Prognosis Analysis of Early-stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy / 中国肺癌杂志

BACKGROUND@#With the aging of the population and the increased importance of lung cancer screening, the number of early-stage lung cancer patients has been on the rise in recent years, which can be classified into operable early-stage lung cancer and inoperable early-stage lung cancer. The most common pathological type is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is the optimal treatment for inoperable early-stage NSCLC. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognosis of early-stage NSCLC patients treated with SBRT and its influencing factors in order to reduce the side effects of radiotherapy and improve the survival and quality of life.@*METHODS@#Clinical data and follow-up outcomes of early-stage NSCLC patients treated with SBRT in our hospital from August 2010 to August 2020 were collected. Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess the prognosis, and the Cox proportional risk model was used for multivariate prognostic analysis.@*RESULTS@#A total of 165 patients were included with a median follow-up time of 43.2 (range: 4.8-132.1) mon. The local control (LC) rates at 1-yr, 2-yr and 5-yr were 98.1%, 94.8% and 86.5% respectively. Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score greater than 80 was an independent prognostic factor for LC (P=0.02). The overall survival (OS) rates at 1-yr, 2-yr and 5-yr were 97.6%, 93.0% and 68.9% respectively. A biological equivalent dose when α/β=10 (BED10) greater than 132 Gy was an independent prognostic factor for OS (P=0.04). Progression-free survival (PFS) rates at 1-yr, 2-yr and 5-yr were 93.3%, 79.5% and 55.3% respectively. The distance metastasis free survival (DMFS) rates at 1-yr, 2-yr and 5-yr were 94.5%, 83.2% and 58.4% respectively. BED10 greater than 150 Gy was an independent prognostic factor for DMFS (P=0.02). The regional control (RC) rates at 1-yr, 2-yr and 5-yr were 98.8%, 95.4% and 87.9% respectively.@*CONCLUSIONS@#SBRT is effective in treating early-stage NSCLC. KPS greater than 80 is an independent prognostic factor for LC; BED10 greater than 132 Gy is an independent prognostic factor for OS; BED10 greater than 150 Gy is an independent prognostic factor for DMFS.

Research progress on neoadjuvant immunotherapy for esophageal cancer / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Neoadjuvant therapy, especially neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, has become the standard preoperative treatment for locally advanced resectable esophageal cancer, whereas the recurrence and distant metastasis rates after surgery remain high. In recent years, programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) / programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitors have been widely adopted in immunotherapy for cancer. Whether PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy / neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy could further improve clinical efficacy, increase the complete surgical resection rate and safety are current research hotspots. In this article, neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy / radiochemotherapy for esophageal cancer was reviewed.

Verification Phantom-based clinical quality control and detection of the MLC of CyberKnife M6 / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective:To provide a new morning check method for the output dose stability of the multileaf collimator (MLC) of the CyberKnife M6 (CK-M6) system.Methods:The CT images of a verification phantom with a size of 20 cm × 20 cm × 10 cm were transmitted into the Precision Treatment Plan ning System (ver. 1.1.1.1). The high-precision alignment between the accelerator output front and the fixed position of the phantom surface was achieved using the fiducial tracking method. A 10 cm × 10 cm radiation field was formed by the MLC and a DailyCheck plan with an output of 200 MU was designed. The repeatability, sensitivity, and accuracy of the DailyCheck plan were measured, and the CK-M6 system was continuously tested for one month using the artificial fixed method and the DailyCheck plan designed in this study. Results:The average and the standard deviation of 10 repeated measurements by the DailyCheck plan were 492.28 pC and 0.09, respectively, indicating good stability. There was a linear correlation between the measured values and the output dose, with a correlation coefficient of R2 > 0.999. Moreover, there was a position deviation of 2 mm between the phantom and the accelerator output front, and the result ant effect on the measured values was equivalent to a dose deviation caused by an output of 1.24 MU. The result from the continuous measurement of both the artificial fixed method and the DailyCheck plan fell within permissible limits, showing high consistency. Conclusions:The DailyCheck plan established through the fiducial tracking of a verification phantom can achieve the convenient, quick, and accurate daily detection of the output dose stability of the MLC of CK-M6. Therefore, this method can be widely applied in the clinical quality control of the CK-M6 system.

