To determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and syphilis in HIV-1-infected patients and related risk factors in Shandong province, China, we tested all eligible participants between 2000 and 2010 for the presence of anti-HCV antibody, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and non-treponemal antibodies for syphilis after informed consent. Among 2087 HIV-infected patients, anti-HCV antibody was present in 41.2%, HBsAg in 12.6% and rapid plasma reagin (RPR) reactivity in 19.6%. In the multivariate logistic regression model, male gender (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.41), minority ethnicity (aOR = 1.72), syphilis infection (aOR = 1.40), former paid blood donors (aOR = 3.36), blood transfusion recipients (aOR = 2.91) and injection drug users (aOR = 1.98) were significantly associated with HCV infection. HCV infection (aOR = 1.40) and being men who have sex with men (aOR = 2.38) were significantly associated with syphilis infection. Co-infection with HCV, HBV and syphilis was observed frequently in all described subgroups of HIV infection. The results of this study suggest that it is necessary to screen for these viruses and syphilis in all Chinese HIV-infected patients.

A prospective observational study was performed to evaluate the results of treatment with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with cervical esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (CESCC). Patients had CESCC, no distant metastasis, were 18-75 years old, and had PS 0-2. Radiotherapy (RT) was administered as either three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) or intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with a total dose of 60 Gy/30 fractions. All patients were treated with platinum-based doublet concurrent chemotherapeutic regimens. CCRT was followed by 2-3 cycles of consolidation chemotherapy. The endpoints were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), toxicities, and failure patterns. Ninety-two patients were enrolled from March 2007 to July 2014. The median follow-up time was 34 months. For all patients, the 3-year OS was 49.8% (median OS: 36 months, 95% CI: 24.963-47.051), and the 3-year PFS was 42.1%, (median PFS: 25 months, 95% CI: 17.097-32.903). Treatment failures occurred in 54 patients, including 30 cases (32.6%) with locoregional failure alone, 14 cases (15.2%) with distant metastasis alone, and 10 cases (10.9%) with both locoregional failure and distant metastasis. There were 51 (55.4%) and 3 cases (3.3%) of grade 3 and grade 5 radiation esophagitis, respectively. One patient (1%) had grade 5 laryngeal edema. Overall, CCRT has tolerable acute toxicities, and this regimen is an option for the treatment of patients with CESCC.

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