to examine the expression and mutation status of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues and explore the prognostic potential of FGFR3 in NSCLC. Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to evaluate the FGFR3 protein expression of 116 NSCLC tissues. Sanger sequencing was used to examine the mutation status of exons 7, 10, and 15 in FGFR3. A Kaplan­Meier survival analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between the expression level of FGFR3 and the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of NSCLC patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were conducted to examine the association between the risk score and clinical features. Results: FGFR3 was immunoreactive in 26 of the 86 NSCLC cases. Further, FGFR3 was positively expressed in 84.6% of the lung adenocarcinoma (AC) cases and 15.4% of the lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cases. FGFR3 mutations were detected in 2 NSCLC patients (2/72, 2.8%), who both harbored the T450M mutation, a novel mutation in exon 10 of FGFR3. In NSCLC, a high expression of FGFR3 was positively correlated with gender, smoking, histology type, T stage, and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation (P<0.05). FGFR3 expression was also correlated with better OS and DFS. The multivariate analysis revealed that FGFR3 served as an independent prognostic factor (P=0.024) for the OS of NSCLC patients. Conclusions: This study showed that FGFR3 was highly expressed in NSCLC tissues, and the frequency rate for the FGFR3 mutation at T450 M in NSCLC tissues was low. The survival analysis suggested that FGFR3 may be a useful prognostic biomarker in NSCLC.

Californium-252 neutron brachytherapy combined with external pelvic radiotherapy plus concurrent chemotherapy for cervical cancer: a retrospective clinical study.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the sixth most common cancer in Chinese women. A standard treatment modality for cervical cancer is the combination of surgery, chemotherapy, external-beam radiotherapy and intracavitary brachytherapy. The aim of this study was to retrospectively assess the long-term treatment outcomes of patients with cervical cancer who were treated with californium-252 neutron brachytherapy combined with external-beam radiotherapy plus concurrent chemotherapy. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 150 patients with primary stages IB-IVB cervical cancer who received neutron brachytherapy combined with external-beam radiotherapy concurrently with cisplatin chemotherapy. All patients were followed up. Using an actuarial analysis, patient outcomes and treatment-related adverse effects were evaluated and compared. RESULTS: The median overall survival (OS) was 33.2 months. The 3-year progression-free survival rates for patients with stages I-II, III, and IV diseases were 81.0% (68/84), 65.0% (39/60), and 0% (0/6), respectively; the 3-year OS rates were 90.5% (76/84), 85.0% (51/60), and 16.7% (1/6), respectively. Vaginal bleeding was controlled within the median time of 4.0 days. One month after treatment, 97.3% of patients achieved short-term local control. The local recurrence rates for patients with stages I-II, III, and IV disease were 4.8% (4/84), 11.7% (7/60), and 33.3% (2/6), respectively, and the occurrence rates of distant metastasis were 16.7% (14/84), 25.0% (15/60), and 100.0% (6/6), respectively. Cancer stage, tumor size, and lymph node metastasis were identified as prognostic risk factors, but only lymph node metastasis was found to be an independent prognostic factor. The most common adverse effects during treatment were grades 1 and 2 irradiation-related proctitis and radiocystitis. CONCLUSION: For patients with cervical cancer, neutron brachytherapy combined with external-beam radiotherapy plus concurrent chemotherapy produces a rapid response and greatly improves local control and long-term survival rates with tolerable adverse effects.

Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus Is a Risk Factor for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A 1:2 Matched Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes has been identified as an adverse prognostic variable which associated with an increased mortality in various cancers, including colorectal, lung, and breast cancers. However, previous studies provided inconsistent results on the association between diabetes and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The main aim of this study was to investigate the associations between diabetes mellitus and the survival of NPC patients. METHODS: This study was designed as a 1:2 matched case-control study. Cases were patients who met the criteria for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetic mellitus (DM) below. Controls, matched 1:2, were patients who were normoglycemic (NDM). The survival rates were assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis, and the survival curves were compared using a log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was conducted using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. RESULTS: Both locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in the NDM group were higher than that in the DM group (p = 0.001 and p = 0.033). Additionally, subset analyses revealed that the differences in OS, LRRFS, and DFS were all significant between the two groups in the N0-N1 subset (p = 0.007, p =.000 and p = 0.002). The LRRFS was higher in the NDM group in the III-IV, T3-T4 and N0-N1 subsets (p = 0.004, p = 0.002 and p =.000). In T3-T4 subset, the NDM group experienced higher DFS than the DM group (p = 0.039). In multivariate analysis, T stage and N stage were found to be independent predictors for OS, DMFS and DFS; chemotherapy was a significant prognostic factor for DMFS and DFS, age for OS, and diabetes for LRRFS and DFS. CONCLUSIONS: Type 2 diabetic mellitus is associated with poorer prognosis among patients with NPC.

