TBI has been used widely in the setting of BMT over the past 3 decades. Early research demonstrated feasibility and efficacy in the myeloablative setting, in preparation first for allogenic BMT and ...later for autologous stem cell rescue. As experience with TBI increased, its dual roles of myeloablation and immunosuppression came to be recognized. Toxicity associated with myeloablative TBI remains significant, and this treatment is generally reserved for younger patients with excellent performance status. Reduced intensity conditioning regimens may be useful to provide immunosuppression for patients who are not candidates for myeloablative treatment. Efforts to reduce toxicity through protection of normal tissue using methods of normal tissue blocking and use of TLI, rather than TBI, continue. In the future, modalities such as helical tomotherapy, proton radiotherapy and radioimmunotherapy, may have roles in delivery of radiation to the BM and lymphoid structures with reduced normal tissue toxicity. With further investigation, these efforts may expand the therapeutic ratio associated with TBI, allowing safer delivery to a broader range of patients.
This randomized, prospective study assesses the impact of postoperative external-beam radiation therapy on local recurrence (LR), overall survival (OS), and quality of life after limb-sparing ...resection of extremity sarcomas.
Patients with extremity tumors and a limb-sparing surgical option were randomized to receive or not receive postoperative adjuvant external-beam radiotherapy. Patients with high-grade sarcomas received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy whereas patients with low-grade sarcomas or locally aggressive nonmalignant tumors were randomized after surgery alone.
Ninety-one patients with high-grade lesions were randomized; 47 to receive radiotherapy (XRT) and 44 to not receive XRT. With a median follow-up of 9.6 years, a highly significant decrease (P2 = .0028) in the probability of LR was seen with radiation, but no difference in OS was shown. Of 50 patients with low-grade lesions (24 randomized to resection alone and 26 to resection and postoperative XRT), there was also a lower probability of LR (P2 = .016) in patients receiving XRT, again, without a difference in OS. A concurrent quality-of-life study showed that extremity radiotherapy resulted in significantly worse limb strength, edema, and range of motion, but these deficits were often transient and had few measurable effects on activities of daily life or global quality of life.
This study indicates that although postoperative external-beam radiotherapy is highly effective in preventing LRs, selected patients with extremity soft tissue sarcoma who have a low risk of LR may not require adjuvant XRT after limb-sparing surgery (LSS).
Some studies report a high risk of death from intercurrent disease (DID) after postoperative radiotherapy (XRT) for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study determines the risk of DID after ...modern-technique postoperative XRT.
A total of 202 patients were treated with surgery and postoperative XRT for NSCLC. Most patients (97%) had pathologic stage II or III disease. Many patients (41%) had positive/close/uncertain resection margins. The median XRT dose was 55 Gy with fraction size of 1.8 to 2 Gy. The risk of DID was calculated actuarially and included patients who died of unknown/uncertain causes. Median follow-up was 24 months for all patients and 62 months for survivors.
A total of 25 patients (12.5%) died from intercurrent disease, 16 from confirmed noncancer causes and nine from unknown causes. The 4-year actuarial rate of DID was 13.5%. This is minimally increased compared with the expected rate for a matched population (approximately 10% at 4 years). On multivariate analysis, age and radiotherapy dose were borderline significant factors associated with a higher risk of DID (P =.06). The crude risk of DID for patients receiving less than 54 Gy was 2% (4-year actuarial risk 0%) versus 17% for XRT dose > or = 54 Gy. The 4-year actuarial overall survival was 34%; local control was 84%; and freedom from distant metastases was 37%.
Modern postoperative XRT for NSCLC does not excessively increase the risk of intercurrent deaths. Further study of postoperative XRT, particularly when using more sophisticated treatment planning and reasonable total doses, for carefully selected high-risk resected NSCLC is warranted.
To examine behavioral dimensions of treatment outcomes for patients receiving cranial irradiation. Radiation encephalopathy is one of these and refers to significant cognitive and emotional ...dysfunction following radiation therapy to the brain. Issues of definition, estimated incidence, pathophysiologic mechanisms, and recommended research designs are reviewed in relationship to functional neurobehavioral outcomes.
