Objective To define the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) of lobaplatin (LBP) in a weekly regimen combined with concurrent radiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods A total of 18 cases with stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ A NPC were enrolled.Concurrent chemoradiotherapy was given to all the patients with a dose escalation of LBP.The initial dose of LBP was 15 mg/m2 with an escalating dose of 5 mg/m2.At least 3 patients were assigned into each group.Patients were proceeded into the next dose group if no dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) occurred until the MTD was achieved.Efficacy and toxicity were evaluated regularly.Results Three patients were assigned into the 10 mg/m2,3 into the 15 mg/m2,and 6 into the 20 mg/m2 and 25 mg/m2 groups,respectively.Two patients experienced DLT in the 25 mg/m2 group.Hence,the MTD was determined as 20 mg/m2.At 3 months after corresponding treatment,the remission rate of nasopharyngeal tumors and neck-positive lymph nodes of the patients was 100％.The most common toxicity was reversible bone marrow suppression.Conclusions The MTD of weekly lobaplatin plus concurrent IMRT is 20 mg/m2 for locally advanced NPC.This regimen is reliable and safe,which is worthy of further clinical study.

Objective To investigate the relationship of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) with clinicopathological characteristics,radiosensitivity and prognosis of the patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC). Methods Ninety ESCC patients who received radical radiotherapy diagnosed by ESCC in Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College were enrolled. Twenty cases of normal esophageal mucosa were used as the controls. The expression of PD-L1 was detected by using immunohistochemical SP method. Results The expression of PD-L1 protein was not correlated with age, gender, the maximum diameter of tumor, the length of lesion, the local aggressive of tumor, clinical stage and primary tumor volume (all P> 0.05). However, it was statistically correlated with the lymphatic metastasis (χ2= 4.404, P= 0.036). Meanwhile, PD-L1 positive expression was sensitive to radiation(χ2=4.888, P< 0.05). Single factor analysis showed that the maximum diameter of tumor and radiosensitivity were correlated with progression-free survival (PFS) (χ2=6.239,P =0.013;χ2=6.852,P =0.008; χ2= 6.312, P= 0.012) and overall survival (OS) (χ2=8.170, P = 0.004; χ 2= 4.261, P = 0.039; χ2= 5.003, P= 0.025) of ESCC patients. Multifactor analysis showed that the radiosensitivity and the maximum diameter of tumor affected PFS (OR= 0.512, 95 % CI 0.275-0.954, P= 0.035) and OS (OR= 0.507, 95 % CI 0.266-0.968, P= 0.039) in ESCC patients, respectively.Conclusions The level of PD-L1 expression is increased significantly in ESCC tissues compared with the normal esophageal mucosa tissues. PD-L1 may be a novel biomarker for predicting metastatic potential and radiosensitivity in ESCC patients, rather than the prognosis predictors of ESCC patients treated by radiotherapy.