Dose escalation in radical radio(chemo)therapy for cervical and upper thoracic esophageal cancer with 3DCRT/IMRT (ChC&UES): a multicenter retrospective study.

Background: Cervical and upper thoracic esophageal cancer (ESCA) presents treatment challenges due to limited clinical evidence. This multi-center study (ChC&UES) explores radical radio(chemo)therapy efficacy and safety, especially focusing on radiation dose.

Method: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 1,422 cases across 8 medical centers.

Principle and progress of radical treatment for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in the digestive system in China and the world. Most patients are diagnosed as locally advanced or advanced stage. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is the standard treatment for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Plus Etoposide/Cisplatin for Patients With Limited Advanced Unresectable Thymic Epithelial Tumors: A Prospective Phase 2 Study.

Purpose: This prospective phase 2 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of intensity modulated radiation therapy plus etoposide/cisplatin (EP) for patients with unresectable thymic epithelial tumors (TETs).

Methods And Materials: Patients with limited advanced unresectable TETs whose lesions could be encompassed within radiation fields were enrolled in this study. Two cycles of EP (75 mg/m etoposide and 25 mg/m cisplatin on days 1-3 and days 29-31) were administered concurrently with radiation therapy, followed by 2 cycles after radiation therapy.

Impact of pathological complete response following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in esophageal cancer.

Background: Neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy (nRCT) followed by surgery has become the gold standard treatment in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. The pathological response is an important predictor in such patients. This work represents a single-center analysis investigating the impact of pathological complete response (pCR) on treatment outcome.

A phase II trial of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin in advanced oesophageal carcinoma.

Background: This study was performed to assess the efficacy and feasibility of definitive chemoradiotherapy consisting of weekly doses of combined paclitaxel and carboplatin concurrent with radiation therapy, followed by 2 cycles of consolidation chemotherapy for advanced esophageal carcinoma.

Methods: Eligibility criteria included local, advanced, newly diagnosed and postoperative local regional lymph node metastasis; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score ≤ 2; and adequate organ function. Patients received concurrent chemoradiation therapy consisting of radiotherapy (50.

Hypo- or conventionally fractionated radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy in patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer.

Background: Previous data from our institution showed that hypofractionated thoracic radiotherapy (HypoTRT) with concurrent etoposide/platinum chemotherapy yielded favorable survival in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC). The present study retrospectively compared the survival outcomes, failure patterns and toxicities between groups of LS-SCLC patients treated with conventionally fractionated thoracic radiotherapy (ConvTRT) or HypoTRT combined with chemotherapy.

Methods: Medical records of LS-SCLC patients between January 2010 and December 2013 at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center were retrospectively reviewed.

A phase II study of concurrent chemoradiotherapy combined with a weekly paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil regimen to treat patients with advanced oesophageal carcinoma.

Background: A phase II study was performed to investigate the safety and efficacy of weekly doses of combined paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) with concurrent radiation therapy, followed by 2 cycles of consolidation chemotherapy to treat patients with advanced oesophageal carcinoma.

Methods: The eligibility criteria included local, advanced, newly diagnosed and postoperative local regional lymph node metastasis; an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score of ≤ 2; and adequate organ function. Patients received chemoradiotherapy consisting of radiotherapy (50.

Long-term results of paclitaxel plus cisplatin with concurrent radiotherapy for loco-regional esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Aim: To evaluate the long-term effectiveness and late toxicities of paclitaxel (PTX) plus cisplatin (DDP) with concurrent radiotherapy for locally advanced esophageal squamous cancer.

Methods: Between 2008 and 2011, 76 patients were enrolled in a phase II study on the treatment of loco-regionally advanced esophageal cancer with radiotherapy (68.4 Gy/44 fractions or 61.

Association between the inflammatory biomarker, C-reactive protein, and the response to radiochemotherapy in patients with esophageal cancer.

Locally advanced esophageal cancer has been treated by a multimodality regimen encompassing combined radiochemotherapy (RCT). The tumor response to neoadjuvant RCT is a major determinant of further therapeutic strategies, whether surgery or a continuation of RCT, and therefore, also of the patient's overall prognosis. The present study included patients with histologically proven squamous cell esophageal carcinoma.

High EGFR and low p-Akt expression is associated with better outcome after nimotuzumab-containing treatment in esophageal cancer patients: preliminary clinical result and testable hypothesis.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is widely overexpressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and it results is associated with a poor prognosis. Identifying the subgroup of ESCC patients who are sensitive to EGFR-targeted therapy is a key point to facilitate its medical use.We retrospectively analyzed 32 ESCC patients treated with the combination of nimotuzumab (h-R3) and radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

A Phase II Study of Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy With Paclitaxel and Cisplatin for Inoperable Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Objectives: A phase II study was performed to investigate the efficacy and the safety of a 3-week schedule of paclitaxel (PTX) plus cisplatin (DDP) combined with concurrent radiotherapy for esophageal squamous cell cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed esophageal squamous cell cancer who had histologic proof of local-regional carcinoma of the esophagus, a Karnofsky performance status of 80 or greater, and normal liver, renal, and bone marrow functions were enrolled in the phase II trial. Chemotherapy consisted of DDP (25 mg/m/d) for 3 days plus PTX (175 mg/m) given for 3 hours, every 3 weeks for 4 cycles.

Simultaneous integrated boost intensity-modulated radiotherapy in esophageal carcinoma: early results of a phase II study.

Purpose: The safety and efficacy of using simultaneous integrated boost intensity-modulated radiotherapy (SIB-IMRT) for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were evaluated in a single-institution phase II setting.

Methods And Materials: Between June 2007 and October 2009, 45 patients underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy (n = 27) or radiotherapy alone (n = 18). Two planning target volumes (PTV) were defined for the SIB: PTVC and PTVG, with prescribed doses of 50.

