In recent years, immunotherapy represented by immune checkpoint inhibitors has made important breakthroughs in the treatment of various malignant tumors. At present, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been widely used in patients with metastatic and recurrent advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Biomarkers play an important role in predicting the efficacy of immunotherapy for HNSCC. The biomarkers that can predict immunotherapy effect of patients with HNSCC mainly include programmed-death receptor ligand 1, tumor mutation load, human papillomavirus, and immune cell related indicators. This article reviews the predictive markers of immunotherapy for HNSCC and the current research situation. The further understanding of the predictive markers can help to accurately screen out the patients receiving the immunotherapy and to improve the prognosis of patients.

The classic principles of oncological surgery were accepted based the procedures from radical surgery for breast cancer described by Halsted in 1894, which can be summarized as tumor en bolc resection, clean surgical margin, regional lymph nodes dissection, and tumor-free technique. The classic principles of oncological surgery are the cornerstone of cancer surgical treatment and have significantly promoted the development of oncological surgery. The minimally invasive surgery is the trend of contemporary oncological surgery for the characteristics of minimal invasion, better tissue identification, precise manipulation, and fast postoperative recovery. Head and neck cancers are usually related to the upper aerodigestive tract, as well as important nerves and blood vessels in head and neck. The anatomical structures of the relative organs are intricate and delicate, and their functions are crucial. Therefore, there is an urgent need for minimally invasive surgical techniques. However, the head and neck cancers which are larger or located in some special sites such as the skull base have to be removed by piecemeal resection in minimally invasive surgery. The piecemeal resection of tumor increases the risks of tumor positive surgical margins and tumor implantation metastasis. The goal of radical surgery for cancers is to completely remove the tumor and obtain a really clean surgical margin. If head and neck cancer is indication for radical surgery, appropriate operative manipulation (en bloc or piecemeal resection) is able to achieve the goal of radical surgery. Giving attention to both the advantages of the principles of oncological surgery and minimally invasive surgical techniques benefits more patients with head and neck cancers from better survival rate and minor invasive morbidities.

Objective To analyze the research literature on fire needling therapy published on China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform(Wanfang),and China Science and Technology Journal Database(VIP)in the last 20 years,and to explore the current status and the hotspots of the research,thus to summarize and analyze the spectrum of the dominant diseases and technological transformations of fire needling therapy.Methods CiteSpace and VOSviewer were applied to analyze the keywords,authors and institutions,to draw the scientific knowledge map,and to summarize the disease spectrum.Results A total of 4 226 literature were included,from 2000 to 2023,the number of publications on fire needling therapy research showed an increasing trend,with each of the four periods showing its own characteristics of the times.The"filiform fire needling"and"pricking of fire needling"were widely used as acupuncture tools and acupuncture techniques in the studies,the emergence of high-frequency disease keywords such as"shingles""vitiligo"and"acne"indicates that research on the treatment of skin diseases with fire needling has attracted much attention.The disease spectrum of fire needling therapy was enlarged,involving a total of 356 diseases distributed in 20 disease systems.Conclusion Skin diseases and arthralgia became the dominant diseases of fire needling therapy,the rise of research hot words such as"acne vulgaris""vitiligo""stroke""chronic eczema""filiform fire needling"and"Lingnan fire needling"indicates that fire needling therapy is developing towards research standardization,theoretical diversification and disease diversification.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology enhances the function of acupuncture clinical decision support system (CDSS) by promoting the accuracy of its diagnosis, assisting the formulation of personalized therapeutic regimen, and realizing the scientific and precise evaluation of its therapeutic effect. This paper deeply analyzes the unique advantages of AI-based acupuncture CDSS, including the intelligence and high efficiency. Besides, it points out the challenges of data security, the lack of model interpretation and the complexity of interdisciplinary cooperation in the development of acupuncture CDSS. With the continuous development and improvement of AI technology, acupuncture CDSS is expected to play a more important role in the fields of personalized medicine, telemedicine and disease prevention, and to further advance the efficiency and effect of acupuncture treatment, drive the modernization of acupuncture, and enhance its position and influence in the global healthcare system.
Humans ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Artificial Intelligence ; Decision Support Systems, Clinical

The expert consensus on the clinical treatment of herpes zoster with fire needling was developed, and the commonly used fire needling treatment scheme verified by clinical research was selected to form a standardized diagnosis and treatment scheme for acute herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), so as to answer the core problems in clinical application. The consensus focuses on patients with herpes zoster, and forms recommendations for 9 key clinical issues, covering simple fire needling and TCM comprehensive therapy based on fire needling, including fire needling combined with cupping, fire needling combined with Chinese herb, fire needling combined with cupping and Chinese herb, fire needling combined with filiform needling, fire needling combined with moxibustion, and provides specific recommendations and operational guidelines for various therapies.
Humans ; Herpes Zoster/therapy* ; Acupuncture Therapy/instrumentation* ; Consensus ; Clinical Protocols

In recent years, immunotherapy represented by immune checkpoint inhibitors has made important breakthroughs in the treatment of various malignant tumors. At present, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been widely used in patients with metastatic and recurrent advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Biomarkers play an important role in predicting the efficacy of immunotherapy for HNSCC. The biomarkers that can predict immunotherapy effect of patients with HNSCC mainly include programmed-death receptor ligand 1, tumor mutation load, human papillomavirus, and immune cell related indicators. This article reviews the predictive markers of immunotherapy for HNSCC and the current research situation. The further understanding of the predictive markers can help to accurately screen out the patients receiving the immunotherapy and to improve the prognosis of patients.

