Aina He

Publications (3)1.99 Total impact

• Article: Cyclophosphamide-hydroxycamptothecin as second-line chemotherapy for advanced Ewing's sarcoma: Experience of a single institution.

  Kun Han, Yuanjue Sun, Jianjun Zhang, Aina He, Shui'er Zheng, Zan Shen, Yang Yao
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  ABSTRACT: AIM: To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of cyclophosphamide (CTX)-hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) as second-line chemotherapy on advanced Ewing's sarcoma. METHODS: From April 2009 to November 2010, 27 patients with advanced Ewing's sarcoma who had progressive disease after the first-line chemotherapy regimen of vincristine, dactinomycin and cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide and etoposide were retrospectively reviewed in this analysis. CTX was given (0.6 g/m(2) , i.v. push day 1) and HCPT (6 mg/m(2) , i.v. drip days 1-5) as second-line chemotherapy every 3 weeks. The primary end-point was overall response rate, the secondary end-point included progression-free, overall survival, disease control rate and toxicities. RESULTS: A total of 134 cycles were given, median four cycles per patient (range 2-6). Overall response rate was 30% and disease control rate was 82%, with two complete response (8%), six partial remission (22%) and 14 stable disease (52%). The median time to progression and overall survival time were 7 months (95% CI 3-10) and 11 months (95% CI 5-18), respectively. Major severe toxicities (grade 3 and 4) were: nausea/vomiting (17%), alopecia (17%); leukopenia (27%) in total cycles. Mild toxicities (grade 1 or 2) were leukopenia (73%), nausea/vomiting (83%), hepatic lesion (14%) and anemia (44%). CONCLUSION: A CTX-HCPT regimen can control disease progression effectively and the side effects can be tolerable for Chinese advanced Ewing's sarcoma patients. Further assessment is necessary to confirm the safety and efficacy of this treatment.
  Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology 11/2012; · 0.58 Impact Factor
• Article: CD133 expression predicts lung metastasis and poor prognosis in osteosarcoma patients: A clinical and experimental study.

  Aina He, Weixiang Qi, Yujing Huang, Tao Feng, Jie Chen, Yuanjue Sun, Zan Shen, Yang Yao
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  ABSTRACT: Identifying prognostic factors for osteosarcoma (OS) aids in the selection of patients who require more aggressive management. CD133 has been found to be a prognostic factor of certain tumor types. However, the association between CD133 expression and the prognosis of OS remains unknown. In this study, we analyzed the association of CD133 expression in OS with clinical factors and overall survival, and further investigated its potential role in metastasis in vitro. We found CD133 expression in 65.7% (46/70) of OS samples using immunohistochemistry, and it was positively correlated with lung metastasis analyzed by Chi-square test (P=0.002) and shorter overall survival time using the Kaplan-Meier method compared by log-rank test (P=0.000). Multivariate analysis showed that CD133 expression was an independent prognostic factor of patients with OS. To test for direct participation of CD133, we separated CD133(+) and CD133(-) cells in the MG63 cell line using magnetic-activated cell sorting and found that CD133(+) cells were more active in migration by scratch wound-healing assay and invasion by Matrigel invasion assay compared with CD133(-) cells. Elevated mRNA expression of the stemness gene octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct-4) and NANOG, and the metastasis-related receptor C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) were also found in CD133(+) cells by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Thus, expression of CD133 was correlated with lung metastasis and poor prognosis in OS patients. CD133(+) cells may be a type of cancer stem cell with high expression of self-renewal capacity and metastasis-related genes.
  Experimental and therapeutic medicine 09/2012; 4(3):435-441.
• Article: Comparison of pirarubicin-based versus gemcitabine-docetaxel chemotherapy for relapsed and refractory osteosarcoma: a single institution experience.

  Aina He, Weixiang Qi, Yujing Huang, Yuanjue Sun, Zan Shen, Hui Zhao, Yumei Yang, Yang Yao
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  ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The prognoses for patients with relapsed and refractory osteosarcoma are poor and the optimal treatment strategy is still to be defined. We conducted this retrospective study to compare the feasibility and efficacy of pirarubicin-based chemotherapy with gemcitabine-docetaxel combination regimens for the salvage of these patients. METHODS: The clinical data of 75 patients who received pirarubicin-based (n = 52) or gemcitabine-docetaxel (n = 23) chemotherapy as a second-line treatment for relapsed and refractory osteosarcoma between January 2005 and September 2011were reviewed retrospectively. Tumor response was evaluated every two chemotherapy cycles by computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI) scans using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Toxicity was examined according to the National Cancer Institute Toxicity Criteria grading system. RESULTS: Patient characteristics were well balanced in the two groups. The response rate was 25.0 % in patients who received pirarubicin-based chemotherapy, while it was 13.0 % in the gemcitabine-docetaxel group. Moreover, the median OS was longer in the pirarubicin-based chemotherapy group (14.0 vs. 9.0 months, P < 0.05), especially in the pirarubicin-ifosfamide (14.0 months) and pirarubicin-cisplatin (15.0 months) subgroups. The incidence of grade 3-4 neutropenia was higher in the gemcitabine-docetaxel group (5.8 vs. 43.5 %, P < 0.05); other grade 3-4 toxicities were comparable in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, pirarubicin-based chemotherapy was comparable with gemcitabine-docetaxel as a second-line treatment for relapsed and refractory osteosarcoma, and it even seemed to show greater efficacy, with milder toxicity. Further studies, especially prospective clinical trials, focusing on pirarubicin-based treatments for relapsed and refractory osteosarcoma patients should be strongly considered.
  International Journal of Clinical Oncology 04/2012; · 1.41 Impact Factor