BACKGROUNDTo observe and compare the efficacy and safety of IEP and EP regimens for small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

METHODSSixty-four patients with SCLC pathologically proved were randomly divided into IEP group ( n =32) and EP group ( n =32).

RESULTSAll the 64 patients were evaluable for response and toxicity. In IEP group, the total responsive rate, responsive rates of limited-stage patients and extensive-stage patients were 84.4%(27/32), 100.0%(15/15) and 70.6%(12/17) respectively; while in EP group, those were 75.0%(24/32), 85.7%(12/14) and 66.7% (12/18) respectively. The median duration of remission was 6 months and 1-year survival rate was 62.5% in IEP group, and 5 months and 56.2% in EP group. There was no significant difference in response rate, median duration of remission and 1-year survival between the two groups ( P > 0.05). The main toxicity was myelosuppression. Incidences of leukopenia at grade III-IV, nausea, vomiting and alopecia were significantly higher in the IEP arm than those in the EP arm ( P < 0.01 ).

CONCLUSIONSHigh response rates and tolerable toxicities are attainable for small cell lung cancer treated with IEP and EP. IEP regimen shows a similar response rate compared with EP regimen. They might be considered as relevant regimens in initial patients with small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the complications and conversions in myeloproliferative disorders (MPD).

METHODSThree hundred and fifty six patients with MPD were reviewed, including 78 with etiologic thrombocythemia (ET), 93 with primary myelofibrosis (MF), 185 with polythythemia vera (PV). The clinical observation, follow-up, analysis with SPSS statistic software were performed.

RESULTSOut of the 356 cases, 101 (28.5%) developed thromboembolic events, 81 (22.8%) hemorrhage, 60 (16.9%) hypertension, 20 (5.6%) coronary heart disease, 3 (0.8%) hemolysis and 1 (0.3%) gastrointestinal ulcer, 2 (0.6%) calculus and 1 (0.3%) bone marrow necrosis. Twenty four patients (6.7%) developed MF (9 in ET, 15 in PV), 2 (0.6%) erythrocytosis (1 in ET, 1 in MF), 3 (0.8%) thrombocythemia (all in PV), 5 (1.4%) acute leukemia (2 in ET, 3 in MF) and 1 (0.3%) multiple myeloma (in ET). Eleven cases (3.1%) died, 5 (1.4%) from acute leukemia, 2 (0.6%) fatal hemorrhages, 1 (0.3%) each myocardial infarction and infectious shock, 2 (0.6%) unknown causes.

CONCLUSIONEmbolism and bleeding were the main complications in MPD. Conversions among ET, MF and PV hematological malignancies could occur.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myeloproliferative Disorders ; complications ; mortality

BACKGROUNDChemotherapy is very important in treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the third-generation cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimens have been the standard treatment for advanced NSCLC. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy and toxicity among four different chemotherapeutic regimens combined with radiotherapy in patients with stage III/IV NSCLC.

METHODSA total of 527 patients with stage III/IV NSCLC were enrolled, among whom there were 243 patients received cisplatin/vinorelbine (NP group), 163 patients for cisplatin/paclitaxel (TP group), 65 patients for cisplatin/gemcitabine (GP group) and 56 patients for cisplatin/docetaxel (DP group). The efficacy, side effects, median time to progression (TTP), median survival time (MST), 1- and 2-year survival rate were compared.

RESULTSThe response rate was 46.9% in the NP arm, 44.8% in the TP arm, 47.7% in the GP arm and 42.9% in the DP arm (P > 0.05). The response rate of patients with radiochemotherapy was 69.9%, and 40.8% for those with chemotherapy alone (P < 0.05). In group NP, TP, GP and DP, median TTP was 5.7, 5.3, 5.9 and 5.5 months (P > 0.05) respectively, MST was 10.4, 10.6, 11.5 and 10.4 months (P > 0.05) respectively, 1-year survival rate was 41.9%, 41.1%, 43.1% and 42.9% (P > 0.05) respectively, and 2-year survival rate was 21.3%, 19.4%, 23.1% and 23.2% (P > 0.05) respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe third-generation cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimens may be the standard treatment for advanced NSCLC, and their combination with radiotherapy may improve the therapeutic efficacy and prolong the survival of patients.

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of studies on long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) in melanoma. Different lncRNAs show high or low expression in melanoma, and competitively combine with miRNAs through ceRNA mechanism, affecting the expression of downstream target mRNAs, thereby playing the role of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Understanding the role of lncRNA as ceRNA in melanoma can provide new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma in the future.

Pediatric melanoma occurs rarely, and the pathogenesis is different in different subtypes. The diagnostic criteria for adult melanoma may not be fully applicable to pediatric patients due to atypical clinical manifestations of some tumors. Surgery is the first-line treatment, and the accurate resection margin could be smaller than that in adults. In recent years, immunotherapy and targeted therapy for melanoma have developed rapidly, but very few drugs have been approved for children. Although there have been few large-sample studies on the treatment of pediatric melanoma, the application of related drugs has been reported in literature. This review summarizes progress in the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations and treatment of pediatric melanoma, in order to provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric melanoma.