The incidence of inflammation among patients suffering from cervix cancer with positive beta haemolytic streptococci cultures from genital tract (original) (raw)

Evaluation of infections in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with radiotherapy

Cancer Detection and Prevention, 2005

Purpose: We aim to determine infections occuring in patients with non-small cell lung cancer during radiotherapy (RT). Methods and materials: A total of 181 patients had been treated with thoracic radiotherapy between October 1995 and December 1999. Radiotherapy was given using 1.8-3 Gray (Gy) fraction daily, five fractions a week for a total dose of 59.4 Gy (30-70.2 Gy). A complete history was collected retrospectively for each patient. All microbiological examinations were performed according to the routine procedures of the hospital laboratory. Numeric and categoric variables were employed such as sex, age, performance status, histology, stage, chemotherapy, usage of corticosteroids, neutropenia, surgery, hospitalization, associated diseases, smoking during treatment, package per year of cigarette smoking, dose of radiotherapy, and response rates. Results: Infections developed in 84 patients (46%, 84/181) during thoracic radiotherapy. A 101 episodes of infections developed in these patients. Most patients suffered from sputum production (65%), cough (59%), auscultation findings (31%) and fever (31%). Gram-negative bacteria were the most frequently isolated pathogens in the cultures of specimens (70%, 16/23 samples). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (OR = 4.81; 95% CI, 1.57-9.12; p = 0.003) and neutropenia (OR = 4.25; 95% CI, 1.44-6.89; p = 0.009) were found as risk factors for influencing infection based on logistic regression analyses. Package per year of cigarette smoking was found statistically significantly higher in patients with infections than patients without infections ( p = 0.001). A slight increase in infections, which was of borderline statistical significance ( p = 0.07), was observed in patients age over 70.

The effects of radiotherapy on immunity in patients with cured localized carcinoma of the cervix uteri

Cancer, 1984

The effects of radiotherapy on immune status in patients with localized carcinoma of the cervix have been assessed serially up to 5 years remission by a wide range of methods. Neutrophil function and serum immunoglobulins were essentially normal throughout. Peripheral blood neutrophil and lymphocyte counts and the proportions of T and B-cells fell with treatment but were all normal at 5 years, with the exception of B-cell proportions which remained significantly low. Marked deterioration was seen in in vivo cellular immune responses and this persisted even at 5 years remission. Reduced in vitro immunoreactivity is not therefore a reliable marker of disease recurrence and persisting defects in cellular immunity after radiotherapy do not seem to adversely affect the host tumor response. However, in three of the six patients who subsequently relapsed after therapy, subnormal PHA lymphocyte transformation responses were observed at presentation; all patients achieving sustained remission had normal pretreatment responses.

Clarithromycin mitigates radiation pneumonitis in patients with lung cancer treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy

Journal of Thoracic Disease

Background: Radiation pneumonitis is a critical pulmonary toxicity after irradiation of the lung. Macrolides including clarithromycin (CAM) are antibiotics. They also have immunomodulatory properties and are used to treat respiratory inflammatory diseases. Radiation pneumonitis has similar pathology to them. Adverse reactions to macrolides are few and self-limited. We thus administered CAM to patients with high-risk factors for radiation pneumonitis, and retrospectively investigated whether CAM mitigated radiation pneumonitis following stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Methods: Among consecutive patients treated with SBRT, we retrospectively examined lung cancer patients treated with a total dose of 40-60 Gy in 5-10 fractions and followed ≥6 months. Since January 2014, CAM has been administered in patients with pretreatment predictable radiation pneumonitis highrisk factors, including idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs), and elevated Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) and/or surfactant protein D (SP-D), and in patients developing early onset radiation pneumonitis. Results: Five hundred and eighty eligible patients were identified and divided into 445 patients during the non-CAM-administration era (non-CAMera) (before December 2013) and 136 patients during the CAMadministration era (CAM-era) (after January 2014). Median follow-up durations were 38.0 and 13.9 months, respectively. The rates of radiation pneumonitis ≥ grade 2 and ≥ grade 3 were significantly lower in CAMera (grade ≥2, 16% vs. 9.6%, P=0.047; grade ≥3, 3.8% vs. 0.73%, P=0.037). For patients with the pretreatment predictable high-risk factors, the rate of radiation pneumonitis ≥ grade 3 was significantly lower, and that of grade ≥2 had a lower tendency (grade ≥3, 7.2% vs. 0%, P=0.011; grade ≥2, 21% vs. 9.6%, P=0.061). For patients developing early onset radiation pneumonitis, the rate of radiation pneumonitis ≥ grade 3 was also significantly lower (23% vs. 0%, P<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that dose-volumetric factor, the pretreatment predictable high-risk factors and non-CAM-administration era were significantly associated with or trended toward radiation pneumonitis ≥ grade 2 and ≥ grade 3. Conclusions: CAM mitigated radiation pneumonitis following SBRT. The efficacy of CAM should be confirmed in prospective studies.

