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A retrospective study of 606 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with or without oropharyngeal candidiasis during radiotherapy.

ABSTRACT: To evaluate the clinical characteristics, treatment-related toxicities and survival in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with or without oropharyngealcandidiasis (OPC) during radiotherapy.The current study was conducted with NPC patients undergoing radiotherapy at Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center between June 2011 and May 2012. A clinical diagnosis of candidiasis was determined on the basis of a positive potassium hydroxide (KOH) test and the presence of pseudomembranous (white) form of candidal overgrowth. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to test the association of OPC and related survival rates.Compared with the non-OPC group, the OPC group had significantly increased occurrence rates of grade 3-4 mucositis (14.5% vs. 7.4%, P = 0.049), anaemia (11.3% vs. 4.4%, P = 0.020), hepatotoxicity (4.8% vs. 1.1%, P = 0.021) and critical weight loss (85.5% vs. 56.6%, P<0.001) during radiotherapy. The OPC group had a significantly lower disease-free survival (DFS) (70.9% vs. 82.6%, P = 0.012), mainly as a result of a reduction in locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS) (87.0%vs. 94.9%, P = 0.025). After stratification by T stage, the 5-year DFS in T3-4 patients were 82.0% and 68.8% in non-OPC and OPC groups, respectively (P = 0.022). Multivariate analyses indicated that OPC was a prognostic factor for LRFS and DFS.OPC during radiotherapy may worsen the nutritional status of NPC patients according to weight loss and anaemia, leading to a negative impact on 5-year locoregional relapse-free survival and disease-specific survival. Further investigations are needed to explore whether prevention and treatment of OPC during radiotherapy will be useful.

SUBMITTER: Qiu WZ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5552301 | biostudies-other | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), caused predominantly by Candida albicans, is a prevalent infection in patients with advanced AIDS, defects in Th17 immunity, and head and neck cancer. A characteristic feature of OPC is fungal invasion of the oral epithelial cells. One mechanism by which C. albicans hyphae can invade oral epithelial cells is by expressing the Als3 and Ssa1 invasins that interact with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on epithelial cells and stimulate endocytosis of the organism. However, the signaling pathways that function downstream of EGFR and mediate C. albicans endocytosis are poorly defined. Here, we report that C. albicans infection activates the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), leading to activation of Src family kinases (SFKs), which in turn phosphorylate EGFR and induce endocytosis of the fungus. Furthermore, treatment of oral epithelial cells with interferon gamma inhibits fungal endocytosis by inducing the synthesis of kynurenines, which cause prolonged activation of AhR and SFKs, thereby interfering with C. albicans-induced EGFR signaling. Treatment of both immunosuppressed and immunocompetent mice with an AhR inhibitor decreases phosphorylation of SFKs and EGFR in the oral mucosa, reduces fungal invasion, and lessens the severity of OPC. Thus, our data indicate that AhR plays a central role in governing the pathogenic interactions of C. albicans with oral epithelial cells during OPC and suggest that this receptor is a potential therapeutic target.IMPORTANCE OPC is caused predominantly by the fungus C. albicans, which can invade the oral epithelium by several mechanisms. One of these mechanisms is induced endocytosis, which is stimulated when fungal invasins bind to epithelial cell receptors such as EGFR. Receptor binding causes rearrangement of epithelial cell microfilaments, leading to the formation of pseudopods that engulf the fungus and pull it into the epithelial cell. We discovered AhR acts via SFKs to phosphorylate EGFR and induce the endocytosis of C. albicans Our finding that a small molecule inhibitor of AhR ameliorates OPC in mice suggests that a strategy of targeting host cell signaling pathways that govern epithelial cell endocytosis of C. albicans holds promise as a new approach to preventing or treating OPC.

Project description:BackgroundDefinitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is standard of care for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Due to the tumor localization and concomitant platinum-based chemotherapy, hearing impairment is a frequent complication, without defined dose-threshold. In this study, we aimed to achieve the maximum possible cochleae sparing.Materials and methodsTreatment plans of 20 patients, treated with CRT (6 IMRT and 14 VMAT) based on the QUANTEC organs-at-risk constraints were investigated. The cochleae were re-delineated independently by two radiation oncologists, whereas target volumes and other organs at risk (OARs) were not changed. The initial plans, aiming to a mean cochlea dose < 45 Gy, were re-optimized with VMAT, using 2-2.5 arcs without compromising the dose coverage of the target volume. Mean cochlea dose, PTV coverage, Homogeneity Index, Conformity Index and dose to other OAR were compared to the reference plans. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate differences, a p value < 0.05 was considered significant.ResultsThe re-optimized plans achieved a statistically significant lower dose for both cochleae (median dose for left and right 14.97 Gy and 18.47 Gy vs. 24.09 Gy and 26.05 Gy respectively, p < 0.001) compared to the reference plans, without compromising other plan quality parameters. The median NTCP for tinnitus of the most exposed sites was 11.3% (range 3.52-91.1%) for the original plans, compared to 4.60% (range 1.46-90.1%) for the re-optimized plans (p < 0.001). For hearing loss, the median NTCP of the most exposed sites could be improved from 0.03% (range 0-99.0%) to 0.00% (range 0-98.5%, p < 0.001).ConclusionsA significantly improved cochlea sparing beyond current QUANTEC constraints is feasible without compromising the PTV dose coverage in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with VMAT. As there appears to be no threshold for hearing toxicity after CRT, this should be considered for future treatment planning.

Project description:PurposeThis large population-based analysis aims to investigate whether the additional induction chemotherapy to concurrent chemoradiotherapy improved overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LRANPC).Patients and methodsThe study group comprised 3,980 patients who were treated either with IC+CCRT (1,888 patients) or CCRT alone (2,092 patients) between January 1998 and June 2013. Survival outcomes were compared using Cox proportional hazards regression models with adjustments for confounding provided by propensity score methods. Primary outcome variables included OS and DFS.ResultsKaplan-Meier analysis showed that CCRT and IC+CCRT were of similar benefit to OS (P=0.099), whereas there was a marginal benefit of CCRT to DFS (P=0.063) in the overall cohort, which showed no differences between the two treatment regimens using multivariate Cox analysis and propensity score. Interestingly, for patients with 2D radiationtherapy (2DRT), CCRT had OS and DFS benefits for stage III, with 5-year and 10-year OS for CCRT vs IC+CCRT being 88% and 75% vs 81% and 67%, respectively (P=0.002); 5-year and 10-year DFS for CCRT vs IC+CCRT being 84% and 74% vs 76% and 66%, respectively (P=0.002). In contrast, IC + CCRT had OS and DFS benefits for stage IVa-b, with 5-year and 10-year OS for CCRT vs IC+CCRT being 71% and 55% vs 76% and 60%, respectively (P=0.037, HR=0.786); 5-year and 10-year DFS for CCRT vs IC+CCRT were 64% and 50% vs 69% and 58%, respectively (P=0.038, HR=0.801). No difference was found in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) subgroup.ConclusionOur study indicates that CCRT and IC+CCRT may have similar OS and DFS benefits for overall LRANPC. Stage-specific chemoradiotherapy may be administered based on the greatest benefit of IC+CCRT for stage IVa-b patients and CCRT alone for stage III patients received 2DRT. The optimal chemotherapy pattern in combination with IMRT needs further investigation.Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02604472.

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A retrospective study of 606 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with or without oropharyngeal candidiasis during radiotherapy.

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