Objective:To analyze the safety of reduced clinical target volume (CTV) irradiation of suspicious positive lymph nodes in IIa region in patients with N 0-N 1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and the protective effect of submandibular gland and long-term resting dry mouth, and to explore the diagnostic value of multimodal imaging for suspicious cervical lymph nodes. Methods:Clinical data of T 0-4N 0-1M 0 stage NPC patients admitted to Jiangsu Cancer Hospital from July 2015 to April 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical, radiation therapy planning, multimodal imaging and other relevant data were collected. All patients were treated with an optimized regimen of IMRT with a prophylactic radiation dose of 50.4 Gy (named as CTV50) for IIa region. Imaging characteristics and treatment response of suspicious lymph nodes were monitored by MRI, MRI-DWI, PET-CT and repeated enhanced positioning CT, etc. The dosimetry of the submandibular gland between optimized and standard dose plans (CTV50 vs. CTV60) was compared by paired t-test. The long-term dry mouth degree of the patients was evaluated using advanced radiation injury from Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), Jiangsu Cancer Hospital Multi-dimensional Dry Mouth Evaluation Scale and summated xerostomia inventory (SXI). The difference of dry mouth degree was analyzed by rank-sum test. Results:A total of 106 patients were included in this study, including 149 cervical lymph node negative sides, 73 sides of which had ≤3 recognizable lymph nodes, and 76 of which were>3 in Ⅱa region. Among patients with N 1 stage, 63 patients underwent contralateral single neck area optimization, and 43 patients (N 0 stage and N 1 stage patients with retropharyngeal lymph node metastasis) underwent double-neck area optimization. A total of 109 suspicious lymph nodes with a short diameter of >5 mm were found on the largest cross section, of which 105 had clear portal structure. The ratio of long to short diameter was ≥1.5 in 93 cases, and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max) in PET-CT was ≥2.5 in 76 cases. No lymph node recurrence was found in the CTV optimized area. There was no significant difference in the average dose of GTV in tumor target area after optimization ( P>0.05), and the D mean and V 39 Gy in submandibular gland were significantly lower than those in unoptimized plan (both P<0.01). There was no significant difference in long-term dry mouth and resting dry mouth between patients with unilateral and bilateral optimization of submandibular gland (both P>0.05). Conclusions:The optimal program of CTV50 reduction irradiation in Ⅱa area of N 0-N 1 NPC patients is safe and effective. The submandibular gland has obvious dosimetric advantages, and patients have a good subjective response to resting dry mouth. The multimodal imaging tools such as enhanced CT, MRI-DWI and PET-CT should be performed to deliver individual evaluation and treatment for suspicious lymph nodes.

Objective:To investigate the feasibility of individualized primary clinical target volume (CTV) delineation in intensity-modulated radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods:Clinical data of 87 consecutive patients newly diagnosed with lateralized NPC in Jiangsu Cancer Hospital between October 2016 and February 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Lateralized NPC is defined as tumor invasion not exceeding the contralateral wall. According to the tumor spread, the primary CTV was optimized as follows: CTV2 only covered the medial part of the contralateral pterygopalatine fossa, whereas the contralateral foramen oval was not included; on the level of parapharyngeal space, the contralateral side of CTV only covered the posterior lateral lymph nodes, whereas the contralateral internal jugular vein was not regularly covered. Failure patterns and 5-year survival [local control rate (LCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS)] were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method. Paired t-test and rank-sum test were used to analyze the dose variation in the optimized region and adverse reactions. Results:The median follow-up time was 59.5 months. The 5-year LCR, PFS, and OS were 98.9%, 86.5% and 92.1%, respectively. There was no local recurrence in the optimized area of CTV. Dosimetric comparison results showed that the doses of parotid gland, temporal lobe, cochlea and middle ear on the contralateral side were reduced by 13.45%, 9.14%, 38.83%, and 29.36%, respectively. Four cases (4.6%) developed grade 3 hearing loss, all on the ipsilateral side. The optimized scheme significantly alleviated the hearing loss on the contralateral side compared to that on the ipsilateral side ( P<0.001). Other grade 3 late adverse reactions included cranial nerve injury, subcutaneous fibrosis in the neck and visual impairment, with 1 case each. Conclusion:Individualized primary CTV for lateralized NPC is feasible and safe, with obvious dosimetric advantages and reduced adverse reaction rate, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

