The creation of a new material often starts from the design of its constituent building blocks at a smaller scale. From macromolecules to colloidal architectures, to granular systems, the interactions between basic units of matter can dictate the macroscopic behaviour of the resulting engineered material and even regulate its genesis. Information can be imparted to the building units by altering their physical and chemical properties. In particular, the shape of building blocks has a fundamental role at the colloidal scale, as it can govern the self-organization of particles into hierarchical structures and ultimately into the desired material. Herein we report a simple and general approach to generate an entire zoo of new anisotropic colloids. Our method is based on a controlled deformation of multiphase colloidal particles that can be selectively liquified, polymerized, dissolved and functionalized in bulk. We further demonstrate control over the particle functionalization and coating by realizing patchy and Janus colloids.
Early stage glottic cancer has traditionally been treated with 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). However, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) has been recently adopted as an alternative to decrease toxicity. Here, we compared the usage and outcomes of IMRT and 3DCRT for patients with early stage squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the glottic larynx. Using the National Cancer Database, we identified patients with Stage I–II SCC of the glottis who received 55–75 Gy using IMRT (n = 1623) or 3DCRT (n = 2696). Median follow up was 42 months with a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 72%. Using a nominal logistic regression, race, ethnicity, year of diagnosis and fraction size were associated with the receipt of IMRT (p < 0.05). Using Kaplan–Meier methods and Cox proportional hazards models as well as a propensity matched cohort, there was no difference in OS for patients who received IMRT versus 3DCRT (hazard ratio (HR), 1.08; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.93–1.26; p = 0.302). However, there was a survival benefit for patients receiving slight hypofractionation as compared to conventional fractionation (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.69–0.92; p = 0.003). IMRT was associated with similar survival as 3DCRT, supporting the implementation of this potentially less toxic modality without compromising survival.
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