Waldeyer ring microbiome in relation to chemoradiation-induced oral mucositis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Waldeyer lymphatic ring surrounds the nasopharynx and oropharynx, and no study to date has correlated its microbiome with the severity of oral mucositis (OM) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) receiving chemoradiotherapy. METHODS: We performed 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize bacterial microbiome in tumor-affected nasopharynx and the surrounding normal oropharynx. We plotted the abundance and diversity of bacterial taxa and their phylogenetic distance and networks to visualize and compare the differences in pretreatment overall bacterial communities between the nasopharynx and oropharynx in patients with NPC with varying degrees of chemoradiotherapy-induced OM and quality of life. RESULTS: We found microbial signatures in nasopharynx around NPC were not only dissimilar to those in the surrounding oropharynx but were almost unique to each patient. The genetic distance metrics further showed that different tumor microbiota distributions in the nasopharynx among patients with NPC were well-correlated with OM severity and quality of life during chemoradiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: At Waldeyer ring, the tumor-associated microbiome risk profiles of the respiratory region of nasopharynx, but not commensal microbiota of the alimentary region of oropharynx, could be noninvasive biomarkers for OM susceptibility and might include drug targets for the prevention of chemoradiation-induced OM in patients with Waldeyer ring-derived NPC.

Creating a Healthy Life for the Elderly through Participation in Self-Media: A Study on the Demands of the Elderly in Self-Media.

In recent years, with the trends in digital media and a shift in the sources of information, self-media has gradually become a unique new type of media with considerable potential. Numerous related studies have also indicated that participating in self-media positively impacts the elderly, especially in self-media regarding healthcare and welfare. However, research has seldom explored the demands and services for elderly participation in self-media. In this study, the research targets were 55-75 years of age, in good health, with a monthly disposable income of more than TWD 30,000 (N = 180). The research methods had two aims: (1) to analyze the current well-known self-media and websites related to healthcare; and (2) via the Kano Model questionnaire, to survey and explore the demand for self-media among the elderly. The results summarize and describe the preferred layout, content items, interaction methods, and information display of self-media content for the elderly. We anticipate designing a self-media website platform that meets the demands of the elderly and that continues to develop into social media platforms and audio-visual content in the future.