OBJECTIVE: To observe the prevention effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) for chemotherapy-related myelosuppression in non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 102 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who received initial chemotherapy were randomly divided into a conventional group, a medication group and a TEAS group, 34 cases in each one. The conventional group was treated with chemotherapy of gemcitabine combined with cisplatin and given routine care. On the basis of conventional group's treatment, the medication group was given tablets before chemotherapy, 2-3 tablets each time, 3 times a day. In the TEAS group, on the basis of conventional group's treatment, TEAS was applied at Dazhui (GV 14), Geshu (BL 17), Hegu (LI 4), Zusanli (ST 36) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) on day 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 14, 21 and 28 of chemotherapy. The treatment was given 30 min each time and once a day. In the three groups, the treatment for 28 days was as one course and one course of treatment was required. The changes of leukocytes, platelets, erythrocyte, hemoglobin indexes in patients of the three groups were observed one day before chemotherapy and on day 5, 8, 11, 14, 21 and 28 of chemotherapy. The comfort situation of patients was observed one day before chemotherapy and on the 5th, 11th and 21st day of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Compared with before chemotherapy, the leukocyte counts of three groups were decreased at various time points after chemotherapy (<0.05). Compared with the conventional group, the leukocyte counts were higher on day 8 and 14 in the TEAS group and on day 14 in the medication group (<0.05). Compared with before chemotherapy, the platelet count decreased on the day 5, 8, 11 and 14 of chemotherapy in the conventional group (<0.05), and the platelet counts all decreased at each time point after chemotherapy in the medication group (<0.05). The platelet counts of the TEAS group on day 5, 8, 11 and 14 of chemotherapy were higher than those of the conventional group (<0.05), and the platelet counts of the TEAS group on day 5, 8, 11 and 21 of chemotherapy were higher than those of the medication group (<0.05). Compared with the conventional group, the comfort situation scores of the TEAS group were higher on the 5th and 11th days of chemotherapy (<0.05). CONCLUSION Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation can prevent chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression (leukocyte, platelets) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and improve patient comfort situation.
Acupuncture Points ; Bone Marrow ; drug effects ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Cisplatin ; therapeutic use ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation

BACKGROUND: In the era of precision medicine, chemotherapy is still considered the cornerstone of treatment for lung cancer patients without gene mutations. How to reduce the toxicity and increase the efficiency of chemotherapy is worth exploring. This study aimed to investigate the curative effects and safety of hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy (HCT) for advanced patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially those with malignant pleural effusion. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated medical records of 93 patients with advanced NSCLC (stage IIIB-IV) from March 2011 to January 2014. The patients were divided into HCT and chemotherapy (CT) groups. The HCT group was treated with gemcitabine and cisplatin (GP) regimen combined with regional radiofrequency deep hyperthermia, while the CT group was treated with GP regimen only. Those with malignant pleural effusion extra underwent thoracentesis and intrapleural injection chemotherapy combined with hyperthermic or not. Clinical treatment results and adverse reactions were compared and analyzed after treatment. SPSS 19.0 software (SPSS Inc., USA) was used for statistical data processing. P values less than 0.05 were accepted to be statistically significant. RESULTS: Among the 93 patients, HCT group included 48 patients (16 patients with malignant pleural effusion), CT group included 45 patients (10 patients with malignant pleural effusion). There was no significant difference between the two groups in patient characteristics. The overall response rate (ORR) of pleural effusions was much better in HCT group than that in CT group (81.2% vs. 40.0%, P = 0.046). The patients in HCT group had lower incidence rate of weakness (12.5% vs. 46.7%, χ = 13.16, P < 0.001) and gastrointestinal (25.0% vs. 77.8%, χ = 25.88, P < 0.001) adverse reactions than that in CT group. The objective tumor response and survival showed no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS Hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy might lead to the development of better therapeutic strategy for advanced NSCLC with malignant pleural effusion patients. Also, it could greatly reduce the chemotherapy toxic effects in the incidence of weakness and gastrointestinal adverse reactions in advanced NSCLC patients.
Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Cisplatin ; therapeutic use ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperthermia, Induced ; methods ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

Afatinib ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; drug therapy ; Cardiotoxicity ; China ; Cisplatin ; therapeutic use ; Coronary Artery Disease ; drug therapy ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Kounis Syndrome ; drug therapy ; Male ; Medical Oncology ; statistics & numerical data ; trends ; Middle Aged

