ObjectiveTo compare and observe the effect of Reduning injection （mainly clearing heat）， Shenfu injection （mainly warming Yang） combined with gefitinib on the proliferation， apoptosis， stemness characteristics and metabolism of lung cancer cells. MethodDifferent non-small cell lung cancer （NSCLC） cell lines were selected and intervened with gefitinib （5， 10， 20 μmol·L^-1）， Reduning injection （0.6%， 0.9%）， Shenfu injection （0.6%， 0.9%）， gefitinib combined with Reduning injection， and gefitinib combined with Shenfu injection. Cell proliferation in each group was detected by cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） assay， and cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The mRNA and protein expressions of lung cancer stem cell markers sex determining region Y-box 2 （Sox2） and aldehyde dehydrogenase family 1 member A1 （ALDH1A1） were determind by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot， respectively. The redox ratio of lung cancer cells was observed by femtosecond label-free imaging （FLI） and energy metabolism instrument was used to determine the glycolysis level in cells. ResultCompared with the blank group， Reduning injection reduced the survival rate of lung cancer cells （P<0.05）， increased the apoptosis rate （P<0.05）， down-regulated the mRNA and protein expressions of Sox2 and ALDH1A1 （P<0.05）， and up-regulated the redox ratio of cells （P<0.05）， while Shenfu injection exerted no remarkable effect on the above indexes. In addition， compared with gefitinib alone， Reduning injection combined with gefitinib inhibited the survival rate of lung cancer cells （P<0.05）， promoted the cell apoptosis （P<0.05）， down-regulated the mRNA and protein expressions of Sox2 and ALDH1A1 （P<0.05）， up-regulated the redox ratio of cells （P<0.05）， and lowered the proton efflux rate of glycolysis （P<0.05）， while Shenfu injection combined with gefitinib failed to affect these indexes of lung cancer cells significantly. ConclusionReduning injection may inhibit stemness characteristics of tumor cells by regulating their metabolism to enhance the proliferation-inhibiting and pro-apoptotic effects of gefitinib on lung cancer cells， while Shenfu injection had no significant enhancing effect on gefitinib. This indicates that epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors （EGFR-TKIs） should be used in combination with heat-clearing Chinese medicines.

Objective To investigate the clinical application of three-dimensional intracavitary/free-hand interstitial brachytherapy technique in radical radiotherapy for cervical cancer. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on the clinical data of patients with cervical cancer who underwent radical radiotherapy using CT-guided three-dimensional intracavitary/free-hand interstitial brachytherapy technique in The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from April 2019 to September 2021. The short-term efficacy and adverse reactions were analyzed, and the independent predictors affecting short-term efficacy were evaluated by logistic risk regression model. Results A total of 182 patients were included, and all patients successfully completed the treatment. Clinical efficacy assessment performed 3 months after treatment revealed an overall response rate of 90.65%; the incidence of grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions in the lower gastrointestinal tract was 4.4% during treatment. After reclassifying stage IIIC patients according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2009 staging system and including factors affecting the stage, it was found that the tumor volume before brachytherapy was the main factor affecting the clinical efficacy of patients at this stage (P = 0.004). Conclusion As a key method in radical radiotherapy for cervical cancer, three-dimensional intracavitary/free-hand interstitial brachytherapy technique is safe and effective and can be quickly popularized in primary hospitals beyond regional cancer centers for cervical cancer brachytherapy.