Significance of 125I radioactive seed implantation on growth differentiation factor and programmed death receptor-1 during treatment of oral cancer

Abstract

Background: Oral cancer (OC) is the most common malignant tumor in the oral cavity, and is mainly seen in middle-aged and elderly men. At present, OC is mainly treated clinically by surgery or combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy; but recently, more and more studies have shown that the stress trauma caused by surgery and the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy seriously affect the prognosis of patients.

Aim: To determine the significance of ¹²⁵I radioactive seed implantation on growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) and programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) during treatment of OC.

Methods: A total of 184 OC patients admitted to The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University from May 2015 to May 2017 were selected as the research subjects for prospective analysis. Of these patients, 89 who received ¹²⁵I radioactive seed implantation therapy were regarded as the research group (RG) and 95 patients who received surgical treatment were regarded as the control group (CG). The clinical efficacy, incidence of adverse reactions and changes in GDF11 and PD-1 before treatment (T0), 2 wk after treatment (T1), 4 wk after treatment (T2) and 6 wk after treatment (T3) were compared between the two groups.

Results: The efficacy and recurrence rate in the RG were better than those in the CG (P < 0.05), while the incidence of adverse reactions and survival rate were not different. There was no difference in GDF11 and PD-1 between the two groups at T0 and T1, but these factors were lower in the RG than in the CG at T2 and T3 (P < 0.05). Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, GDF11 and PD-1 had good predictive value for efficacy and recurrence (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: ¹²⁵I radioactive seed implantation has clinical efficacy and can reduce the recurrence rate in patients with OC. This therapy has marked potential in clinical application. The detection of GDF11 and PD-1 in patients during treatment showed good predictive value for treatment efficacy and recurrence in OC patients, and may be potential targets for future OC treatment.

Keywords: 125I radioactive seeds; Growth differentiation factor 11; Oral cancer; Prognosis; Programmed death receptor-1; Recurrence.

Figure 1

Three year survival curve of the two groups.

Figure 2

Changes in growth differentiation factor 11 and programmed death receptor-1 during treatment. A: Differentiation factor 11 during treatment in both groups; B: programmed death receptor-1 during treatment in both groups. a indicates comparison with T0 in the same group (^aP < 0.05); b indicates comparison with T1 in the same group (^aP < 0.05); c indicates comparison with T2 in the same group (^aP < 0.05); d indicates comparison with the RG at the same time (^aP < 0.05). PD-1: Programmed death receptor-1; GDF11: Growth differentiation factor 11.

Figure 3

Predictive value of growth differentiation factor 11 and programmed death receptor-1 for efficacy. A: Comparison of growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) in group A and group B, ^aP < 0.05; B: Comparison of programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) in group A and group B, ^aP < 0.05; C: ROC curve of GDF11 for predicting efficacy; D: ROC curve of PD-1 for predicting efficacy; E: ROC curve of GDF11 combined with PD-1 for predicting efficacy. PD-1: Programmed death receptor-1; GDF11: Growth differentiation factor 11.

Figure 4

Predictive value of growth differentiation factor 11 and programmed death receptor-1 for recurrence. A: Comparison of growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) in group A and group B, ^aP < 0.05; B: Comparison of programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) in group A and group B, ^aP < 0.05; C: ROC curve of GDF11 for recurrence prediction; D: ROC curve of PD-1 for recurrence prediction; E: ROC curve of GDF11 combined with PD-1 for recurrence prediction. PD-1: Programmed death receptor-1; GDF11: Growth differentiation factor 11.