Therapeutic efficacy of regional and systemic chemotherapy in advanced maxillary sinus cancer

Post-treatment magnetic resonance imaging predicts outcomes of maxillary sinus cancer treatment using super-selective intra-arterial infusion of high-dose cisplatin with concomitant radiotherapy (RADPLAT)

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in predicting local recurrence in patients with maxillary sinus cancer treated with super-selective intra-arterial infusion of high-dose cisplatin with concomitant radiotherapy (RADPLAT).

METHODS

This single-center retrospective study included consecutive patients with maxillary sinus squamous cell carcinoma, who underwent RADPLAT between October 2016 and September 2021. MRI was performed before (within 2 weeks) and 1 month after (post-treatment MRI) the start of treatment. Tumor reduction rates and pre-treatment cross-sectional areas were calculated from the maximum cross-sectional areas on pre- and post-treatment MRI T2-weighted axial images. Statistical analyses, including receiver operating characteristic analysis, were performed to assess the predictive value of the tumor reduction rates.

RESULTS

Twenty-four patients were included in this study. Recurrence occurred in seven patients with a median time of 213 days. The tumor reduction rates were significantly higher in the benign post-treatment changes group compared to the recurrence group (median, 0.814 vs. 0.174; p < 0.001). The cut-off value for the reduction rate between the groups was 0.3578. No significant difference was observed in the maximum pre-treatment cross-sectional area between the groups (p = 0.664). The inter-observer agreement for the tumor areas was excellent.

CONCLUSIONS

The tumor reduction rate calculated from MRI T2-weighted images may be a predictor of local recurrence in patients with maxillary sinus cancer treated with RADPLAT. Patients with lower reduction rates may benefit from early salvage surgeries.

Application and progress of nanozymes in antitumor therapy

Tumors remain one of the major threats to public health and there is an urgent need to design new pharmaceutical agents for their diagnosis and treatment. In recent years, due to the rapid development of nanotechnology, biotechnology, catalytic science, and theoretical computing, subtlety has gradually made great progress in research related to tumor diagnosis and treatment. Compared to conventional drugs, enzymes can improve drug distribution and enhance drug enrichment at the tumor site, thereby reducing drug side effects and enhancing drug efficacy. Nanozymes can also be used as tumor tracking imaging agents to reshape the tumor microenvironment, providing a versatile platform for the diagnosis and treatment of malignancies. In this paper, we review the current status of research on enzymes in oncology and analyze novel oncology therapeutic approaches and related mechanisms. To date, a large number of nanomaterials, such as noble metal nanomaterials, nonmetallic nanomaterials, and carbon-based nanomaterials, have been shown to be able to function like natural enzymes, particularly with significant advantages in tumor therapy. In light of this, the authors in this review have systematically summarized and evaluated the construction, enzymatic activity, and their characteristics of nanozymes with respect to current modalities of tumor treatment. In addition, the application and research progress of different types of nicknames and their features in recent years are summarized in detail. We conclude with a summary and outlook on the study of nanozymes in tumor diagnosis and treatment. It is hoped that this review will inspire researchers in the fields of nanotechnology, chemistry, biology, materials science and theoretical computing, and contribute to the development of nano-enzymology.