Objective:To investigate the prevalence and severity of symptom burden among long-term survivors of oropharyngeal cancer after radiotherapy, to identify core symptom clusters, and to explore their correlation with quality of life.Methods:A previous retrospective study was conducted by the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences on patients with oropharyngeal cancer who underwent radiotherapy between January 2010 and December 2020. Patients who were still alive as of December 2023 were further followed and analyzed. From December 2023 to August 2024, symptom burden and quality of life were assessed using the Chinese version of the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory–Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ). Exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis with Promax rotation) were used to identify symptom clusters. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between total symptom cluster scores and standardized domain scores of quality of life. Multivariate linear regression analysis was further employed to determine the relationship between identified symptom clusters and overall quality of life.Results:A total of 273 patients were included, with a median follow-up duration of 6.2 years (range: 3.5-14.5 years) and a median age of 61 years (range: 27-88 years) at follow-up. The top 5 incidence rates of symptom reported by patients were mucus problems in the mouth or throat (147 cases, 53.8%), dental or gum issues (143 cases, 52.4%), xerostomia (140 cases, 51.3%), difficulty swallowing or chewing (95 cases, 34.8%), and taste disturbance (79 cases, 28.9%). Among them, xerostomia was the most serious symptom. The most frequently reported interference was impact on work (including household chores) (55 cases, 20.1%). Exploratory factor analysis identified 3 symptom clusters: fatigue-nausea cluster, eating-voice cluster, and xerostomia-sleep cluster, all of which were significantly correlated with lower overall quality of life of patients (all P<0.001). Conclusion:Long-term survivors of oropharyngeal cancer after radiotherapy experience substantial symptom burden. The fatigue-nausea, eating-voice, and xerostomia-sleep clusters are the core symptom clusters impacting quality of life.

Objective:To investigate the prevalence and severity of symptom burden among long-term survivors of oropharyngeal cancer after radiotherapy, to identify core symptom clusters, and to explore their correlation with quality of life.Methods:A previous retrospective study was conducted by the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences on patients with oropharyngeal cancer who underwent radiotherapy between January 2010 and December 2020. Patients who were still alive as of December 2023 were further followed and analyzed. From December 2023 to August 2024, symptom burden and quality of life were assessed using the Chinese version of the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory–Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ). Exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis with Promax rotation) were used to identify symptom clusters. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between total symptom cluster scores and standardized domain scores of quality of life. Multivariate linear regression analysis was further employed to determine the relationship between identified symptom clusters and overall quality of life.Results:A total of 273 patients were included, with a median follow-up duration of 6.2 years (range: 3.5-14.5 years) and a median age of 61 years (range: 27-88 years) at follow-up. The top 5 incidence rates of symptom reported by patients were mucus problems in the mouth or throat (147 cases, 53.8%), dental or gum issues (143 cases, 52.4%), xerostomia (140 cases, 51.3%), difficulty swallowing or chewing (95 cases, 34.8%), and taste disturbance (79 cases, 28.9%). Among them, xerostomia was the most serious symptom. The most frequently reported interference was impact on work (including household chores) (55 cases, 20.1%). Exploratory factor analysis identified 3 symptom clusters: fatigue-nausea cluster, eating-voice cluster, and xerostomia-sleep cluster, all of which were significantly correlated with lower overall quality of life of patients (all P<0.001). Conclusion:Long-term survivors of oropharyngeal cancer after radiotherapy experience substantial symptom burden. The fatigue-nausea, eating-voice, and xerostomia-sleep clusters are the core symptom clusters impacting quality of life.

[Objective]To evaluate the changes in cardiac structure and ventricular function in patients with Ander-son-Fabry Disease(AFD)by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography(2D-STE)and to explore the character-istics of their early cardiac involvement.[Methods]All 45 patients diagnosed with AFD in this observational study under-went routine ultrasonic cardiogram(UCG)examination and 2D-STE.The patients were divided into 2 groups based on UCG measurements:with left ventricular hypertrophy(interventricular septum or posterior left ventricular wall thickness≥12 mm)and without left ventricular hypertrophy.TomTec software was used to analyze the echocardiographic images,then the baseline data,UCG routine parameters and myocardial strain of the two groups were compared.[Results]The study in-cluded 27 males(60.0%)and 18 females(40.0%),with an average age of(32.33±16.11),17 cases(37.78%)with left ventricular hypertrophy and 28 cases(62.22%)without left ventricular hypertrophy.All patients had normal left ventricu-lar ejection fraction(LVEF)(>50%).Compared with those without left ventricular hypertrophy,patients with left ventric-ular hypertrophy had significantly more target organ involvement,significantly higher E/A and average E/E' ratios(P<0.05).No statistical difference was found in global and segmental longitudinal strain(LS),circumferential strain(CS)and radial strain(RS)of the endocardium and myocardium between the two groups(all P>0.05).There were lower abso-lute values of global and segmental LS and CS in the myocardium than in the endocardium(all P<0.05),and higher abso-lute values of LS and RS in the mid segment than in the basal and apical segments(all P<0.05).[Conclusions]There is no significant association between early systolic dysfunction and left ventricular wall thickness.2D-STE strain can be used to detect AFD in the early stage.Ventricular wall myocardium exhibits more serious involvement than endocardium and mid segment was less involved than the apical and basal segments.