The classic principles of oncological surgery were accepted based the procedures from radical surgery for breast cancer described by Halsted in 1894, which can be summarized as tumor en bolc resection, clean surgical margin, regional lymph nodes dissection, and tumor-free technique. The classic principles of oncological surgery are the cornerstone of cancer surgical treatment and have significantly promoted the development of oncological surgery. The minimally invasive surgery is the trend of contemporary oncological surgery for the characteristics of minimal invasion, better tissue identification, precise manipulation, and fast postoperative recovery. Head and neck cancers are usually related to the upper aerodigestive tract, as well as important nerves and blood vessels in head and neck. The anatomical structures of the relative organs are intricate and delicate, and their functions are crucial. Therefore, there is an urgent need for minimally invasive surgical techniques. However, the head and neck cancers which are larger or located in some special sites such as the skull base have to be removed by piecemeal resection in minimally invasive surgery. The piecemeal resection of tumor increases the risks of tumor positive surgical margins and tumor implantation metastasis. The goal of radical surgery for cancers is to completely remove the tumor and obtain a really clean surgical margin. If head and neck cancer is indication for radical surgery, appropriate operative manipulation (en bloc or piecemeal resection) is able to achieve the goal of radical surgery. Giving attention to both the advantages of the principles of oncological surgery and minimally invasive surgical techniques benefits more patients with head and neck cancers from better survival rate and minor invasive morbidities.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and mechanism of salvianolic acid B combined with puerarin in protecting the SH-SY5Y cells from the damage by oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation （OGD/R） based on pyroptosis. MethodSH-SY5Y cells were used to establish the model of OGD/R， and cells were classified into the control， OGD/R， 10 μmol·L^-1 salvianolic acid B， 100 μmol·L^-1 puerarin， 10 μmol·L^-1 salvianolic acid B + 100 μmol·L^-1 puerarin， and 10 μmol·L^-1 NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3） inhibitor MCC950 groups. Except the control group， other groups were rapidly reoxygenated for 12 h after 6 h OGD for modeling. The cell survival rate was determined by the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium （MTT） assay. An optical microscope was used to observe the cell morphology. A spectrophotometer was used to determine the content of lactic dehydrogenase （LDH） in culture supernatant. Cell damage was measured by Hoechst/PI staining. The mRNA levels of NLRP3， cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1 （Caspase-1）， gasdermin D （GSDMD）， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein （ASC）， and interleukin-1β （IL-1β） were determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR）. The protein activation of Caspase-1 and NLRP3 was detected by immunofluorescence. Western blot was employed to determine the protein levels of IL-1β， ASC， NLRP3， Caspase-1， and cleaved Caspase-1. ResultCompared with the control group， the OGD/R group showed decreased cell survival rate （P<0.01）， damaged cell morphology， increased leakage rate of LDH （P<0.01）， up-regulated mRNA levels of NLRP3， Caspase-1， GSDMD， ASC， and IL-1β （P<0.01）， and up-regulated protein levels of IL-1β， ASC， NLRP3， Caspase-1， and cleaved Caspase-1 （P<0.01）. Compared with the OGD/R group， salvianolic acid B， puerarin， and salvianolic acid B combined with puerarin improved cell survival rate （P<0.01）， and the combined treatment group outperformed salvianolic acid B and puerarin used alone （P<0.01）. Salvianolic acid B combined with puerarin and MCC950 both improved cell morphology， reduced the leakage of LDH （P<0.01）， alleviated cell damage， and down-regulated the mRNA levels of NLRP3， Caspase-1， GSDMD， ASC， and IL-1β （P<0.05， P<0.01） and also the protein levels of IL-1β， ASC， NLRP3， Caspase-1， and cleaved Caspase-1 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionThe results indicated that salvianolic acid B combined with puerarin can alleviate the OGD/R-induced damage of SH-SY5Y cells by inhibiting pyroptosis.