Exploration and practice of building tele-critical care system / 中华危重病急救医学

Objective:To look for the problems faced in the construction of the tele-critical care system, explore the framework of construction of the tele-critical care system, and verify the application effects of the established tele-critical care system.Methods:Through literature review and on-site investigation and demonstration, the causes affecting the construction of the tele-critical care system were explored. Through on-site investigation of the actual situation of the critical care department in relevant hospitals, arguing and choosing intended intensive care unit (ICU) and cooperative third-party communication and equipment companies, and through the Internet of Things and 5G communication technology, a tele-critical care system with the core hospital of the group as the center and the member institutes within the group as the nodes was built. Via the established tele-critical care system, activities such as tele-monitoring, visual remote ward rounds, remote consultation, remote teaching were carried out to verify the functions of the system.Results:The insufficient cognition of relevant personnel, tele-medicine practice certification requirements, information security issues and the barriers of equipment information integration were the main causes affecting the construction of tele-critical care system. There were five parts in the tele-critical care system architecture foundations, including bed unit equipment and audio and video information collection system, lossless and secure transmission of collected information, real-time display of information in the remote center, real-time staff interaction between the centre and the nodal hospitals, and information cloud storage. It has been verified that patients' diagnostic and treatment information can be transmitted safely, losslessly and in real-time by a special line through private 5G network. Through this system, real-time and stable upload of audio and video information of patients and application information of monitors, ventilators and infusion work stations can be achieved; combined with tele-conference connections to conduct two-way communication with local medical staff, real-time tele-monitoring, visual remote ward rounds, remote consultation, remote teaching and other functions can be achieved.Conclusion:The tele-critical care system we established is feasible to construct within the medical group and can safely and effectively realize the functions of real-time tele-monitoring, visual remote ward rounds, remote consultation, and remote teaching.

Expert Consensus on the Treatment of Antiangiogenic Agents for Radiation Brain Necrosis / 中国肺癌杂志

Vascular damage is followed by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression at high levels, which is an important mechanism for cerebral radiation necrosis (CRN) development. Antiangiogenic agents (Bevacizumab) alleviates brain edema symptoms caused by CRN through inhibiting VEGF and acting on vascular tissue around the brain necrosis area. Many studies have confirmed that Bevacizumab effectively relieves symptoms caused by brain necrosis, improves patients' performance status and brain necrosis imaging. Considering that the efficacy of antiangiogenic therapy is mainly related to the duration of drug action, low-dose antiangiogenic agents can achieve favorable efficacy. Prevention is the best treatment. The occurrence of CRN is associated with tumor-related factors and treatment-related factors. By controlling these factors, CRN can be effectively prevented.
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Expression of maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) in lung adenocarcinoma and its correlation with prognosis / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective:To detect the expression of maternal embryo leucine zipper kinase (MELK) in lung adenocarcinoma, and to explore the clinical prognosis of MELK and lung adenocarcinoma, andto explore the possibility of MELK as a potential biomarker for lung adenocarcinoma.Methods:The mRNA level of MELK in lung adenocarcinoma and normal tissues adjacent to the cancer was analyzed by bioinformatics methods, and the relationship between its expression and the survival rate of patients with lung adenocarcinoma was analyzed. The clinicopathological data of 70 patients with lung adenocarcinoma who underwent surgical treatment were retrospectively analyzed. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression level of MELK protein in lung adenocarcinoma tissue and normal tissues adjacent to the cancer, and to analyze its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics of patients with lung adenocarcinoma.Results:The results of bioinformatics analysis showed that MELK mRNA was significantly highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissue, and was significantly correlated with the overall survival rate ( P=0.009) and disease-free survival rate ( P=0.039) of patients. Immunohistochemical results showed that the expression of MELK in lung adenocarcinoma tissue was significantly higher than that in normal tissues adjacent to the cancer. The high expression of MELK in lung adenocarcinoma tissue was related to tumor size ( P=0.015) and tumor stage ( P=0.006), but not related to age, gender, smoking, tumor differentiation, and lymph node metastasis (all P>0.05). Conclusions:MELK is highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and indicates a poor prognosis, and its expression level is related to the tumor stage of lung adenocarcinoma. MELK may serve as a new prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic targetfor lung adenocarcinoma.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation rapid response team building and management practice / 中华危重病急救医学