PURPOSE: This study was aimed to investigate the effect of pseudolaric acid B (PAB) on proliferation, invasion and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in pancreatic cancer cells and to explore the possible mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990 was cultured and treated with PAB dose- and time-dependent manners. Cell proliferation and invasion ability were measured by MTT assay and Matrigel/Transwell test, respectively. Semi-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were conducted to detect the expression of EMT markers and the key molecules. Finally, nude mice subcutaneous transplantation tumor model was used to confirm the therapy efficacy of PAB. RESULTS: PAB could inhibit SW1990 cell proliferation and invasion in time- and dose-dependent manners. Vimentin, fibronectin, N-cadherin, Snail, Slug, YAP, TEAD1, and Survivin were down-regulated (p < 0.01), while E-cadherin, caspase-9, MST1, and pYAP were up-regulated (p < 0.05). Combined PAB and gemcitabine treatment markedly restricted the tumor growth compared with gencitabin or PAB alone groups. CONCLUSION: PAB could inhibit the proliferation and invasion ability of pancreatic cancer cells through activating Hippo-YAP pathway and inhibiting the process of EMT.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism ; Cadherins ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects ; Cytokines ; Deoxycytidine/analogs & derivatives ; Deoxycytidine/pharmacology ; Deoxycytidine/therapeutic use ; Diterpenes/pharmacology ; Diterpenes/therapeutic use ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition/drug effects ; Female ; Humans ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/diet therapy ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/pathology ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Signal Transduction/drug effects ; Vimentin/metabolism

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the highest morbidity and mortality in the world and it is very important to find an effective anti-tumor method. Microwave hyperthermia, a new treatment technology, has been getting more and more attention. This study was designed to investigate the effects of microwave hyperthermia combined with gemcitabine on the proliferation and apoptosis of human lung squamous cell carcinoma (NCI-H1703 and NCI-H2170) in vitro. METHODS: The proliferation of cells treated with microwave hyperthermia, the effect of gemcitabine on cell proliferation and the proliferation of cells treated with different methods of microwave hyperthermia and gemcitabine were detected by CCK-8 assay. Colony formation assay was used to measure the colony formation of human lung squamous cell carcinoma cells. Flow cytometry assay was used to detect the total apoptosis rates of the treated cells. Caspase-3, Caspase-8 activity assay was used to detect the activity of Caspase-3, Caspase-8 enzyme in each group of cells. CCK-8 assay was used to detect the effect of control group, AC-DEVD (Caspase-3 inhibitor) group, thermalization combined group, and thermal AC-DEVD combined group on cell proliferation. The levels of p53, Caspase-3, Cleaved-Caspase-3, PARP, Bax and BCL-2 protein expression were detected using Western blot assay. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that microwave hyperthermia inhibited the proliferation of lung squamous cell carcinoma. The IC₅₀ values of gemcitabine for the two cells were 8.89 μmol/L and 44.18 μmol/L, respectively. The first chemotherapy after microwave hyperthermia has synergistic effect on the two lung squamous cell carcinoma cells and can significantly inhibit the cell clone formation (P<0.001), promote cell apoptosis (P<0.001) and increase Caspase-3 enzyme activity (P<0.001). However, it has no effect on Caspase-8 enzyme activity (P>0.05). Furthermore, Western blot analysis showed that microwave hyperthermia combined with gemcitabine could up-regulate the p53, Caspase-3, Cleaved-Caspase-3, Cleaved-PARP and Bax protein expression. CONCLUSIONS Microwave hyperthermia combined with gemcitabine remarkably inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of human lung squamous cell carcinoma in vitro. This effect may be associated with the activation of p53, cleavage of PARP protein, and induced the Caspase-3 dependent apoptosis.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; pathology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Caspase 8 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Hyperthermia, Induced ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; Microwaves

OBJECTIVETo investigate and compare the clinical effects and safety of DICE regimen combined with rituximab and GDP regimen combined with rituximab for the treatment of elderly patients with relapsed and refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

METHODSNinety elderly patients with relapsed and refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma were admitted in our hospital from January 2008 to June 2013 and randomly divided into 2 groups, including A group (45 patients) and B group (45 patients), the patients in A group were treated by DICL regimen combined with rituximab, while the patients in B group were treated by GDP regimen combined with rituximab; the clinical efficacy, disease-free survival time, the survival rate with follow-up and the incidence of toxic side-effects in 2 groups were compared.

RESULTSThe clinical efficacy of B group was significant better than that of A group (P < 0.05). The disease-free survival time of B group was significantly longer than that of A group (P < 0.05). The survival rate with follow-up of B group was significantly higher than that of A group (P < 0.05). The difference was not significant in incidence of the toxic side effects between 2 groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCompared with DICE regimen combined with rituximab, GDP regimen combined with rituximab in treatment of elderly patients with relapsed and refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma can efficiently reduce tumor loading, prolong the disease-free survival time, improve the long-term clinical prognosis, and not aggravate the side effects of drugs.

Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Cisplatin ; therapeutic use ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Dexamethasone ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Etoposide ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Ifosfamide ; therapeutic use ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; drug therapy ; Prognosis ; Remission Induction ; Rituximab ; therapeutic use ; Salvage Therapy ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: Erlotinib-gemcitabine combined chemotherapy is considered as the standard treatment for unresectable pancreatic cancer. This study aimed to determine the clinical factors associated with response to this treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 180 patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer who received ≥2 cycles of gemcitabine-erlotinib combination therapy as first-line palliative chemotherapy between 2006 and 2014. "Long-term response" was defined as tumor stabilization after >6 chemotherapy cycles. RESULTS: The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 3.9 and 8.1 months, respectively. On univariate analysis, liver metastasis (p=0.023) was negatively correlated with long-term response. Locally advanced stage (p=0.017), a history of statin treatment (p=0.01), and carcinoembryonic antigen levels <4.5 (p=0.029) had a favorable effect on long-term response. On multivariate analysis, a history of statin treatment was the only independent favorable factor for long-term response (p=0.017). Prognostic factors for OS and PFS were significantly correlated with liver metastasis (p=0.031 and 0.013, respectively). A history of statin treatment was also significantly associated with OS after adjusting for all potential confounders (hazard ratio, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-0.92; p=0.026). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that statins have a favorable effect on "long-term response" to gemcitabine-erlotinib chemotherapy in unresectable pancreatic cancer patients. Statins may have a chemoadjuvant role in stabilizing long-term tumor growth.
Adenocarcinoma/*drug therapy/secondary ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/*therapeutic use ; Deoxycytidine/administration & dosage/analogs & derivatives ; Disease-Free Survival ; Erlotinib Hydrochloride/administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors/*therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/*drug therapy/pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility, safety and efficacy of intraoperative regional infusion chemotherapy by celiac trunk in advanced gastric cancer patients.

METHODSOne hundred and twenty-six patients with advanced gastric cancer(stageII(-III() were screened from database of Gastrointestinal Surgery Department of Taizhou People's Hospital between January 2008 and December 2010 who underwent R0 resection and D2 lymphadenectomy, received postoperative chemotherapy(XELOX or FOLFOX), and had complete follow-up data. They were divided into infusion chemotherapy group (65 cases) and control group (61 cases) according to regional infusion chemotherapy or not (fluorine 1 000 mg and cisplatin 60 mg). The side effects of chemotherapy, parameters related to the operation, long-term survival and relapse rate were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThe baseline data between the two groups were comparable(all P>0.05). Postoperative III( and IIII( adverse reaction of chemotherapy was not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05). The time of postoperative intestinal function recovery [(67.9±14.8) hours vs. (68.9±15.0) hours, t=-0.380, P=0.705), volume of postoperative 1-week drainage [(66.1±17.1) ml vs.(61.9±18.2) ml, t=1.478, P=0.142], recent morbidity of complications[55.4%(36/65) vs. 49.2%(30/61), χ=0.256, P=0.613], and the long-term morbidity of complications [16.9% (11/65) vs. 14.8% (9/61), χ=0.111, P=0.739] were all not significantly different between the two groups. The 3-year survival rate and 3-year relapse-free survival rate in infusion chemotherapy group were significantly higher than those in control group(58.4% vs. 37.7%, χ=5.382, P=0.020; 58.4% vs. 34.4%, χ=6.636, P=0.010).

CONCLUSIONRegional infusion chemotherapy by celiac trunk during operation for advanced gastric cancer patients is safe and feasible, and can reduce the risk of local recurrence and improve survival rate.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Celiac Artery ; Chemotherapy, Cancer, Regional Perfusion ; adverse effects ; methods ; mortality ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Fluorine ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Fluorouracil ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Leucovorin ; therapeutic use ; Lymph Node Excision ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; prevention & control ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; therapeutic use ; Postoperative Complications ; Recovery of Function ; Stomach Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; surgery ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVETo compare the short-term efficacy and treatment-related adverse reaction between preoperative three dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) concurrently combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced rectal carcinoma (LARC).

METHODSClinical data of 334 patients with LARC undergoing preoperative 3D-CRT(172 cases) or VMAT(162 cases) with concurrent Xelox chemotherapy (main protocol: capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) and surgery in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from May 2007 to April 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. The total radiation dose of VMAT group was: 50 Gy/2.0 Gy per fraction ×23 fractions for planning target volume 1(PTV1) and 46 Gy/1.84 Gy per fraction ×25 fractions for PTV2; the total radiation dose of 3D-CRT group was: 46 Gy/2.0 Gy per fraction ×23 fractions for PTV. The treatment-related adverse reaction of both groups during chemoradiotherapy was measured according to the criteria of Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v3.0 (CTCAE 3.0). Rate of adverse reaction and short-term efficacy between 3D-CRT and VMAT group were compared, in terms of radiotherapy break, hematological and non-hematological toxicity, average duration of surgery and perioperative hospitalization, intraoperative blood loss, surgical procedures, R0 excision, sphincter preservation, postoperative complications, pathological complete response (pCR), and postoperative pathological staging.

