Objective Compared with chest CT,endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) can more accurately determine the upper and lower margins of esophageal cancer,and marking the upper and lower margins of the esophageal cancer with titanium clip contributes to the delineation of target area of esophageal cancer during radiotherapy.To compare the effects of esophageal X-ray,chest computed tomography (CT)scan and EUS-assisted placement of marker clip in the determination of the length of gross target volume (GTV),aiming to provide reference for the determination of GTV during esophageal cancer radiotherapy.Methods Thirty patients who were initially diagnosed with thoracic esophageal cancer by histological and cytological examinations and scheduled to receive radiotherapy were recruited in this investigation.All patients received esophageal X-ray,CT scan,and EUS-assisted placement of marker clip.The length of GTV was quantitatively measured and statistically compared among three different methods.Results The length of GTV was (6.1 ± 1.4) cm,(6.8± 1.9) cm and (6.3± 1.9) cm determined by esophageal X-ray,CT scan and EUS-assisted placement of marker clip,respectively.Compared with CT scan,the length of GTV determined by EUS-assisted placement of marker clip did not significantly differ (P=0.11).The length of GTV determined by esophageal X-ray was significantly shorter than that by CT scan (P =0.03).Among all patients,the length of GTV determined by EUS-assisted placement of marker clip was longer compared with that by chest CT scan in 22.2％ of patients.The length of GTV determined by EUS-assisted placement of marker clip was the same as that by chest CT scan in 11.1％ of patients.The length of GTV determined by EUS-assisted placement of marker clip was shorter compared with that by chest CT scan in 66.7％ of patients.Conclusions EUS-assisted placement of marker clip differs from esophageal X-ray and CT scan in determining the length of GTV,which acts as one of the effective methods in the determination of the length of GTV during esophageal cancer radiotherapy.

Objective:To investigate the effect of hydroxyurea (HU) combined with temozolomide (TMZ) and radiotherapy (RT) on the sensitivity of human glioma U251 cells to chemoradiotherapy (CRT).Methods:Human glioma U251 cell line was cultured in vitro. CCK8 cell assay was used to detect the proliferation activity of U251 cells treated with different concentrations of HU/TMZ under different conditions. Flow cytometry was utilized to detect apoptosis rate and cell cycle distribution of U251 cells. Transwell chamber assay and scratch test were performed to evaluate the changes of cell invasion and migration. The expression levels of apoptosis proteins were determined by Western blot. Colony formation assay was adopted to detect the cell survival fraction . Results:HU concentration at 50μmol/L and below did not affect the proliferation of human glioma U251 cells ( P>0.05). Low-dose HU combined with CRT significantly inhibited cell proliferation ( P<0.05), invasion ( P<0.01) and migration (12h P<0.001, 24h P<0.01), and promoted cell apoptosis ( P<0.01) compared with the use of CRT alone. Application of 50μmol/L HU combined with RT increased the radiosensitivity of cells (SER=1.49), significantly prolonged the cell cycle of S phase and G 2 phase (both P<0.05), considerably up-regulated the expression levels of the apoptosis-associated proteins of Caspase-3 and Bax and significantly down-regulated the expression level of anti-apoptosis protein of Bcl-2(all P<0.001). Conclusions:Compared with CRT, HU combined with CRT can further inhibit the proliferation, invasion and migration of human glioma U251 cells, promote cell apoptosis, increase the radiosensitivity and prolong the cell cycle of S and G 2 phases, thereby enhancing the sensitivity of human glioma U251 cells to CRT.

Objective:To retrospectively analyze the differences of survival, recurrence, acute side effects and prognostic factors between early stage (stage ⅠB-ⅡA) cervical cancer patients with intermediate risk factors receiving postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) or radiotherapy (RT) alone.Methods:Clinical data of 211 patients with intermediate risk factors after early stage cervical cancer surgery admitted to Department of Radiation Oncology of General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from January 2016 to December 2018, were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 91 cases were assigned in the RT group and 120 cases in CCRT group. The 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), recurrence and acute side effects were compared between two groups by Chi-square test. Univariate analysis of OS and PFS was performed by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test was performed. Multivariate prognostic analysis was conducted by using Cox model. Results:The 3- and 5-year OS of 211 patients were 95.0% and 93.8%, respectively. The 3- and 5-year PFS were 86.8% and 83.2%, respectively. The OS of CCRT and RT group were 93.9%, 96.5% (3-year), 91.8%, 96.5% (5-year) respectively ( χ2=1.763, P=0.184), and the PFS were 84.4%, 89.9% (3-year), 79.3%, 88.3% (5-year) ( χ2=2.619 ,P=0.106), with no difference between the two groups. The total recurrence rate was 15.64%, and there was no significant difference in the recurrence rate and recurrence area between two groups ( χ2=2.623 ,P=0.105; χ2=6.745 ,P=0.080). Locoregional recurrence and lung metastasis were the main patterns of failure. Multivariate prognostic analysis showed that pathological type might significantly affect the OS ( χ2=3.849, P=0.05), and depth of invasion significantly affected the PFS ( χ2=4.095, P=0.043). The incidence of acute gastrointestinal side effect and bone marrow suppression in the CCRT group was significantly higher than that in the RT group ( χ2=56.425, 27.833; both P<0.001). Conclusions:Patients with intermediate risk factors after early cervical cancer surgery obtain high efficacy after radiotherapy. The main patterns of failure are locoregional recurrence and lung metastasis. The pathological type may be an independent prognostic factor of OS and the depth of invasion is an independent prognostic factor of PFS. Compared with RT, CCRT increases the risk of acute gastrointestinal side effects and myelosuppression, which can be tolerated. There is no significant difference in the clinical efficacy between RT and CCRT, which remains to be validated by large sample size studies.

