Background:In the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT),the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC)for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)is under-evaluated.The aim of this study was to compare...Background:In the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT),the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC)for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)is under-evaluated.The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of NAC plus IMRT and concurrent chemoradiotherapy(CCRT)plus adjuvant chemotherapy(AC)on locoregionally advanced NPC.Methods:Between January 2004 and December 2008,240 cases of locoregionally advanced NPC confirmed by pathologic assessment in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center were reviewed.Of the 240 patients,117 received NAC followed by IMRT,and 123 were treated with CCRT plus AC.The NAC+IMRT group received a regimen that included cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil(5-FU).The CCRT+AC group received cisplatin concurrently with radiotherapy,and subsequently received adjuvant cisplatin and 5-FU.The survival rates were assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis,and the survival curves were compared using a log-rank test.Multivariate analysis was conducted using the Cox proportional hazard regression model.Results:The 5-year overall survival(OS),locoregional relapse-free survival(LRRFS),distant metastasis-free survival(DMFS),and disease-free survival(DFS)were 78.0,87.9,79.0,and 69.8%,respectively,for the NAC+IMRT group and78.7,84.8,76.2,and 65.6%,respectively,for the CCRT+AC group.There were no significant differences in survival between the two groups.In multivariate analysis,age(<50 years vs.>50 years)and overall stage(Ⅲvs.Ⅳ)were found to be independent predictors for OS and DFS;furthermore,the overall stage was a significant prognostic factor for DMFS.Compared with the CCRT+AC protocol,the NAC+IMRT protocol significantly reduced the occurrence rates of grade 3-4 nausea-vomiting(6.5 vs.1.5%,P=0.023)and leukopenia(9.7 vs.0.8%,P=0.006).Conclusions:The treatment outcomes of the NAC+IMRT and CCRT+AC groups were similar.Distant metastasis remained the predominant mode of treatment failure.展开更多
Background:For patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) who undergo re-irradiation with intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT),lethal nasopharyngeal necrosis(LNN) is a severe late adverse event.The purpose of this ...Background:For patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) who undergo re-irradiation with intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT),lethal nasopharyngeal necrosis(LNN) is a severe late adverse event.The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for LNN and develop a model to predict LNN after radical re-irradiation with IMRT in patients with recurrent NPC.Methods:Patients who underwent radical re-irradiation with IMRT for locally recurrent NPC between March 2001 and December 2011 and who had no evidence of distant metastasis were included in this study.Clinical characteristics,including recurrent carcinoma conditions and dosimetric features,were evaluated as candidate risk factors for LNN.Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors and construct the predictive scoring model.Results:Among 228 patients enrolled in this study,204 were at risk of developing LNN based on risk analysis.Of the 204 patients treated,31(15.2%) developed LNN.Logistic regression analysis showed that female sex(P = 0.008),necrosis before re-irradiation(P = 0.008),accumulated total prescription dose to the gross tumor volume(GTV) ≥ 145.5 Gy(P = 0.043),and recurrent tumor volume >25.38 cm3(P = 0.009) were independent risk factors for LNN.A model to predict LNN was then constructed that included these four independent risk factors.Conclusions:A model that includes sex,necrosis before re-irradiation,accumulated total prescription dose to GTV,and recurrent tumor volume can effectively predict the risk of developing LNN in NPC patients who undergo radical re-irradiation with IMRT.展开更多
