Percutaneous cryotherapy for metastatic bladder cancer: experience with 23 patients.

Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract and in many patients is metastatic at diagnosis. Chemotherapy is the standard treatment for these patients but has serious side effects and in many patients is not tolerated. To avoid the side effects of systemic chemotherapy, patients with late stage bladder cancer have sought cryotherapy in our hospital. We reviewed data for the past 4 years to evaluate the safety and efficiency of percutaneous cryotherapy in 23 patients. Within 3 days after cryosurgery, all complications of bladder cancer (e.g. hematuria, urinary irritation, hypogastralgia, lumbago) had decreased to some degree. No new complications (e.g. bladder perforation) occurred and all complications had disappeared completely after 2 weeks. The progression-free survival (PFS) of these patients was 14 ± 8 months. There was no effect on PFS of tumor location or histopathology; however, differentiation status and tumor size influenced the therapeutic effect of percutaneous cryoablation. In conclusion, percutaneous cryotherapy may be a safe and efficacious therapeutic option in the treatment of metastatic bladder cancer.

Treatment of central type lung cancer by combined cryotherapy: experiences of 47 patients.

Most patients with central type lung cancer (CTLC) are not candidates for surgery; systemic chemotherapy and external beam radiotherapy are the main treatments but have not greatly affected patient outcome. Combined percutaneous and endobronchial cryotherapy has been used successfully to treat CTLC; this study aimed to determine its feasibility and safety. Forty-seven patients with unresectable CTLC (22 endotracheal, 26 tracheal wall and 21 extratracheal tumors) underwent 69 sessions of combined percutaneous cryosurgery, endobronchial cryosurgery and airway stenting. The long diameter of all tumors was <5 cm. Biopsy showed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 40 patients (medium or well differentiated in 20 cases, poorly differentiated in 20) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in seven. Within 3 days after treatment, ventilatory capacity and performance status had obviously increased and cough, signs of dyspnea, hemoptysis and atelectasis improved significantly, but symptoms of pneumothorax and pleural effusion emerged. After 2 weeks, all complications had disappeared completely, as had cough. Progression-free survival (PFS) for endotracheal tumors (8 ± 4 months) was shorter than that for tracheal wall (13 ± 6 months, P < 0.05) and extratracheal (14 ± 8 months, P < 0.01) tumors. The PFS of NSCLC (11 ± 5 months) was significantly longer than that of SCLC (4 ± 2 months, P < 0.0001). The PFS of medium or well differentiated CTLC (15 ± 8 months) was significantly longer than that of poorly differentiated CTLC (7 ± 3 months, P < 0.0001). In conclusion, combined cryotherapy is a safe and effective treatment for CTLC, with PFS largely influenced by tumor location and pathologic type.

Enhancement of Biogas Yield of Poplar Leaf by High-Solid Codigestion with Swine Manure.

The aim of this work was to examine the improvement of anaerobic biodegradability of organic fractions of poplar leaf from codigestion with swine manure (SM), thus biogas yield and energy recovery. When poplar leaf was used as a sole substrate, the cumulative biogas yield was low, about 163 mL (g volatile solid (VS))(-1) after 45 days of digestion with a substrate/inoculum ratio of 2.5 and a total solid (TS) of 22 %. Under the same condition, the cumulative biogas yield of poplar leaf reached 321 mL (g VS)(-1) when SM/poplar leaf ratio was 2:5 (based on VS). The SM/poplar leaf ratio can determine C/N ratio of the cosubstrate and thus has significant influence on biogas yield. When the SM/poplar leaf ratio was 2:5, C/N ratio was calculated to be 27.02, and the biogas yield in 45 days of digestion was the highest. The semi-continuous digestion of poplar leaf was carried out with the organic loading rate of 1.25 and 1.88 g VS day(-1). The average daily biogas yield was 230.2 mL (g VS)(-1) and 208.4 mL (g VS)(-1). The composition analysis revealed that cellulose and hemicellulose contributed to the biogas production.