[Expression of Six1 and Six4 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and their correlation with clinical prognosis].

Objective: Six1 and Six4 are expressed in several tumors, and associated with tumor progress and poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Six1 and Six4 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and to evaluate their correlation with the clinicopathological factors and prognosis.

Methods: Tissue microarray technology and immunohistochemical method (EnVision) were used to detect the expression of Six1 and Six4 in the tumor tissues and corresponding adjacent normal epithelium of esophagus from 292 ESCC patients.

Safety and efficacy of nimotuzumab in combination with radiotherapy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Background: We investigated nimotuzumab (h-R3), a humanized monoclonal antibody against epidermal growth factor receptor, when combined with irradiation or chemoradiation for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the esophagus. The aim of this study was to evaluate its safety and efficacy.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 66 patients with esophageal SCC treated with a combination of h-R3 and radiation or chemoradiation between December 2008 and September 2011 at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center.

Implications for preserving neural stem cells in whole brain radiotherapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation: a review of 2270 metastases in 488 patients.

This study delineated the incidence of metastatic involvement of neural stem cell (NSC) regions and further aimed to explore the feasibility of selectively sparing the NSC compartments during whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI). A total of 2270 intracranial metastases in 488 patients were identified. Lesions were classified according to locations, including lesions in the NSC compartments (subventricular zone, SVZ, or hippocampus) and those in the rest of the brain/brainstem.

Polymorphisms in the ERCC5 gene and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in Eastern Chinese populations.

Background: Excision repair cross complementing group 5 (ERCC5 or XPG) plays an important role in regulating DNA excision repair; its functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may alter DNA repair capacity and thus contribute to cancer risk.

Methodology/principal Findings: In a hospital-based case-control study of 1115 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases and 1117 cancer-free controls, we genotyped three potentially functional SNPs of ERCC5 (SNPs, rs2296147T>C, rs2094258C>T and rs873601G>A) and estimated crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for their associations with risk of ESCC using unconditional logistic regression models. We also calculated false-positive report probabilities (FPRPs) for significant findings.

Simultaneous nuclear imaging and intranuclear drug delivery by nuclear-targeted multifunctional upconversion nanoprobes.

Nuclear-targeted therapy by delivering anticancer drug directly into cancer cell nuclei can elicit synergistic therapeutic effects and kill these cancer cells with much enhanced efficiencies. Besides nuclear targeting, another difficulty in nuclear-targeted therapy is how to achieve real-time monitoring of the therapy process simultaneously. In this article we report on the development of multifunctional upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) which were able to target cancer cell nuclei, and thus deliver the anticancer drug directly to the nuclear region and simultaneously image cell nucleus by magnetic resonance (MR)/upconversion fluorescent for real-time guidance of their therapeutic action simultaneously.

Is involved-field radiotherapy based on CT safe for patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer?

Purpose: To examine the pattern of failures in patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) treated with involved-field radiotherapy (IFRT) and chemotherapy, with the aim of investigating the safety of IFRT.

Methods And Materials: Two consecutive clinical phase II trials in patients with LS-SCLC conducted in our center from 1997 to 2010 were reviewed retrospectively. Both trials had the same inclusion criteria.

A phase I dose escalation study of Nimotuzumab in combination with concurrent chemoradiation for patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus.

Nimotuzumab (h-R3) is a humanized anti-epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody. We conducted a phase I study to assess the safety, tolerance, maximal tolerance dose (MTD) and efficacy of h-R3 in combination with concurrent chemoradiation in patient with locally advanced esophageal carcinoma. Patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus were eligible.

The effect of bioequivalent radiation dose on survival of patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer.

Background: To investigate the biological radiation dose-response for patients of limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) treated with high radiation dose.

Methods: Two hundred and five patients of LS-SCLC treated with sequential chemotherapy and thoracic radiotherapy with involved-field between 1997 and 2006 were reviewed retrospectively. Biologically effective dose (BED) was calculated for dose homogenization and was corrected with the factor of overall radiation time.

A phase II trial of accelerated hypofractionated three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of accelerated hypofractionated radiotherapy (HypoRT) combined with sequential chemotherapy in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Materials And Methods: A total of 34 patients with stage III NSCLC were enrolled. All patients received accelerated HypoRT (initially 50Gy/20 fractions, then a fraction dose of 3Gy) using three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), omitting elective nodal irradiation (ENI), to a total dose of 65-68Gy.

Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: is elective nodal irradiation necessary?

Purpose: To evaluate the local control, survival, and toxicity associated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the esophagus, to determine the appropriate target volumes, and to determine whether elective nodal irradiation is necessary in these patients.

Methods And Materials: A prospective study of 3D-CRT was undertaken in patients with esophageal SCC without distant metastases. Patients received 68.

Four-dimensional computed tomography-based treatment planning for intensity-modulated radiation therapy and proton therapy for distal esophageal cancer.

Purpose: To compare three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT)-based treatment plans for proton therapy or intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for esophageal cancer in terms of doses to the lung, heart, and spinal cord and variations in target coverage and normal tissue sparing.

Methods And Materials: The IMRT and proton plans for 15 patients with distal esophageal cancer were designed from the 3D average CT scans and then recalculated on 10 4D CT data sets. Dosimetric data were compared for tumor coverage and normal tissue sparing.

Evaluation of respiratory-induced target motion for esophageal tumors at the gastroesophageal junction.

Purpose: To quantify the internal motion margin requirements for radiotherapy of tumors near the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ).

Methods And Materials: Four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) scans were obtained for 25 patients with primary tumors located near the GEJ. The gross tumor volume (GTV) was manually contoured on the exhale-phase image from the 4DCT image set.