Objective:To summarize the establishment and management experience of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) rapid response team, and explore a more efficient rescue mode.Methods:From January 2015 to September 2020, 85 patients treated with ECMO in Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were selected as the research objects. Thirty-eight patients treated with conventional ECMO from January 2015 to December 2019 were selected as the control group, and 47 patients treated with ECMO rapid response team from January 2020 to September 2020 were selected as the experimental group. The differences in team preparation time, catheterization time, treatment success rate, incidence of complications and equipment failure frequency between the two groups were compared.Results:There were no significant differences in gender, age or disease types between the two groups. The team preparation time and catheterization time of the experimental group were significantly shorter than those of the control group [team preparation time (minutes): 31.79±6.10 vs. 67.16±30.49, catheterization time (minutes): 40.62±7.13 vs. 84.89±19.29], and the incidence of complications was significantly lower than that of the control group [4.3% (2/47) vs. 21.1% (8/38)], and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Conclusion:ECMO rapid response team can shorten the rescue preparation time, reduce the occurrence of complications, improve the team treatment efficiency, and provide ideas for emergency and critical patients.

On improving the post competency of standardized training residents in critical care medicine by using ward rounds checklist / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objective:To observe the impact of application of ward rounds checklist on the post competency of residents in the standardized residency training of critical care medicine.Methods:From April 2016 to January 2017, different batches of residents who were admitted to the Department of Critical Care Medicine for standardized residency training were randomized into the experimental group and the control group. Both groups were taught by experienced ICU senior attending physicians one-to-one. The control group routinely conducted rounds and handovers. The experimental group implemented a ward rounds checklist system during rounds and handovers. The training time for each group was 2 months. According to the characteristics of ICU combined with the requirements of post competency, a questionnaire was formulated. SPSS 17.0 was used for t test and chi-square test. Results:The resident physicians in the experimental group gave more satisfactory evaluations in terms of the actual patient care ability, medical knowledge mastery, clinical work under the system, learning and improvement from work, professional literacy, and communication skills to reflect the post competency, and had relatively higher degree of satisfaction with the teaching training, all with statistical significance ( P<0.05). Conclusion:It's helpful to improve the post competency and teaching satisfaction of ICU residents by implementing the ward rounds checklist system during the rotation of resident physicians in the standardized residency training of critical care medicine.

Combination of Radiation Therapy and Immunotherapy for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: Peer Exchange on Frontier Academic Topics / 中国肺癌杂志

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide as well as in China. For many years, conventional oncologic treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy (RT) have dominated the field of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The recent introduction of immunotherapy in clinical practice, led to a paradigm shift in lung cancer as in many other solid tumors. Recent pre-clinical and clinical data have shown RT may also modify antitumor immune responses through induction of immunogenic cell death and reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment. This has led many to reexamine RT as a partner therapy to immuno-oncology treatments and investigate their potential synergy in an exponentially growing number of clinical trials. Clinical trials combining radiotherapy and immunotherapy are attracting major attention, experts were invited to discuss frontier and controversial academic topics: (1) Recent developments of clinical synergy between radiation and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the treatment of NSCLC; (2) Will immunotherapy and radiotherapy increase the toxicity risk for cancer patients; (3) How to cope the mixed responses/disassociated responses phenomenon in checkpoint inhibition therapy to NSCLC with local ablative therapy; (4) Combining radiotherapy and immunotherapy in the treatment of NSCLC brain metastases.