Targeting-induced local lesions in genomes(TILLING)is a powerful reverse-genetics tool that enables high-throughput screening of genomic variations in plants.Although TILLING has been developed for many diploid plants...Targeting-induced local lesions in genomes(TILLING)is a powerful reverse-genetics tool that enables high-throughput screening of genomic variations in plants.Although TILLING has been developed for many diploid plants,the technology has been used in very few polyploid species due to their genomic complexity.Here,we established an efficient capillary electrophoresis-based TILLING platform for allotetraploid cultivated tobacco(Nicotiana tabacum L.)using an ethyl methanesulfonate(EMS)-mutagenized population of 1,536 individuals.We optimized the procedures for endonuclease preparation,leaf tissue sampling,DNA extraction,normalization,pooling,PCR amplification,heteroduplex formation,and capillary electrophoresis.In a test screen using seven target genes with eight PCR fragments,we obtained 118 mutants.The mutation density was estimated to be approximately one mutation per 106kb on average.Phenotypic analyses showed that mutations in two heavy metal transporter genes,HMA2S and HMA4T,led to reduced accumulation of cadmium and zinc,which was confirmed independently using CRISPR/Cas9 to generate knockout mutants.Our results demonstrate that this powerful TILLING platform(available at http://www.croptilling.org)can be used in tobacco to facilitate functional genomics applications.展开更多
To improve the performances of HDPE-based separators, polyether chains were incorporated into HDPE membranes by blending with poly（ethylene-block-ethylene glycol） （PE-b-PEG） via thermally induced phase separation ...To improve the performances of HDPE-based separators, polyether chains were incorporated into HDPE membranes by blending with poly（ethylene-block-ethylene glycol） （PE-b-PEG） via thermally induced phase separation （TIPS） process. By measuring the composition, morphology, crystallinity, ion conductivity, etc, the influence of PE-b-PEG on structures and properties of the blend separator were investigated. It was found that the incorporated PEG chains yielded higher surface energy for HDPE separator and improved affinity to liquid electrolyte. Thus, the stability of liquid electrolyte trapped in separator was increased while the interfacial resistance between separator and electrode was reduced effectively. The ionic conductivity of liquid electrolyte soaked separator could reach 1.28 ×10^-3 S.cm^-1 at 25℃, and the electrochemical stability window was up to 4.5 V （versus Li^＋/Li）. These results revealed that blending PE-b-PEG into porous HDPE membranes could efficiently improve the performances of PE separators for lithium batteries.展开更多
基金supported by grants from Sun Yat-sen University Clinical Research 5010 Program(No.2015010)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(No.15ykpy36)Clinical Research of Special Funds of Wu Jieping Medical Foundation(no.320.6750.14270)
文摘Background:In the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT),the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC)for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)is under-evaluated.The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of NAC plus IMRT and concurrent chemoradiotherapy(CCRT)plus adjuvant chemotherapy(AC)on locoregionally advanced NPC.Methods:Between January 2004 and December 2008,240 cases of locoregionally advanced NPC confirmed by pathologic assessment in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center were reviewed.Of the 240 patients,117 received NAC followed by IMRT,and 123 were treated with CCRT plus AC.The NAC+IMRT group received a regimen that included cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil(5-FU).The CCRT+AC group received cisplatin concurrently with radiotherapy,and subsequently received adjuvant cisplatin and 5-FU.The survival rates were assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis,and the survival curves were compared using a log-rank test.Multivariate analysis was conducted using the Cox proportional hazard regression model.Results:The 5-year overall survival(OS),locoregional relapse-free survival(LRRFS),distant metastasis-free survival(DMFS),and disease-free survival(DFS)were 78.0,87.9,79.0,and 69.8%,respectively,for the NAC+IMRT group and78.7,84.8,76.2,and 65.6%,respectively,for the CCRT+AC group.There were no significant differences in survival between the two groups.In multivariate analysis,age(<50 years vs.>50 years)and overall stage(Ⅲvs.Ⅳ)were found to be independent predictors for OS and DFS;furthermore,the overall stage was a significant prognostic factor for DMFS.Compared with the CCRT+AC protocol,the NAC+IMRT protocol significantly reduced the occurrence rates of grade 3-4 nausea-vomiting(6.5 vs.1.5%,P=0.023)and leukopenia(9.7 vs.0.8%,P=0.006).Conclusions:The treatment outcomes of the NAC+IMRT and CCRT+AC groups were similar.Distant metastasis remained the predominant mode of treatment failure.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.81472525 and 81572665)the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province,China(No.2014A050503033)
