Immune response regulation by transduced mesenchymal stem cells with gene on bleomycin-induced lung injury, fibrosis, and inflammation.

Background: Pulmonary fibrosis is a pathological hallmark of lung injury. It is an aggressive disease that replaces normal lung parenchyma by fibrotic tissue. The transforming growth factor-beta-mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 (TGF-β1-Smad3) signaling pathway plays a key role in regulating lung fibrosis.

A dosimetric comparison of double-arc volumetric arc therapy, step-shoot intensity modulated radiotherapy and 3D-CRT for left-sided breast cancer radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery.

Objective: To compare the dosimetric and efficiency differences for left-sided breast cancer radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery among three different planning techniques: double-arc volumetric-modulate arc therapy (VMAT), step-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy (sIMRT) and three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT).

Materials And Methods: A total of 17 female patients with left-sided breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery were selected; the prescription doses were 50 Gy in 25 fractions. For every patient VMAT, sIMRT and 3D-CRT plans were generated within the Monaco treatment planning system for an Axesse™ accelerator equipped with the Agility MLC.

Analysis of the correlation between P53 and Cox-2 expression and prognosis in esophageal cancer.

The present study aimed to explore the importance of P53 and Cox-2 protein expression in esophageal cancer and assess their influence on prognosis. The expression of P53 and Cox-2 was assessed in esophageal cancer samples from 195 patients subjected to radical surgery at Changzhou First People's Hospital (Changzhou, China) between May 2010 and December 2011. Expression of P53 and Cox-2 proteins were detected in 60.

The status of perineural invasion predicts the outcomes of postoperative radiotherapy in locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Prognosis of locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains dismal even after curative resection and adjuvant radiotherapy. New biomarkers for predicting prognosis and treatment outcomes are needed for improved treatment stratification of patients with locally advanced ESCC. The prognostic and treatment predictive significance of perineural invasion (PNI) in the locally advanced ESCC remains unclear.

Proposed Modification of Nodal Staging as an Alternative to the Seventh Edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Tumor-Node-Metastasis Staging System Improves the Prognostic Prediction in the Resected Esophageal Squamous-Cell Carcinoma.

Introduction: The 7th American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor-node-metastasis staging system for esophageal cancer defined N classification based on the number of metastatic lymph nodes (LNs). However, this classification might neglect the extent of LNs metastasis. This study aimed to revise N classification based on the extent of LNs metastasis and propose a modification to the current AJCC staging system for better representing the prognostic characteristics of Chinese esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Coplanar VMAT vs. noncoplanar VMAT in the treatment of sinonasal cancer.

Background: Previous studies showed that noncoplanar intensity-modulated radiotherapy (NC-IMRT) for sinonasal cancer is superior to coplanar intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is a newly introduced treatment modality, and the performance of noncoplanar VMAT for sinonasal cancer has not been well described to date.

Purpose: To compare the dosimetry difference of noncoplanar VMAT (NC-VMAT), coplanar VMAT (co-VMAT), and NC-IMRT for sinonasal cancer.

Single arc volumetric-modulated arc therapy is sufficient for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a dosimetric comparison with dual arc VMAT and dynamic MLC and step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy.

Background: The performance of single arc VMAT (VMAT1) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) on the Axesse linac has not been well described in previous studies. The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of VMAT1 for NPC by comparing the dosimetry, delivery efficiency, and accuracy with dual arc VMAT (VMAT2), dynamic MLC intensity-modulated radiotherapy (dIMRT), and step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy (ssIMRT).

Methods: Twenty consecutive patients with non-metastatic NPC were selected to be planned with VMAT1, VMAT2, dIMRT and ssIMRT using Monaco 3.