The Impact of Hippocampal-Sparing Whole-Brain Radiotherapy on Survival and Cognitive Function in Patients with Brain Metastases.

Objective: To explore the effects on cognitive function and survival time of whole-brain intensity-modulated radiotherapy using radiotherapy equipment to protect the hippocampus. Methods: Thirty-six patients with brain metastases treated at Qianjiang Central Hospital were enrolled in this study from January 2019 to September 2022. The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: 15 patients received hippocampal-protection whole-brain radiotherapy, and 21 patients received conventional whole-brain radiotherapy. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment was used to evaluate the cognitive function of patients before and 24 hours, 2 months, 6 months, and 12 months after radiotherapy. Cognitive dysfunction and survival time were compared between the 2 groups. Results: The overall mean differences in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores between the hippocampal-protection group and the conventional whole-brain radiotherapy group were statistically significant at 6 months (P = .006) and 12 months (P = .04) after radiotherapy. The median overall survival was 16 months (95% CI, 11.54-20.46) for the hippocampal-protection group and 14 months (95% CI, 12.9-15.21) for the conventional whole-brain radiotherapy group (P = .578). The median progression-free survival was 12 months (95% CI, 9.74-14.26) for the hippocampal-protection group and 9 months (95% CI, 6.60-11.44) for the conventional whole-brain radiotherapy group (P = .494). Conclusion: Whole-brain radiotherapy for protecting the hippocampus can delay cognitive dysfunction in patients to some extent.

Cutaneous and breast metastasis from colorectal adenocarcinoma: A rare case report.

Synchronous breast and cutaneous metastases from colorectal adenocarcinoma as the initial clinical manifestation, without visceral metastases, are extremely rare. We herein report the case of a 68-year-old female patient who presented with pruritic skin lesions and a breast lump 6 years after abdominoperineal resection of colorectal adenocarcinoma. Such cases can be easily misdiagnosed as cutaneous metastasis from breast cancer. However, the management of colorectal metastases differs from that of primary breast cancer, and mastectomy may be unnecessary. Timely and accurate diagnosis requires a high level of suspicion, thorough medical clinical history and biopsy followed by immunohistological examination. Specific immunohistochemical markers, such as cytokeratin (CK)7, CK20 and CDX2, may help differentiate between primary breast and metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Antitumor effects of different administration sequences of cisplatin and Endostar on Lewis lung carcinoma.

Angiogenesis plays an essential role in the growth and metastasis of a number of tumors. Anti-angiogenic drugs are able to normalize tumor vasculature and inhibit tumor growth. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that the combination of cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs and angiogenesis inhibitors may exert complementary therapeutic benefits in the treatment of cancer. In the present study, the effect of the angiogenesis inhibitor, recombinant human endostatin (Endostar), in combination with cisplatin, was evaluated in C57/BL/6 mouse xenografts under different administration sequences. The drug combinations and sequences of administration were analyzed within the cancer xenografts for any inhibitory effects. Changes in the cell cycle distribution of the cells were monitored using flow cytometry. The effects of Endostar, particularly a reduction in the density of microvessels, were assessed using a method that employed anti-cluster of differentiation 31 antibodies. The concentration of cisplatin in the blood and tumor tissue at various time-points following administration was detected by high-performance liquid chromatography. The tumor tissues that received simultaneous Endostar and cisplatin exhibited increased inhibition of tumor growth and improved cell cycle distribution compared with those that received cisplatin alone, or those in which Endostar was administered prior to cisplatin. The simultaneous administration of the drugs resulted in the lowest microvessel density in the xenografts. Under these conditions, the concentration of cisplatin was revealed to be the highest in the grafted tumor tissue. The results of the present study suggest that the co-administration of Endostar and cisplatin may aid in the optimization of the antitumor activity of cisplatin.