BackgroundThe prevalence of esophageal neoplasia in head and neck (H&N) cancer patients is not low; however, routine esophageal surveillance is not included in staging of newly-diagnosed H&N cancers. We aimed to investigate the risk factors for synchronous esophageal neoplasia and the impact of endoscopy on management of H&N cancer patients.MethodsA total of 129 newly diagnosed H&N cancer patients who underwent endoscopy with white-light imaging, narrow-band imaging (NBI) with magnifying endoscopy (ME), and chromoendoscopy with 1.5% Lugol’s solution, before definite treatment were enrolled prospectively.Results60 esophageal lesions were biopsied from 53 (41.1%) patients, including 11 low-grade, 14 high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and 12 invasive carcinoma in 30 (23.3%) patients. Alcohol consumption [odds ratio (OR) 5.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-26.44], advanced stage (stage III and IV) of index H&N cancers (OR 2.98, 95% CI 1.11-7.99), and lower body mass index (BMI) (every 1-kg/m2 increment with OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.76-0.99) were independent risk factors for synchronous esophageal neoplasia. NBI with ME was the ideal screening tool (sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 97.3%, 94.1%, and 96.3%, respectively, for detection of dysplastic and cancerous esophageal lesions). The treatment strategy was modified after endoscopy in 20 (15.5%) patients. The number needed to screen was 6.45 (95% CI 4.60-10.90).ConclusionsNBI-ME surveillance of esophagus should be done in newly-diagnosed H&N cancer patients, especially those with alcohol drinking, lower BMI, and advanced stage of primary tumor.

Background This study seeks to assess quality of life (QOL) and utility scores of head and neck cancer survivors. Methods We compared QOL as indicated by EORTC QLQ-C30, QLQ-H&N35, utility scores by time trade off (TTO) with previous published reference values and tested series characteristics related to global QOL and utility. Results A total of 127 patients were recruited. Of the patients, 102 (80%) completed the utility assessment. Cancer survivors had lower scores compared with norm values. Patients without a spouse had a lower utility than those with a spouse. Patients with a low annual family income also had lower global QOL and utility scores ( p < 0.05). Other factors were not significantly related to QOL and utility scores. Conclusion Disease and treatment of head and neck cancer lead to disability and poor health-related QOL and utility. Economic status may contribute to health-related QOL and utility, while marital status is related to utility for head and neck cancer patients.

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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. AbstractLung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, and metastasis in lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Thus, understanding the mechanism of lung cancer metastasis will improve the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer patients. Herein, we found that expression of cluster of differentiation 109 (CD109) was correlated with the invasive and metastatic capacities of lung adenocarcinoma cells. CD109 is upregulated in tumorous tissues, and CD109 overexpression was associated with tumor progression, distant metastasis, and a poor prognosis in patient with lung adenocarcinoma. Mechanistically, expression of CD109 regulates protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling via its association with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Inhibition of CD109 decreases EGFR phosphorylation, diminishes EGF-elicited activation of AKT/mTOR, and sensitizes tumor cells to an EGFR inhibitor. Taken together, our results show that CD109 is a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target in lung cancer patients. K E Y W O R D S CD109, EGFR, lung cancer, metastasis, mTOR | 1653 LEE Et aL.

Three Asian patients with plasma cell myeloma stage IIIa with IgG predominant were selected for autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HSCT). Total marrow irradiation (TMI) tomotherapy planned with melphalan 140 mg/m2 as a preconditioning regimen of HSCT. Two image sets of computed tomography (CT) were scanned with 2.5 mm and 5 mm for the upper and lower part of the plan, respectively. The junction was determined and marked at 15 cm above knee on both thighs for upper and lower part of the plan. The clinical target volume (CTV) included the entire skeletal system. The planning target volume (PTV) was generated with with 0.8 cm for CTV(extremities) and with 0.5 cm margin for all other bones of CTV. A total dose of 800 cGy (200 cGy/fraction) was delivered to the PTV. Update to presentation, all of three patients post transplant without evidence of active disease were noted. During TMI treatment, one with grade 1 vomiting, two with grade 1 nausea, one with grade 1 mucositis, and three with grade 1 anorexia were noted. Toxicity of treatment was scored according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v3.0 (CTCAE v3.0). The average for upper part versus lower part of PTV (Bone marrow) of CI and H-index were 1.5 and 1.4 versus 1.2 and 1.2, respectively. The dose reduction of TMI tomotherapy to various OARs of head, chest, and abdomen relative to TBI varied from 31% to 74%, 21% to 51%, and 46% to 63%, respectively. The maximum average value of registration for upper torso versus lower extremities in different translation directions were 5.1 mm versus 4.1 mm for pretreatment and 1.5 mm versus 0.7 mm for post-treatment, respectively. The average treatment time for the upper versus lower part in beam-on time, setup time, and MVCT registration time took roughly 49.9, 23.3, and 11.7 min versus 11.5, 10.0, and 7.3 min, respectively. The margin of PTV could be less than 1 cm under good fixation and close position confirmation with MVCT. Antiemetics should be prescribed in the whole course of TMI for emesis prevention. TMI technique replaced TBI technique with 8 Gy as conditioning regiment for multiple myeloma could be acceptable for the Asian and the outcomes were feasible for the Asian.