Oligometastases in AJCC stage IVc nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A subset with better overall survival.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyze the patterns of metastasis and therapeutic approaches in American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IVc nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 263 patients with stage IVc NPC revealed the incidence of bone, liver, and lung metastases was 67.7%, 32.3%, and 16.0%, respectively. All patients received chemotherapy; 160 patients received radiotherapy (RT) to the primary tumor. RESULTS: The factors associated with poor overall survival (OS) were Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) ≤70, liver metastasis, multiple-organ metastasis, ≥6 lesions, no RT to the primary tumor, and <4 chemotherapy cycles. Two subgroups of M1 disease were divided into: M1a (oligometastases) = single-organ metastases or 1 to 5 lesions; and M1b = multiple-organ metastases or ≥6 lesions. The 5-year OS rates for M1a and M1b were 38.7% versus 7.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Patients with oligometastases have significantly better OS than patients with widespread metastases. Long-term disease-free survival can be achieved in selected patients with oligometastases after systemic chemotherapy and definitive RT. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38:1152-1157, 2016.

[Survival analysis of patients with spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the prognostic factors influencing overall survival (OS) in patients with spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC-SR). METHODS: The medical records of 44 patients with HCC-SR treated in our department from January 1, 2005 to April 1 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical and prognostic data of 19 HCC-SR patients who received curative hepatectomy were compared with data of 137 HCC patients with no SR who were managed by curative hepatectomy during the same period. Type of HCC-SR was defined according to previously established criteria. The clinicopathological data were evaluated for possible associations with OS of HCC-SR by univariate analysis with the Kaplan-Meier method followed by multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: While some clinical features differed between the HCC-SR patients and non-HCC-SR patients, the postoperative prognosis was comparable between the two groups: (1) The 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-year postoperative cumulative recurrence rates were 78.9% (15/19), 89.5% (17/19), 94.7% (18/19) and 94.7% (18/19) in the HCC-SR group but 43.1% (59/137), 54.0% (74/137), 59.1% (81/137) and 66.4% (91/137) in the non-HCC-SR group respectively, and the differences reached statistical significance (P = 0.006, 0.003, 0.002, and 0.014); (2) The 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-year postoperative disease-free survival rates were 10.5% (2/19), 5.3% (1/19), 5.3% (1/19) and 5.3% (1/19) in the HCC-SR group but 40.1% (55/137), 21.2% (29/137), 12.4% (17/137) and 4.4% (6/137) in the non-HCC-SR group respectively, and only the 1-year disease-free survival rate was significantly different (P = 0.032); (3) The 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-year postoperative OS rates were 42.1% (8/19), 10.5% (2/19), 5.3% (1/19) and 5.3% (1/19) in the HCC-SR group but 59.1% (81/137), 32.8% (45/137), 19.0% (26/137) and 6.6% (9/137) in the non-HCC-SR group, and none of the differences reached statistical significance (P = 1.972, 0.061, 0.200, 1.000). Multivariate analysis identified that severity of concomitant liver cirrhosis, levels of alpha fetoprotein (AFP), choice of treatment modality, and type of HCC-SR acted as factors influencing OS. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HCC-SR receiving curative hepatectomy have higher postoperative recurrence rates than their non-HCC-SR counterparts, but the two groups have similar postoperative OS rates. OS is influenced by severity of concomitant liver cirrhosis, level of AFP, choice of treatment modality, and type of HCC-SR.

Multiple occipital defects caused by arachnoid granulations: Emphasis on T2 mapping.

A 56-year-old man presented with a 6-mo history of headache. Although neurological and laboratory examinations were normal, computed tomography (CT) scan was performed which revealed multiple occipital osteolytic lesions, which were suspected to be multiple myeloma. Subsequently nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that these lesions presented with a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-like signal intensity, no diffusional restriction and intrinsic mass-like enhancement on conventional sequences were seen. T2 relaxation time was similar to that of CSF in the ventricles and adjacent subarachnoid space on T2-mapping. Single photon emission CT with (99m)Tc-Methyl diphosphonate was performed which revealed no increased radiotracing accumulation. Finally, these lesions were diagnosed as mutiple arachnoid granulations (AGs). The headache was treated symptomatically with medical therapy. On follow up examination after 6 mo no evidence of tumor was detected. This report aimed to illustrate the appearance and differentiation of occipital defects caused by multiple AGs on CT and MRI, with emphasis on the findings from T2 mapping.

[Radiation-induced G2 phase arrest may contribute to the radioresistance of breast cancer stem cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate radiation-induced cell cycle changes of human breast cancer stem cells enriched by suspension culture. METHODS: The tumorigenicity of human breast cancer stem cell line MCF-7 cultured in serum-free media was confirmed in NOD/SCID mice, and the radiosensitivity of the cells was tested by clone formation assay following radiation exposure. Flow cytometry was performed to evaluate radiation-induced cell cycle changes, and the protein expression of pCDC25C (ser216) was measured by Western blotting. RESULTS: After the exposure to 2 Gy radiation, the survived fraction of the cells in suspension culture and those in adherent culture was 0.856 ∓ 0.061 and 0.783 ∓ 0.097, respectively, and the cells in suspension culture showed an obviously greater capacity of tumorigenicity in NOD/SCID mice. The radiation exposure resulted in an obvious increase in the proportion of G2 phase cells from (22.03 ∓ 2.12)% to (45.83 ∓ 2.25)% and significantly increased the expression of pCDC25C (ser216). CONCLUSION: Radiation- induced G2 phase arrest may contribute to the resistance of the breast cancer stem cells to radiotherapy.