The benefit achieved by concurrent chemoradiotherapy（CCR） and sequential chemoradiotherapy（SCR） vs radiotherapy（RT） alone for patients with stage Ⅱ-Ⅳa nasopharyngeal carcinoma（NPC） was compared.A total of 113 patients with stage Ⅱ-Ⅳa NPC were allotted into CCR group（n=38）,SCR group（n=36） and RT alone group（n=39）.All patients were irradiated with the same RT technique to ≥66 Gy at 2 Gy per fraction,conventional 5 fractions/week in all groups.The CCR group received concurrent chemotherapy of weekly cisplatin for 7 weeks,and the SCR group received neoadjuvant and（or） adjuvant chemotherapy.The results showed that the 3-and 5-year overall survival rate was significantly higher in CCR group than in RT alone group（92.16% vs 61.54%,81.58% vs 51.28%,P〈0.005）.The median survival time was significantly longer in CCR group than in RT alone group（67.8 months vs 52.7 months,P〈0.005）.It was concluded that CCR could significantly improve overall survival rate,progression-free survival rate,and median survival time when compared with RT alone.
The inhibitory effects of Endostar in combination with radiotherapy in BALB/c nude mice model of human CNE2 nasopharyngeal carcinoma and the mechanism were investigated.In nude mice model of CNE2 nasopharyngeal carcinoma,the inhibitory rate and the sensitizing enhancement ratio（E/O） were calculated according to the tumor volumes in different groups.The expression of microvascular density（MVD） in tumor tissues was examined by using immunohistochemistry staining.The transcription of VEGF gene was detected by using RT-PCR.The inhibitory rate in Endostar＋radiotherapy group was higher than in other groups.In Endostar＋radiotherapy group,the tumor volume was significantly decreased and the E/O ratio was 2.335,suggesting that Endostar could be a radiosensitizer.The expression of MVD of tumor tissues in Endostar＋radiotherapy group was reduced significantly.The expression of the MVD in treatment groups was significantly different from that in control group（P〈0.05）.Compared to other groups,VEGF mRNA expression in Endostar＋radiotherapy group was decreased remarkably.Endostar in combination with radiotherapy significantly inhibited the growth of CNE2 tumor.The combination therapy decreased the expression of VEGF,and inhibited tumor angiogenesis and proliferation.When combined with radiotherapy,Endostar acted as a radiosensitizer.
Background Angiogenesis is an essential step for tumor development and metastasis.The cell adhesion molecule αvβ3 integrin plays an important role in angiogenesis and is a specific marker of tumor angiogenesis.A novel αvβ3 integrintargeted magnetic resonance （MR） imaging contrast agent utilizing Arg-Gly-Asp （RGD） and ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide particles （USPIO） （referred to as RGD-USPIO） was designed and its uptake by endothelial cells was assessed both in vitro and in vivo to evaluate the angiogenic profile of lung cancer.Methods USPIO were coated with-NH3＋ and conjugated with RGD peptides.Prussian blue staining was performed to evaluate the specific uptake of RGD-USPIO by human umbilical vein endothelial cells （HUVECs）.Targeted uptake and subcellular localization of RGD-USPIO in HUVECs were confirmed by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）.The ability of RGD-USPIO to noninvasively assess αvβ3 integrin positive vessels in lung adenocarcinoma A549 tumor xenografts was evaluated with a 4.7T MR scanner.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect αvβ3 integrin expression and vessel distribution in A549 tumor xenografts.Results HUVECs internalized RGD-USPIO significantly more than plain USPIO.The uptake of RGD-USPIO by HUVECs could be competitively inhibited by addition of free RGD.A significant decrease in T2 signal intensity （SI） was observed at the periphery of A549 tumor xenografts at 30 minutes （P 〈0.05） and 2 hours （P 〈0.01） after RGD-USPIO was injected via the tail vein.Angiogenic blood vessels were mainly distributed in the periphery of tumor xenografts with positive αvβ3 integrin expression.Conclusions RGD-USPIO could specifically label αvβ3 integrin and be taken up by HUVECs.This molecular MR imaging contrast agent can specifically evaluate the angiogenic profile of lung cancer using a 4.7T MR scanner.
LIU CanLIU Dong-boLONG Guo-xianWANG Jun-fengMEI QiHU Guang-yuanQIU HongHU Guo-qing