BackgroundConcurrent chemoradiation with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is widely accepted for treatment of abdominal malignancy. Nonetheless, the interactions between radiation and 5-FU remain unclear. We evaluated the influence of abdominal irradiation on the pharmacokinetics of 5-FU in rats.MethodsThe radiation dose distributions of cholangiocarcinoma patients were determined for the low dose areas, which are generously deposited around the intrahepatic target volume. Then, corresponding single-fraction radiation was delivered to the whole abdomen of Sprague-Dawley rats from a linear accelerator after computerized tomography-based planning. 5-FU at 100 mg/kg was intravenously infused 24 hours after radiation. A high-performance liquid chromatography system equipped with a UV detector was used to measure 5-FU in the blood. Ultrafiltration was used to measure protein-unbound 5-FU.ResultsRadiation at 2 Gy, simulating the daily human treatment dose, reduced the area under the plasma concentration vs. time curve (AUC) of 5-FU by 31.7% compared to non-irradiated controls. This was accompanied by a reduction in mean residence time and incremental total plasma clearance values, and volume of distribution at steady state. Intriguingly, low dose radiation at 0.5 Gy, representing a dose deposited in the generous, off-target area in clinical practice, resulted in a similar pharmacokinetic profile, with a 21.4% reduction in the AUC. This effect was independent of protein binding capacity.ConclusionsAbdominal irradiation appears to significantly modulate the systemic pharmacokinetics of 5-FU at both the dose level for target treatment and off-target areas. This unexpected and unwanted influence is worthy of further investigation and might need to be considered in clinical practice.

A 36-year-old woman was diagnosed with a therapy-refractory cutaneous CD4+ T-cell lymphoma, T3N0M0B0, and stage IIB. Helical irradiation of the total skin (HITS) and dose painting techniques, with 30 Gy in 40 fractions interrupted at 20 fractions with one week resting, 4 times per week were prescribed. The diving suit was dressed whole body to increase the superficial dose and using central core complete block (CCCB) technique for reducing the internal organ dose. The mean doses of critical organs of head, chest, and abdomen were 2.1 to 29.9 Gy, 2.9 to 8.1 Gy, and 3.6 to 15.7 Gy, respectively. The mean dose of lesions was 84.0 cGy. The dosage of left side pretreated area was decreased 57%. The tumor regressed progressively without further noduloplaques. During the HITS procedure, most toxicity was grade I except leukocytopenia with grade 3. No epitheliolysis, phlyctenules, tumor lysis syndrome, fever, vomiting, dyspnea, edema of the extremities, or diarrhea occurred during the treatment. HITS with dose painting techniques provides precise dosage delivery with impressive results, sparing critical organs, and offering limited transient and chronic sequelae for previously locally irradiated, therapy-refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

BackgroundTo compare the differences in dose-volume data among coplanar intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), noncoplanar IMRT, and helical tomotherapy (HT) among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein thrombosis (PVT).MethodsNine patients with unresectable HCC and PVT underwent step and shoot coplanar IMRT with intent to deliver 46 - 54 Gy to the tumor and portal vein. The volume of liver received 30Gy was set to keep less than 30% of whole normal liver (V30 < 30%). The mean dose to at least one side of kidney was kept below 23 Gy, and 50 Gy as for stomach. The maximum dose was kept below 47 Gy for spinal cord. Several parameters including mean hepatic dose, percent volume of normal liver with radiation dose at X Gy (Vx), uniformity index, conformal index, and doses to organs at risk were evaluated from the dose-volume histogram.ResultsHT provided better uniformity for the planning-target volume dose coverage than both IMRT techniques. The noncoplanar IMRT technique reduces the V10 to normal liver with a statistically significant level as compared to HT. The constraints for the liver in the V30 for coplanar IMRT vs. noncoplanar IMRT vs. HT could be reconsidered as 21% vs. 17% vs. 17%, respectively. When delivering 50 Gy and 60-66 Gy to the tumor bed, the constraints of mean dose to the normal liver could be less than 20 Gy and 25 Gy, respectively.ConclusionNoncoplanar IMRT and HT are potential techniques of radiation therapy for HCC patients with PVT. Constraints for the liver in IMRT and HT could be stricter than for 3DCRT.