Objective:To prospectively observe the changes of tumor-related symptoms in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma following the administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy.Methods:Non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with positive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression and symptoms caused by the primary lesion or metastatic cervical lymph nodes admitted to Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were prospectively recruited. Investigators recorded tumor-related symptoms in recruited patients one day before the first administration of nimotuzumab (D0) and conducted follow-up visits from day 2 to day 7 after the first administration (D2-D7) to document symptom changes. All recruited patients were asked to assess tumor-related symptoms on D0 and D7 by visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. VAS scores were analyzed by paired t-test. Results:From June 2020 to April 2023, a total of 21 patients met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 49 years (range: 27-69 years), with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3:1. Among the patients, 17 patients (81%) received concurrent nimotuzumab for 8 cycles, 7 cycles for 3 cases (14%), and 6 cycles for 1 case (5%), respectively. All patients completed symptom assessments as required. The overall response rate of symptoms after the first administration of nimotuzumab was 62%, with response rates of 4/6、5/8、4/10、4/10、4/11、3/11 for tinnitus, headache, aural fullness, secondary pain caused by neck mass, nasal bleeding, and nasal obstruction, respectively. The VAS scores for overall symptoms were significantly decreased after the administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy ( P<0.001), with the most significant decrease in VAS scores for tinnitus, aural fullness, and headache. Conclusion:The administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy significantly alleviates tumor-related symptoms in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, particularly in alleviating tinnitus, aural fullness, and headache.

Dynamic tracking analysis of monoclonal antibodies(mAbs)biotransformation in vivo is crucial,as certain modifications could inactivate the protein and reduce drug efficacy.However,a particular chal-lenge(i.e.immune recognition deficiencies)in biotransformation studies may arise when modifications occur at the paratope recognized by the antigen.To address this limitation,a multi-epitope affinity technology utilizing the metal organic framework(MOF)@Au@peptide@aptamer composite material was proposed and developed by simultaneously immobilizing complementarity determining region(CDR)mimotope peptide(HH24)and non-CDR mimotope aptamer(CH1S-6T)onto the surface of MOF@Au nanocomposite.Comparative studies demonstrated that MOF@Au@peptide@aptamer exhibited signifi-cantly enhanced enrichment capabilities for trastuzumab variants in comparison to mono-epitope af-finity technology.Moreover,the higher deamidation ratio for LC-Asn-30 and isomerization ratio for HC-Asn-55 can only be monitored by the novel bioanalytical platform based on MOF@Au@peptide@aptamer and liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry(LC-QTOF-MS).Therefore,multi-epitope affinity technology could effectively overcome the biases of traditional affinity materials for key sites modification analysis of mAb.Particularly,the novel bioanalytical platform can be suc-cessfully used for the tracking analysis of trastuzumab modifications in different biological fluids.Compared to the spiked phosphate buffer(PB)model,faster modification trends were monitored in the spiked serum and patients'sera due to the catalytic effect of plasma proteins and relevant proteases.Differences in peptide modification levels of trastuzumab in patients'sera were also monitored.In summary,the novel bioanalytical platform based on the multi-epitope affinity technology holds great potentials for in vivo biotransformation analysis of mAb,contributing to improved understanding and paving the way for future research and clinical applications.

