Efficacyand Safetyof Huashi Baidu Granules in Treating Patients with SARS-CoV-2Omicron Variant: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Huashi Baidu Granules(HSBD)in treating patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)Omicron variant.Methods:A single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted during COVID-19 Omicron epidemic in the Mobile Cabin Hospital of Shanghai New International Expo Center from April 1st to May 23rd,2022.All COVID-19 patients with asymptomatic or mild infection were assigned to the treatment group(HSBD users)and the control group(non-HSBD users).After propensity score matching in a 1:1 ratio,496 HSBD users of treatment group were matched by propensity score to 496 non-HSBD users.Patients in the treatment group were administrated HSBD(5 g/bag)orally for 1 bag twice a day for 7 consecutive days.Patients in the control group received standard care and routine treatment.The primary outcomes were the negative conversion time of nucleic acid and negative conversion rate at day 7.Secondary outcomes included the hospitalized days,the time of the first nucleic acid negative conversion,and new-onset symptoms in asymptomatic patients.Adverse events(AEs)that occurred during the study were recorded.Further subgroup analysis was conducted in vaccinated(378 HSBD users and 390 non-HSBD users)and unvaccinated patients(118 HSBD users and 106 non-HSBD users).Results:The median negative conversion time of nucleic acid in the treatment group was significantly shortened than the control group[3 days(IQR:2-5 days)vs.5 days(IQR:4-6 days);P<0.01].The negative conversion rate of nucleic acid in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group at day 7(91.73%vs.86.90%,P=0.014).Compared with the control group,the hospitalized days in the treatment group were significantly reduced[10 days(IQR:8-11 days)vs.11 days(IQR:10.25-12 days);P<0.01].The time of the first nucleic acid negative conversion had significant differences between the treatment and control groups[3 days(IQR:2-4 days)vs.5 days(IQR:4-6 days);P<0.01].The incidence of new-onset symptoms including cough,pharyngalgia,expectoration and fever in the treatment group were lower than the control group(P<0.05 or P<0.01).In the vaccinated patients,the median negative conversion time and hospitalized days were significantly shorter than the control group after HSDB treatment[3days(IQR:2-5days)vs.5 days(IQR:4-6 days),P<0.01;10 days(IQR:8-11 days)vs.11 days(IQR:10-12 days),P<0.01].In the unvaccinatedpatients,HSBD treatment efficiently shorten the median negative conversion time and hospitalized days[4 days(IQR:2-6 days)vs.5 days(IQR:4-7 days),P<0.01;10.5 days(IQR:8.75-11 days)vs.11.0 days(IQR:10.75-13 days);P<0.01].No serious AEs were reported during the study.Conclusion:HSBD treatment significantly shortened the negative conversion time of nuclear acid,the length of hospitalization,and the time of the first nucleic acid negative conversion in patients infectedwith SARS-COV-2Omicronvariant(Trial registry No.ChiCTR2200060472).

A clinicoepidemiological study of esophageal cancer patients at the National Cancer Institute,Cairo University,Egypt

Objective The purposes of this study were to （1） assess the clinicoepidemiological characteristics of esopha-geal cancer patients, （2） analyze the prognostic factors determining treatment failure and survival, and （3） evaluate the results of various treatment modalities for locoregional and disseminated disease and their ef ect on disease-free survival and overal survival （OS）.Methods Clinicoepidemiological retrospective data from 81 esophageal cancer patients treated at the Na-tional Cancer Institute of Cairo between 2007 and 2011 were evaluated. Results The study showed that patients with esophageal cancer commonly present with local y advanced disease （87.7% had T-stage 3 and 12.3% had T-stage 4）. There was a significant correlation between surgery and survival; patients who received radical surgery and postoperative radiation had a better median survival than patients who received radical radiotherapy （20 months vs. 16 months, respectively; P = 0.04）. There was also a significant statistical correlation between radical concomitant chemoradiotherapy （NCRT） and pal iative treatment. Patients who received radical NCRT had a better median survival than patients who received pal-liative radiotherapy （16 months vs. 10 months, respectively; P = 0.001）. The median fol ow-up period for al patients was 7 months. The median OS of the whole group was 12 months. The OS after 1 and 2 years was 57.8% and 15%, respectively.Conclusion High-dose NCRT is an acceptable alternative for patients unfit for surgery or with inoperable disease. High-dose radiation is more ef ective than low-dose radiation in terms of local control, time to relapse, and OS. Further study using a larger series of patients and introducing new treatment protocols is necessary for a final evaluation.