Persistent Fatigue in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Receiving Radiotherapy.

Background: Radiation therapy has attracted much attention in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the association between radiotherapy-related fatigue and HCC has been examined in only a few studies.

Purpose: This study was designed to explore the change over time in fatigue in patients with HCC treated with radiotherapy and related factors.

Clinical and Dosimetric Results of Proton or Photon Radiation Therapy for Large (>5 cm) Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Analysis.

Purpose: Our purpose was to report the clinical and dosimetric attributes of patients with large unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing proton or photon radiation therapy.

Methods And Materials: We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes and dosimetric indices of 159 patients with >5 cm nonmetastatic HCC who underwent definitive radiation therapy using either protons (N = 105) or photons (N = 54) between 2014 and 2018. Additional photon plans were performed in the 105 proton-treated patients using the same dose prescription criteria for intragroup dosimetric comparison.

Local Interleukin-12 Treatment Enhances the Efficacy of Radiation Therapy by Overcoming Radiation-Induced Immune Suppression.

Radiation therapy (RT) recruits myeloid cells, leading to an immunosuppressive microenvironment that impedes its efficacy against tumors. Combination of immunotherapy with RT is a potential approach to reversing the immunosuppressive condition and enhancing tumor control after RT. This study aimed to assess the effects of local interleukin-12 (IL-12) therapy on improving the efficacy of RT in a murine prostate cancer model.

Radiation-Induced Metabolic Shifts in the Hepatic Parenchyma: Findings from F-FDG PET Imaging and Tissue NMR Metabolomics in a Mouse Model for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Purpose: By taking advantage of 18F-FDG PET imaging and tissue nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics, we examined the dynamic metabolic alterations induced by liver irradiation in a mouse model for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: After orthotopic implantation with the mouse liver cancer BNL cells in the right hepatic lobe, animals were divided into two experimental groups. The first received irradiation (RT) at 15 Gy, while the second (no-RT) did not.

Ablative Radiotherapy Reprograms the Tumor Microenvironment of a Pancreatic Tumor in Favoring the Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy.

The low overall survival rate of patients with pancreatic cancer has driven research to seek a new therapeutic protocol. Radiotherapy (RT) is frequently an option in the neoadjuvant or palliative settings for pancreatic cancer treatment. This study explored the effect of RT protocols on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and their consequent impact on anti-programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) therapy.

Role of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in High-Dose-Irradiated TRAMP-C1 Tumors: A Therapeutic Target and an Index for Assessing Tumor Microenvironment.

Purpose: To investigate the temporal and spatial infiltration of TRAMP-C1 tumors by myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) after high-dose radiation therapy (RT), and to explore their effect on tumor growth.

Methods And Materials: TRAMP-C1 intramuscularly tumors were irradiated with a single dose of 8 Gy or 25 Gy. The dynamics of infiltrated MDSCs and their intratumoral spatial distribution were assessed by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry.

Radiation Induces Pulmonary Fibrosis by Promoting the Fibrogenic Differentiation of Alveolar Stem Cells.

The lung is a radiosensitive organ, which imposes limits on the therapeutic dose in thoracic radiotherapy. Irradiated alveolar epithelial cells promote radiation-related pneumonitis and fibrosis. However, the role of lung stem cells (LSCs) in the development of radiation-induced lung injury is still unclear.

DOCK6 promotes chemo- and radioresistance of gastric cancer by modulating WNT/β-catenin signaling and cancer stem cell traits.

Gastric cancer (GC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and prognosis after potentially curative gastrectomy remains poor. Administration of GC-targeting molecules in combination with adjuvant chemo- or radiotherapy following surgical resection has been proposed as a potentially effective treatment option. Here, we have identified DOCK6, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Rac1 and CDC42, as an independent biomarker for GC prognosis.

Comparison between Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Background/purpose: We sought to compare the diagnostic performances of Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT and prostate/whole-abdomen multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (PWAmpMRI) in Taiwanese patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Methods: Between June 2017 and December 2018, we prospectively enrolled 34 patients. Upon review of all available clinical and imaging data, a best valuable comparator (BVC) was defined on an individual basis in the light of a consensus reached by a multidisciplinary tumor board.

Sunitinib Treatment-elicited Distinct Tumor Microenvironment Dramatically Compensated the Reduction of Myeloid-derived Suppressor Cells.

Background/aim: The clinical response rate of prostate cancer to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) monotherapy is low. The mechanisms of resistance to TKI are unclear. This study aimed to examine if the tumor microenvironment (TME) is involved in the resistance.

Multimodal imaging reveals transient liver metabolic disturbance and sinusoidal circulation obstruction after a single administration of ketamine/xylazine mixture.

A ketamine/xylazine (K/X) mixture is widely used before and during experiments in rodents. However, the impact of short-term use of K/X mixture and its influences on data interpretation have rarely been discussed. In this study, we administered one shot of a K/X mixture and examined acute hepatic responses using biochemical analysis, histopathological examination, and non-invasive imaging to determine the delay required prior to further assessment of the liver to avoid confounding effects triggered by anaesthesia.

Adverse birth outcomes in adolescent and young adult female cancer survivors: a nationwide population-based study.