Dosimetric comparison of two radiotherapy treatment planning approaches for multiple brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer on CyberKnife / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective@#To compare the dosimetrics of the plan target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) between two treatment planning approaches for patients with multiple brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer on CyberKnife.@*Methods@#20 patients with multiple metastases from lung carcinoma were reviewed and analyzed, who had been treated by CyberKnife from December 2017 to December 2018. The CyberKnife stereotactic radiotherapy plans of the 20 cases were re-planed with single plan for multiple lesions and multiple plans per lesion. The dosimetry differences of PTV and OARs isodose disribution, conformity index (CI), total beam counts and total monitor units (MUs) were compared in the two types of plans.@*Results@#The two types of plans could satisfy over 95% PTV coverage of the prescription dose. The maximum and mean dose of normal brain adjacent to the PTV were reduced in multiple plan approach effectively. Moreover, the maximum and mean dose of OARs (brainstem) dropped by 1.62% and 5.57% (t=1.09, P<0.01) respectively. The number of treatment nodes and total MU declined by 4.63% (t=1.87, P<0.01)and 1.06% in multiple plan approach, which could significantly shorten the clinical treatment time. The differences in CI index between these two types of plans was of no statistical significance.@*Conclusions@#For patients with multiple brain metastases of similar diameter and volume from non-small cell lung cancer to be treated on CyberKnife, multiple plans per lesion could not only reduce dose to normal brain tissue and OARs, but also improve the treatment efficiency.

Dosimetric comparison of two radiotherapy treatment planning approaches for multiple brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer on CyberKnife / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective To compare the dosimetrics of the plan target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) between two treatment planning approaches for patients with multiple brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer on CyberKnife.Methods 20 patients with multiple metastases from lung carcinoma were reviewed and analyzed,who had been treated by CyberKnife from December 2017 to December 2018.The CyberKnife stereotactic radiotherapy plans of the 20 cases were re-planed with single plan for multiple lesions and multiple plans per lesion.The dosimetry differences of PTV and OARs isodose disribution,conformity index (CI),total beam counts and total monitor units (MUs) were compared in the two types of plans.Results The two types of plans could satisfy over 95％ PTV coverage of the prescription dose.The maximum and mean dose of normal brain adjacent to the PTV were reduced in multiple plan approach effectively.Moreover,the maximum and mean dose of OARs (brainstem) dropped by 1.62％ and 5.57％ (t =1.09,P＜0.01) respectively.The number of treatment nodes and total MU declined by 4.63％ (t=1.87,P＜0.01) and 1.06％ in multiple plan approach,which could significantly shorten the clinical treatment time.The differences in CI index between these two types of plans was of no statistical significance.Conclusions For patients with multiple brain metastases of similar diameter and volume from non-small cell lung cancer to be treated on CyberKnife,multiple plans per lesion could not only reduce dose to normal brain tissue and OARs,but also improve the treatment efficiency.

Role of prophylactic supraclavicular irradiation in high-risk patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective: To investigate the clinical benefits of prophylactic supraclavicular irradiation (PSCI) in high-risk patients with limit-ed-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC). Methods: LS-SCLC patients without supraclavicular lymph node (SCLN) involvement and treat-ed with concurrent chemoradiation in the Department of Radiotherapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, be-tween July 2006 and July 2011, were retrospectively analyzed. According to our previous study, some were defined as SCLN recurrence high-risk patients. The recurrence rates of SCLN involvement and cancer-specific overall survival (CSS) in the different cohorts were ob-served. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed both in the whole cohort and high-risk patients with recurrent SCLN in-volvement. Results: One-hundred and one patients with a median age of 57 years were included. As many as 50% of the high-risk pa-tients had recurrent SCLN involvement at the last follow-up as compared to 13.6% of the low-risk patients. The patients with recurrent SCLN involvement had a dramatically lower five-year CSS than those without recurrent SCLN involvement. The five-year CSS of high-risk patients with PSCI was similar to that of the low-risk patients; however, it was significantly higher than the five-year CSS of the high-risk patients without PSCI. The multivariate analysis revealed that advanced stage and recurrent SCLN involvement were signifi-cantly associated with poor CSS in the overall cohort. In the high-risk patients with recurrent SCLN involvement alone, only PSCI was as-sociated with improved CSS. Conclusions: PSCI not only reduced the recurrence of SCLN involvement significantly but also improved CSS in high-risk patients with LS-SCLC.

