PurposeTo evaluate the potential risk factors for distant metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese patients following standard intensity-modulated radiotherapy and chemotherapy.MethodsThe potential risk factors for distant metastasis in 622 patients with newly-diagnosed primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma following standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy were evaluated retrospectively by stratification, univariate and multivariate analyses. The 5-year overall survival, distant metastasis-free survival, local recurrence-free survival and progression-free survival rates were determined.ResultsUnivariate and multivariate analyses indicated that N2-3 stage, serum ferritin > 300 μg/L and serum albumin < 42 g/L were independent risk factors for distant metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (P < 0.001, P = 0.013, P = 0.002, respectively). A risk prediction model was developed as follows: 1) low-risk group: 0-1 risk factor; and 2) high-risk group: 2-3 risk factors. Compared with low-risk group, the high-risk group had significantly lower 5-year distant metastasis-free survival (76.4% vs. 89.6%, P < 0.001), overall survival (76% vs. 85.9%,P < 0.001), local recurrence-free survival (88% vs. 92.4%, P = 0.029) and progression-free survival rates (68.2% vs. 83.7%, P < 0.001). In the high-risk group, patients with three risk factors had the lowest distant metastasis-free survival rate (P = 0.036).ConclusionsCombination of higher N stage, serum ferritin and lower serum albumin levels may be valuable for predicting distant metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients following standard intensity-modulated radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

This phase II randomized clinical trial aimed to assess the efficacy and toxicity of Endostar, an anti-angiogenesis inhibitor, combined with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). Patients with LACC were randomly assigned to either CCRT plus Endostar(CCRT+E arm) or CCRT alone (CCRT arm). All patients received pelvic intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)and brachytherapy. Weekly cisplatin was administered concurrently with IMRT. Patients in the CCRT+E arm also received concurrent Endostar every 3 weeks for 2 cycles. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) and acute toxicities. The exploratory endpoint was the impact of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2) expression on long-term survival. A total of 116patientswere enrolled. Patients in the CCRT+E arm and in the CCRT arm had similar acute and late toxicity profile. The 1-and 2-year PFS were 91.4% vs. 82.1% and 80.8% vs. 63.5%（p=0.091）, respectively. The1-and 2-year distance metastasis-free survival （DMFS）were92.7% vs. 81.1% and 86.0% vs. 65.1%（p=0.031）, respectively. Patients with positive VEGFR2 expression had significant longer PFS and overall survival (OS), compared with those with negative VEGFR2 expression. Patients in the CCRT+E arm had significantly longer PFS, OS, and DMFS than those in the CCRT arm whenVEGFR2 expression was positive. In conclusion, CCRT plus Endostar significantly improved DMFS but not PFS over CCRT alone. The addition of Endostar could significantly improve survival for patients with positive VEGFR2 expression.

We aimed to evaluate the long-term survival outcomes of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) combined with nimotuzumab followed by surgery in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). Patients and Methods: Patients received whole pelvic intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and concomitantly with weekly cisplatin (40 mg/m 2) or nedaplatin (30 mg/m 2) and weekly nimotuzumab (200 mg). After assessment of the treatment response, patients then underwent radical surgery. Results: Between June 2013 and July 2016, 33 patients with FIGO IB2-IIIB cervical cancer were recruited. Clinical complete response and partial response were observed in 8 (24.3%) and 23 patients (69.7%), respectively. Twenty-seven patients (81.8%) were successfully treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy: 9 (33.3%) showed pathological complete response; 10 (37.1%) showed partial response and 8 (29.6%) presented with persistent macroscopic/microscopic residual carcinoma. For the intention-to-treat population, the median follow-up time was 53.7 months. Locoregional recurrence and distant metastases were observed in three and seven patients, respectively. The 5-year overall survival, progression-free survival, locoregional recurrence-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival were 81.5%, 72.7%, 90.9%, and 78.3%, respectively. Both acute and late toxicities were manageable and mainly limited to grade 1 or 2. Conclusion: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy combined with nimotuzumab followed by surgery for patients with LACC is safe and results in excellent long-term treatment outcomes. Further randomized controlled studies are warranted to confirm the findings.

Purpose To evaluate the role of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in predicting early treatment response. Materials and Methods Patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) were enrolled. Pelvic DCE-MRI scans were performed before RT (pre-RT), in the middle of RT (mid-RT), and at the end of RT (post-RT), separately. Parameters (ie, K trans , K ep , and V e ) were measured. Pre-, mid-, and post-RT K trans were denoted as K trans -preTx, K trans -midTx, and K trans -postTx, respectively. And the same denoting rule also went for K ep and V e . Difference for the same parameter such as K trans measured between two consecutive time points was calculated as second K trans value minus first K trans value. The differences in K trans between pre-RT and post-RT, between pre-RT and mid-RT, and between mid-RT and post-RT were denoted as ΔK trans -post-preTx, ΔK trans -mid-preTx, and ΔK trans -post-midTx, respectively, and the same denoting rule was also applied to K ep and V e . Results A total of 57 patients were enrolled. After the treatment, 31 patients had complete response (CR group). The remaining 26 patients had partial response (NCR group). Significant differences were found in K trans -postTx, K ep- postTx, V e- midTx, ΔK trans -post-preTx, ΔK trans -post-midTx, ΔK ep- post-preTx, ΔK ep- mid-preTx and ΔK ep- post-midTx between the two groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for their performances in predicting treatment response showed an area under curve (AUC) of 0.656–0.849, sensitivity of 61.3–93.5%, specificity of 46.1–73.1%, and maximal Youden Index of 36.5–66.6. Among those parameters, K ep- postTx was the best, and its AUC, sensitivity, specificity, maximal Youden Index, and cutoff value were 0.849, 87.1%, 73.1%, 60.2, and 0.341, respectively. These combined parameters showed an AUC of 0.952, with sensitivity of 87.1%, specificity of 96.1%, and maximal Youden Index of 83.2. Conclusion DCE-MRI parameters can predict early treatment outcome. Among those parameters, K ep- postTx is the best predictor. The combination of multi-parameters can increase the predictive p...

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