Dissecting the heterogeneity of the microenvironment in primary and recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinomas using single-cell RNA sequencing.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has a 10-15% recurrence rate, while no long term or durable treatment options are currently available. Single-cell profiling in recurrent NPC (rNPC) may aid in designing effective anticancer therapies, including immunotherapies. For the first time, we profiled the transcriptomes of ∼60,000 cells from four primary NPC and two rNPC cases to provide deeper insights into the dynamic changes in rNPC within radiation fields.

Is Immune Therapy Plus Chemotherapy More Effective Than Immune Therapy Alone for Unresectable Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma?

Objective: To evaluate whether the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) with chemotherapy is more effective than ICI alone in the treatment of recurrent, locoregionally advanced, unresectable nasopharyngeal carcinoma (RAU-NPC), which has progressed after second line chemotherapy.

Methods And Materials: Patients with RAU-NPC that progressed after second chemotherapy were prescribed ICI once every 3 weeks, either alone or combined with chemotherapy at the discretion of treating physicians, until confirmed disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or voluntary withdrawal. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate (ORR).

The Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant epithelial tumor originating in the nasopharynx and has a high incidence in Southeast Asia and North Africa. To develop these comprehensive guidelines for the diagnosis and management of NPC, the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) arranged a multi-disciplinary team comprising of experts from all sub-specialties of NPC to write, discuss, and revise the guidelines. Based on the findings of evidence-based medicine in China and abroad, domestic experts have iteratively developed these guidelines to provide proper management of NPC.

Dynamic Changes in Cognitive Function in Patients With Radiation-Induced Temporal Lobe Necrosis After IMRT for Nasopharyngeal Cancer.

Radiation-induced temporal lobe necrosis (TLN) was once regarded as a progressive and irreversible disease in the era of two-dimensional radiotherapy. However, in the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), the long-term development process of TLN remains unknown. We performed a prospective study to evaluate the dynamic changes in cognitive function in patients with TLN after definitive IMRT for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Dosimetry of the brain and hypothalamus predicting acute lymphopenia and the survival of glioma patients with postoperative radiotherapy.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate dosimetric factors for predicting acute lymphopenia and the survival of glioma patients with postoperative intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

Methods: A total of 148 glioma patients were reviewed. Acute lymphopenia was defined as a peripheral lymphocyte count (PLC) lower than 1.

IMRT for head and neck cancer: reducing xerostomia and dysphagia.

Dysphagia and xerostomia are the main sequellae of chemoradiotherapy for head and neck cancer, and the main factors in reducing long-term patient quality of life. IMRT uses advanced technology to focus the high radiation doses on the targets and avoid irradiation of non-involved tissues. The decisions about sparing organs and tissues whose damage causes xerostomia and dysphagia depends on the evidence for dose-response relationships for the organs causing these sequellae.

Treatment of cerebral radiation necrosis with nerve growth factor: A prospective, randomized, controlled phase II study.

Purpose: A prospective, placebo controlled phase II trial was conducted to test the efficacy of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) for the treatment of symptomatic temporal lobe necrosis (TLN).

Materials And Methods: Patients with progressive TLN were randomly assigned to either the control or the study group in a 1:1 ratio. The control group received corticosteroids with gradually reduced dosage.

Dose Evaluation of Fractionated Schema and Distance From Tumor to Spinal Cord for Spinal SBRT with Simultaneous Integrated Boost: A Preliminary Study.

BACKGROUND This study investigated and quantified the dosimetric impact of the distance from the tumor to the spinal cord and fractionation schemes for patients who received stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and hypofractionated simultaneous integrated boost (HF-SIB). MATERIAL AND METHODS Six modified planning target volumes (PTVs) for 5 patients with spinal metastases were created by artificial uniform extension in the region of PTV adjacent spinal cord with a specified minimum tumor to cord distance (0-5 mm). The prescription dose (biologic equivalent dose, BED) was 70 Gy in different fractionation schemes (1, 3, 5, and 10 fractions).

Dosimetric evaluation of 4 different treatment modalities for curative-intent stereotactic body radiation therapy for isolated thoracic spinal metastases.

To investigate the dosimetric characteristics of 4 SBRT-capable dose delivery systems, CyberKnife (CK), Helical TomoTherapy (HT), Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) by Varian RapidArc (RA), and segmental step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) by Elekta, on isolated thoracic spinal lesions. CK, HT, RA, and IMRT planning were performed simultaneously for 10 randomly selected patients with 6 body types and 6 body + pedicle types with isolated thoracic lesions. The prescription was set with curative intent and dose of either 33Gy in 3 fractions (3F) or 40Gy in 5F to cover at least 90% of the planning target volume (PTV), correspondingly.

Organ-sparing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer.

To improve locoregional tumor control and survival in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer (HNC), therapy is intensified using altered fractionation radiation therapy or concomitant chemotherapy. However, intensification of therapy has been associated with increased acute and late toxic effects. The application of advanced radiation techniques, such as 3D conformal radiation therapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy, is expected to improve the therapeutic index of radiation therapy for HNC by limiting the dose to critical organs and possibly increasing locoregional tumor control.

The role of technetium-99m methoxyisobutyl isonitrile scintigraphy in predicting the therapeutic effect of chemotherapy against nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: The authors prospectively evaluated the correlation between technetium-99m methoxyisobutyl isonitrile ((99m) Tc-MIBI) accumulation in tumors and response to induction chemotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods: Eighty-six patients with locally advanced NPC underwent single-photon emission computed tomography 15 minutes after an intravenous injection of 740 megabecquerels (20 mCi) (99m) Tc-MIBI before chemotherapy. The tumor uptake ratio (TUR) was calculated.

A comparative study of three CT and MRI registration algorithms in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objective: To evaluate the image registration accuracy and efficiency of CT and MRI fusion using three algorithms in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods And Materials: Twelve sets of CT and MRI scans of 12 NPC patients were fused using three image registration algorithms, respectively: Mark-and-link, Interactive, and Normalized Mutual Information (NMI). Registration accuracy was evaluated by performing statistical analysis of the coordinate differences between CT and MR anatomical landmarks along the x-, y- and z-axes.

Patterns of level II node metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Purpose: To explore the pattern of metastasis to level II nodes and its relationship with tumor range in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients by using magnetic resonance imaging.

Methods And Materials: Magnetic resonance images of 618 NPC patients were reviewed. Nodes were classified as metastatic based on size criteria, the presence of nodal necrosis, and extracapsular spread.

[Analysis of computed tomography-based distribution of metastatic cervical nodes in 218 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

Background & Objective: The application of intensity- modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) requires a precise delineation of the nodal area and nodal clinical target volume (CTV) on computed tomography (CT) images,and the prerequisite is to find out the rules of CT-based distribution of metastatic lymph nodes of NPC. This study was designed to analyze the rules of CT-based distribution of nodal involvements of NPC according to the guidelines of nodal levels proposed by Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG).

Methods: From Jul.