Lipid metabolism plays a key role in tumorigenesis and progression and has a significant impact on the efficacy of radiotherapy. This article reviews the current research progress in the role of lipid metabolism in tumor radiotherapy, focusing on the central role of lipid metabolism in tumorigenesis, progression and metastasis, and how radiotherapy affects and regulates lipid metabolism. In addition, this article also investigates the intrinsic link between lipid metabolism and tumor radiosensitivity, and reviews how lipid metabolism can be used as a therapeutic strategy to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy. In-depth study of the role of lipid metabolism in tumor radiotherapy may offer assistance for clinical trials and mechanistic studies of tumor radiotherapy based on the modulation of lipid metabolism.

Objective:To investigate the effects of different doses of whole abdominal ultra‐high dose rate (FLASH) irradiation on the intestinal microbiota of mice.Methods:A total of 25 healthy male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into the control ( n=5) and FLASH irradiation groups ( n=20) by simple randomization method, and the FLASH irradiation group was further divided into different radiation dose subgroups of 10, 15, 20, 25 Gy, 5 in each group. The mice were irradiated with a single whole abdomen at a dose rate of 100 Gy/s, then sacrificed 3.5 d after irradiation. Fresh fecal specimens and intestinal tissues of mice were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing, microbiota analysis, hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining and injury severity score analysis. Two-group comparison was performed by independent sample t-test. Multi-group comparison was conducted by one-way ANOVA. Results:HE staining revealed that the whole abdomen FLASH irradiation caused varying degree of intestinal injury in mice, and the intestinal injury reaction was aggravated with the increase of irradiation dose. β‐diversity analyses showed that there were differences in the composition of intestinal microbiota between FLASH irradiation group and control group ( P=0.001), but the differences in the relative abundance of the species between the irradiation groups at different doses were relatively small, and there were their own dominant genera of bacteria. Comparison of different doses of FLASH irradiation groups with control group screened out 16 species of bacteria with shared differences at the genus level, in which Lactobacillus, Ligilactobacillus and unclassified Lactobacillus were more abundant in the control group, while Escherichia, Allobaculum, and Muribaculum were more abundant in the FLASH irradiation groups. Conclusions:The whole‐abdominal FLASH irradiation induces intestinal damage in mice, and the intestinal damage response is worsened with the increase of irradiation dose. Different doses of whole abdominal FLASH irradiation alter the intestinal microbiota composition of mice. Sixteen species of common intestinal differential microbiota at the genus level are screened out in the different doses of FLASH irradiation groups compared with the control group, which may serve as a marker for measuring intestinal injury in mice irradiated with whole‐abdominal FLASH.

Lipid metabolism plays a key role in tumorigenesis and progression and has a significant impact on the efficacy of radiotherapy. This article reviews the current research progress in the role of lipid metabolism in tumor radiotherapy, focusing on the central role of lipid metabolism in tumorigenesis, progression and metastasis, and how radiotherapy affects and regulates lipid metabolism. In addition, this article also investigates the intrinsic link between lipid metabolism and tumor radiosensitivity, and reviews how lipid metabolism can be used as a therapeutic strategy to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy. In-depth study of the role of lipid metabolism in tumor radiotherapy may offer assistance for clinical trials and mechanistic studies of tumor radiotherapy based on the modulation of lipid metabolism.