A 3-week practice-oriented training course on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management was conducted in December 2020, 34 primary care physicians from township or community health service centers attended the course. The impact of the training course on the knowledge levels of COPD management was evaluated with a questionnaire survey, the questionnaire contained the knowledge of COPD and its management. The survey showed that before the training, the participants had low knowledge levels on the definition of COPD and its risk factors; 67.6% (23/34) were not aware of COPD-related guidelines and new developments, and 17.6%(6/34) had conducted COPD follow-up assessments, pulmonary rehabilitation, and health education; only 8.8% (3/34) had used the improved British Medical Research Council Dyspnea Index (mMRC) and the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test (CAT) for patient self-assessment; there was no pulmonary function instrument in their units, and only 3 doctors (8.8%) had previously participated in pulmonary function training and knew indications and contraindications of the pulmonary function test, and complete report interpretation; all participants were unable to use common inhalation devices and master inhalation techniques completely and correctly; 11.8% (4/34) had assessed patients′ handling inhalation devices and performing inhalation. After the training, the knowledge levels of COPD clinical features, lung function and inhalation technique were significantly improved, and the scores were significantly increased compared with those before the training ( P<0.001). The study shows that primary care physicians have insufficient knowledge and management skill of COPD. The practice-oriented training can significantly improve the knowledge and skills of primary care physician for COPD management in the community.

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.

BACKGROUND: Severe hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is a life-threatening contagious disease among young children and infants. Although enterovirus A71 has been well acknowledged to be the dominant cause of severe HFMD, there still remain other unidentified risk factors for severe HFMD. Previous studies mainly focused on identifying the individual-level risk factors from a clinical perspective, while rare studies aimed to clarify the association between regional-level risk factors and severe HFMD, which may be more important from a public health perspective. METHODS: We retrieved the clinical HFMD counts between 2008 and 2014 from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which were used to calculated the case-severity rate in 143 prefectural-level cities in mainland China. For each of those 143 cities, we further obtained city-specific characteristics from the China City Statistical Yearbook (social and economic variables) and the national meteorological monitoring system (meteorological variables). A Poisson regression model was then used to estimate the associations between city-specific characteristics (reduced by the principal component analysis to avoid multicollinearity) and the case-severity rate of HFMD. The above analysis was further stratified by age and gender to examine potential modifying effects and vulnerable sub-populations. RESULTS: We found that the case-severity rate of HFMD varied dramatically between cities, ranging from 0 to 8.09%. Cities with high case-severity rates were mainly clustered in Central China. By relating the case-severity rate to city-specific characteristics, we found that both the principal component characterized by a high level of social and economic development (RR = 0.823, 95%CI 0.739, 0.916) and another that characterized by warm and humid climate (RR = 0.771, 95%CI 0.619, 0.960) were negatively associated with the case-severity rate of HFMD. These estimations were consistent across age and gender sub-populations. CONCLUSION Except for the type of infected pathogen, the case-severity rate of HFMD was closely related to city development and meteorological factor. These findings suggest that social and environmental factors may also play an important role in the progress of severe HFMD.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China/epidemiology* ; Cities/epidemiology* ; Female ; Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease/virology* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Risk Factors

