The identification of potential tumor markers can improve therapeutic planning and patient management. The aim of this study was to highlight the significance of IL-6 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Hormone-resistant (HR) prostate cancers are highly aggressive and respond poorly to treatment. IL-6/STAT3 signaling has been identified to link with the transition of HR and aggressive tumor behavior. The role of IL-6 in the radiation response of prostate cancer was investigated in the present study.

To assess the factors affecting the incidence of radiation-induced dermatitis in breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant 3 D conformal radiotherapy by the analysis of dosimetry and topical treatments.

The aim of the present study was to explore specific molecular markers that could lead to new insights into the identification of innovative treatments in oral cancer. The role of TGF-β1 (transforming growth factor-β1) and its predictive power in the prognosis of oral cancer has been identified. Human oral cancer cell lines, including SCC4 and SCC25, were selected for cellular experiments. Changes in tumour aggressiveness, responses to treatment and the signalling pathway responsible were investigated in vitro. Furthermore, 125 oral cancer tissue specimens were constructed into tissue microarray blocks for immunohistochemical analysis to correlate the expression of TGF-β1 with clinical outcome. Using in vitro experiments, our results revealed that activated TGF-β1 signalling resulted in more aggressive tumour growth, augmented the epithelial–mesenchymal transition and more resistance to treatment. Activated IL-6 (interleukin-6) signalling could be the mechanism underlying the effects of TGF-β1 on oral cancer. Regarding clinical data, the incidence of TGF-β1 immunoreactivity in oral cancer specimens was significantly higher than in non-malignant epithelium and positively linked to IL-6 staining. Furthermore, expression of TGF-β1 was significantly correlated with the risk of lymph node involvement, disease recurrence and shorter survival in patients with pathological stage III–IV oral cancer. In conclusion, the TGF-β1/IL-6 axis had predictive power in the prognosis of oral cancer, and targeting TGF-β1 could represent a promising treatment strategy.

To assess if surgery provided survival benefit to patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), we performed a retrospective review of 1230 patients who were newly diagnosed with stage T2-T4 esophageal SCC from 2007 to 2014 in our hospital. There were greater than 70% of patients with age under 65 years, and more than 85% were stage T3-T4 at the time of diagnosis. The median survival time was 1.06 year (95% CI 0.99–1.1 yrs). Survival analyses showed that survival time was significantly associated with age, T stage, clinical lymph node involvement and treatment modality (surgery versus definite chemoradiotherapy). Surgery still possessed a powerful impact on overall survival by multivariable analysis. Death risk of patients treated with curative surgery was significantly lower than those with definite chemoradiotherapy. Furthermore, for patients of stage T3N(+) and T4, surgery combined with (neo-)adjuvant treatment were significantly associated with higher survival rate than surgery alone or definite chemoradiotherapy. In conclusion, the patients who undergo surgery were significantly associated longer survival, therefore, curative resection should be considered for esophageal cancer patients who are medically fit for surgery. Moreover, combined with (neo-)adjuvant treatment is recommended for surgically resectable stage T3-T4 esophageal SCC.