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Aim: To examine the factors that influence meaning in life (MiL) in patients with advanced lung cancer who are undergoing radiochemotherapy. Methods: A cross‐sectional, multivariate stepwise regression analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine factors influencing MiL in 231 patients with lung cancer in an oncology department of a tertiary hospital in China. Their mood state, family care, social support, and psychological distress were measured. Results: Sex, marital status, and family income significantly affected MiL (p <.05). MiL was significantly correlated (p <.01) with psychological distress (r = −.203), and most significantly (F = 66.883, p <.01; 46.2% of MiL) with mood state (r = −.631), family care (r =.384), and social support (r =.410). Conclusion: To enhance MiL, nurses need to consider patients' mood states and family/social support, as well as tailor patient care toward different sexes and backgrounds. Clinical staff should pay attention to the psychological changes, family care, and social support of patients with advanced lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to compare the survival outcomes between squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma/adenosquamous carcinoma (AC/ASC) of the cervix after radical radiotherapy and chemotherapy.Methods: Propensity score matching (1:4) was used to compare overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in cervical cancer patients with SCC and AC/ASC in China.Results: Five thousand four hundred sixty-six patients were enrolled according to the criteria. The 5-year OS and DFS in the SCC group (n = 5251) were higher than those in the AC/ASC group (n = 215). After PSM (1:4), the 5-year OS and DFS in the SCC group were higher than those in the AC/ASC group (72.2% vs 56.9%, p < 0.001, HR = 1.895; 67.6% vs 47.8%, p < 0.001, HR = 2.056). In stage I-IIA2 patients, after PSM (1:4), there was no significant difference in 5-year OS between the SCC group (n = 143) and the AC/ASC group (n = 34) (68.5% vs 67.8%, P = 0.175). However, the 5-year DFS in the SCC group was higher than that in the AC/ASC group (71.0% vs 55.7%, P = 0.045; HR = 2.037, P = 0.033). In stage IIB-IV patients, after PSM (1:4), the 5-year OS and DFS in the SCC group (n = 690) were higher than those in the AC/ASC group (n = 173) (70.7% vs 54.3% P < 0.001 vs 1.940%, P < 0.001 vs 45.8%, p < 0.001).Conclusions: For stage I-IIA2, there was no significant difference in 5-year survival time, but patients with AC/ASC were more likely to relapse. In the more advanced IIB-IV stage, the oncological outcome of radical radiotherapy and chemotherapy of cervical AC/ASC was worse than that of SCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background DNA repair gene polymorphisms could alter DNA repair capacity and therefore associate with tumor sensitivity to radiochemotherapy. This study assessed excision repair cross-complementing group 1 ( ERCC1) C118T and X-ray cross-complementing group 1 ( XRCC1) G399A single-nucleotide polymorphisms in esophageal patients for an association with sensitivity to radiation and chemotherapy. Methods Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients ( n = 118) who relapsed after surgery were enrolled for assessment of ERCC1 C118T and XRCC1 G399A polymorphisms by direct DNA sequencing. Results The response rate of treatments was 48.30%: 14 complete response ( CR, 11.86%), 43 partial response ( PR, 36.44%), 49 stable disease ( SD, 41.53%), and 12 progressive disease ( PD, 10.17%). ERCC1 C118T was significantly associated with treatment response ( C/T vs. C/ C + T/T, odds ratio [ OR] = 6.035, 95% confidence interval [ CI]: 2.114-17.226, P = 0.001) after adjusting for other clinicopathological factors. Patients carrying the C/T genotype had significantly prolonged overall survival ( OS) compared with C/ C and T/T (median OS 43.00 vs. 27.00, P = 0.027). Multivariate Cox regression showed that a response was only an independent prognostic factor for OS ( CR + PR vs. SD+ PD, HR = 0.471 95% CI 0.269-0.826, P = 0.009). Grade III and IV adverse events occurred in 12 of 118 patients (10.17%). Only concurrent radiochemotherapy significantly increased these adverse events ( OR = 26.529, 95% CI 2.312-304.389, P = 0.008). Conclusion ERCC1 C118T could be a predictive factor for the response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but not a prognostic factor for OS in esophageal cancer patients after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: There are no comprehensive studies on survival outcomes and optimal treatment protocols for cervical esophageal cancer (CEC), due to its rare clinical prevalence. Our objective was to determine the relationship between pathological characteristics, treatment protocols, and survival outcomes in Chinese CEC patients. Methods: A total of 500 Chinese CEC patients were selected from our 500,000 esophageal and gastric cardia carcinoma database (1973-2018). There were two main groups: patients treated with surgery, and patients receiving non-surgical treatments (radiotherapy, radiochemotherapy, and chemotherapy). The Chi-square test and Kaplan-Meier method were used to compare the continuous variables and survival. Results: Among the 500 CEC patients, 278 (55.6%) were male, and the median age was 60.9 ± 9.4 years. A total of 496 patients (99.2%) were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. In 171 (34.2%) patients who received surgery, 22 (12.9%) had undergone laryngectomy. In 322 (64.4%) patients who received non-surgical treatments, 245 (76.1%) received radiotherapy. Stratified survival analysis showed that only T stage was related with survival outcomes for CEC patients in the surgical group, and the outcomes between laryngectomy and non-laryngectomy patients were similar. It was noteworthy that the 5-year survival rate was similar in CEC patients among the different groups treated with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or radiochemotherapy ( P = 0.244). Conclusions: The CEC patients had similar survival outcomes after curative esophagectomy and radiotherapy, including those with or without total laryngectomy. These findings suggest that radiotherapy could be the initial choice for treatment of Chinese CEC patients., (Copyright: © 2020, Cancer Biology & Medicine.)