Objective:To investigate the effects of different doses of whole abdominal ultra‐high dose rate (FLASH) irradiation on the intestinal microbiota of mice.Methods:A total of 25 healthy male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into the control ( n=5) and FLASH irradiation groups ( n=20) by simple randomization method, and the FLASH irradiation group was further divided into different radiation dose subgroups of 10, 15, 20, 25 Gy, 5 in each group. The mice were irradiated with a single whole abdomen at a dose rate of 100 Gy/s, then sacrificed 3.5 d after irradiation. Fresh fecal specimens and intestinal tissues of mice were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing, microbiota analysis, hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining and injury severity score analysis. Two-group comparison was performed by independent sample t-test. Multi-group comparison was conducted by one-way ANOVA. Results:HE staining revealed that the whole abdomen FLASH irradiation caused varying degree of intestinal injury in mice, and the intestinal injury reaction was aggravated with the increase of irradiation dose. β‐diversity analyses showed that there were differences in the composition of intestinal microbiota between FLASH irradiation group and control group ( P=0.001), but the differences in the relative abundance of the species between the irradiation groups at different doses were relatively small, and there were their own dominant genera of bacteria. Comparison of different doses of FLASH irradiation groups with control group screened out 16 species of bacteria with shared differences at the genus level, in which Lactobacillus, Ligilactobacillus and unclassified Lactobacillus were more abundant in the control group, while Escherichia, Allobaculum, and Muribaculum were more abundant in the FLASH irradiation groups. Conclusions:The whole‐abdominal FLASH irradiation induces intestinal damage in mice, and the intestinal damage response is worsened with the increase of irradiation dose. Different doses of whole abdominal FLASH irradiation alter the intestinal microbiota composition of mice. Sixteen species of common intestinal differential microbiota at the genus level are screened out in the different doses of FLASH irradiation groups compared with the control group, which may serve as a marker for measuring intestinal injury in mice irradiated with whole‐abdominal FLASH.

Objective:To investigate the value of lipid metabolism-related genes (LMRG) for predicting the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).Methods:GSE46862, a genome-wide expression data of LARC treated with neoadjuvant radiotherapy, was obtained from the Gene Expression Database, and differential expression analysis was performed to obtain differentially expressed genes. The LMRG were collected from the MSigDB database and intersected with differentially expressed genes to obtain differentially expressed LMRG. Candidate LMRG were identified based on three machine learning algorithms including least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), support vector machine - recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE), and random forest (RF). Functional enrichment analysis was performed using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis to obtain potential function and involved pathways. The accuracy of the candidate LMRG in predicting the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for LARC was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Results:A total of eight candidate LMRG ( ALOX5AP, FADS2, GALC, PLA2G12A, AGPAT1, AACS, DGKG, ACSBG2) were screened which were mainly involved in biological processes related to lipid metabolism and were involved in the regulation of several important lipid metabolism-related signaling pathways. In addition, these eight candidate LMRG possessed high area under the ROC curve (AUC) for predicting the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for LARC. Conclusion:The eight LMRG identified based on three machine learning algorithms had high accuracy in predicting the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for LARC, providing clues to identify molecular markers and potential therapeutic targets for preoperative neoadjuvant radiotherapy evaluation of LARC.

Objective:To evaluate the dose calculation accuracy of cone-beam CT (CBCT) image by actual measurement method.Methods:CBCT images of 60 patients in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from September, 2021 to May, 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. CBCT images of full-fan and half-fan scanning of the head, half-fan scanning of the chest and pelvis were obtained by the Varian OBI system. Hounsfield unit - electron density (HU-ED) curves corresponding to the scanning conditions were established with CIRS electron density phantom. The radiotherapy plans were designed on the CBCT images, and the dose calculation results of the detection point were compared with the ionization chamber measurement results to analyze the dose error. Then, three-dimensional dose verification system was adopted to detect the accuracy of the CBCT image radiotherapy plans implementation process in 60 patients, and the accuracy of dose calculation was verified according to the D 99%, D mean, D 1% of target volume, D mean and D 1% of organs at risk (OAR), and the γ pass rate. Results:In point dose detection in phantom, the dose calculation errors of CBCT images in the above four scanning patterns were -1.06%±0.87%、-1.67%±0.86%, 0.91%±0.73%, -1.54%±0.90%, respectively. In dosimetric verification based on patients' CBCT image treatment plan, the mean difference of D mean, D 99%, and D 1% of planning target volume (PTV) in all scanning modes were not higher than 2%, and the D mean and D 1% differences of other OAR were not higher than 3%, except for the lens of patients in the head. The average γ values of target volume and OAR were less than 0.5 under the criteria of 3%/2 mm. Conclusions:Under the condition of correctly establishing HU-ED curves, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) / volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) planning based on CBCT images can be employed to estimate and monitor the actual dose to target volume and OAR in adaptive radiotherapy. Full-fan scanning patterns can further improve the accuracy of dose calculation for the head of patients.