Objective:To explore the impact of the number of pathological lymph node metastasis areas on the prognosis of patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after radical surgery.Methods:The clinicopathologic data of 153 patients with ESCC treated by radical surgery at the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Affiliated Taixing People′s Hospital of Yangzhou University from January 2012 to December 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. Among these patients, 76 had no adjuvant therapy, and 77 received adjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy after surgery. According to the lymph node classification criteria of American Thoracic Association and the number of pathological lymph node metastasis areas, the patients were divided into non-regional lymph node metastasis group ( n=68), oligo-regional lymph node metastasis group (1-2 regional lymph node metastasis, n=54) and multi-regional lymph node metastasis group (≥3 regional lymph node metastasis, n=31). Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rate and survival comparison was performed by log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze prognostic factors, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the predictive value of the number of lymph node metastasis areas. Results:The median overall survival (OS) was 37.0 months for the 153 patients, and the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rates were 97.4%, 51.0% and 30.7% respectively. In the non-regional lymph node metastasis group, the median OS was 46.0 months, and the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rates were 97.1%, 58.8% and 39.7% separately. In the oligo-regional lymph node metastasis group, the median OS was 39.0 months, and the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rates were 94.4%, 55.6% and 35.2% respectively. In the multi-regional lymph node metastasis group, the median OS was 26.0 months, and the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rates were 98.1%, 25.8% and 3.2% separately. There was a statistically significant difference among the three groups ( χ2=18.257, P<0.001). Among the 76 patients without adjuvant treatment, the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rates were 94.7%, 50.0% and 34.2% in patients with non-regional lymph node metastasis, 90.9%, 36.4% and 9.1% in patients with oligo-regional lymph node metastasis, 97.4%, 18.8% and 0 in patients with multi-regional lymph node metastasis, and there was a statistically significant difference ( χ2=8.201, P=0.017). Among the 77 patients with adjuvant therapy, the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rates were 97.7%, 66.7% and 46.7% in patients with non-regional lymph node metastasis, 96.9%, 68.8% and 53.1% in patients with oligo-regional lymph node metastasis, 93.3%, 26.7% and 6.7% in patients with multi-regional lymph node metastasis, and there was a statistically significant difference ( χ2=18.083, P<0.001). Univariate analysis showed that age ( HR=1.534, 95% CI: 1.041-2.260, P=0.030), T stage ( HR=1.757, 95% CI: 1.197-2.579, P=0.004), N stage ( HR=1.548, 95% CI: 1.043-2.297, P=0.030), TNM stage ( HR=1.392, 95% CI: 1.114-2.459, P=0.015), adjuvant therapy ( HR=0.545, 95% CI: 0.370-0.803, P=0.002) and number of lymph node metastasis areas (multi-regional lymph node metastasis versus non-regional lymph node metastasis: HR=0.385, 95% CI: 0.238-0.624, P<0.001; multi-regional lymph node metastasis versus oligo-regional lymph node metastasis: HR=0.442, 95% CI: 0.269-0.726, P=0.001) were closely related to OS in patients with ESCC after operation. Multivariate analysis showed that T stage ( HR=1.699, 95% CI: 1.143-2.525, P=0.009), adjuvant therapy ( HR=0.577, 95% CI: 0.386-0.864, P=0.008) and number of lymph node metastasis areas (multi-regional lymph node metastasis versus non-regional lymph node metastasis: HR=0.553, 95% CI: 0.411-0.996, P=0.011; multi-regional lymph node metastasis versus oligo-regional lymph node metastasis: HR=0.550, 95% CI: 0.328-0.924, P=0.024) were independent prognostic factors for OS. The number of lymph node metastasis areas (AUC=0.648, 95% CI: 0.560-0.735, P=0.004) was better than the number of lymph node metastasis (AUC=0.595, 95% CI: 0.497-0.694, P=0.061) in predicting OS of patients with ESCC after radical surgery. Conclusion:The number of postoperative pathological lymph node metastasis areas in thoracic ESCC has important value in predicting survival prognosis, and adjuvant therapy can significantly improve the OS of patients with oligo-regional lymph node metastasis.