Objective:To retrospectively analyze the prognosis and related risk factors of lymph node metastasis in early-stage (Ⅰ B-Ⅱ A) cervical cancer patients with postoperative positive lymph nodes who were treated with intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted for 292 early-stage cervical cancer patients with postoperative high and/or moderate risk factors who were treated with pelvic-abdominal IMRT with/without concurrent chemotherapy in Ningxia Medical University General Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018. These patients included 239 with negative pelvic lymph nodes and 53 with positive lymph nodes, who were incorporated into the negative group and the positive group, respectively. Multivariate and univariate analyses of the risk factors of lymph node metastasis and prognosis were performed for both groups.Results:The univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the lesion ≥4 cm, deep interstitial invasion, and the number of risk factors were independent factors influencing pelvic lymph node metastasis ( χ2 = 7.11, 9.05, 90.08, P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the 3- and 5-year OS ( P>0.05) between both groups. The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) and 5-year DFS of the negative group were 87.6% and 84.5%, respectively, and those of the positive group were 72.5% and 69.3%, respectively ( χ2=8.59, P=0.003). Regarding failure modes, distant metastasis mainly occurred in the positive group, while local recurrence was dominant in the negative group ( χ2=9.40, P<0.05). The univariate analysis of the DFS in 53 patients with postoperative positive lymph nodes showed that deep interstitial invasion affected DFS, with statistically significant differences ( χ2 = 7.25, P < 0.05). The result of the multivariate analysis showed that the lesion size >4 cm, positive residual, and deep interstitial invasion significantly influenced the DFS ( χ2 = 4.37, 4.69, 4.39, P < 0.05). Conclusions:The lesion size, deep interstitial invasion, and risk factor number were independent factors influencing lymph node metastasis, and the DFS after radiotherapy of patients with pelvic lymph node metastasis was significantly lower than the patients with negative lymph nodes. The main recurrence type of patients with lymph node metastasis was distant metastasis. Moreover, the deep interstitial invasion was independent factor affecting the DFS of early-stage cervical cancer patients with postoperative positive lymph nodes.

Objective To externally validate the accuracy of combined use of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR),V20,and Dmean in predicting the incidence of grade Ⅲ or higher radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) in lung cancer patients.Methods A total of 166 lung cancer patients,who participated in the model establishment were selected into the internal validation group,and 85 lung cancer patients who received intensity-modulated radiotherapy in our department between June 2016 and June 2018 were assigned into the external validation group.The incidence rate of grade 3 or higher RILI was statistically compared between the internal and external validation groups.Multivariate logistic analysis was performed for NLR,V20 and Dmean The discrimination degree of the predictive model was evaluated by using ROC curve in combination with NLR,V20 and Dmean The calibration degree of the predictive model was assessed by Hosmer-Lemeshow test.Results The incidence rate of grade 3 or higher RILI in the internal and external validation groups was 23.8％ and 22.9％.Multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that NLR,V20 and Dmean significantly differed in the internal validation group (P=0.032,0.006 and 0.005).However,only V20 significantly differed in the external validation group (P=0.038).The discrimination and calibration degree of RILI was almost consistent between the internal and external validation groups (both P＞0.05).The area under the curve (AUC) predicted by NLR,V20,Dmean and the combination of three indexes were 0.611,0.646,0.682 and 0.775 in the internal validation group,and 0.544,0.702,0.658 and 0.754 in the external validation group,respectively.The calibration degree in the internal validation group was P=2.797and 0.834,P=2.452 and 0.653 in the external validation group.Conclusion Combined application of NLR,V20 and Dmean can accurately predict the incidence of grade Ⅲ or higher RILI in lung can cancer patients,which has been validated by external dataset.