microRNA-378a Regulates the Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)/Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases (PI3K)/AKT Signaling Pathway in Human Lens Epithelial Cells and Cataract.

BACKGROUND Cataract is associated with increased apoptosis of the epithelial cells of the ocular lens. Previous studies have shown that microRNA-378a (miR-378a) has a role in the development of cataract, but the molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of miR-378a in human lens epithelial cells (HLECs) in vitro and normal lens tissues and cataract tissues.

Generation and Characterization of Fibroblast-Specific Basigin Knockout Mice.

Basigin is a well-known extracellular stimulator of fibroblasts and may confer resistance to apoptosis of fibroblasts in vitro under some pathological status, but its exact function in fibroblasts and the underlying mechanism remain poorly understood. The systematic Basigin gene knockout leads to the perinatal lethality of mice, which limits the delineation of its function in vivo. In this study, we generated a fibroblast-specific Basigin knock-out mouse model and demonstrated the successful deletion of Basigin in fibroblasts.

Chair Heterogeneity Index: Describing the dose heterogeneity inside the tumor volume where there is a boost volume.

In this report, Chair Heterogeneity Index (CHI) was introduced to assess the dose heterogeneity inside the target with a boost volume. CHI was defined by dividing (V  - V ) by (V  - V ): V , V , V and V were four points selected from the target cumulative dose volume histogram curve. The effectiveness of CHI was validated by assessing the treatment plans for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC, 12 cases), breast cancer after breast-conserving-surgery (BC, 10 cases), and stereotactic radiosurgery after whole brain irradiation (SRS, 9 cases).

Advantages of a technique using two 50 degree arcs in simultaneous integrated boost radiotherapy for left-sidebreast cancer.

This study evaluated radiotherapy techniques with 15 cases for simultaneous integrated boost to treat whole left breast and tumor bed following breast conserving surgery. Treatment plans were generated using three techniques: volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with a partial arc of 190° (1ARC), VMAT with two tangential mini-arcs of 50° each (2TARC) and intensity modulated radiation therapy with four fixed angle fields (4IMRT). Dosimetric parameters for the whole breast (Target), the boost tumor bed (Boost), and surrounding normal organs were compared.

The Hippocampus Sparing Volume Modulated Arc Therapy does not Influence Plan Quality on Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients.

Irradiation on hippocampus would lead to neuro-cognitive dysfunction in locally advanced nasopharyneal carcinoma (LA-NPC) patients accepting radiotherapy. Our study here aimed to investigate if undergoing hippocampus sparing (HS) volume modulated arc therapy (VMAT) would influence the plan quality in LA NPC patients. We designed three kinds of radiotherapeutic plans for 11 LA NPC patients: conventional VMAT (C-VMAT), HS-VMAT and HS intensity modulated radiation therapy with dynamic multileaf collimator (HS-dMLC).