Objective:To investigate the prognostic factors of oligometastatic (OM) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and the safety and effectiveness of early radiotherapy intervention.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted, including 159 OM NSCLC cases (metastatic sites≤5, metastasis organs≤3) admitted to Department of Radiation Oncology in First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2015 to December 2018. Among 159 cases, there were 107 males and 52 females, with the median age of 63 years. 137 cases were administrated via early radiotherapy intervention, and 22 cases via delayed radiotherapy intervention. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to determine the progression-free survival time (PFS)/overall survival time (OS) to ascertain the best cut-off value for local control and prognosis. Survival analysis was calculated by Kaplan-Meier curves, and Log rank test was used for comparison of these curves. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for multivariate survival analysis.Results:The median follow-up time of 159 cases was 28.2 months. During the follow-up period, there were 16 cases with complete remission (10.1%), 53 cases with partial remission (33.3%), 27 cases with stable disease (17.0%), and 63 cases with progressed disease(39.6%). The local control rates at 3, 6 and 12 months were 83.9%, 59.7% and 41.0%, respectively. The median progression-free survival (PFS) of 159 patients was 8.0 months, the median survival time (OS) was 35.0 months, and 1, 2, and 3-year survival rates were 77.3%, 63.0% and 45.1%, respectively. Adverse reactions related to radiotherapy were relatively mild, mostly grade 1 and 2. PFS/OS= 0.3 is the best cut-off value for determining the patient′s local control and prognosis. The result of univariate analysis showed that gender, number of OM organs, T staging, radiotherapy intervention mode, tumor target volume absorbed dose (DT-GTVnx), PFS/OS were significantly related to median PFS ( χ2=4.175, 16.508, 4.408, 10.300, 6.842, 38.175, P<0.05); gender, pathological type, number of OM organs, initial diagnosis stage, T stage, N stage, lobectomy, radiotherapy intervention mode, tumor target volume (V-GTVnx), tumor load, local control status were significantly related to median OS ( χ2=6.672, 8.330, 21.299, 5.398, 6.874, 6.893, 5.611, 115.206, 4.017, 5.110, 21.299, P< 0.05). The result of multivariate analysis showed that delayed radiotherapy intervention ( HR=3.728, 95% CI 2.099-6.622, P<0.001) was an independent risk factor for PFS in patients with OM NSCLC, and PFS/OS>0.3 ( HR=0.123, 95% CI 0.062-0.246, P<0.001) was an independent protective factor for PFS in patients with OM NSCLC; male ( HR=1.665, 95% CI 1.024-3.043, P=0.033), high tumor burden ( HR=2.113, 95% CI 1.088-4.107, P=0.027), delayed radiotherapy interventions ( HR=15.076, 95% CI 7.925-28.680, P<0.001) were independent risk factors for OS in patients with OM NSCLC. Conclusions:OS of patients with OM NSCLC is significantly prolonged in female, low tumor burden and early radiotherapy intervention. Early radiotherapy intervention significantly improved the prognosis, and radiotherapy-related adverse reactions could be tolerated. These might suggest that local radiotherapy is safe and effective in the treatment of OM NSCLC patients.

【Objective】 To investigate the status of blood safety and the effectiveness of preventive measures. 【Methods】 The data of Fengxian Blood Bank from 2018 to 2020 were extracted from Shanghai blood collection and supply information system. HBsAg sero-conversion samples of repeated blood donors were confirmed, and HBV serologic supplemental test were performed to obtain the number of new infections during the blood donation interval. The incidence and residual risk of HBV infection were evaluated by the sero-conversion model in donation intervals for repeated donors, and residual risk trend between the study period of 2002 to 2005, 2007 to 2011, 2011 to 2013 and 2018 to 2020 was compared. 【Results】 During 2018~2020, nine new HBV infections occurred among repeated donors during blood donation interval, with an incidence rate of 2.71 per 10 000. The residual risk of window period HBV transmission by transfusion could be reduced by 58.33% using HBsAg test plus NAT (HBsAg test 1∶30 637 vs HBsAg test plus NAT 1∶73 529). The residual risk of HBV transmission was decreasing when stratifying by periods, especially one order of magnitude dropped in 2018~2020 as in comparison of 2002 to 2005. 【Conclusion】 The residual risk of HBV transmission by transfusion showed a decrease trend. Although NAT could greatly reduce the risk, comprehensive preventive measures are needed to further reduce the risk.

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.

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.