Results of the study of factors predicting the risk of the development of grade III radiation-induced mucositis during radiation or chemoradiation therapy in patients with oral cavity and oropharynx cancer

Klin Onkol, 2024

Background: Today, a number of methods and ways of prevention and treatment of radiation-induced mucositis of the oral cavity and oropharynx have been developed, but the represented approaches are still not effective enough. Therefore, to increase the effectiveness of the prevention and treatment of radiation-induced mucositis, it is necessary to approach this problem comprehensively and individually, and to evaluate the factors affecting the development of mucositis. Materials and methods: In this single-center prospective controlled non-randomized clinical trial, the results of clinical observation of the development of complications of radiation and chemoradiation therapy in 105 patients with a newly dia gnosed squamous cell cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx were analyzed. Factors affecting the risk of the development of grade III radiation-induced mucositis including the age, gender of the patients, their general condition before the treatment according to World Health Organisation scales, type of the treatment and its doses, additional use of immunotherapy with alpha/ beta defensins, characteristic signs of the tumor process and all indices of the immune status of the patients before the treatment have been analyzed. Results: The method of construction and analysis of one-factor logistic regression models, where 24 indices were analyzed as factorial features, showed that the reduction of the risk of the development of grade III radiation-induced mucositis is predicted by several factors: immunotherapy, gender, serum concentrations of IgG and IgA. A decrease (P < 0.001) in the risk of the development of grade III radiation-induced mucositis was revealed if immunotherapy with alpha/ beta defensins (with a total dose of 40 mg) was included into the treatment scheme (relative odds (RO) 0.05; 95% reference interval (RI) 0.02-0.18), in comparison with patients of the groups where it was not present or this immune agent was used in a total dose of 60 mg (P = 0.001, RO 0.06; 95% RI 0.01-0.30). The next factorial sign was gender, namely the risk of the development of grade III radiation-induced mucositis was lower for men (P = 0.003; RO 0.15; 95% RI 0.04-0.53) compared to women. An increase (P = 0.024) in the risk of the development of grade III radiation-induced mucositis with an increase in the initial level of IgG serum concentration was revealed, (RO 1.08; 95% RI 1.01-1.16) for each 1 mg/ mL, as well as an increase (P = 0.044) in the possibility of the appearance of grade III radiation-induced mucositis with an increase in the serum concentration of IgA (RO 1.23; 95% RI 1.01-1.50) for every 1 mg/ mL also before the beginning of the treatment. Multifactorial analysis has also confirmed that the risk of the development of grade III radiation-induced mucositis increases (P = 0.008) with a high serum IgG concentration before the treatment or with an increase in this index during therapy (RO 1.13; 95% RI 1.03-1.09) for The authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. Autoři deklarují, že v souvislosti s předmětem studie nemají žádné komerční zájmy. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical papers. Redakční rada potvrzuje, že rukopis práce splnil ICMJE kritéria pro publikace zasílané do bi omedicínských časopisů.

Comparative immunologic analysis of radiotherapy to three anatomic areas

Revista de …, 2003

Background. Hematological side effects are not generally expected due to radiotherapy involving limited radiation fields; however, usually neutrophil counts, hemoglobin and platelets are mainly consider. The impact on lymphocyte counts are usually not considered; although, the radiation therapy to some anatomic areas (the head and neck) is frequently associated with chronic intraoral infections. Xerostomia has been implicated as a cause of it, but local or systemic immune alterations are not usually considered.

