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Objective: To investigate the relationship between nutritional status and acute radiotoxicity of patients with head and neck cancer., Methods: Nutritional status and acute radiotoxicities of 130 head and neck cancer patients were prospectively surveyed during the 4th week of radiotherapy. Relationships between nutritional status and acute radiotoxicities were analyzed by canonical correlation., Results: The first canonical correlation coefficient was 0.653, statistically significant, which showed that some negative relationships were found between nutritional status (such as serum prealbumin, transferring, lymphocytes, lymphocyte percentage) and acute radiotoxicities (such as dry mouth, throat/sore throat, fatigue, radiation dermatitis) of head and neck cancer patients., Conclusion: When the detection value of serum prealbumin, transferrin, lymphocytes, lymphocyte percentage was below the normal, the appropriate nutritional support would be given to improve immunity and to relieve the acute radiotoxicitoes.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of definitive radiotherapy in selected patients with local recurrence of Kimura disease of the head and neck after surgery. Methods: This retrospective study collected the clinical data of 14 patients with postoperative recurrence of Kimura disease of the head and neck who received definitive radiotherapy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University between 2006 and 2022. The radiation dose ranged from 28 to 40 Gy. Its efficacy and safety were analyzed. Results: During follow‐up, ranging from 17 to 168 months, local control was achieved in 13 (92.9%) of the 14 patients with postoperative recurrence. There were no serious late toxicities except for mild xerostomia in four (28.6%) patients; the patients' peripheral blood eosinophil count dropped from 1.73×109/L before treatment to 0.42×109/L after treatment, and the eosinophil percentage dropped from 20.64% to 9.78%. Both changes were statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusions: The findings of the study suggest that definitive radiotherapy is a viable and effective alternative to repeated surgery for managing recurrent Kimura disease of the head and neck, with significant response rates and a good safety profile. Peripheral blood eosinophil counts and percentages serve as simple and reliable biomarkers for monitoring Kimura disease progression and treatment responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) undergoing radiotherapy experience significant fatigue, which is frequently underestimated due to the lack of objective indicators for its evaluation. This study aimed to explore the longitudinal association between fatigue and nutrition status 1 week in advance. Methods: From January 2021 to June 2022, a total of 105 NPC patients who received intensity‐modulated radiation therapy were enrolled in the observational longitudinal study. The significant outcomes, including the Piper Fatigue Scale‐12 (PFS‐12), the Scored Patient‐Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG‐SGA), four body composition indices, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), were assessed weekly from pre‐treatment until the completion of radiotherapy (T0–T7) to explore their relationship. Results: The trajectories of PFS‐12 and all dimensions for 105 participants reached a peak during the fifth week. Sensory fatigue consistently received the highest scores (T0 = 1.60 ± 2.20, T5 = 6.15 ± 1.57), whereas behavior fatigue exhibited the fastest increase over time (T0 = 1.11 ± 1.86, T5 = 5.47 ± 1.70). Higher PG‐SGA scores were found to be weakly explainable for aggravating fatigue (β = 0.02 ~ 0.04). Unlike generalized additive mixed models, marginal structural models (MSM) produced larger effect values (β = 0.12 ~ 0.21). Additionally, body composition indices showed weakly negative relationships with fatigue in MSMs one week in advance. Conclusions: The PG‐SGA may be a more accurate predictor of future‐week fatigue than individual body composition indicators, particularly when HADS is controlled for as a time‐dependent confounder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the effect of nutritional status on radiation‐induced acute toxicities in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients before radiotherapy. Methods: Nutritional status of 228 patients with NPC who received intensity‐modulated radiotherapy was retrospectively analyzed by modified nutrition index (m‐NI). Cumulative grading score of six common acute toxicities were defined as total score for acute toxicities. Results: M‐NI ≤6 is a risk factor for xerostomia (p = 0.016, OR = 0.208, 95% CI 0.058–0.743), oral mucositis (p = 0.016, OR = 0.287, 95% CI 0.104–0.793), dysgeusia (p = 0.001, OR = 0.028, 95% CI 0.004–0.217), and dysphagia (p = 0.015, OR = 0.251, 95% CI 0.083–0.764) as well in patients with NPC. Total score of radiation‐induced acute toxicities of patients with malnutrition (13.6 ± 1.7) was significantly higher than that of patients with normal nutrition (12.0 ± 2.4) (t = −5.464, p < 0.001). Conclusions: NPC patients with malnutrition before radiotherapy develop more serious dysgeusia, oral mucositis, dysphagia, and xerostomia after intensity‐modulated radiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Icaritin (ICT) is a hydrolytic form of icariin isolated from plants of the genus Epimedium. This study was to investigate the radiosensitization effect of icaritin and its possible underlying mechanism using murine 4T1 breast cancer cells. The combination of Icaritin at 3 µM or 6 µM with 6 or 8 Gy of ionizing radiation (IR) in the clonogenic assay yielded an ER (enhancement ratio) of 1.18 or 1.28, CI (combination index) of 0.38 or 0.19 and DRI (dose reducing index) of 2.51 or 5.07, respectively. These strongly suggest that Icaritin exerted a synergistic killing (?) effect with radiation on the tumor cells. This effect might relate with bioactivities of ICT: 1) exert an anti-proliferative effect in a dose- and time-dependent manner, which is different from IR killing effect but likely work together with the IR effect; 2) suppress the IR-induced activation of two survival paths, ERK1/2 and AKT; 3) induce the G2/M blockage, enhancing IR killing effect; and 4) synergize with IR to enhance cell apoptosis. In addition, ICT suppressed angiogenesis in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. Taken together, ICT is a new radiosensitizer and can enhance anti-cancer effect of IR or other therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IRAK1 has been implicated in promoting development of various types of cancers and mediating radioresistance. However, its role in cervical cancer tumorigenesis and radioresistance, as well as the potential underlying mechanisms, remain poorly defined. In this study, we evaluated IRAK1 expression in radiotherapy-treated cervical cancer tissues and found that IRAK1 expression is negatively associated with the efficacy of radiotherapy. Consistently, ionizing radiation (IR)-treated HeLa and SiHa cervical cancer cells express a lower level of IRAK1 than control cells. Depletion of IRAK1 resulted in reduced activation of the NF-κB pathway, decreased cell viability, downregulated colony formation efficiency, cell cycle arrest, increased apoptosis, and impaired migration and invasion in IR-treated cervical cancer cells. Conversely, overexpressing IRAK1 mitigated the anti-cancer effects of IR in cervical cancer cells. Notably, treatment of IRAK1-overexpressing IR-treated HeLa and SiHa cells with the NF-κB pathway inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) partially counteracted the effects of excessive IRAK1. Furthermore, our study demonstrated that IRAK1 deficiency enhanced the anti-proliferative role of IR treatment in a xenograft mouse model. These collective observations highlight IRAK1's role in mitigating the anti-cancer effects of radiotherapy, partly through the activation of the NF-κB pathway. IRAK1 enhances cervical cancer resistance to radiotherapy, with IR treatment reducing IRAK1 expression and increasing cancer cell vulnerability and apoptosis. [Display omitted] • IRAK1 is negatively correlated with the efficacy of radiotherapy for cervical cancer. • IRAK1 counteracts the cervical cancer inhibitory effects of IR. • Depletion of IRAK1 resulted in reduced activation of the NF-κB pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study aims to investigate the relationship between hippocampal doses and psychological status in stage T1-2 NPC patients undergoing IMRT and provide recommendations for optimal dose limits to preserve patients' psychological well-being. • The results showed that several dosimetric parameters to the hippocampi were significantly associated with anxiety but not depression. • The optimal cut-off value for the independent predictor of anxiety was determined as D40 to hippocampi > 1500 cGy. Patients with D40 to hippocampi > 1500 cGy probably had a higher incidence of anxiety after radiotherapy. The study aimed to investigate the correlation between radiation doses to the hippocampi and the psychological status of patients with stage T1-2 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) undergoing intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and recommend proper hippocampal dose limits for preserving patients' psychological well-being. A retrospective study was conducted involving 152 newly diagnosed NPC patients. The patients' psychological status was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) before and after radiotherapy. The hippocampi were manually delineated on treatment planning images, and dosimetric parameters were obtained from dose-volume histograms. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify influential dosimetric factors associated with anxiety and depression. The results showed that several dosimetric parameters to the hippocampi were significantly associated with anxiety but not depression. The optimal cut-off value for the independent predictor of anxiety was determined as D 40 to hippocampi > 1500 cGy. Patients with D 40 to hippocampi > 1500 cGy showed a higher probability for anxiety after radiotherapy. This study provides insights into the relationship between radiation doses to the hippocampi and the psychological status of stage T1-2 NPC patients undergoing IMRT. It suggests the importance of hippocampal protection for preserving patients' psychological well-being. Further studies are needed to validate these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]