Objective To analyze the outcomes and prognostic factors in patients with esophageal cancer after concurrent chemoradiotherapy.Methods A total of 135 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled in the clinical study from January 2008 to June 2015.The patients were treated with two-dimensional radiotherapy (56 patients) or three-dimensional radiotherapy (79 patients).The radiotherapy was delivered at a total dose of 60-64 Gy (1.8-2.0 Gy per fraction).The concurrent chemotherapy regimen consisted of fluorouracil plus cisplatin or paclitaxel plus cisplatin and was performed on days 1 and day 29 of radiotherapy.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate overall survival (OS)and progression-free survival (PFS) rates,the log-rank test was used for survival difference analysis and univariate prognostic analysis,and the Cox model was used for multivariate prognostic analysis.Results The 1-,3-,and 5-year sample sizes were 96,31,16,respectively.The 1-,3-,and 5-year OS rates were 74.0％,39.0％,and 28.6％,respectively;the median OS time was 25 months.The 1-,3-,and 5-year PFS rates were 57.3％,27.3％,and 16.6％,respectively;the median PFS time was 15 months.The univariate analysis indicated that clinical stage,radiotherapy method,and M stage were prognostic factors for OS and PFS (P =0.006,0.000,and 0.032;P=0.017,0.004,and O.000).The multivariate analysis showed that clinical stage and radiotherapy method were independent prognostic factors for OS and PFS (P=0.006 and 0.000;P =0.033 and 0.023).Conclusions For non-surgical treatment of patients with esophageal cancer,concurrent chemoradiotherapy is a preferred strategy and has proven to be effective and tolerable.

Objective To investigate the correlation between cyclin G1 expression and the efficacy of radiotherapy on HCC. Methods The expression of cyclin G1 in biopsy specimens of 68 patients who received radiotherapy was detected by immunochemistry. The correlation between cyclin G1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed by chi-square test. The correlation between cyclin G1 expression and OS or PFS was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used for the relation between clinicopathological characteristics and OS or PFS. Results The expression of cyclin G1 was related to portal vein tumor embolus, clinical stage and alpha fetoprotein. Survival analysis showed that the OS and PFS of patients with low expression of cyclin G1 were significantly higher than those with high cyclin G1 expression (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that cyclin G1 was an independent risk factor for DFS of patients with HCC. Conclusion High expression of cyclin G1 is an adverse prognostic factor for HCC patients who received radiotherapy.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between radiation mode and radiation-induced taste cell injury in mouse models.Methods:The head and neck of adult C57/bl mice were exposed to 8 Gy irradiation for 1, 2 and 3 times and sacrificed at 2, 4, 7 and 14 d after irradiation. Frozen sections of taste papilla tissues were treated with specific markers by immunohistochemical staining. The changes of proliferative cells and the number of type Ⅱtaste cells at different time points under different radiation modes were observed. The effect of different radiation dose patterns upon the taste cells was assessed.Results:The count of proliferative cells was decreased significantly on the 2 nd day after radiation, and rapidly recovered to normal level on the 4 th day after radiation, which was not correlated with the dose mode. The number of type Ⅱ taste cells was decreased on the 2 nd day of the first 8 Gy radiation, decreased to the lowest on the 4 th day of the second and third 8 Gy radiation, and rose slowly on the 7 th day. Conclusions:Radiation can initially decrease and subsequently increase the number of proliferative cells to normal range. Besides, it can gradually repair the type Ⅱ taste cell injury. After high-dose irradiation, the decrease of progenitor cells with proliferative function leads to a synchronous decrease in the number of taste function cells, which may be the reason why taste dysfunction cannot be recovered for a long time after radiotherapy.

Objective To investigate the relationship between treatment-related lymphopenia and pathologic complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Methods Clinical data of 220 ESCC patients treated with neoadjuvant CRT followed by surgery between 2002 and 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.Absolute lymphocyte count was determined before and at 1 month after neoadjuvant CRT.Treatment-related lymphopenia was graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE,4.0 version).The relationship between lymphopenia,pCR and recurrence was evaluated by chi-square test and Cox's regression model.Results Ninety-five patients (43.2％) achieved a pCR after neoadjuvant CRT and 71 cases (32.3％) recurred postoperatively.During neoadjuvant CRT,the incidence rates of grade 0,1,2,3,and 4 lymphopenia were 1.8％,6.8％,31.4％,38.2％,and 21.8％,respectively.Patients with grade 4 lymphopenia had a significantly lower pCR rate than those with grade 0-3 lymphopenia (22.9％ vs.48.8％,P=0.001).Moreover,grade 4 lymphopenia was significantly associated with a higher risk of recurrence (45.8％ vs.28.5％,P=0.023).Multivariate analysis identified that primary tumor length,tumor location and radiation dose were the independent predictors for grade 4 lymphopenia during neoadjuvant CRT (P=0.013,0.001,0.002).Conclusions The incidence of grade 4 lymphopenia in ESCC patients undergoing neoadjuvant CRT is correlated with a low pCR rate and a high risk of recurrence.Lymphopenia can be used as an economic and effective predictor for pCR.