Percutaneous nephrolithotripsy is the first line treatment for complete staghorn calculi, but there are risks such as renal function damage, bleeding, and infection. A case of complete staghorn calculi 8.3 cm×4.5 cm and mean CT value of 1 321 HU was reported. Urine culture suggested proteus mirabilis infection. The patient was given sensitive antibiotics for 3 days, and was treated with one session of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic lithotripsy with intelligent control of renal pelvic pressure. KUB on the first postoperative day showed residual stones of 1.0 cm×0.5 cm. There were no complications.

Objective:To understand the clinical and laboratory characteristics of primary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in children.Methods:Totally 210 cases with primary EBV infection from September 2016 to March 2017 in Department of Infectious Diseases, Children′s Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai were retrospectively collected. The clinical information (fever, rash, etc), and laboratory data such as liver function, EBV test (serological test, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-DNA) were analyzed.Results:The age of children with primary EBV infection was (4.2±2.4) years. Numbers of patients with fever, tonsil and/or pharynx exudation, cervical lymphadenopathy, eyelid edema and rash were 187 (89.0%), 130 (61.9%), 204 (97.1%), 95 (45.2%) and 21 (10.0%), respectively. A total of 120 cases (57.1%) presented with typical triplets of infectious mononucleosis. Absolute lymphocyte count ≥5.0×10 9/L was found in 177 cases (84.3%), and abnormal lymphocyte ratio≥0.10 was found in 184 cases (87.6%). Elevated transaminase level was found in 96 cases (45.6%), and 72 cases were followed until transaminase level back to normal, in whom 97.2% (70/72) patient returned to normal within six weeks. Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigen (EBV-VCA)-IgM was positive in 192 cases (91.4%). EBV-VCA-IgG and Epstein-Barr viral early antigen (EBV-EA)-IgG positive were presented in 182 cases (86.7%) and 62 cases (29.5%), respectively. Epstein-Barr viral nuclear antigen (EBV-NA)-IgG was negative in all cases. EBV DNA test was carried in 199 cases, of which 122 cases (61.3%) were positive. Conclusions:Pediatric primary EBV infection mainly occurs in preschoolers. Most patients are presented with enlarged cervical lymph nodes, fever, and positive EBV serological markers. Transient transaminase elevation is observed in some cases.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) has become the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).However,the response to NCRT varies among LARC patients and a subset of patients show resistance to NCRT.NCRT may delay the timing of surgery and even reduce the overall survival.Therefore,it is of significance to identify biomarkers for predicting the clinical efficacy of NCRT,screen patients who are resistant to NCRT and perform surgery as early as possible,eventually establishing an individualized therapeutic strategy.MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression,which areinvolved in multiple signaling pathways and DNA damage repair process and affect the radiosensitivity of rectal cancer cells.Many recent studies have evaluated the role of microRNA in predicting the response to NCRT.The purpose of this article is to review the research progress and validate the role of microRNA in predicting the clinical efficacy of NCRT for rectal cancer.

The pediatric reference intervals in clinical laboratory play an important role in diagnosis of illness,therapeutic monitoring,prediction of prognosis and health evaluation.Compared with establishing reference interval for adults,there are more challenges to establish pediatric reference intervals.Therefore,the procedure and key technologies of direct method and indirect method are stated based on the characteristics of children population and pediatric,by which to define,transfer and validate pediatric reference intervals.This study will provide systematically methodological ideas for clinical laboratories to establish pediatric reference intervals.