文摘Background:For patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) who undergo re-irradiation with intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT),lethal nasopharyngeal necrosis(LNN) is a severe late adverse event.The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for LNN and develop a model to predict LNN after radical re-irradiation with IMRT in patients with recurrent NPC.Methods:Patients who underwent radical re-irradiation with IMRT for locally recurrent NPC between March 2001 and December 2011 and who had no evidence of distant metastasis were included in this study.Clinical characteristics,including recurrent carcinoma conditions and dosimetric features,were evaluated as candidate risk factors for LNN.Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors and construct the predictive scoring model.Results:Among 228 patients enrolled in this study,204 were at risk of developing LNN based on risk analysis.Of the 204 patients treated,31(15.2%) developed LNN.Logistic regression analysis showed that female sex(P = 0.008),necrosis before re-irradiation(P = 0.008),accumulated total prescription dose to the gross tumor volume(GTV) ≥ 145.5 Gy(P = 0.043),and recurrent tumor volume >25.38 cm3(P = 0.009) were independent risk factors for LNN.A model to predict LNN was then constructed that included these four independent risk factors.Conclusions:A model that includes sex,necrosis before re-irradiation,accumulated total prescription dose to GTV,and recurrent tumor volume can effectively predict the risk of developing LNN in NPC patients who undergo radical re-irradiation with IMRT.
基金supported by Yunnan Province Tobacco funding(2014YN05,2014YN06,2016YN25,2017YN03)Bureau of National Tobacco funding(110201401006[JY-06],110201601031[JY-05],110201401005[JY-05]).
文摘Targeting-induced local lesions in genomes(TILLING)is a powerful reverse-genetics tool that enables high-throughput screening of genomic variations in plants.Although TILLING has been developed for many diploid plants,the technology has been used in very few polyploid species due to their genomic complexity.Here,we established an efficient capillary electrophoresis-based TILLING platform for allotetraploid cultivated tobacco(Nicotiana tabacum L.)using an ethyl methanesulfonate(EMS)-mutagenized population of 1,536 individuals.We optimized the procedures for endonuclease preparation,leaf tissue sampling,DNA extraction,normalization,pooling,PCR amplification,heteroduplex formation,and capillary electrophoresis.In a test screen using seven target genes with eight PCR fragments,we obtained 118 mutants.The mutation density was estimated to be approximately one mutation per 106kb on average.Phenotypic analyses showed that mutations in two heavy metal transporter genes,HMA2S and HMA4T,led to reduced accumulation of cadmium and zinc,which was confirmed independently using CRISPR/Cas9 to generate knockout mutants.Our results demonstrate that this powerful TILLING platform(available at http://www.croptilling.org)can be used in tobacco to facilitate functional genomics applications.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 20974094, U1134002)
文摘To improve the performances of HDPE-based separators, polyether chains were incorporated into HDPE membranes by blending with poly（ethylene-block-ethylene glycol） （PE-b-PEG） via thermally induced phase separation （TIPS） process. By measuring the composition, morphology, crystallinity, ion conductivity, etc, the influence of PE-b-PEG on structures and properties of the blend separator were investigated. It was found that the incorporated PEG chains yielded higher surface energy for HDPE separator and improved affinity to liquid electrolyte. Thus, the stability of liquid electrolyte trapped in separator was increased while the interfacial resistance between separator and electrode was reduced effectively. The ionic conductivity of liquid electrolyte soaked separator could reach 1.28 ×10^-3 S.cm^-1 at 25℃, and the electrochemical stability window was up to 4.5 V （versus Li^＋/Li）. These results revealed that blending PE-b-PEG into porous HDPE membranes could efficiently improve the performances of PE separators for lithium batteries.
