Abstract Purpose To assess hypo-fractionated particle beam therapy (PBT)’s efficacy relative to that of photon stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for early stage (ES) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Eligible studies were identified through extensive searches of the PubMed, Medline, Google-scholar, and Cochrane library databases from 2000 to 2016. Original English publications of ES NSCLC were included. A meta-analysis was performed to compare the survival outcome, toxicity profile, and patterns of failure following each treatment. Results 72 SBRT studies and 9 hypo-fractionated PBT studies (mostly single-arm) were included. PBT was associated with improved overall survival (OS; p = 0.005) and progression-free survival (PFS; p = 0.01) in the univariate meta-analysis. The OS benefit did not reach its statistical significance after inclusion of operability into the final multivariate meta-analysis (p = 0.11); while the 3-year local control (LC) still favored PBT (p = 0.03). Conclusion Although hypo-fractionated PBT may lead to additional clinical benefit when compared with photon SBRT, no statistically significant survival benefit from PBT over SBRT was observed in the treatment of ES NSCLC in this hypothesis-generating meta-analysis after adjusting for potential confounding variables.

Abstract Association of heart dose and overall survival was investigated in a cohort including 469 locally-advanced NSCLC patients receiving daily low-dose hypofractionated chemo-radiotherapy. Significant associations were found over a range of dose parameters. Multivariate analysis showed significant associations of heart_V2Gy:HR = 1.007%−1 (95% CI:1.002–1.013; p = 0.006), age:HR = 1.026 year−1 (1.011–1.042; p = 0.001) and GTV volume:HR = 1.001 cc−1 (1.000–1.002; p = 0.006) with overall survival.

Purpose We summarize the current state of knowledge regarding cell therapy for stress urinary incontinence and introduce new approaches of using regenerative pharmacology as an adjunct or replacement for cell therapy. Materials and Methods We reviewed the literature by searching PubMed®, Ovid and Biological Abstracts. The period searched was 1975 to December 2015. The inclusion terms separately or in combination were stress urinary incontinence, cell therapy, chemokine, vascularization, innervation, secretome and/or animal models. Epublished articles were not included. We did not exclude articles based on impact factor. Results Cell therapy is currently proposed to restore functional muscle cells and aid in closure of the sphincter in women with sphincter associated incontinence. Clinical trials have included small numbers of patients and results have varied depending on the patient cohorts and the cells used. Results of preclinical studies have also varied but show a more favorable outcome. This difference was most likely explained by the fact that animal modeling is not directly translatable to the human condition. However, preclinical studies have identified an exciting new approach to regeneration of the urinary sphincter using the components of cells (secretomes) or chemokines that home reparative cells to sites of injury. Conclusions Cell therapy will continue to be explored. However, a regenerative pharmacological approach to the treatment of stress urinary incontinence holds the promise of bypassing the lengthy and expensive process of cell isolation and also increasing the availability of treatment in many clinical settings. This approach requires careful preclinical modeling and attention to its health benefit-to-risk ratio.