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Objective:To analyze the fail mode of neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after long-term follow-up.Methods:Clinical data of consecutive 238 patients with locally advanced resectable ESCC who underwent neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital from September 2012 to October 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The failure mode in the whole cohort was analyzed after long-term follow-up. The overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) rates were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. Survival differences were determined by log-rank test.Results:The pathological complete response (pCR) rate was 42.0% in 238 patients. After a median follow-up of 46.1 months, tumor progression occurred in 96 patients (40.3%), including 25 patients (10.5%) with local recurrence, 61 patients (25.6%) with distant metastases, and 10 patients (4.2%) with simultaneous local recurrence and distant metastases. The median OS and DFS were 64.7 months and 49.9 months. And the 3-, 5-, and 7-year OS and DFS rates were 70.0%, 52.8%, 36.4% and 63.5%, 42.5%, and 30.0%, respectively. The 3-, 5-, and 7-year locoregional recurrence-free survival rates and distant metastasis-free survival rates were 86.0%, 71.4%, 61.2% and 70.6%, 55.9%, 43.0%. Compared with non-pCR patients, the overall progression rate and distant metastasis rate of pCR patients were lower (26.0% vs. 50.7%, 16.0% vs. 32.6%, both P<0.05). And the 3-, 5-, and 7-year OS (83.0% vs. 60.2%, 69.7% vs. 41.7%, 50.4% vs. 27.7%, all P<0.001) and DFS rates (80.4% vs. 51.4%, 63.9% vs. 31.2%, 45.9% vs. 20.3%, all P<0.001) were significantly better in pCR patients. Conclusions:Distant metastasis is the main failure mode of patients with locally advanced ESCC after neoadjuvant therapy. Patients with postoperative pCR can achieve better long-term survival.
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Addition of induction chemotherapy (IC) to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CC) is an encouraging first-line treatment strategy for patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We evaluated the clinical efficacy and toxicity of addition of gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) IC to intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and CC for patients with locoregionally advanced NPC. At a median follow-up duration of 48 months (10-59 months), 4-year local relapse-free survival (LRFS) was 86.9%, regional relapse-free survival (RRFS) was 90.6%, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) was 79.8%, progression-free survival (PFS) was 77.0%, and overall survival (OS) was 81.9%. Univariate analysis revealed that T stage, N stage, clinical stage, and CC correlated with OS, while N stage and clinical stage correlated with PFS. In multivariate analysis, T4 was a prognostic indicator of poor OS and PFS, and N3 was a prognostic indicator of poor OS. Having received ≥ 2 cycles of IC was prognostic of better RRFS. During IC, grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia occurred in 10 patients, and grade 3-4 leukocytopenia was observed in 16 patients. Two patients developed mild liver dysfunction. These findings indicate that GP-based IC followed by CC has promising efficacy with acceptable toxicities.
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Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is widely used to treat locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). To determine the optimal number of NAC cycles, we assessed the effect of NAC cycle on survival outcomes of locoregionally advanced NPC patients receiving NAC before concurrent chemotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Clinical data from 1,188 non-metastatic NPC patients were retrospectively reviewed. All received ≥2 cycles of NAC added to concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to identify paired patients according to various covariates. In total, 297 pairs were selected. After a median follow-up time of 57 months (range: 7 to 104 months), the 5-year locoregional relapse-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival rates in patients treated with 2 cycles vs. 3 to 4 cycles of NAC were 91.3% vs. 87.2% (P=0.149), 93.3% vs. 88.5% (P=0.043), 88.7% vs. 81.7% (P=0.037), and 94.0% vs. 92.6% (P=0.266), respectively. On multivariate analysis, 2 cycles of NAC were associated with improved DMFS (hazard ratio, 0.499; P=0.038) and PFS (hazard ratio, 0.585; P=0.049). NAC cycle was an independent prognosticator of DMFS and PFS in univariate and multivariate analyses. Thus, 2 cycles of NAC appear sufficient, as additional cycles were not associated with added survival benefit for locoregionally advanced NPC.
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During the radiotherapy process, the emergence of set-up errors is nearly inevitable. Because set-up errors were not detected and corrected daily, planned target volumes were formed by expanding the clinical target volume according to each unit's experience. We optimized the margins of clinical and planned target volumes during administration of intensity-modulated radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A total of 72 patients newly diagnosed with non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma and treated with Tomotherapy were prospectively enrolled in the study. For each patient, one megavoltage computed tomography scan was obtained after conventional positioning, online correction, and daily tomotherapy delivery. The interfraction set-up errors were determined using a planning CT based on the registered scan. The mean interfraction errors were -2.437±2.0529 mm, 0.0652±2.3844 mm, 0.318±1.8314 mm, and 0.197±1.8721° for the medial-lateral, superior-inferior, and anterior-posterior directions, and the direction of rotation, respectively. The total MPTV in the three directions was 7.53 mm, 1.83 mm, and 2.08 mm, respectively. The 3-mm margins in the superior-inferior and anterior-posterior directions uniformly expanded from the clinical target volume should be sufficient, and the marging in the medial-lateral direction was up to 7.5 mm. These results suggest that personalized MPTV may be adopted for intensity-modulated radiotherapy planning.
