scholarly journals Acupuncture for radiation-induced toxicity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review based on PICO criteria

Author(s):  
Pierluigi Bonomo ◽  
Giulia Stocchi ◽  
Saverio Caini ◽  
Isacco Desideri ◽  
Veronica Santarlasci ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the potential mitigating effect of complementary medicine interventions such as acupuncture for radiation-induced toxicity is unknown. This study aimed to assess the impact of acupuncture on the incidence and degree of severity of common radiation-induced side effects. Methods In accordance with pre-specified PICO criteria, a systematic review was performed. Two electronic databases (Medline and Embase) were searched over a 10-year time frame (01/01/10 to 30/09/20). Patients undergoing a curatively intended, radiation-based treatment for histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx, oropharynx, larynx, hypopharynx and oral cavity represented the target population of our study. Accurate information on the acupuncture methodology was reported. All included articles were evaluated to identify any potential source of bias Results Five papers were included in our qualitative analysis, for a total of 633 subjects. Compliance to per-protocol defined schedule of acupuncture sessions was high, ranging from 82 to 95.9%. Most patients (70.6%) were randomly allocated to receive acupuncture for its potential preventive effect on xerostomia. The large heterogeneity in study settings and clinical outcomes prevented from performing a cumulative quantitative analysis, thus no definitive recommendations can be provided. Conclusions Although shown to be feasible and safe, no firm evidence currently supports the use of acupuncture for the routine management of radiation-induced toxicity in HNSCC.

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2393
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel González-Moles ◽  
Ángela Ayén ◽  
Isábel González-Ruiz ◽  
Teresa de Porras-Carrique ◽  
Lucía González-Ruiz ◽  
...  

Fas-associated death domain (FADD) upregulation, i.e., gene amplification, protein phosphorylation and/or overexpression, has shown promising prognostic implications in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of FADD upregulation in HNSCC. We searched studies published before February 2020 through PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar. We evaluated the quality of the studies included using the QUIPS tool. The impact of FADD upregulation on survival and clinicopathological variables was meta-analysed. We explored heterogeneity and their sources, conducted sensitivity analyses and investigated small-study effects. Thirteen studies (1,923 patients) met inclusion criteria. FADD immunohistochemical overexpression was statistically associated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.52, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.28–1.81, p < 0.001), disease-specific survival (HR = 2.52, 95% CI = 1.61–3.96, p < 0.001), disease-free survival (HR = 1.67, 95% CI=1.29–2.15, p < 0.001), higher clinical stage (odds ratio [OR] = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.17–2.51, p = 0.005) and a large magnitude of effect with N+ status (OR = 2.36, 95% CI = 1.85–3.00, p < 0.001). FADD phosphorylation in ser-194 demonstrated no prognostic value, while no conclusive results can be drawn for FADD gene amplification. In conclusion, our findings indicate that immunohistochemical assessment of FADD overexpression could be incorporated into the prognostic evaluation of HNSCC.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 1101-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin E. Swartz ◽  
Ajit J. Pothen ◽  
Inge Stegeman ◽  
Stefan M. Willems ◽  
Wilko Grolman

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7255
Author(s):  
Shrabon Hasnat ◽  
Roosa Hujanen ◽  
Bright I. Nwaru ◽  
Tuula Salo ◽  
Abdelhakim Salem

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a group of tumours which exhibit low 5 year survival rates. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify biomarkers that may improve the clinical utility of patients with HNSCC. Emerging studies support a role of toll-like receptors (TLRs) in carcinogenesis. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess the prognostic value of TLR immunoexpression in HNSCC patients. We compiled the results of thirteen studies comprising 1825 patients, of which six studies were deemed qualified for quantitative synthesis. The higher immunoexpression of TLR-1 to 5 and 9 was associated with a worsening of the clinical parameters of patients with HNSCC. Furthermore, induced levels of TLR-3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 were found to predict the patients’ survival time. The meta-analysis revealed that TLR-7 overexpression is associated with a decreased mortality risk in HNSCC patients (HR 0.51; 95%CI 0.13–0.89; I2 34.6%), while a higher expression of TLR-5 predicted shorter, but non-significant, survival outcome. In conclusion, this review suggests that TLRs may represent some prognostic value for patients with HNSCC. However, due to small sample sizes and other inherent methodological limitations, more well designed studies across different populations are still needed before TLRs can be recommended as a reliable clinical risk-stratification tool.


Oral Oncology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 67-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Ghanizada ◽  
Kathrine Kronberg Jakobsen ◽  
Christian Grønhøj ◽  
Christian von Buchwald

2015 ◽  
Vol 141 (6) ◽  
pp. 519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Deutschmann ◽  
Kevin J. Sykes ◽  
John Harbison ◽  
Cristina Cabrera-Muffly ◽  
Yelizaveta Shnayder

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