Prognostic factors in patients with stage Ⅳ small cell lung cancer: A nomogram prediction model based on different doses of thoracic radiotherapy / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of different doses of thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) upon the clinical prognosis of patients with extensive-stage (stage Ⅳ) small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) and establish a Nomogram prediction model.Methods Clinical data of 144 patients pathologically diagnosed with ES-SCLC undergoing TRT in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital from month,2010 to month,2016 were retrospectively analyzed.Clinical characteristics,treatment data and responses were evaluated.A Nomogram was established by using Cox's proportional hazard regression model to predict the overall survival (OS).The prediction capability and accuracy were assessed by the concordance index (C-index) and a calibration curve between the model and verification groups.Results The median follow-up time was 31.9 months.The 2-year OS rate was 20.3％.The Nomogram model demonstrated that TRT dose,liver metastases,oligometastases/polymetastases,number of chemotherapy cycle and response to chemotherapy were significantly correlated with clinical prognosis.The calibration curve revealed that the predicted and actual OS were highly consistent.The C-index was calculated as 0.701.In the subgroup analyses,patients with high-dose TRT obtained significantly better OS than their counterparts with low-dose TRT.Conclusion The Nomogram prediction model based on different TRT doses can accurately predict the OS rate of ES-SCLC patients,which is an individualized model for predicting the survival probability.

Preliminary analyses of efficacy and safety of Cyberknife stereotactic body radiotherapy for 26 patients with recurrent cholangiocellular carcinoma after surgery / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) using Cyberknife in the treatment of patients with recurrent cholangiocellular carcinoma (RCC) after surgery.Methods Clinical data of 26 patients with recurrent RCC after surgery undergoing Cyberknife SBRT from 2010 to 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.The median recurrence time was 10 months (range 2.0-63.0 months) and the median tumor diameter was 2.8 cm (range 1.2-4.8 cm).The median prescription dose/fraction was 45 Gy/5f (range 40-50 Gy/3-8 f).The tumor progression was evaluated based on enhanced CT or MRI.Overall survival (OS),progression-free survival (PFS) and local control rate (LC) were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method.Toxicity was assessed using the common terminology criteria for adverse events version 4.0.Results For the entire cohort,the median OS and PFS were 13.5 months and 6.5 months at a median follow-up of 29.3 months (range 2.1-62.0 months).The 1-and 2-year OS and PFS rates were 52％ and 21％ as well as 28％ and 15％,respectively.Among them,4 patients (4/26,15％) were recurrent in situ after SBRT.Three patients experienced grade Ⅲ adverse reactions including 1 case of gastrointestinal reaction,1 case of liver dysfunction and 1 case of biliary tract infection.Only 1 patient suffered from ≥ grade Ⅳ gastrointestinal bleeding during the advanced stage.Conclusions SBRT using Cyberknife is a safe and effective treatment for patients with recurrent RCC after surgery.The adverse reactions can be tolerated by patients.