RESULTSThere were no significant differences in baseline clinical parameters between 3D-CRT and VMAT group (all P>0.05), except for the distance from lower tumor margin to anal verge (P=0.009). The median radiation dose for all the patients was 46 (45 to 70) Gy. There was no significant difference in the rate of radiotherapy cessation between 3D-CRT and VMAT group [1.7%(3/172) vs. 1.2%(2/162), P=1.000]. During concurrent chemotherapy, incidences of grade 2 to 3 hematological toxicities, grade 2 diarrhea, and grade 3 non-hematological toxicities were not significantly different(all P>0.05), while in grade 2 non-hematological toxicities, ratio of radiodermatitis and hand-foot syndrome was higher in VMAT group as compared to 3D-CRT group [25.9%(42/162) vs. 10.5%(18/172), P=0.000; 3.7%(6/162) vs. 0, P=0.012]. There was no grade 4 adverse event in both groups. Surgical procedure, average duration of surgery, R0 excision, anus preservation, postoperative complications, pCR, and postoperative pathological staging were not significantly different(all P>0.05). As compared to 3D-CRT group, VMAT group had less intraoperative blood loss [(114.6±100) ml vs. (169±143.9) ml, P<0.001] and shorter perioperative hospitalization [16(8 to 84) d vs. 20(10 to 47) d, P<0.001]. There was no death case in two groups within 30 days after operation.

CONCLUSIONSCompared with 3D-CRT technique, preoperative VMAT technique can not significantly reduce the incidence of treatment-related adverse reaction and improve the short-term efficacy in the treatment of LARC.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; Radiotherapy Dosage ; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted ; Radiotherapy, Conformal ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; Rectal Neoplasms ; radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of CD133 expression in rectal cancer tissues with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) and tumor regression grading (TRG) after nCRT.

METHODSRadical resected rectal cancer specimens and clinicopathological data of 105 patients, including 60 men and 45 women with median age of 59 years, diagnosed as locally advanced rectal cancer in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2008 to December 2014 were collected retrospectively. Thirty-nine and 66 cases were histologically classified as good-moderate and poor differentiation respectively. Sixty-eight and 37 cases were clinically graded as stage I(-II( and III(-IIII( in preoperative assessment respectively. NCRT was administered in 61 cases before surgery (nCRT group). The nCRT consisted of preoperative pelvic radiotherapy using 50 Gy (2 Gy once, for 25 sessions) with FOLFOX regimen (5-fluorouracil plus oxaliplatin) for 2-3 cycles or XELOX regimen (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) for 2 cycles. Patients underwent surgery after 6 courses of nCRT, and then received the same previous chemotherapy regimen. In nCRT group, biopsy specimens before nCRT were obtained in 45 cases. Forty-four cases received surgery alone without nCRT (surgery alone group). CD133 expression was tested by immunohistochemical Envision two-step methods. The histological TRG evaluation was performed in the nCRT group. TRG score 0-2 was defined as insensitivity to nCRT, whereas TRG score 3-4 was defined as sensitivity. CD133 expression in rectal cancer samples before and after nCRT was compared. Association of CD133 expression with TRG after nCRT was examined.

RESULTSNo significant differences of baseline parameters were found between nCRT group and surgery alone group (all P>0.05). The positive rate of CD133 in nCRT group was 70.4%(43/61,) which was significantly higher than that in surgery alone group (47.7%, 21/44)(χ(2)=5.566, P=0.018) and that in biopsy samples before nCRT group (44.4%, 20/45)(χ(2)=7.287, P=0.007). Twenty-two cases (36.1%, 22/61) in nCRT group had TRG score of 3-4 . Among these 22 cases, 11 cases were negative CD133, and constituted 61.1% (11/18) of all CD133-low expression cases in nCRT group, whereas the other 11 cases were positive CD133, and constituted 25.6%(11/43) of all CD133-high expression cases in nCRT group (χ(2)=6.974, P=0.008).

CONCLUSIONThe CD133 expression up-regulates markedly in rectal cancer after nCRT and nCRT may have potential positive modulation on CD133 expression. CD133-positive cancer reveals lower response to nCRT, suggesting CD133 may be a potential target for improving efficacy of nCRT in rectal cancer.

AC133 Antigen ; metabolism ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Leucovorin ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; therapeutic use ; Rectal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; therapy