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Objective To investigate the level and relationships of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and psychological distress among patients with prostate cancer. Method Totally 116 patients with prostate cancer involved in the investigation by a self-designed demographic questionnaire, posttraumatic growth inventory (PTGI) and distress thermometer (DT). Results The total score of PTGI was (53.12 ± 13.51), at a low level, and the score of DT was (4.32 ± 2.59), at a medium level. The score of DT was negatively correlated to the scores of PTG and its dimensions (all P<0.05). Conclusions Patients with prostate cancer show a low level of PTG and a medium level of psychological distress and they are negatively related . Therefore , nurses should take measures to reduce the patients psychological distress and then improve their PTG level.
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Objective To explore a reasonable therapeutic plan for treating HIV/AIDS with traditional Chinese medicine plus western medicine. Methods Twenty-nine patients with HIV/AIDS were selected and recruited into a HIV group and a AIDS group according to the clinical diagnosis. Each group was further divided into comparison stage and treatment stage. In HIV group, observations and statistics of observation indexes were performed during the comparison stage; while TCM treatment was applied in the treatment stage. In AIDS group, HAART was applied in the comparison stage, and HAART combined with TCM therapy were used in the treatment stage. Both comparison stage and the treatment stage lasted 12 months. Results In HIV group, self control results showed that immune and virus indexes did not have significant changes, but also with no side or toxic effects, In the AIDS group, contrasting between the comparison stage and the treatment stage showed that there were significant improvement of symptoms (χ2=4.9231, 2.5000, P<0.05) , anti-toxic effects (χ2=9.333、 16.4091、10.2273, P<0.01) and immune indexed(t=3.1990,P<0.01) after treated additionally with traditional Chinese medicine. Conclusion Traditional Chinese medicine could improve the immunity function and clinical symptoms, reduce side effect of HAART medicine and stabilize CD4+ T cells of patient with HIV/AIDS.
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Objective To investigate the effect of blocking VEGF expression on the radiation sensitivity of esophageal cancer cell line TE-1 in vivo. Methods 32 male Balb/c/nu nude mice were randomly divided into four groups, including control group, radiation group, anti-VEGF group, and anti-VEGF + radiation group. The anti-VEGFcDNA cells were subcutaneously injected into the paw pats of mice (2 × 106/100 μl). The subcutaneous tumors were irradiated with 18 Gy of 60Co y-rays when the diameter of tumors varied from 0. 8 to 1.0 cm. The volume of the tumors was measured before and after irradiation, respectively. The expression level of VEGF mRNA and protein were examined by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Apoptotic cells were detected by electron micrographs. Results Latent period of the tumor formation of anti-VEGF group was lengthened compared with other groups(t = 13. 898,P ＜0.01 ). The volumes of tumor in anti-VEGF group [ ( 1207. 50 ± 97.07 ) mm3 ] and anti-VEGF +radiation group [ ( 1057. 5 ± 91.50 ) mm3 ] were not statistically different post-irradiation ( t = 1. 124, P ＞0.05 ) , but smaller than those in control group [ ( 5442. 50 ± 185.08 ) mm3 ] and radiation group [ (2922. 50 ± 152. 773)mm3 ] with statistical differences( t = 9. 475-21. 238, P ＜ 0. 01 ). The expression level of endogenous VEGFmRNA and protein in anti-VEGF group and anti-VEGF + radiation group were statistically different from control group and radiation group (F = 387.394, 13.519, P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusions Antisense VEGF could inhibit the proliferation of esophageal cancer cell in the nude mice.Effect of blocking VEGF expression before irradiation on esophageal cancer xenografts might be limited.
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Objective To observe the preventive and therapeutic effect of Yangyin Shengxue Mixture (Herbal decoction for nourishing yin and blood) on radiation-induced oral mucosal injury.Methods Sixty nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients were randomized into two groups: treatment group (30 cases) receiving Yangyin Shengxue Mixture three days before till one week after radiotherapy, and control group (30 patients) using conventional Tinidazole Gargle for prevention of oral-mucositis. Before and after treatment, the body weight, hemoglobin and state of infection of patients were examined. The time of occurrence of symptoms, degree of acute radiation mucositis and degree of pain were observed to evaluate the damage of oral mucosa according to RTOG standard for radiation injury of oral mucosa and Numeric Rating Scales (NRS). Results There were different degrees of radiation mucositis in both groups during radiotherapy, but the time of occurrence in the treatment group was significantly later than that of the control group (P