Dynamic tracking analysis of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) biotransformation in vivo is crucial, as certain modifications could inactivate the protein and reduce drug efficacy. However, a particular challenge (i.e. immune recognition deficiencies) in biotransformation studies may arise when modifications occur at the paratope recognized by the antigen. To address this limitation, a multi-epitope affinity technology utilizing the metal organic framework (MOF)@Au@peptide@aptamer composite material was proposed and developed by simultaneously immobilizing complementarity determining region (CDR) mimotope peptide (HH24) and non-CDR mimotope aptamer (CH1S-6T) onto the surface of MOF@Au nanocomposite. Comparative studies demonstrated that MOF@Au@peptide@aptamer exhibited significantly enhanced enrichment capabilities for trastuzumab variants in comparison to mono-epitope affinity technology. Moreover, the higher deamidation ratio for LC-Asn-30 and isomerization ratio for HC-Asn-55 can only be monitored by the novel bioanalytical platform based on MOF@Au@peptide@aptamer and liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS). Therefore, multi-epitope affinity technology could effectively overcome the biases of traditional affinity materials for key sites modification analysis of mAb. Particularly, the novel bioanalytical platform can be successfully used for the tracking analysis of trastuzumab modifications in different biological fluids. Compared to the spiked phosphate buffer (PB) model, faster modification trends were monitored in the spiked serum and patients' sera due to the catalytic effect of plasma proteins and relevant proteases. Differences in peptide modification levels of trastuzumab in patients' sera were also monitored. In summary, the novel bioanalytical platform based on the multi-epitope affinity technology holds great potentials for in vivo biotransformation analysis of mAb, contributing to improved understanding and paving the way for future research and clinical applications.

Objective:To analyze the correlation between peripheral blood eosinophil (EOS) level and clinical characteristics of patients with pneumoconiosis complicated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) .Methods:From January 2007 to November 2020, newly diagnosed patients with pneumoconiosis complicated with COPD in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, were retrospectively analyzed. These patients were stratified into EOS<100 cells/μl group and EOS≥100 cells/μl group, taking 100 cells/μl as the cut-off value. Demographic characteristics, clinical symptoms, lung function and laboratory indexes were compared between the two groups.Results:The median EOS count of patients with pneumoconiosis complicated with COPD was 100 (40, 180) cells/μl. 50.2% (160/319) had blood eosinophil counts ≥100 cells/μl, and 11.0% (35/319) had blood eosinophil counts ≥300 cells/μl. In comparison with EOS<100 cells/μl group, EOS≥100 cells/μl group were older ( P=0.035), had higher body mass index ( P=0.008), and had lower forced respiratory volume in the first second ( P=0.017), had higher the ratio of residual volume to total lung volume ( P=0.010), and had lower diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide ( P=0.008). Arterial partial pressure of oxygen was significantly reduced in EOS≥100 cells/μl group ( P=0.039). The peripheral blood EOS count was negatively correlated with forced vital capacity, forced breathing volume in the first second, carbon monoxide diffusion, peak expiratory flow, and maximum mid expiratory flow as a percentage of expected values ( rs=-0.22, -0.18, -0.19, -0.19, -0.19, P=0.000, 0.001, 0.003, 0.008, 0.002), and positively correlated with the ratio of residual air volume to total lung volume ( rs=0.17, P=0.002) . Conclusion:There was a correlation between blood EOS count and pulmonary function parameters, can proide reference for the diagnosis and treatment of chnoric obstuctive pulmmory disease in clinical practice.

Objective:To analyze the correlation between peripheral blood eosinophil (EOS) level and clinical characteristics of patients with pneumoconiosis complicated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) .Methods:From January 2007 to November 2020, newly diagnosed patients with pneumoconiosis complicated with COPD in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, were retrospectively analyzed. These patients were stratified into EOS<100 cells/μl group and EOS≥100 cells/μl group, taking 100 cells/μl as the cut-off value. Demographic characteristics, clinical symptoms, lung function and laboratory indexes were compared between the two groups.Results:The median EOS count of patients with pneumoconiosis complicated with COPD was 100 (40, 180) cells/μl. 50.2% (160/319) had blood eosinophil counts ≥100 cells/μl, and 11.0% (35/319) had blood eosinophil counts ≥300 cells/μl. In comparison with EOS<100 cells/μl group, EOS≥100 cells/μl group were older ( P=0.035), had higher body mass index ( P=0.008), and had lower forced respiratory volume in the first second ( P=0.017), had higher the ratio of residual volume to total lung volume ( P=0.010), and had lower diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide ( P=0.008). Arterial partial pressure of oxygen was significantly reduced in EOS≥100 cells/μl group ( P=0.039). The peripheral blood EOS count was negatively correlated with forced vital capacity, forced breathing volume in the first second, carbon monoxide diffusion, peak expiratory flow, and maximum mid expiratory flow as a percentage of expected values ( rs=-0.22, -0.18, -0.19, -0.19, -0.19, P=0.000, 0.001, 0.003, 0.008, 0.002), and positively correlated with the ratio of residual air volume to total lung volume ( rs=0.17, P=0.002) . Conclusion:There was a correlation between blood EOS count and pulmonary function parameters, can proide reference for the diagnosis and treatment of chnoric obstuctive pulmmory disease in clinical practice.

