[en] Objective: To evaluate the effect of radiotherapy combined with inductive chemotherapy for patients with upper and middle esophageal cancer. Methods: 162 patients with upper and middle esophageal cancer were randomized into two groups, with 82 treated by inductive chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy (C + R) and 80 by radiotherapy alone (R). The chemotherapy regimen included 5-fluorouracil 500 mg/m² on d1-d5 by continuous infusion for 120 hours, cisplatin 60 mg/m² on dl and bleomycin A5 8 mg on d1, d3, d5 intravenously. Three to seven days after chemotherapy, the patients were irradiated with anteroposterior (AP) and posteroanterior (PA) fields to a dose of 40-44 Gy in 4.0-4.4 weeks followed by a boost of 24-28 Gy in 2.4-2.8 weeks through oblique fields. Results: The 5- and 10-year survival rates were 22.0%, 15.9% for the C + R group and 13.8%, 8.8% for the R group. The difference was statistically significant (P = 0.034). The toxic and side effects were tolerable and similar in the two groups. Nineteen patients (23%) in the C + R group and thirty-one (39%) in the R group died from distant metastasis and/or lymph node metastasis, even though the difference was not statistically significant (x² = 3.47, P > 0.05). Conclusions: Inductive chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, bleomycin A5 plus radiotherapy may improve the outcome of esophageal cancer, with the toxic and side effects of the combined modality severer than radiation along, but they are well tolerated

[en] Objective: To compare the size of target volume, amplitudes of movements in different directions, movement vector, dose to the diseased lung, whole lung volume, and setup error between free breathing fixation (method A) and four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT)-guided abdominal balloon compression fixation (method B), and to demonstrate that the 4DCT-guided abdominal balloon compression fixation is effective in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed among 80 patients with NSCLC in our hospital. In those patients, 40 received method A and 40 method B. The GTV_free and GTV_press were delineated on the maximum intensity projection (MIP) images of 10 respiratory phases using method A and method B, respectively. The GTV_free and GTV_press were obtained by expansion of the GTV_free and GTV_press, respectively. The paired t test was used to analyze the differences in the PTV, maximum amplitudes of movements in three dimensions, absolute value of the movement vector (|V|), and volume between method A and method B. The treatment planning system was used to compare the V₅, V₁₀, V₂₀, and V₃₀ of the diseased lung and the whole lung volume between method A and method B. All patients underwent cone-beam CT (CBCT) scans after positioning. Setup error was obtained by matching the CBCT images with the MIP images in the XVI system based on bone and grayscale values. Results: The GTV_free and GTV_press were (283.2 ± 12.74) and (201.8 ± 12.99)cm³, respectively (P = 0.002). The maximum amplitudes of movements in the right-left, superior-inferior, and anterior-posterior directions as well as the |V| value were (0.22 ± 0.02), (1.85 ± 0.08), (0.43 ± 0.26), and (1.91 ± 0.27) cm, respectively, for method A, and (0.05 ± 0.01), (0.41 ± 0.03), (0.16 ± 0.16), and (0.44 ± 0.16) cm, respectively, for method B (P = 0.120, 0.001, 0.070). The V₅, V₁₀, V₂₀, and V₃₀ for the diseased lung and total lung volume were (61.26 ± 4.27)%, (44.52 ± 1.70)%, (28.22 ± 3.13)%, (18.26 ± 5.17)%, and (3556 ± 223.12) cm³, respectively, for method A, and (52.74 ± 4.78)%, (38.76 ± 4.92)%, (23.71 ± 4.03)%, (15.54 ± 3.43)%, and (3376 ± 311.65) cm³, respectively, for method B (P = 0.001, 0.003, 0.004, 0.021, 0.004). There was no significant difference in setup error obtained by the XVI system between the two fixation methods (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Without increasing setup error, abdominal balloon compression can effectively control the lung movement amplitude, reduce the planning target volume, and reduce the radiation dose to the lung in patients with NSCLC. (authors)

[en] In this paper, recent studies on the potential challenges for an orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing system were reviewed. The design guideline for a practical OAM multiplexing system were investigated in term of (i) the power loss due to the beam divergence and limited-size receiver, and (ii) the channel crosstalk due to the misalignment between the transmitter and receiver. (paper)