Objective To investigate the relationships between circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor endothelial cells (CTECs) and treatment methods in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) at different stages of treatment. Methods The data of NPC patients at different treatment periods in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from March 2016 to November 2019 were retrospectively collected. The patients received CTCs test and part of those patients received CTECs test, by subtraction enrichment-immunostaining-fluorescence in situ hybridization. The relationships of CTCs and CTECs with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and the correlations between CTCs and CTECs in NPC patients were analyzed. Results A total of 191 patients were included. Among them, there were 66 cases before initial treatment, 38 cases after induction chemotherapy, and 87 cases after concurrent chemoradiotherapy. A total of 127 patients received CTECs test, including 41 cases before initial treatment, 29 cases after induction chemotherapy, and 57 cases after concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The positive rates of CTCs were 89.4%, 81.6% and 69.0% respectively in the three stages of treatment, and the difference was statistically significant only between the pre-treatment group and the post-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group (P=0.003). The number of CTCs in the post-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group was lower than that in the pre-treatment group and the post-induction chemotherapy group (P<0.001, P=0.002). The number of triploid CTCs in the post-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group was significantly different from that in the pre-treatment group and the post-induction chemotherapy group (P=0.009, P=0.013). The number of tetraploid CTCs in the post-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group was significantly different from that in the post-induction chemotherapy group (P=0.007). The number of polyploidy (pentaploid or > 5 copies of chromosome 8) CTCs in the post-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group was significantly different from that in the pre-treatment group (P<0.001). The positive rates of CTECs were 70.7%, 82.8% and 64.9% respectively in the three stages of treatment, and the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The number of CTECs in the post-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group was only lower than that in the post-induction chemotherapy group (P=0.009). There was no significant difference in the number of triploid or tetraploid CTECs among the three groups (P=0.265, P=0.088). The number of polyploid CTECs was statistically different only between the post-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group and the post-induction chemotherapy group (P=0.007). Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between CTCs and CTECs (rs=0.437, P<0.001). Conclusions Concurrent chemoradiotherapy plays a decisive role in reducing the number of CTCs in the blood of NPC patients, while induction chemotherapy does not appear to directly cause changes in the number of CTCs. In NPC patients, different types of CTCs have different responses to different treatments. There is a significant positive correlation between CTECs level and CTCs level in NPC.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is rather common in Southeast Asia and Southern China. The standard treatment for NPC is intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). A large number of the NPC survivors benefit from the IMRT, while some suffer from the late toxicities which can be life-threatening or significantly erode the patients’ quality of life and functional status, especially in the locally advanced NPC. Nowadays the late radiotherapy-related toxicities have been the most important concern for the radiotherapists and patients, who look forward to the better long-term tumor local control and overall survival. Therefore, we carried out a review about the late radiotherapy-related toxicities of the vital organs at risk after IMRT for NPC patients.
【摘要】 目的 研究Monaco治療計劃系統中不同參數設置對容積旋轉調強放射治療(VMAT)計劃質量的影響，得出更合理的治療計劃參數設置以提高VMAT治療質量。 方法 2010年1-5月間治療3例患者，為食管癌、宮頸癌和鼻咽癌各1例，分別設置不同的計劃參數進行容積旋轉調強計劃優化，通過多種評估指標比較各VMAT計劃質量的差異，得出臨床所需的MSC、MSS、SSF、Sm、MMS和MDR共6個治療計劃參數對VMAT治療質量的影響。 結果 MSC、MSS和SSF的3個參數對VMAT治療質量不產生影響，有影響的Sm、MMS和MDR參數中，隨著Sm和MMS值的增大，VMAT計劃的劑量分布逐漸變差，但控制點數、機器跳數和照射時間均逐漸減小；隨著MDR值增大，VMAT治療的劑量分布先逐漸變差后不變，控制點數和機器跳數均是先增大后不變，而照射時間是先減小后不變。 結論 Sm、MMS和MDR 3個參數對VMAT計劃質量有較大影響，對不同的患者，設置合適的Sm、MMS和MDR值對提高計劃質量非常重要。【Abstract】 Objective To investigate the impacts of parameter settings on the quality of plans for the volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with Monaco treatment planning system. Methods Three patients who underwent VMAT from January to May 2010 were selected. The planning optimizations were processed by setting different planning parameters, including MSC, MSS, SSF, Sm, MMS and MDR, respectively. Then the quality of each plan with a certain set of parameters was evaluated by various evaluation indexes. The differences of quality among different plans were analyzed by comparing these indexes. Results There was no influence on the quality of VMAT planning for the parameter MSC, MSS and SSF to be set with different values. However, the other three parameters, MSC, MSS and SSF , affected the quality of VMAT planning with different values. Along with the aggrandizement of Sm and MMS value, the dose distribution of VMAT plans gradually became bad, while the number of control points, machine monitor units and irradiation time were gradually reduced. And along with the aggrandizement of MDR value, the dose distribution of VMAT plans became bad gradually until a constant state was reached, and both the number of control points and machine monitor units increased at first and then kept constant, while irradiation time decreased at first and then kept constant. Conclusion The selections of parameter Sm, MMS and MDR impact the quality of VMAT planning greatly. It is very important to set the suitable value of Sm, MMS and MDR to get the best planning quality for patients with different complexity.
