Objective:To observe the efficacy of apatinib combined with capecitabine in the treatment of advanced esophageal cancer.Methods:A total of 101 patients with advanced esophageal cancer in Taixing People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province from June 2017 to February 2018 were enrolled, and all the patients were divided into the control group (50 cases) and the observation group (51 cases) according to the random number table. The control group was treated with capecitabine combined with radiotherapy, and the observation group was treated with apatinib on the basis of the control group. The therapeutic effects, adverse reactions and progression-free survival (PFS) time of the two groups were compared.Results:The overall response rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group [90.2% (46/51) vs. 72.0% (36/50)], and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2 = 5.473, P = 0.019). There were no significant differences in leukopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, anemia, proteinuria and hypertension between the two groups (all P > 0.05). The median PFS time in the observation group was 18.49 months (95% CI 15.35-25.03 months), and that in the control group was 13.33 months (95% CI 10.36-18.24 months), and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( χ2 = 5.995, P < 0.01). Conclusions:The therapeutic effect of apatinib combined with capecitabine in the treatment of advanced esophageal cancer is accurate. No obvious adverse reaction occurs, and the PFS time is prolonged.

This study shows a case of a patient with synovial chondromatosis of the hip misdiagnosed as rice body bursitis. The patient complained of pain and limited activity in his left hip. He was diagnosed with synovial chondromatosis of the hip by medical history, physical examination, imaging examination and postoperative pathology. Based on literature review, the characteristics and differential diagnosis of the disease in epidemiology, imaging and pathology were discussed in detail, so as to improve the understanding of the disease and avoid misdiagnosis. He was treated with hip arthroscopy and obtained satisfactory therapeutic effect. The patient was followed up for 1 year without recurrence.

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of pre-treatment inflammatory markers on the therapeutic effect and survival outcome in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who received chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or radiotherapy (RT) alone.Methods A total of 107 patients who were diagnosed with ESCC were retrospectively analysed.They were treated with radical radiotherapy alone or concurrent chemoradiotherapy in the Affiliated Taixing People's Hospital of Yangzhou University between January 2013 and December 2014.According to the median values of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR),platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and CRP/Alb ratio before treatment,the patients were divided into NLR＜3.06 group (54 cases) and NLR≥3.06 group (53 cases),PLR＜145.26 group (54 cases) and PLR≥ 145.26 (53 cases),CRP/Alb＜0.13 group (52 cases) and CRP/Alb≥0.13 (55 cases),respectively.The relationships between the response to treatment and these markers were analysed by univariate and multivariate logistic analyses.The Kaplan-Meier method and logrank test were adopted to calculate and compare associations of the progression-free survival (PFS) rates with these blood markers.Cox proportional hazards models were used for the univariate and multivariate analyses.Results The therapeutic effects of chemoradiotherapy,NLR＜3.06,PLR＜ 145.26 and CRP/ Alb＜ 0.13 were better than those of radiotherapy alone,NLR≥ 3.06,PLR≥ 145.26 and CRP/Alb ≥ 0.13,respectively,and the differences were statistically significant (HR=2.118,4.138,2.297,3.784,P＜0.05).Further analysis showed that chemoradiotherapy (HR =1.342,95％ CI 1.023 ～ 2.467,P＜ 0.05) and CRP/Alb ratio＜ 0.13 (HR =7.004,95％ CI 2.088 ～ 23.496,P＜0.05) were independent risk factors for good tumour response.In addition,TNM stage,treatment modality,NLR,PLR and CRP/Alb ratio were significantly associated with PFS by the univariate analysis (P＜0.05 for all).Furthermore,the multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis showed that only TNM stage (HR =1.326,95％ CI 1.070-1.833 P＜0.05),treatment modality (HR =0.400,95％ CI 0.230-0.694,P＜0.05) and CRP/Alb ratio (HR=3.518,95％ CI 1.975-6.266,P＜ 0.05) were considered independent prognostic factors for PFS.And according to TNM staging and treatment subgroup analysis,CRP/Alb＜0.13 had better progression-free survival time than CRP/Alb≥ 0.13 ESCC patients.Finally,the ROC curve also confirmed that CRP/Alb was superior to NLR and PLR in predicting short-term efficacy and progression-free survival in ESCC patients receiving chemoradiotherapy.Conclusions Our study demonstrated that CRP/Alb ratio was promising as a predictive marker for the therapeutic effect and survival outcome in ESCC patients receiving CRT or RT alone.

