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The aim of this study was to explore the predictive role of pretreatment MRI-based radiomics on early response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Between January 2016 and December 2016, a total of 108 newly diagnosed NPC patients who were hospitalized in the Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences were reviewed. All patients had complete data of enhanced MR of nasopharynx before treatment, and then received two to three cycles of TP-based NAC. After 2 cycles of NAC, enhanced MR of nasopharynx was conducted again. Compared with the enhanced MR images before treatment, the response after NAC was evaluated. According to the evaluation criteria of RECIST1.1, 108 cases were divided into two groups: 52 cases for the NAC-sensitive group and 56 cases for the NAC-resistance group. ITK-SNAP software was used to manually sketch and segment the region of interest (ROI) of nasopharyngeal tumor on the MR enhanced T1WI sequence image. The parameters were analyzed and extracted by using AI Kit software. ANOVA/MW test, correlation analysis, and LASSO were used to select texture features. We used multivariate logistic regressions to select texture features and establish a predictive model. The ROC curve was used to evaluate the efficiency of the predictive model. A total of 396 texture features were obtained by using feature calculation. After all features were screened, we selected two features including ClusterShade_angle135_offset4 and Correlation_AllDirection_offshe1_SD. Based on these two features, we established a predictive model by using multivariate logistic regression. The AUC of the two features used alone (0.804, 95% CI=0.6020.932; 0.762, 95% CI=0.5560.905) was smaller than the combination of these two features (0.905, 95% CI=0.7240.984, p=0.0005). Moreover, the sensitivity values of the two features used alone and the combined use were 92.9%, 51.7%, and 85.7%, respectively, while the specificity values were 66.7%, 91.7%, and 83.3%, respectively, in the early response of NAC for NPC. The predictive model based on MRI-enhanced sequence imaging could distinguish the sensitivity and resistance to NAC and provide new biomarkers for the early prediction of the curative effect in NPC patients.

Introduction: The efficacy of pregabalin for pain management of shoulder arthroscopy remains controversial. We conduct this meta-analysis to explore the influence of pregabalin versus placebo on the postoperative pain intensity of shoulder arthroscopy. Methods: We have searched PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases through November 2019 for randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of pregabalin versus placebo on pain control of shoulder arthroscopy. This meta-analysis was performed using the random-effect model. Results: Three randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, compared with control group for shoulder arthroscopy, pregabalin remarkably decreased pain scores at 0 to 1 hour (Std. MD = −0.57; 95% CI = −1.04 to −0.09; P = .02) and 12 hours (Std. MD = −0.37; 95% CI = −0.72 to −0.02; P = .04), as well as analgesic consumption (Std. MD = −1.84; 95% CI = −2.24 to −1.44; P

Purpose This study aims to investigate survival outcomes and prognostic factors for upward nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients receiving radiation therapy (RT) combined with chemotherapy (CT). Methods A total of 421 previously untreated, newly diagnosed T4N0-1 NPC patients, who were identified within the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry (years 2004–2015), were collected and retrospectively reviewed. All patients received treatment of RT and CT. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to evaluate overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). The differences in OS and CSS were compared using Log-rank test. The independent prognostic factors were established by using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. Results With a median follow-up duration of 37 months (range: 3-154 months), the 5-year estimate OS and CSS rates were 59.3% and 63.7%, respectively. N0 and ≥ 65 years were poor prognostic factors for OS and CSS. Moreover, histology and race were associated with OS and CSS. Univariate analysis indicated that ≥ 65 years, N0, NHB and grade III were unfavorable independent prognosticators of OS and CSS. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that ≥ 65 years, N0 and NHB were correlated with poor OS and CSS. Conclusion Patients with stage T4N0-1 NPC receiving RT plus CT had favorable OS and CSS. Moreover, age, N stage and race were independent prognostic factors of OS and CSS.

Although induction chemotherapy (IC) combined with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plus concurrent chemotherapy (CC) is the new standard treatment option in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), many patients fail to receive CC. The aim of this study was to investigate long-term survival outcomes and toxicities in these patients who are treated with IC before IMRT without CC. We retrospectively reviewed 332 untreated, newly diagnosed locoregionally advanced NPC patients who received IC before IMRT alone at our institution from May 2008 through April 2014. The IC was administered every 3 weeks for 1 to 4 cycles. Acute and late radiation-related toxicities were graded according to the acute and late radiation morbidity scoring criteria of the radiation therapy oncology group. The accumulated survival was calculated according to the Kaplan–Meier method. The log-rank test was used to compare the difference in survival. With a median follow-up duration of 65 months (range: 8–110 months), the 5-year estimated locoregional relapse-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival rates were 93.4%, 91.7%, 85.8%, and 82.5%, respectively. Older age and advanced T stage were adverse prognostic factors for overall survival, and the absence of comorbidity was a favorable prognostic factor for PFS. However, acceptable acute complications were observed in these patients. IC combined with IMRT alone provides promising long-term survival outcomes with manageable toxicities. Therefore, the omission of CC from the standard treatment did not affect survival outcomes.