Preliminary clinical study on treatment of prostate cancer with Cyber-Knife / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of ultra-hypofractionated stereotactic body radiotherapy in the treatment of prostate cancer.Methods A total of 26 patients with prostate cancer treated with Cyber-Knife from May 2010 to May 2018 were analyzed retrospectively.The median age of the patients was 69 years old (range,57 to 87).Ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy was delivered in five fractions of 7.0-7.5 Gy for a total dose of 35.0-37.5 Gy.Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was administered in combination with the Cyber-Knife.The primary endpoints were radiation toxicity,PSA-response,local control and symptom alleviation,while the secondary endpoints were progression-free survival and overall survival.Results No graded ≥ 3 acute and late radiation toxicities occurred during follow-up.The acute toxicity of Grades 1 and 2 was 38.4％ and 19.2％,while the late toxicity of Grades 1 and 2 was 30.8％ and 3.8％,respectively.At a median follow-up of 22.44 months,for patients with localized stage,PSA level was decreased significantly after radiotherapy (Z =2.900,2.794,2.510,2.090,P＜0.05).However,there was no statistically significant difference for the metastatic group (P＞ 0.05).Conclusions Ultra-hypofractionated stereotactic body radiotherapy is a safe and effective treatment for patients with prostate cancer.

Timing of radiotherapy for limited-stage small cell lung cancer in the elderly / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To investigate the effect of the timing of radiotherapy on the prognosis of limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) in the elderly. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 80 elderly patients with LS-SCLC who were treated with radical sequential thoracic chemoradiotherapy from 2008 to 2014.The correlations of SER(time from the start of any treatment to the end of radiotherapy) and the number of induction chemotherapy cycles with overall survival(OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates was analyzed. The treatment outcomes were compared between early radiotherapy group (no later than 3 cycles of induction chemotherapy,n=37) and late radiotherapy group (after 3 cycles of induction chemotherapy,n=43).The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. Results In all patients,the median OS and PFS were 23.5 and 13.3 months respectively. SER was significantly correlated with OS and PFS (P=0.001;P=0.001).The median OS in patients undergoing radiotherapy after 2,3,4,5,and 6 cycles of induction chemotherapy was 33.2,26.7,20.6,16.9,and 17.9 months (P=0.000),respectively. The median OS time and 1-,2-,and 5-year OS rates were 27.8 months, 87%,62%,and 34%,respectively,in the early radiotherapy group,and 17.9 months,74%,37%,and 15%, respectively,in the late radiotherapy group (P=0.017).The median PFS time and 1-,2-,and 5-year PFS rates were 17.1 months,65%,43%,and 28%,respectively,in the early radiotherapy group,and 11.9 months,49%,21%,and 14%,respectively,in the late radiotherapy group( P= 0.022). Conclusions Shorter SER achieves better treatment outcomes in elderly patients with LS-SCLC undergoing sequential chemoradiotherapy. Early radiotherapy provides a survival benefit for patients.

Clinical significance of NS1-BP expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective@#To investigate the clinical significance of NS1-BP expression in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and to study the roles of NS1-BP in proliferation and apoptosis of ESCC cells.@*Methods@#A total of 98 tumor tissues and 30 adjacent normal tissues from 98 ESCC patients were used as study group and control group, and these samples were collected in Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center between 2002 and 2008. In addition, 46 ESCC tissues which were collected in Cancer Institute and Hospital of Tianjin Medical University were used as validation group. Expression of mucosal NS1-BP was detected by immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test were used to analyze the survival rate. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze the prognostic factors. Furthermore, NS1-BP was over expressed or knocked down in ESCC cells by transient transfection. Protein levels of c-Myc were detected by western blot. Cell viability and apoptosis was analyzed by MTT assay and flow cytometry.@*Results@#Among all of tested samples, NS1-BP were down-regulated in 9 out of 30 non-tumorous normal esophageal tissues (30.0%) and 85 out of 144 ESCC tissues (59.0%), respectively, showing a statistically significant difference (P=0.012). In the study group, three-year disease-free survival rate of NS1-BP high expression group (53.2%) was significantly higher than that of NS1-BP low expression group (27.6%; P=0.009). In the validation group, the three-year disease-free survival rates were 57.8% and 25.5% in NS1-BP high and low levels groups, respectively, showing a similar results (P=0.016). Importantly, multivariate analyses showed that low expression of NS1-BP was an independent predictor for chemoradiotherapy sensitivity and shorter disease-free survival time in ESCC patients(P<0.05 for all). Furthermore, overexpressed NS1-BP in TE-1 cells repressed c-Myc expression, inhibited cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis. In contrast, knockdown NS1-BP in KYSE510 cells induced c-Myc expression, increased cell proliferation and repressed apoptosis.@*Conclusions@#NS1-BP is an independent favorable prognostic factor in ESCC. It inhibits cell proliferation and enhances cell apoptosis via repressing c-Myc. Targeting NS1-BP may be a new therapeutic strategy for ESCC patients.