Background: For female adolescent and young adult (AYA), cancer with treatments may affect their children's health. Our aim was to determine reliable risk estimates of adverse birth outcomes in AYA cancer survivors and the differential effects of treatments.

Methods: The study population of 4547 births in the AYA cancer survivor group and 45,463 in the comparison group were identified from two national databases between 2004 and 2014.

Clinical Outcomes of Patients With Unresectable Cholangiocarcinoma Treated With Proton Beam Therapy.

Objective: To investigate the clinical outcomes and failure patterns of patients with unresectable cholangiocarcinoma (CC) who had been treated with proton beam therapy (PBT).

Methods: The authors retrospectively examined 30 patients with unresectable CC who had undergone PBT between November 2015 and December 2017. Survival curves were plotted with the Kaplan-Meier method.

Diffusion-weighted MRI and F-FDG PET correlation with immunity in early radiotherapy response in BNL hepatocellular carcinoma mouse model: timeline validation.

Purpose: Imaging probes/biomarkers that are correlated with molecular or microenvironmental alterations in tumors have been used not only in diagnosing cancer but also in assessing the efficacy of cancer treatment. We evaluated the early response of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to radiation treatment using T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI, and F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET).

Methods: Orthotopic HCC tumors were established in the right liver lobe of Balb/c mice.

Distinct Tumor Microenvironment at Tumor Edge as a Result of Astrocyte Activation Is Associated With Therapeutic Resistance for Brain Tumor.

Tumor vasculatures and hypoxia are critical tumor micro-environmental factors associated with tumor response to the therapy and heterogeneous in both time- and location-dependent manner. Using a murine orthotopic anaplastic astrocytoma model, ALTS1C1, this study showed that brain tumor edge had a very unique microenvironment, having higher microvascular density (MVD) and better vessel function than the tumor core, but on the other hand was also positive for hypoxia markers, such as pimonidazole (PIMO), hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), and carbonic anhydrase IV (CAIX). The hypoxia at tumor edge was transient, named as peripheral hypoxia, and caused by different mechanisms from the chronic hypoxia in tumor core.

A Comprehensive Review on Current Advances in Peptide Drug Development and Design.

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) execute many fundamental cellular functions and have served as prime drug targets over the last two decades. Interfering intracellular PPIs with small molecules has been extremely difficult for larger or flat binding sites, as antibodies cannot cross the cell membrane to reach such target sites. In recent years, peptides smaller size and balance of conformational rigidity and flexibility have made them promising candidates for targeting challenging binding interfaces with satisfactory binding affinity and specificity.

Predictors of Radiation-Induced Liver Disease in Eastern and Western Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Proton Beam Therapy.

Purpose: To identify predictors of radiation-induced liver disease (RILD) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with proton beam therapy (PBT).

Methods: This multicenter study included 136 patients with HCC (eastern, n = 102; western, n = 34) without evidence of intrahepatic tumor progression after PBT. The RILD was defined as ascites with alkaline-phosphatase abnormality, grade ≥3 hepatic toxicity, or Child-Pugh score worsening by ≥2 within 4 months after PBT completion.

Optimal Timing for Postsurgical Adjuvant Therapy in Patients with Gastric Cancer: A Propensity Score Matching Study.

In clinical trials, adjuvant therapy (AT) has been shown to improve the prognosis in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma who undergo curative gastrectomy and adequate lymph node dissection. However, the optimal timing for initiating AT is still unclear. We collected data from 538 patients with stage II-III gastric cancer who underwent curative gastrectomy and AT in two tertiary hospitals from 2006 to 2013.

Calreticulin regulates MYCN expression to control neuronal differentiation and stemness of neuroblastoma.

Oncogenic N-MYC (MYCN) is widely used as a biomarker in clinics for neuroblastoma (NB) patients; nevertheless, mechanism that underlines MYCN regulation remains elusive. In the present study, we identified calreticulin (CRT) as a novel MYCN suppressor that downregulated MYCN promoter activity and protein expression to modulate neuronal differentiation and stemness. Our data showed that CRT-mediated MYCN suppression led to increased neurite length and commensurate elevation in differentiation marker GAP-43.

Metabolic Volumetric Parameters in C-Choline PET/MR Are Superior PET Imaging Biomarkers for Primary High-Risk Prostate Cancer.

Purpose: Positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) can facilitate the use of noninvasive imaging biomarkers in clinical prostate cancer staging. Although multiparametric MRI is a widely used technique, the clinical value of simultaneous PET imaging remains unclear. This study aimed at investigating this issue.

New Digital Plug and Imaging Sensor for a Proton Therapy Monitoring System Based on Positron Emission Tomography.

One of the most challenging areas of sensor development for nuclear medicine is the design of proton therapy monitoring systems. Sensors are operated in a high detection rate regime in beam-on conditions. We realized a prototype of a monitoring system for proton therapy based on the technique of positron emission tomography.

How small is TOO small? New liver constraint is needed- Proton therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with small normal liver.

Purpose: This study evaluated the outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with small normal liver volume (NLV) treated with proton beam therapy (PBT) and introduced estimated standard liver volume (eSLV) as a new constraint.

Materials And Methods: HCC patients with NLV < 800 cm3 and no distant metastasis who received treatment in our proton center were included. The doses of PBT were mainly 72.