Twenty-nine studies of adults receiving therapeutic cranial irradiation (TCI) involving 748 patients and 18 studies of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) involving 368 patients are reviewed. Assessment of patient outcomes are summarized for research published since 1980, with specific attention to adverse changes in cognitive and emotional functioning.
Analyses revealed that 213 TCI patients and 100 PCI patients showed encephalopathy attributed to radiation. Manifestations of the late delayed effects of radiotherapy on brain function are related to patient age, total dose of irradiation, fraction sizes, and timing of chemotherapy. Radiation encephalopathy appears to be more common than the pathologic tissue injury of radiation necrosis. Accurate diagnosis of these neurobehavioral sequelae can require follow-up over a period of years with sensitive assessment procedures.
It is likely that the true incidence of treatment-related side effects of cranial irradiation in adults who survive more than 6 months without brain tumor growth or recurrence has been significantly underestimated. Research designs that include formal neuropsychologic assessment in conjunction with other neurodiagnostic tests can provide more comprehensive evaluation of long-term neurobehavioral outcomes.
We conducted a retrospective analysis of 50 lymphoma patients (Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) who had an 18F-fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan after at ...least two cycles of salvage chemotherapy and before autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) at our institution. The patients were categorized into FDG-PET negative (N = 32) and positive (N = 18) groups. The median follow-up after ASCT was 19 months (range: 3-59). In the FDG-PET-negative group, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 19 months (range: 2-59) with 15 (54%) patients without progression at 12 months after ASCT. The median overall survival (OS) for this group was not reached. In the FDG-PET-positive group, the median PFS was 5 months (range: 1-19) with only one (7%) patient without progression at 12 months after ASCT. The median OS was 19 months (range: 1-34). In the FDG-PET-negative group, chemotherapy-resistant patients by CT-based criteria had a comparable outcome to those with chemotherapy-sensitive disease. A positive FDG-PET scan after salvage chemotherapy and prior ASCT indicates an extremely poor chance of durable response after ASCT.
Peritoneal carcinomatosis and sarcomatosis are generally incurable problems for which there are few good treatment options. Intraperitoneal PDT is potentially an ideal therapy for peritoneal ...carcinomatosis because of its relatively superficial treatment effect. A Phase II trial of IP PDT with the first generation photosensitizer, Photofrin, demonstrates that this treatment approach is tolerable clinically but is associated with substantial toxicity suggesting a narrow therapeutic index. Remarkably, responses were observed in heavily pre-treated patients suggesting clinical activity. Correlative studies of photosensitizer uptake in human tumour and normal tissues show little tumour selectivity. This lack of photosensitizer selectivity for tumour in combination with tumour hypoxia (as opposed to oxic normal tissues) is likely a major reason for the narrow therapeutic index of intraperitoneal PDT. However, the advent of novel and potentially molecularly targeted photosensitizers, combined with enhancement of PDT cancer cell cytotoxicity through inhibition of growth factor signaling should greatly improve the therapeutic index of intraperitoneal PDT. In addition, other approaches, including the use of nanotechnology, may allow the administration of fractionated PDT which may also improve the therapeutic index of this treatment. The clinical implementation of these technologies may allow for highly effective and well tolerated treatment of intraperitoneal carcinomatosis with PDT.
The Ann Arbor classification for describing the stage of Hodgkin's disease at initial presentation has formed the basis upon which treatment is selected and has allowed comparison of results achieved ...by different investigators for almost two decades. A meeting was convened to review the classification and modify it in the light of experience gained in its use and new techniques for evaluating disease. It was concluded that the structure of the classification be maintained. It was particularly recommended: (1) that computed tomography (CT) be included as a technique for evaluating intrathoracic and infradiaphragmatic lymph nodes; (2) that the criteria for clinical involvement of the spleen and liver be modified to include evidence of focal defects with two imaging techniques and that abnormalities of liver function be ignored; (3) that the suffix 'X' to designate bulky disease (greater than 10 cm maximum dimension) be introduced; and (4) that a new category of response to therapy, unconfirmed/uncertain complete remission (CRu), be introduced to accommodate the difficulty of persistent radiological abnormalities of uncertain significance.
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