The parotid and submandibular glands shrunk during RT, but the parotid glands shrunk more than the submandibular glands. These gland volume reductions correlated significantly with the mean dose to the irradiated glands; the spared glands showed few changes.

No abstract

BackgroundCyclin D1 (CCND1) has been associated with chemotherapy resistance and poor prognosis. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that CCND1 expression determines response and clinical outcomes in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and radiotherapy.Methodology and Findings224 patients with HNSCC were treated with either cisplatin-based chemotherapy followed by surgery and radiotherapy (neoadjuvant group, n = 100) or surgery and radiotherapy (non-neoadjuvant group, n = 124). CCND1 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry. CCND1 levels were analyzed with chemotherapy response, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). There was no significant difference between the neoadjuvant group and non-neoadjuvant group in DFS and OS (p = 0.929 and p = 0.760) when patients treated with the indiscriminate administration of cisplatin-based chemotherapy. However, in the neoadjuvant group, patients whose tumors showed a low CCND1 expression more likely respond to chemotherapy (p<0.001) and had a significantly better OS and DFS than those whose tumors showed a high CCND1 expression (73% vs 8%, p<0.001; 63% vs 6%, p<0.001). Importantly, patients with a low CCND1 expression in neoadjuvant group received more survival benefits than those in non-neoadjuvant group (p = 0.016), however patients with a high CCND1 expression and treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a significantly poor OS compared to those treated with surgery and radiotherapy (p = 0.032). A multivariate survival analysis also showed CCND1 expression was an independent predictive factor (p<0.001).ConclusionsThis study suggests that some but not all patients with HNSCC may benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin-based regimen and CCND1 expression may serve as a predictive biomarker in selecting patients undergo less than two cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Organic self‐assembled co‐crystals have garnered considerable attention due to their facile synthesis and intriguing properties, but supramolecular interactions restrict their stability in aqueous solution, which is especially important for biological applications. Herein, we report on the first biological application of aqueous dispersible self‐assembled organic co‐crystals via the construction of metal–organic framework (MOF) ‐stabilized co‐crystals. In particular, we built an electron‐deficient MOF with naphthalene diimide (NDI) as the ligand and biocompatible Ca2+ as the metal nodes. An electron donor molecule, pyrene, was encapsulated to form the host–guest MOF self‐assembled co‐crystal. We observed that such MOF structure leads to uniquely high‐density ordered arrangement and the close intermolecular distance (3.47 Å) of the charge transfer pairs. Hence, the concomitant superior charge transfer interaction between pyrene/NDI can be attained and the resultant photothermal conversion efficiency of Py@Ca‐NDI in aqueous solution can thus reach up to 41.8 %, which, to the best of our knowledge, is the highest value among the reported organic co‐crystal materials; it is also much higher than that of the FDA approved photothermal agent ICG as well as most of the reported MOFs. Based on this realization, as a proof of concept, we demonstrated that such a self‐assembled organic co‐crystal platform can be used in biological applications that are exemplified via highly effective long wavelength light photothermal therapy.

OR-SP PO-IMRT for patients with oral tongue SCC resulted in a significant decrease in the severity of acute mucositis and improved quality of life. The sparing of the oral mucosa outside of the PTV is safe and does not compromise oncologic outcomes.

No abstract

Osteoblasts are bone-forming cells that are responsible for the production of bone extracellular matrix. Osteoradionecrosis is a complication of radiation therapy for carcinoma of the head and neck that occurs in 3% to 8.2% of irradiated patients. The irradiation effect on osteoblast differentiation has not been fully elucidated. The objective of our research was to elucidate the effects of radiation on the growth and differentiation-related gene expression in osteoblast in vitro. Three differentiation-related genes, alkaline phosphatase, type I collagen, and osteocalcin, were tested in our experiment. The results showed that radiation inhibited the proliferation of the osteoblasts in a dose-dependent manner and induced G2/M cell cycle arrest. Irradiation, 4 and 8 Gy, enhanced the differentiation-related gene expression of MC3T3-E1 cells 7 days after irradiation. However, the differentiation-related gene expression was decreased 21 days after irradiation in the 4- and 8-Gy groups. This work presents the dynamic phenotypic expression changes of osteoblastic cells after x-ray irradiation.

Hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) has become an attractive strategy for the activation of hydrocarbon feedstocks. Alcohols, as inexpensive and efficient hydrogen transfer reagents, have limited application in C–H functionalization due to the difficulty in the alkoxy radical acquisition. 9-Fluorenone moieties were incorporated into the metal–organic framework (MOF) as a photocatalyst; through the formation of hydrogen bonds between the carbonyl group of a ligand and alcohol, alkoxy radicals could be obtained by the visible-light-driven oxidation of 2,2,2-trichloroethanol via proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). Effectively photocatalyzed intermolecular coupling reactions between phenyl vinyl sulfone and aldehyde or cyclic ether were realized through the HAT pathway. Compared to homogeneous catalysts, the heterogeneous MOF photocatalyst improved the catalytic efficiency and could be recycled at least five times. The microenvironment of the Zn-OFDC channel was beneficial for the formation of hydrogen bonds and stability of alkoxy radicals.