Safety and efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy with raltitrexed and oxaliplatin post-transarterial chemoembolization for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective:To investigate the safety,efficacy,and prognostic factors of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy(HAIC)with raltitrexed and oxaliplatin post-transarterial chemoembolization(TACE)for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma(uHCC).Methods:Thirty-seven patients with uHCC who received HAIC with raltitrexed and oxaliplatin post-TACE between June 2014 and December 2016 at our hospital were recruited.The primary endpoint was overall survival(OS),and secondary endpoint was progression-free survival(PFS).The overall response rate(ORR)was evaluated using the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors.Toxicity was assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events(v4.0).The OS and prognostic factors were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method,log-rank test,and Cox regression models.Results:Three(8.1%)patients achieved complete response,17(46.0%)patients achieved partial response,and the ORR was54.0%.The median OS and median PFS were 19.0 months and 12.0 months,respectively.The common toxicities included grade 3-4 increased aspartate aminotransferase levels(8/37,21.6%),grade 1-2 hyperbilirubinemia(75.7%,28/37),nonspecific abdominal pain and fever,and grade 2-3 thrombocytopenia(18.9%,7/37);no patients developed grade 3-4 neutropenia.Univariate analysis showed that the tumor diameter(≤50 mm,p=0.028),Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer(BCLC)stage(p=0.012),hepatitis B virus DNA level(p=0.033),and derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(dNLR;derived neutrophils/leukocytes minus neutrophils)(p=0.003)were predictive factors for prognosis.Multivariate analysis showed that patients with BCLC stage B disease(p=0.029)and dNLR<2 before therapy(p=0.004)had better prognosis.Conclusions:HAIC with raltitrexed and oxaliplatin post-TACE is a safe and efficacious therapy for patients with uHCC;in particular,those with BCLC stage B and dNLR<2 have better prognosis.

Towards High-Dimensional Entanglement in Path:Photon-Source Produced from a Two-Dimensional Atomic Cloud

A photon source with high-dimensional entanglement is able to bring increasing capacity of information in quantum communication.The dimensionality is determined by the chosen degree of freedom of the photons and is limited by the complexity of the physical systems.Here we propose a new type of high-dimensional entangled photon source,generated via path-indistinguishable scheme from a two-dimensional atomic cloud,which is prepared in a magneto-optical trap.To verify the photon source,we demonstrate experimentally the quantum state of the single photons heralded by its partner photon,with homodyne tomographic technology.

A Collaborative Cache Strategy Based on Utility Optimization

With the continuous development of network technology, the numberof streaming media videos is growing rapidly. More and more users are watchingvideos through the Internet, which leads to the increasing huge server load andthe increasing transmission cost across ISP domains. A feasible scheme to reducetransmission cost across ISP domains and alleviate the server load is to cachesome popular videos in a large number of terminal users. Therefore, in this paper,in order to utilize the idle resources of the terminal peers, some peers with goodperformance were selected from the fixed peers as the super peers, which wereaggregated into a super peer set (SPS). In addition, with the supply and demandrelation of streaming videos among ISP domains, a mathematical model was formulatedto optimize the service utility of ISP. Then, a collaborative cache strategywas proposed based on the utility optimization. The simulation results show thatthe strategy proposed can effectively improve the user playback fluency and hitrate while ensuring the optimal service utility.