No abstract

Background/Aim: This study aimed to elucidate the effect of radiotherapy on expression of immune responserelated genes in cervical cancer tissues. Materials and Methods: Tumor tissues were obtained from 16 patients with cervical cancer before initiation of radiotherapy and after treatment with 10 Gy X-rays, delivered in five fractions. Expression of 730 immune response-related genes was assessed using an nCounter PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel (NanoString Technologies. Seattle, WA, USA). Results: Of the 730 genes examined, 41 showed significant changes (fold change of >1.5 or <0.66) in expression in post-radiotherapy samples (28 up-regulated and 13 down-regulated). Analysis of immune cell type-specific genes suggested predominant upregulation of those related to innate immunity postradiotherapy. Interestingly, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein (CTLA4), a key negative regulator of T-cell activation, was marked down-regulated in 93.7% of patients, with an average fold-change of 2.0. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this study is the first to show down-regulation of CTLA4 in clinical cervical cancer tissues after treatment with radiotherapy.

Inguinal hernia can be present in the beam path of photon radiotherapy for prostate cancer. To avoid exposing the radiosensitive intestinal tract potentially included in hernia sacs, repair surgery prior to photon radiotherapy should be considered for herniapositive prostate cancer patients. KEY CLINICAL MESSAGEInguinal hernia should be repaired prior to photon radiotherapy for prostate cancer to avoid exposing the radiosensitive intestinal tract potentially included in hernia sac. KEYWORDS radiotherapy, prostate cancer, inguinal hernia MAIN TEXTA 76-year-old patient with intermediate-risk prostate cancer was referred to our radiation oncology unit for definitive treatment after androgen deprivation therapy for 8 months. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed bilateral inguinal hernias anterior to the prostate (Figure 1 ). To avoid radiation exposure to the hernia contents, we prioritized hernia repair surgery over radiotherapy with continuing androgen deprivation therapy. Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) was initiated 1 month after surgery (Figure 2 ), which was completed successfully.

The hemostatic effect of palliative radiation therapy (RT) for unresectable gastric cancer is unclear. We performed palliative RT (20 Gy in 5 fractions or 30 Gy in 10 fractions) in 7 consecutive patients with bleeding. The number of blood transfusions decreased significantly post‐RT, supporting the hemostatic effect of palliative RT.