Radiation therapy for gastric carcinoma

Oxygen self-enriched nanoplatform combined with US imaging and chemo/photothermal therapy for breast cancer

Oxygen-saturated perfluorohexane-cored, cisplatin (Pt)-decorated hollow gold nanospheres (Pt-HAuNS-PFH@O₂) have been synthesized for ultrasound (US) imaging-guided tumor treatment depending on chemo/photothermal therapy, relief of hypoxia, and photothermal induced US contrast signal. Both NIR laser-induced hyperthermia generation by gold nanospheres and acidity triggered release of Pt resulted in high toxicity after internalization by breast cancer cells. According to ex vivo immunofluorescence investigation and in vivo pharmacodynamic studies on MDA-MB-231 tumor bearing mice, the susceptibility of tumors to Pt-HAuNS-PFH@O₂ was improved by the relief of hypoxia. In addition, US imaging under different conditions verified the amplified US contrast property of Pt-HAuNS-PFH@O₂ by the heat-dependent liquid-gas conversion of PFH. Overall, Pt-HAuNS-PFH@O₂ can be promisingly used as an oxygen self-enriched nanoplatform for US imaging-guided chemo/photothermal therapy.

Follow-up of patients resected for gastric cancer

In this study we used a cost-outcome analysis to evaluate our follow-up protocol for patients who had been resected for gastric cancer. We designed a descriptive cross-sectional trial through consecutive sampling of patients who had undergone resection of gastric carcinoma and were followed in our outpatient department during 1991. Serological (CEA) and or imaging procedures were pathologic at least two months prior to the onset of symptoms in 33% of recurrences. No significant correlation was found between serum CEA levels and CEA tumor tissue staining in patients who recurred. Only 17% of patients who relapsed underwent further treatment (surgery and chemotherapy) with no improvement found in terms of survival. The overall cost per year has been estimated at US$ 6118. Our results show that serological levels of CEA and available imaging techniques for routine follow-up provide little advantage in diagnosing gastric cancer recurrence over clinical surveillance alone.