Objective:To investigate the effects of pre-treatment Naples prognostic score (NPS), including inflammation-related and nutrition-related indicators, on the treatment efficacy and prognosis of patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) receiving chemoradiotherapy.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted for 123 patients diagnosed with thoracic ESCC. These patients were treated either with standard curative radiotherapy (RT) alone or with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in the Affiliated Taixing People's Hospital of Yangzhou University between January 2014 and December 2017. The patients were divided into NPS 0 group (18 cases), NPS 1 or 2 group (60 cases), and NPS 3 or 4 group (45 cases). The responsiveness to treatment was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were adopted to calculate and compare the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates. Meanwhile, Cox proportional hazards models were used for the multivariate analyses.Results:The overall effective rate across the entire cohort was 65.0%, and the effective rates of the NPS 0 group, NPS 1 or 2 group, and NPS 3 or 4 group were 88.9%, 73.3%, and 44.4%, respectively. As indicated by the univariate logistic analysis, the treatment responses in patients with ESCC were highly associated with TNM stage, treatment method, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), and NPS (1 or 2 group and 3 or 4 group) ( HR =1.633, 0.225, 4.002, 0.320, 2.909, 6.591, P<0.05). Subsequently, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that treatment strategy alone ( HR =0.214, 95% CI 0.105-0.436, P=0.001), NLR ( HR =2.547, 95% CI 1.248-5.199, P=0.010), and NPS (1 or 2 group: HR=1.193, 95% CI 1.377-9.691, P=0.033; 3 or 4 group: HR =3.349, 95% CI 1.548-10.499, P=0.003) were independent risk factors for tumour response. In addition, the univariate analysis indicates that TNM stage, treatment modality, NLR, LMR, and NPS were significantly associated with PFS and OS( HRPFS=1.480, 0.364, 2.129, 0.635, 3.316, 6.599, P < 0.05; HROS=1.149, 0.308, 2.306, 0.609, 3.316, 6.599, P < 0.05). Furthermore, multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis showed that TNM stage ( HR =1.408, 95% CI 1.069-1.854, P=0.015), treatment modality ( HR =0.367, 95% CI 0.261-0.516, P=0.015), NLR ( HR =1.518, 95% CI 1.078-2.139, P=0.017), and NPS (1 or 2 group: HR=3.279, 95% CI 1.405-7.653, P=0.006; 3 or 4 group: HR =6.233, 95% CI 2.439-15.875, P < 0.001) were considered independent prognostic factors for PFS. Additionally, these parameters were also independent prognostic factors for OS. Conclusions:Using inflammation-related and nutrition-related biomarkers, this study demonstrated that NPS is promising as a predictive indicator for the therapeutic effects and survival prognosis in patients with ESCC receiving CRT or RT alone.

Objective:To explore the impact of preoperative Naples prognostic score (NPS) on the survival prognosis of patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Methods:From December 2014 to December 2020, a total of 134 patients who underwent radical esophagectomy in Department of Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Taixing People′s Hospital of Yangzhou University were retrospectively analyzed. The NPS was calculated by the median values of preoperative serum albumin, total cholesterol, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), and then the enrolled patients were divided into NPS 0 group (20 cases), NPS 1 or 2 group (62 cases) and NPS 3 or 4 group (52 cases). Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rate and survival comparison was performed by log-rank test. The univa-riate and multivariate Cox models were used to analyze the relationship between NPS and survival prognosis.Results:The 1-, 3- and 5-year progression free survival (PFS) rates were 95.0%, 70.0% and 60.0% in the NPS 0 group, 66.1%, 24.2% and 24.2% in the NPS 1 or 2 group, and 48.1%, 3.8% and 1.9% in the NPS 3 or 4 group respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=31.27, P<0.001). In the NPS 0 group, the 1-, 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 100.0%, 80.0% and 70.0% respectively. In the NPS 1 or 2 group, the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rates were 96.8%, 36.7% and 32.3% respectively, while in the NPS 3 or 4 group, the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rates were 90.4%, 32.7% and 5.8% respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference ( χ2=29.70, P<0.001). Univariate analysis found that sex, T stage, N stage, TNM stage and NPS were closely related to PFS and OS of patients with thoracic ESCC (all P<0.05). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that T stage ( HR=1.46, 95% CI: 1.07-2.00, P=0.019), N stage ( HR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.02-1.76, P=0.037) and NPS (set NPS 0 group as the subvariable, NPS 1 or 2 group: HR=3.35, 95% CI: 1.58-7.11, P=0.002; NPS 3 or 4 group: HR=6.15, 95% CI: 2.89-13.11, P=0.001) were independent prognostic factors for PFS. Additionally, T stage ( HR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.01-2.77, P=0.046), N stage ( HR=1.44, 95% CI: 1.00-2.20, P=0.048) and NPS (set NPS 0 group as the subvariable, NPS 1 or 2 group: HR=3.10, 95% CI: 1.31-7.32, P=0.010; NPS 3 or 4 group: HR=5.09, 95% CI: 2.14-12.11, P=0.001) were independent prognostic factors for OS. Conclusion:Preoperative NPS plays an important role in predicting the survival prognosis of patients with thoracic ESCC.

Objective: To evaluate preoperative nutritional status and inflammatory status by Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 (NRS-2002) and hematologic inflammatory markers in patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and to explore their effects on long-term survival prognosis. Methods: A total of 113 patients with thoracic ESCC treated by radical resection were grouped for further analysis according to preoperative NRS-2002 score, systemic inflammation score (SIS) and the combination of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (CNP) score. The progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) between groups were compared. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to determine the independent prognostic factors of patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and the interaction analysis of statistically significant factors was carried out. Results: The median PFS was 21 months for all the patients. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year PFS rates were 69.0%, 25.7% and 23.1%, respectively. Correspondingly, the median OS was 36 months, and the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year OS rates were 95.6%, 46.2% and 29.2%, respectively. Cox univariate analysis showed that T stage, N stage, TNM stage, SIS, CNP score and NRS-2002 score were significantly associated with PFS and OS (all P<0.05), and sex was associated with PFS (P=0.032) in patients with thoracic ESCC. Furthermore, cox multivariate analysis showed that TNM stage (HR=1.570, P=0.039), NRS-2002 score (HR=2.706, P<0.001) and CNP score (HR=1.463, P=0.011) were independent prognosis factors of PFS in patients with thoracic ESCC. In cox model interaction analysis, there was a positive interaction between NRS-2002 score and CNP score (RR=2.789, P<0.001). Conclusion Preoperative NRS-2002 score combined with CNP score are risk factors for prognosis of patients with thoracic ESCC, which can be used as prognostic indicators.