Correlation between postoperative chemotherapy regimen and survival in patients with resectable gastric adenocarcinoma accompanied with vascular cancer thrombus

BACKGROUND Patients with resectable gastric adenocarcinoma accompanied by vascular cancer thrombus(RGAVCT)have a poor prognosis,with a 5-year survival rate ranging from 18.42%-53.57%.These patients need a reasonable postoperative treatment plan to improve their prognosis.AIM To determine the most effective postoperative chemotherapy regimen for patients with RGAVCT.METHODS We retrospectively collected the clinicopathological data of 530 patients who un-derwent radical resection for gastric cancer between January 2017 and January 2022 and who were pathologically diagnosed with gastric adenocarcinoma with a choroidal cancer embolus.Fur-thermore,we identified the high-risk variables that can influence the prognosis of patients with RGAVCT by asse-ssing the clinical and pathological features of the patients who met the inclusion criteria.We also assessed the significance of survival outcomes using Mantel-Cox univariate and multivariate analyses.The subgroups of pa-tients with stages I,II,and III disease who received single-,dual-,or triple-drug regimens following surgery were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and the ggplot2 package in R 4.3.0.RESULTS In all,530 eligible individuals with RGAVCT were enrolled in this study.The median overall survival(OS)of patients with RGAVCT was 24 months,and the survival rates were 80.2%,62.5%,and 42.3%at 12,24,and 59 months,respectively.Preoperative complications,tumor size,T stage,and postoperative chemotherapy were identified as independent factors that influenced OS in patients with RGAVCT according to the Cox multivariate analysis model.A Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that chemotherapy had no effect on OS of patients with stage I or II RGAVCT;however,chemotherapy did have an effect on OS of stage III patients.Stage III patients who were treated with chemotherapy consisting of dual-or triple-agent regimens had better survival than those treated with single-agent regimens,and no significant difference was observed in the survival of patients treated with chemo-therapy consisting of dual-or triple-agent regimens.CONCLUSION For patients with stage III RGAVCT,a dual-agent regimen of postoperative chemotherapy should be recom-mended rather than a triple-agent treatment,as the latter is associated with increased frequency of adverse events.

Quality of life and survival analyses of breast cancer cases treated with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine

BACKGROUND Breast cancer(BC)is the second leading cause of tumor-related mortality after lung cancer.Chemotherapy resistance remains a major challenge to progress in BC treatment,warranting further exploration of feasible and effective alternative therapies.AIM To analyzed the quality of life(QoL)and survival of patients with BC treated with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine(TCM-WM).METHODS This study included 226 patients with BC admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between February 2018 and February 2023,including 100 who received conventional Western medicine treatment(control group)and 126 who received TCM-WM treatment(research group).The total effective rate,side effects(alopecia,nausea and vomiting,hepatorenal toxicity,and myelosuppression),QoL assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire(EORTC QLQ-C30),1-year overall survival(OS),recurrence and metastasis rates,and serum inflammatory factors[interleukin(IL)-6,IL-10,and tumor necrosis factor alpha]were comparatively analyzed.RESULTS The research group showed statistically better overall efficacy,EORTC QoL-C30 scores,and 1-year OS than the control group,with markedly lower side effects and 1-year recurrence and metastasis rates.Moreover,the posttreatment levels of serum inflammatory in the research group were significantly lower than the baseline and those in the control group.CONCLUSION Overall,TCM-WM demonstrated significantly improved therapeutic efficacy while ensuring drug safety in BC,which not only improved patients’QoL and prolonged survival,but also significantly inhibited the inflammatory response.

Efficacy and Safety of Bufei Jiedu Granules in Treating Multidrug-Resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis:A Multi-center,Double-Blinded and Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of Bufei Jiedu(BFJD)ranules as adjuvant therapy for patients with multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis(MDR-PTB).Methods A large-scale,multi-center,double-blinded,and randomized controlled trial was conducted in 18 sentinel hospitals in China from December 2012 to December 2016.A total of 312 MDR-PTB patients were randomly assigned to BFJD Granules or placebo groups(1:1)using a stratified randomization method,which both received the long-course chemotherapy regimen for 18 months(6 Am-Lfx-P-Z-Pto,12 Lfx-P-Z-Pto).Meanwhile,patients in both groups also received BFJD Granules or placebo twice a day for a total of 18 months,respectively.The primary outcome was cure rate.The secondary outcomes included time to sputum-culture conversion,changes in lung cavities and quality of life(QoL)of patients.Adverse reactions were monitored during and after the trial.Results A total of 216 cases completed the trial,111 in the BFJD Granules group and 105 in the placebo group.BFJD Granules,as an adjuvant treatment,increased the cure rate by 13.6%at the end of treatment,compared with the placebo(58.4%vs.44.8%,P=0.02),and accelerated the median time to sputum-culture conversion(5 months vs.11 months).The cavity closure rate of the BFJD Granules group(50.6%,43/85)was higher than that of the placebo group(32.1%,26/81;P=0.02)in patients who completed the treatment.At the end of the intensive treatment,according to the 36-item Short Form,the BFJD Granules significantly improved physical functioning,general health,and vitality of patients relative to the placebo group(all P<0.01).Overall,the death rates in the two groups were not significantly different;5.1%(8/156)in the BFJD Granules group and 2.6%(4/156)in the placebo group.Conclusions Supplementing BFJD Granules with the long-course chemotherapy regimen significantly increased the cure rate and cavity closure rates,and rapidly improved QoL of patients with MDR-PTB(Registration No. ChiCTR-TRC-12002850).

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced penile cancer:an updated evidence

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC)has shown promising results in patients with locally advanced penile cancer.However,no consensus exists on its applications for locally advanced penile cancer.Thus,it is unclear which kind of chemotherapy regimen is the best choice.Consequently,a systematic search of PubMed,Web of Science,and EMBASE was performed in March 2021 to assess the efficacy and safety of NAC for the treatment of patients with locally advanced penile cancer.The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was used to assess the risk of bias in each study.This study synthesized 14 published studies.The study revealed that patients who achieved an objective response to NAC obtained a better survival outcome compared with those who did not achieve an objective response.In addition,the objective response rates(ORRs)and pathological complete response(pCR)rates were 0.57 and 0.11,respectively.The incidence of grade≥3 toxicity was 0.36.Subgroup analysis found that the ORR and pCR of the taxane–platinum(TP)regimen group performed better than those of the nontaxane–platinum(NTP)regimen group(0.57 vs 0.54 and 0.14 vs 0.07,respectively).Moreover,the TP regimen group had more frequent toxicity than the NTP regimen group(0.41 vs 0.26).However,further studies were warranted to confirm the findings.