Background People undergoing mass home- and community-based quarantine are vulnerable to mental health disorders during outbreaks of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but few studies have evaluated the associated psychosocial factors. Objective This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and identify associated demographic and psychosocial factors in the general Chinese population during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine period. Methods Participants aged 18 years or above were recruited in a cross-sectional online survey using snowball sampling from February 26-29, 2020. The survey included questions on demographics, family relationships, chronic diseases, quarantine conditions, lifestyle, COVID-19 infection, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms. Results Out of 2331 participants, 762 (32.7%) experienced elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms. Nine risk factors associated with anxiety or depressive symptoms included younger age, reduced income, having cancer or other chronic diseases, having family members living with cancer, concerns related to COVID-19 infection for themselves or family members, living alone, having family conflicts, having <3 or >8 hours of sedentary time per day, and worsened sleep quality. Conclusions The findings highlight an urgent need for psychological support for populations at high risk for elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BackgroundProgrammed cell death 1 (PD-1) blockade induces tumor regression in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC); however, little is known about the efficacy of PD-1 blockade as neoadjuvant therapy in resectable ESCC. We aim to assess the safety and feasibility of using the combination of neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade with chemotherapy in patients with ESCC.MethodsPatients with previously untreated, resectable (stage II or III) ESCC were enrolled. Each patient received two 21-day cycles of neoadjuvant treatment with camrelizumab, nab-paclitaxel, and carboplatin before undergoing surgical resection approximately 6–9 weeks after the first cycle.ResultsBetween January 2020 and September 2020, 37 patients were screened, of whom 23 were enrolled. The neoadjuvant therapeutic regimen had an acceptable side effect profile, and no delays in surgery were observed. Severe (grade 3–4) treatment-related adverse events included neutropenia (9 of 23, 39.1%) and leukopenia (2 of 23, 8.7%). The objective response and disease control rates were 90.5% and 100%, respectively. Twenty patients received surgery, and R0 resection was achieved in all cases. Five (25%) patients had a pathological complete response (PCR) and 10 (50%) patients had a major pathological response. The proportion of patients with a high tumor mutation burden and a high expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in primary tumor was significantly higher in the PCR group than in the non-PCR group (p=0.044). The number of infiltrating PD-L1+ CD163+ cells was significantly lower in the PCR group than in the non-PCR group after treatment (p=0.017).ConclusionsNeoadjuvant camrelizumab plus carboplatin and nab-paclitaxel had manageable treatment-related adverse effects and induced an objective response in 90.5% of patients, demonstrating its antitumor efficacy in resectable ESCC.Trial registration numberChiCTR2000028900.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive subtype known for its extremely high drug resistance, progression, poor prognosis, and lack of clear therapeutic targets. Researchers are aiming to advance TNBC treatment worldwide. In the past 2–3 years, more positive results have emerged in the clinical research on TNBC treatment. Based on the results, several impressive drugs have been approved to benefit patients with TNBC, including the PARP inhibitors olaparib and talazoparib for germline BRCA mutation-associated breast cancer (gBRCAm-BC) and immunotherapy using the checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab in combination with nab-paclitaxel for programmed cell death-ligand 1-positive (PD-L1+) advanced TNBC. Although neoadjuvant therapy has focused on combinations of systemic agents to optimize pathologically complete response, metastatic TNBC still has a poor prognosis. Innovative multidrug combination systemic therapies based on neoadjuvants and adjuvants have led to significant improvements in outcomes, particularly over the past decade.

Important evidence indicates the microbiota plays a key role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The esophageal microbiota was prospectively investigated in 18 patients with ESCC and 11 patients with physiological normal (PN) esophagus by 16S rRNA gene profiling, using next-generation sequencing. The microbiota composition in tumor tissues of ESCC patients were significantly different from that of patients with PN tissues. The ESCC microbiota was characterized by reduced microbial diversity, by decreased abundance of Bacteroidetes, Fusobacteria, and Spirochaetes. Employing these taxa into a microbial dysbiosis index demonstrated that dysbiosis microbiota had good capacity to discriminate between ESCC and PN esophagus. Functional analysis characterized that ESCC microbiota had altered nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase functions compared with PN group. These results suggest that specific microbes and the microbiota may drive or mitigate ESCC carcinogenesis, and this study will facilitate assigning causal roles in ESCC development to certain microbes and microbiota.

Background Patients with esophageal cancer often experience clinically relevant deterioration of quality of life (QOL) after esophagectomy owing to malnutrition, lack of physical exercise, and psychological symptoms. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of a comprehensive intervention model using a mobile health system (CIMmH) in patients with esophageal cancer after esophagectomy. Methods Twenty patients with esophageal cancer undergoing the modified McKeown surgical procedure were invited to join the CIMmH program with both online and offline components for 12 weeks. The participants were assessed before surgery and again at 1 and 3 months after esophagectomy. QOL, depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, nutrition, and physical fitness were measured. Results Of the 20 patients, 16 (80%) completed the program. One month after esophagectomy, patients showed significant deterioration in overall QOL (P=.02), eating (P=.005), reflux (P=.04), and trouble with talking (P<.001). At the 3-month follow-up, except for pain (P=.02), difficulty with eating (P=.03), dry mouth (P=.04), and trouble with talking (P=.003), all other QOL dimensions returned to the preoperative level. There were significant reductions in weight (P<.001) and BMI (P=.02) throughout the study, and no significant changes were observed for physical fitness measured by change in the 6-minute walk distance between baseline and the 1-month follow-up (P=.22) or between baseline and the 3-month follow-up (P=.52). Depressive symptoms significantly increased 1 month after surgery (P<.001), while other psychological measures did not show relevant changes. Although there were declines in many measures 1 month after surgery, these were much improved at the 3-month follow-up, and the recovery was more profound and faster than with traditional rehabilitation programs. Conclusions The CIMmH was feasible and safe and demonstrated encouraging efficacy testing with a control group for enhancing recovery after surgery among patients with esophageal cancer in China. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-IPR-1800019900); http://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=32811.