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety between induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by concurrent chemotherapy (CRT) and CRT alone in patients with inoperable thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Methods Between 2002 and 2015,clinical data of 267 thoracic ESCC patients undergoing definitive CRT based on docetaxel combined with cisplatin were retrospectively analyzed.Through a matched case-control study,85 patients receiving IC combined with CRT were matched to those undergoing CRT alone at a ratio of 1vs.1,according to age,gender,performance status,tumor location,tumor length,and TNM staging as the matching factors.Clinical efficacy and safety between two groups were statistically compared.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to analyze the survival.The log-rank test was adopted to examine within-group differences.The Cox regression model was used for multivariate analysis.Results The median follow-up time for 170 patients was 18 months (range,3-72 months).The overall objective response rates in the IC and CRT groups were 74.1％ and 58.8％(P=0.035).The 3-year overall survival (OS) and progress-free survival (PFS) rates in the IC group were 44.2％ and 34.8％,significantly higher than 29.7％ and 15.4％ in the CRT group (P=0.028,P=0.015).Subgroup analysis revealed that patients responsive to IC obtained significantly better OS (P=0.002),PFS (P=0.001),and local recurrence-free survival (LRFS)(P=0.002) compared with the IC non-responder,whereas the distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) did not significantly differ (P=0.166).The incidence rate of grade 3-4 leukopenia in the IC group was significantly higher than that in the CRT group (38.8％ vs.24.7％,P=0.048).Multivariate analysis revealed that age and the addition of IC were independent prognostic factors for OS (P=0.003,0.016).Conclusions Compared with concurrent CRT,IC in combination with CRT can yield better short-term efficacy and longer survival for ESCC patients.The risk of hematological toxicity in the IC group is relatively higher but tolerable.Prospective randomized trials are required to confirm the clinical efficacy and safety of IC for thoracic ESCC patients.

Objective To analyze the pattern of recurrence risk and investigate the association between pathological staging and recurrence risk in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Methods Clinical data of 174 patients with advanced thoracic ESCC treated with neoadjuvant CRT between 2002 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients received preoperative concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy with conformal radiotherapy (40-50. 4 Gy,conventional fractionation) combined with surgery. Kaplan-Meier method was utilized to analyze the survival,the log-rank test was conducted to compare the differences between groups,and the Cox regression model was used for multivariate analysis. Results The median follow-up time was 53. 9 months. A total of 44. 8% of patients achieved pathological complete response, and 59 patients ( 33. 9%) recurred after neoadjuvent CRT.The postoperative recurrence rate was 22. 2% for patients with pathological stage 0/I,38. 7% for stageⅡand 68. 2% for stageⅢ(P=0. 000).The 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 74. 7%, 61. 4% and 20. 9% for patients with pathological stage 0/Ⅰ,ⅡandⅢ,respectively (P=0. 000).In total,20. 5% of patients with pathological stage 0/I orⅡrecurred after postoperative 3 years, whereas all patients with pathological stageⅢrecurred within postoperative 2 years. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age,clinical TNM staging,chemotherapy regimen,and pathological response after CRT were independent prognostic factors affecting the RFS ( P= 0. 027, 0. 047, 0. 010, 0. 005). Conclusions Pathological stage is significantly correlated with the recurrence risk in ESCC patients after neoadjuvant CRT.Risk-based surveillance strategies can be defined according to different pathologial staging.

Objective:To compare the efficacy and safety of preoperative and postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapies in the treatment of stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ A gastric cancer patients who underwent D2 lymphadenectomy with R0 resection. Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ A gastric cancer who underwent D2 lymphadenectomy with R0 resection in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from 2012 to 2019. Among these patients, 25 received preoperative chemoradiotherapy (group A) and 22 received postoperative chemoradiotherapy (group B). The disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), local recurrence rate, distant metastasis rate, and adverse reactions were compared between both groups. The total dose, single dose, fractions, and duration of radiotherapy for all the patients were 45-50.4 Gy, 1.8-2.0 Gy, 25-28 fractions, and 5-6 weeks, respectively. The target areas were delineated in accordance with the ASTRO and EORTC-ROG guidelines. Results:There was no statistical difference in clinical baseline characteristics between the two groups. The median follow-up was 48 months (3-72 months). The 1-year OS of group A was significantly higher than that of group B (92% vs. 54.5%, χ2= 5.68, P = 0.017). The 3-year OS and DFS of the two groups were 56% vs. 40.9% ( P> 0.05) and 51.4% vs. 31.8% ( P> 0.05), respectively. There was no significant difference in the local recurrence rate between both groups ( P> 0.05), but the distant metastasis rate of group A was significantly lower than that of group B ( χ2= 6.01, P = 0.014). There was no significant difference in digestive side effects and myelosuppression between both groups ( P> 0.05). Conclusions:For patients with stageⅢ-Ⅳ A gastric cancer after D2 lymphadenectomy with R0 resection, the preoperative and postoperative chemoradiotherapies yield similar efficacy and safety. However, compared to postoperative chemoradiotherapy, preoperative chemoradiotherapy improves the 1-year OS and reduces the distant metastasis rate.