The influence of antibiotic administration on the outcomes of head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma patients undergoing definitive (chemo)radiation

European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology

Purpose Effects of antibiotic administration on patients’ microbiome may negatively influence cancer outcomes, and adverse prognoses after antibiotic application have been demonstrated for cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors. While the microbiome may play an important role also in head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the prognostic value of antibiotic treatment here is largely unknown. We therefore analyzed whether antibiotic prescription is associated with impaired oncological outcomes of HNSCC patients undergoing definitive (chemo)radiation. Methods A cohort of 220 HNSCC patients undergoing definitive (chemo)radiation between 2010 and 2019 was analyzed. The influence of antibiotic administration on locoregional control, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was determined using Kaplan–Meier and Cox analyses. Results A total of 154 patients were treated with antibiotics within 30 days before (chemo)radiation (pretherapeutic) or durin...

Prophylactic Treatment of Mycotic Mucositis in Radiotherapy of Patients with Head and Neck Cancers

Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2003

Background: Patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer are at increased risk of developing oral candidiasis. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical Candida mucositis and interruptions in radiotherapy in patients suffering from head and neck cancer, receiving fluconazole in comparison with a control group without specific prophylaxis. Methods: Eighty consecutive patients were randomized in a prospective double-blind trial of prophylactic oral fluconazole or treatment with the same drug when mycotic infections appeared. Adult head and neck cancer patients who were undergoing treatment with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, radiotherapeutic coverage of the entire oropharynx and oral cavity at least 3 cm anterior to the retromolar trigone and receiving a total dose of more than 6000 cGy and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) >70 were included in the study. Group A received radiation therapy plus fluconazole (Fluzole 100 mg/day) starting from the sixth irradiation session throughout the treatment; 40 patients in group B received the same baseline treatment, but were given fluconazole only when mycotic infections appeared. Results: We evaluated 37 patients in group A and the first 37 patients were evaluated in group B. Three of the patients in group A (8.1%) and 14 of the patients in group B (37.8%) demonstrated clinical candidasis. Radiotherapy was interrupted in all of these patients. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant with respect to clinical candidiasis (P = 0.005). The median discontinuation time was 5 days (range, 3-7 days) in group A and 7 days (range, 4-10 days) in group B. The median dose resulting in clinical candidiasis was 3200 cGy (range, 2200-5800 cGy) in all groups. In the fluconazole group it was 4200 cGy and in the control group 2800 cGy. Conclusion: These results suggest that patients undergoing head and neck radiation therapy are at risk of developing candidiasis and that fluconazole may be used to reduce the frequency of mycotic infections and to improve the radiotherapy schedule in head and neck cancer patients.

Evaluation of outpatient infections in lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy

European Respiratory Journal, 2012

Introduction: Infections are important causes of morbidity and mortality in lung cancer patients. The myelotoxicity caused by the administration of either the chemotherapeutic regimens or the radiotherapy increases the risk of potentially life-threatening infection. Methods: This prospective study included all patients with lung cancer who referred with signs or symptoms of infection between September 2009 and October 2011. Data concerning patient9s history, disease9s diagnosis, management and therapy and infection9s signs, symptoms and documentation were collected. Results: Seventy one patients with lung cancer were enrolled with febrile episodes and/or microbiologically or otherwise documented infection. Forty six patients (64.8%) presented with non-small cell lung carcinoma, while 22/71 patients (31%) and 3/71 patients (4.2%) had small cell lung cancer and mesothelioma respectively. Fifteen patients (21.1%) presented with FN and totally 43/71 (60.6%) patients required hospitaliza...

The potential roles of bacteria to improve radiation treatment outcome

Clinical and Translational Oncology, 2017

Many combined therapies have been proposed to enhance radiotherapy outcome, but they have several limitations. As a new feasible strategy, combination of radiotherapy with bacteria showed a significant positive impact on the tumor treatment and metastasis inhibition. Although probiotic bacteria and radiotherapy alone can be effective in the treatment of different cancers, the combination of these two therapies seems to enhance therapeutic outcome and is cost-effective. Bacterial cells can act as therapeutic/gene/drug delivery vehicles as well as theranostic agents. In this communication, we reviewed current evidences, studies, suggestions, and future-based directions on combination of radiotherapy and bacteria. In another sections, an overview on tumor hypoxia, bacteria in cancer therapy, and combination of radiotherapy and bacteria is presented. A brief overview on trials and animal studies which used bacteria to protect normal tissues against radiotherapy-induced complications is also included.