Clinical efficacy of CyberKnife stereotactic body radiation therapy for hepatic hilar cancer / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of CyberKnife stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in the treatment of hepatic hilar cancer.Methods A retrospective study was performed on the clinical data of 36 patients with hepatic hilar cancer who were admitted to our hospital and treated with CyberKnife SBRT from 2009 to 2015.In the 36 patients,37 lesions were found with tumor diameters ranging from 1.5 to 5.5 mm (median diameter 3 cm).The Synchrony respiratory tracking system was used for 21 lesions in 20 patients,while the XSight spinal tracking system was used for 16 lesions in 16 patients.Local progression was evaluated based on contrast-enhanced computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate local control (LC) and overall survival (OS) rates,and the log-rank test was used for survival comparison and univariate prognostic analysis.Results The median follow-up time was 12.7 months.The 1-and 2-year postoperative LC rates were 90％ and 76％,respectively.The 1-year OS and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 63％ and 39％,respectively.The median OS and PFS times were 15.2 and 10 months,respectively.The incidence of grade 3 adverse reactions was 11％.Conclusions The CyberKnife SBRT is a safe and effective way to treat hepatic hilar cancer.

Treatment outcomes of different induction chemotherapy regimens combined with in-tensity-modulated radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective:The role of induction chemotherapy(IC)and preferred regimens is not very clear in non-endemic nasopharyn-geal carcinoma(NPC)in northern China.Methods:A total of 170 pathologically proven locoregional advanced NPCs between January 2012 and December 2014 were included in this analysis.One hundred and twenty-six were men and 44 patients were women.Accord-ing to the American Joint Committee on Cancer(AJCC)7th stage system,48 patients were T1-2 and 77 patients were T3-4;48 patients were N0-1 and 122 patients were N2-3;27 patients were stageⅡ,105 patients were stageⅢ,and 38 patients were stage IVa-b.Re-sults:The median follow-up time was 34 months.The 3-year overall survival(OS),locoregional failure-free survival(LRFS),distant me-tastasis-free survival(DMFS),and disease-free survival(DFS)were 82.8%,91.5%,76.7%,and 69.1%,respectively.Multivariate analyses showed that IC with TPF(docetaxel,carboplatin,and fluorouracil)or TP(docetaxel and cisplatin)presented superior DFS and DMFS compared with PF(cisplatin+5-FU)[DFS-hazard ratio(HR):1.820,95% confidence interval(CI):1.013-3.271,P=0.045;DMFS-HR:2.240, 95% CI:1.017-4.090,P=0.045].Conclusions:The IC regimens appeared to affect patients' outcomes,and TP-containing IC regimens conferred better DFS and DMFS than PF regimens.

Research progress on metabolic regulating cell fate / 国际生物医学工程杂志

The close link between metabolism and cell death has been getting more and more attention.Many metabolically related proteins play a key role in the programmed cell death pathway.Several proteins classically regulating cell death have been found to regulate metabolism.In addition,many metabolic intermediates are closely involved in the cascade of signal transduction pathways that influence cell death.Some metabolic checkpoints not only receive information from metabolic variables,but also transmit signals that regulate cell survival.Typically,these checkpoints respond to metabolic imbalances by activating an organelle specific or by initiating an adaptive response at the overall level of the cell,and attempts to establish a new homeostasis.However,when the metabolic disorders are extravagantly serious or prolonged in time,these checkpoints will initiate apoptosis or programmed cell death.The cross-regulation of cellular metabolism and death pathways was discussed,so as to provide clues for the development of novel pharmacological approaches by regulating the metabolism to block or induced cell death.