Objective:To discuss dominant symptoms and compatibility rules of Dazhui(GV14) based on data mining.Methods:Literature related to Dazhui (GV14) was retrieved from CNKI, Wangfang, VIP, China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) and Pubmed databases from January 1, 2012 to August 15, 2022, and the main symptoms of Dazhi (GV14) and the compatibility of acupoints were summarized. Gephi 0.9.5 software was used for complex network analysis to compare the treatment for dominant symptoms with single acupoint of Dazhi (GV14) and the compatibility of the acupoint. SPSS Modeler 18.0 software was used to analyze the association rules of acupoint combination based on Apriori algorithm. The clustering analysis of high frequency acupoints was carried out by SPSS Statistics 26.0 software.Results:A total of 722 articles were included, involving 732 prescriptions. The dominant symptoms of single acupoint were cervical spondylosis, acne, and cold; the treatment for dominant symptoms with compatibility included 14 types, such as cervical spondylosis, allergic rhinitis, ischemic stroke sequelae. The meridian compatibility was dominated by bladder meridian, and the frequency of yang meridians was higher than yin meridians. The compatibility of specific acupoints such as Xiahe acupoint, Beishu acupoint and Bahui acupoint were the main acupoints, and the high frequency acupoints were 33 acupoints such as Feishu (BL13), Baihui (GV20), Fengchi (GB20) and Zusanli (ST36), obtaining 4 series and 8 types of compatible combinations of Dazhui (GV14).Conclusions:Dazhui (GV14) is widely used in the treatment of internal diseases, such as respiratory diseases, nervous system diseases and vertebral artery type of cervical spondylosis. It tends to be flexibly used with multiple compatibility and clustering combination of specific acupoints.

With the increasing proportion of human papilloma virus(HPV)infection in the pathogenic factors of oro-pharyngeal cancer,a series of changes have occurred in the surgical treatment.While the treatment mode has been im-proved,there are still many problems,including the inconsistency between diagnosis and treatment modes,the lack of popularization of reconstruction technology,the imperfect post-treatment rehabilitation system,and the lack of effective preventive measures.Especially in terms of treatment mode for early oropharyngeal cancer,there is no unified conclu-sion whether it is surgery alone or radiotherapy alone,and whether robotic minimally invasive surgery has better func-tional protection than radiotherapy.For advanced oropharyngeal cancer,there is greater controversy over the treatment mode.It is still unclear whether to adopt a non-surgical treatment mode of synchronous chemoradiotherapy or induction chemotherapy combined with synchronous chemoradiotherapy,or a treatment mode of surgery combined with postopera-tive chemoradiotherapy.In order to standardize the surgical treatment of oropharyngeal cancer in China and clarify the indications for surgical treatment of oropharyngeal cancer,this expert consensus,based on the characteristics and treat-ment status of oropharyngeal cancer in China and combined with the international latest theories and practices,forms consensus opinions in multiple aspects of preoperative evaluation,surgical indication determination,primary tumor re-section,neck lymph node dissection,postoperative defect repair,postoperative complication management prognosis and follow-up of oropharyngeal cancer patients.The key points include:① Before the treatment of oropharyngeal cancer,the expression of P16 protein should be detected to clarify HPV status;② Perform enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the maxillofacial region before surgery to evaluate the invasion of oropharyngeal cancer and guide precise surgical resec-tion of oropharyngeal cancer.Evaluating mouth opening and airway status is crucial for surgical approach decisions and postoperative risk prediction;③ For oropharyngeal cancer patients who have to undergo major surgery and cannot eat for one to two months,it is recommended to undergo percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy before surgery to effectively improve their nutritional intake during treatment;④ Early-stage oropharyngeal cancer patients may opt for either sur-gery alone or radiation therapy alone.For intermediate and advanced stages,HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer general-ly prioritizes radiation therapy,with concurrent chemotherapy considered based on tumor staging.Surgical treatment is recommended as the first choice for HPV unrelated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma(including primary and re-current)and recurrent HPV related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma after radiotherapy and chemotherapy;⑤ For primary exogenous T1-2 oropharyngeal cancer,direct surgery through the oral approach or da Vinci robotic sur-gery is preferred.For T3-4 patients with advanced oropharyngeal cancer,it is recommended to use temporary mandibu-lectomy approach and lateral pharyngotomy approach for surgery as appropriate;⑥ For cT1-2N0 oropharyngeal cancer patients with tumor invasion depth＞3 mm and cT3-4N0 HPV unrelated oropharyngeal cancer patients,selective neck dissection of levels ⅠB to Ⅳ is recommended.For cN+HPV unrelated oropharyngeal cancer patients,therapeutic neck dissection in regions Ⅰ-Ⅴ is advised;⑦ If PET-CT scan at 12 or more weeks after completion of radiation shows intense FDG uptake in any node,or imaging suggests continuous enlargement of lymph nodes,the patient should undergo neck dissection;⑧ For patients with suspected extracapsular invasion preoperatively,lymph node dissection should include removal of surrounding muscle and adipose connective tissue;⑨ The reconstruction of oropharyngeal cancer defects should follow the principle of reconstruction steps,with priority given to adjacent flaps,followed by distal pedicled flaps,and finally free flaps.The anterolateral thigh flap with abundant tissue can be used as the preferred flap for large-scale postoperative defects.