Efficacy and Safety Aiming at the Combined-Modality Therapy of External Beam Radiotherapy (40Gy) and Iodine-125 Seed Implantation for Locally Advanced NSCLC in the Elderly.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of combined-modality therapy for elderly patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) invading the chest wall. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 21 elderly patients (aged ≥60 years) with locally advanced NSCLC invading the chest wall. For external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) of the primary tumor, 40Gy was applied and supplemented with iodine-125 seed implantation while 60Gy was applied to the lymph nodes of the mediastinum. Follow-up was conducted every 3 months postoperatively. The related analytic parameters were change in tumor size, the objective response rate (ORR), the disease control rate (DCR), the degree of pain relief, the improvement of physical status, and toxicity. RESULTS: The combined-modality therapy significantly inhibited local growth of the tumor (from 7.84±1.20 to 4.69±1.90 cm) (P <0.0001), with 71.4% ORR and 90.5% DCR at 1 year. The cancer-related pain was significantly relieved (P <0.05) and physical status was significantly improved (P <0.05). No procedure-associated death or grade > 2 irradiation-related adverse effects were reported in this study. CONCLUSION: The combined-modality therapy of EBRT with 40Gy and permanent iodine-125 seed implantation is an efficacious and safe treatment option for elderly patients with locally advanced NSCLC invading the chest wall.

Identification of chemical ingredients of peanut stems and leaves extracts using UPLC-QTOF-MS coupled with novel informatics UNIFI platform.

Peanut stems and leaves have been used traditionally as both herbal medicines and special food in Asia. In this study, the main functional compounds of peanut stems and leaves extracts were identified using UPLC separation coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS), and a traditional medicine library. Three different extraction solvents (ethyl acetate, petroleum ether and n-butanol) were evaluated to prepare the extracts of peanut stems and leaves. A total of 283 chemical compounds were identified in peanut stems and leaves extracts, of which 207 compounds are tentatively new identifications in Genus Arachis. The integration of data acquisition and processing with the traditional medicine library provides a simple, efficient process to effectively facilitate the identification of chemical ingredients in complex natural product extracts. The integrated workflow for separation, detection and identification of functional compounds in natural products using UPLC/QTOF-MS greatly improves productivity for development of traditional herbal medicines. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.