In this study, we examined whether combining neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and/or concurrent chemotherapy (CC) with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) improved survival in patients with stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Two hundred forty-two stage II NPC patients were enrolled between May 2008 and April 2014 and received radical IMRT with simultaneous integrated boost technique using 6 MV photons; some patient groups also received chemotherapy every 3 weeks for 2-3 cycles. The median follow-up duration was 69 months for all patients. At the last follow-up, 18 patients had experienced treatment failure; locoregional relapse among the IMRT alone, NAC+IMRT, NAC+CCRT, and CCRT occurred in 3, 3, 4 and 5, respectively; distant metastases in 0, 0, 2 and 1, respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference among four groups (P=0.019). The 5-year locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) rates for all patients were 94.7%, 98.7%, 92.9%, and 93.4%, respectively. Five-year LRRFS, DMFS, PFS, and OS were similar among the IMRT alone, NAC+IMRT, NAC+CCRT, and CCRT treatment groups. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that a combined regimen was not an independent prognostic factor for any survival outcome. However, patients who received IMRT plus chemotherapy experienced more acute adverse events than those who received IMRT alone. Thus, the addition of NAC and/or CC to IMRT did not improve survival outcomes, but was associated with higher incidences of acute treatment-associated toxicities than IMRT alone in patients with stage II NPC.

Addition of induction chemotherapy (IC) to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is a potentially effective approach for treating locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In this study, we compared the efficacy and toxicity of IC regimens consisting of docetaxel plus cisplatin with (TPF) or without (TP) 5-fluorouracil followed by CCRT in these patients. Clinical data from 245 propensity score-matched pairs of newly diagnosed non-metastatic NPC patients who received either TPF or TP IC before CCRT were retrospectively reviewed. After a median follow-up of 60 months, 5-year locoregional relapse-free, distant metastasis-free, progression-free, and overall survival rates were 95.6%, 94.7%, 90.4%, and 92.9% in TPF arm patients and 96.7%, 94.2%, 91.7%, and 91.0% in TP arm patients, respectively. There were thus no differences in survival between the two arms. Multivariate analysis revealed that IC regimen was not an independent prognostic factor for any of the survival outcomes. However, patients who received TP experienced lower incidences of grade 3/4 toxicities than those who received TPF. These results indicate that omission of 5-fluorouracil from TPF-based IC did not affect survival outcomes, but was associated with reduced toxicity, in patients with locoregionally advanced NPC.

During the radiotherapy process, the emergence of set-up errors is nearly inevitable. Because set-up errors were not detected and corrected daily, planned target volumes were formed by expanding the clinical target volume according to each unit's experience. We optimized the margins of clinical and planned target volumes during administration of intensity-modulated radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A total of 72 patients newly diagnosed with non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma and treated with Tomotherapy were prospectively enrolled in the study. For each patient, one megavoltage computed tomography scan was obtained after conventional positioning, online correction, and daily tomotherapy delivery. The interfraction set-up errors were determined using a planning CT based on the registered scan. The mean interfraction errors were -2.437±2.0529 mm, 0.0652±2.3844 mm, 0.318±1.8314 mm, and 0.197±1.8721° for the medial-lateral, superior-inferior, and anterior-posterior directions, and the direction of rotation, respectively. The total MPTV in the three directions was 7.53 mm, 1.83 mm, and 2.08 mm, respectively. The 3-mm margins in the superior-inferior and anterior-posterior directions uniformly expanded from the clinical target volume should be sufficient, and the marging in the medial-lateral direction was up to 7.5 mm. These results suggest that personalized MPTV may be adopted for intensity-modulated radiotherapy planning.

// Wang Fangzheng 1, 2, 3, * , Jiang Chuner 4, * , Ye Zhimin 1, 2 , Sun Quanquan 1, 2 , Liu Tongxin 1, 2 , Xu Min 5 , Wu Peng 6 , Long Bin 7 , Masoto Sakamoto 3 , Wang Yuezhen 1, 2 , Yan Fengqin 1, 2 , Fu Zhenfu 1, 2 and Jiang Yangming 8 1 Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Zhejiang Hangzhou 310022, People’s Republic of China 2 Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Hangzhou 310022, People’s Republic of China 3 Department of Radiology, Japanese Red Cross Fukui Hospital, Fukui 918-8501, Japan 4 Department of Breast Tumor Surgery, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Zhejiang Hangzhou 310022, People’s Republic of China 5 Department of Physics, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Zhejiang Hangzhou 310022, People’s Republic of China 6 Department of Pathology, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Zhejiang Hangzhou 310022, People’s Republic of China 7 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Zhejiang Hangzhou 310022, People’s Republic of China 8 Department of Didital Earth, Institute of Remote Sensing and Didital Earth, CAS, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Jiang Yangming, email: jym_wm@126.com Wang Fangzheng, email: wangfz76@126.com Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, cycle, survival outcomes, prognosis Received: July 18, 2017 Accepted: September 21, 2017 Published: October 06, 2017 ABSTRACT Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is widely used to treat locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). To determine the optimal number of NAC cycles, we assessed the effect of NAC cycle on survival outcomes of locoregionally advanced NPC patients receiving NAC before concurrent chemotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Clinical data from 1,188 non-metastatic NPC patients were retrospectively reviewed. All received ≥2 cycles of NAC added to concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to identify paired patients according to various covariates. In total, 297 pairs were selected. After a median follow-up time of 57 months (range: 7 to 104 months), the 5-year locoregional relapse-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival rates in patients treated with 2 cycles vs. 3 to 4 cycles of NAC were 91.3% vs. 87.2% ( P =0.149), 93.3% vs. 88.5% ( P =0.043), 88.7% vs. 81.7% ( P =0.037), and 94.0% vs. 92.6% ( P =0.266), respectively. On multivariate analysis, 2 cycles of NAC were associated with improved DMFS (hazard ratio, 0.499; P =0.038) and PFS (hazard ratio, 0.585; P =0.049). NAC cycle was an independent prognosticator of DMFS and PFS in univariate and multivariate analyses. Thus, 2 cycles of NAC appear sufficient, as additional cycles were not associated with added survival benefit for locoregionally advanced NPC.

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