Objective:To verify the prognostic significance of the tumor regression grade (TRG) for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.Methods:The data of 70 MIBC patients treated with gemcitabine combined with cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy and RC in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between July 2016 to November 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. There were 65 males and 5 females, with an average age(59.79±10.56)years old. The patients accepted transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) specimens before neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Clinicopathological characteristics of patients were recorded and TRG was assessed. TRG evaluation criteria: TRG 1 was defined as no cancer residue, TRG 2 was defined as the proportion of residual cancer area to tumor bed area <50%, and TRG 3 was defined as the proportion of residual cancer area to the area of the tumor bed ≥ 50%. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were used to compare the relationship between patients' clinicopathological characteristics and TRG. The relationship between post-neoadjuvant therapy tumor and node(ypTN)stage, and survival, including overall survival(OS)and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The pathologically locally descending disease was defined as (ypT < T 2 and ypN=N 0) and pathologically locally advanced disease was defined as (ypT≥T 2 and/or ypN ≥N 1). Cox regression was used for univariate and multivariate analysis of OS and RFS. Results:Chi-square test or Fisher exact test analysis showed TRG was significantly associated with ypT stage ( P < 0.001), ypN stage ( P = 0.002), lympho-vascular invasion ( P<0.001) and variant histology ( P<0.001). The OS of patients with TRG 1, TRG 2 and TRG 3 were 20.5(10.3, 31.8), 17.0(11.0, 30.8)and 15.0(11.0, 26.0) months, respectively, and the difference was significantly different( P = 0.037). The RFS of patients with TRG 1, TRG 2 and TRG 3 were 15.0(8.3, 25.5), 15.0(8.0, 27.0)and 11.0(4.5, 25.5) months, respectively, and the difference was significantly different ( P=0.029). There were significant differences between patients with pathologically locally descending disease and locally advanced disease in OS [18.5(10.3, 30.8)vs.15.0(11.0, 27.3)months, P = 0.013] and RFS [14.0(8.0, 24.0)vs. 11.5(8.0, 26.8)months, P = 0.012]. Among patients with locally advanced pathology, the OS was 19.5(11.0, 32.5)months for patients with TRG ≤2, 13.5(10.8, 26.0)months for patients with TRG 3( P=0.140). The RFS was 12.0(8.0, 31.0)months for those patients with TRG ≤2 and 11.0(6.0, 26.0)months for those patients with TRG 3( P = 0.180). Cox univariate analyses showed that patients with TRG 3 were associated with decreased OS ( HR = 6.043, 95% CI 1.170-31.213, P = 0.032) and RFS ( HR = 6.354, 95% CI 1.231-31.802, P = 0.027). Conclusions:This study showed that TRG was correlated with OS and RFS among patients. The patients who had the higher TRG had the worse prognosis. It was confirmed that TRG predicted the prognosis of patients undergoing radical cystectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Therefore, TRG assessment is recommend in pathology report for patients who had radical cystectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Objective:This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features and treatment outcomes of the value of response-adapted treatment following radiotherapy and induction chemotherapy follwing subsequent comprehensive therapy in patients with resectable locally advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods:This cohort study was conducted from September 2010 to September 2020 in our hospital, 231 patients pathologically confirmed stage Ⅲ and ⅣB resectable locally advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma included. For the IC-directed ART strategy, IC is used to select good candidates to receive radical RT or CCRT, and others undergo surgery. He response-adapted strategy was determined based on the primary tumor response, which was evaluated at a dose of 50 Gy. If the response reached complete response or partial response（more than 80% tumor regression）, patients received radical RT or CCRT; otherwise, they received surgery, if possible, at 4 to 6 weeks after RT. The end points of the study were OS（overall survival）, progression free survival（PFS）, locoregional recurrence-free survival（LRRFS） and LDFS. Results:In IC-directed group, 75.0%（57/76） patients reached PR after 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy. While in RT-directed group, 70.3%（109/155） patients reached large PR at dose of 50 Gy. The median interquartile range follow-up period of the whole cohort was 63.8 months. The 5-year OS, PFS, LRRFS and SFL of the whole cohort were 47.9%、39.6%、44.3% and 36.2%, respectively. In evaluations based on the different treatment strategies, the 5-year OS and SFL were 51.3% versus 37.0%（HR 0.67; 95%CI 0.43-1.05; P=0.07） and 27.8% versus 39.8%（HR 0.68; 95%CI 0.46-0.99; P=0.04） between IC-directed and RT-directed groups. In additional, surgery complications did not significantly differ between these two groups. Conclusion:In this cohort study, the response-adapted strategy based on an early RT response facilitated better treatment tailoring, and higher laryngeal preservation compared with IC-directed strategies. This approach could provide a feasible laryngeal preservation strategy in patients with resectable locally advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma.
Male ; Humans ; Cohort Studies ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Carcinoma ; Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms/therapy* ; Induction Chemotherapy