radioterapy

BACKGROUND: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is now a standard treatment option for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (ES-NSCLC) who are unfit for surgery or refuse to undergo an operation. SBRT is a method of external beam radiotherapy that accurately delivers a high dose of irradiation in one or few treatment fractions. Intensive regimens of biologically effective dose ≥ 100 Gy are associated with good local control and overall survival, higher than in conventionally fractionated radiotherapy...

BACKGROUND: Many experimental and clinical studies are conducted to investigate the effects of various applications of botulinum toxin (BTx) in the treatment of radiation related side effects. There are no studies that show clear results about the positive and negative effects of its active clinical use in the long run, and discussions are ongoing. In addition, there is a need for various researches about how BTx can be used and how long it can be used, and the side effects it may cause...

Background: Colorectal cancer is a serious illness, with rectal cancer accounting for thirty percent of all cases. For patients diagnosed with rectal cancer, neoadjuvant downstaging chemoradiotherapy is often necessary due to advanced disease at presentation. However, for certain patients, neoadjuvant chemotherapy can result in a complete response, leading to the possibility of overtreatment during subsequent definitive surgery. Methods: In order to identify predictors for clinical or pathologic complete response, we conducted a retrospective study on 231 patients diagnosed with locally advanced rectal cancer who underwent neoadjuvant treatment...

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to investigate the concentration of interferon (INF) -a, INF- g, interleukin (IL) -6, and secretory IgA (sIgA) in saliva during various regimens of antitumour treatment and immunotherapy (IT) with a/b-defensins in patients with cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx in order to find ways to increase the effectiveness and improvement of the tolerability of antitumour treatment on the base of the identification of biomarkers for the evaluation of the antitumour effect and the prediction of complications...

BACKGROUND: Radiotherapy of locally advanced head and neck cancer represents a major clinical challenge. Any treatment intensification aiming at improved treatment outcomes poten-tially results in a higher toxicity. The search for optimal treatment schedule involving conventional or altered fractionation of radiotherapy and the frequency and dose of concomitant cisplatin or other systemic agents has been spanning over several decades. PURPOSE: To evaluate long-term outcomes and toxicity of accelerated chemoradiotherapy of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN)...

BACKGROUND: Currently, rectal tumors radiotherapy effectiveness reaches an acceptable level only in a small number of patients (they have a complete clinical response), which is associated with the formation of malignant cells radioresistance. A comprehensive study that integrates various epigenetic parameters would explain a number of molecular mechanisms of rectal tumor cells radioresistance and identify new bio-markers. In the last decade, using high-through-put sequencing, the competitively interacting RNAs regulatory network (long non-coding RNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs) has been shown...

BACKGROUND: Advances in medicine, especially in the field of immunology in oncology, contribute to the development of new ways and methods of treating cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Preclinical and clinical studies of cytokine and dendritic cell therapy, blockade of immune checkpoints, T cell uptake, treatment with monoclonal antibodies and peptide vac-cines are performed. Some of these immunotherapeutic drugs are introduced into medical practice. Changes in the immune system of patients with cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx justify the feasibility of further targeted research of new immunotherapeutic effects on malignant tumors...

BACKGROUND: Ionizing radiation DNA damage is the main mechanism of radiotherapy (RT) action and the outcome of treatment and healthy tissue toxicity is influenced by a number of external and internal factors, including mutations in DNA damage recognition and repair. Disorders of DNA repair may result in increased sensitivity to cancer treatment. PURPOSE: The mechanism of DNA repair and an overview of genetic syndromes with mutations in genes involved in DNA repair clarify the accelerated carcinogenesis and increased radiosensitivity in RT cancers...

In a medical accelerator, real-time monitoring systems of the beam and dose delivered to the patient are mandatory. In this work, we present a compact current profile detector that has been designed and tested in the framework of the TOP-IMPLART (Intensity Modulated Proton Linear Accelerator for RadioTerapy) project. This project foresees the realization of a proton linear accelerator, currently under construction at ENEA Frascati, for proton therapy applications. The linac produces a pulsed proton beam with 3 µs duration at 50 Hz repetition rate with a pulse current between 0...

BACKGROUND: Hyaluronic acid (HA) is one of the largest and most important components of the extracellular matrix. It is found in high amounts in the vitreous humor, umbilical cord, dermis, synovial fluid and heart valves. Up to 80-90% of the circulating HA undergoes catabolism in the liver and 10% is eliminated by the kidney. It is widely used in many branches of medicine. Studies have demonstrated that it provides angiogenic and anti-adhesive effect, collagen storage, cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, balancing osmotic pressure, removing waste, balancing the distribution of high molecular weight proteins and increasing angiogenesis; it has inflammatory effect, provides wound healing and immunostimulators...

INTRODUCTION: The exact location of the original tumor should be known for a targeted increase in the dose to the tumor bed after breast cancer surgery. Therefore, at our site, we perform CT examinations of patients in the radiation position before breast cancer surgery. METHODS: Preoperative native CT scans were performed in the patients in the planning position for radiotherapy; these data were fused with standard planning CT for boost irradiation. We evaluated whether the tumor was accurately identifiable in preoperative CT scans...

The purpose of this study was to compare the radiation dose to organs at risk for deep-inspiration breath hold (DIBH) and free-breathing (FB) radiotherapy in patients with lef-sided breast cancer undergoing adjuvant radiotherapy after partial mastectomy.  Methods: One hundred patients with left-sided breast cancer underwent DIBH and FB planning computed tomography scans, and the 2 techniques were compared. Dose-volume histograms were analyzed for heart, left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), and left lung...

BACKGROUND: Recurrent head and neck carcinomas represent a therapeutic challenge for the surgeons as well as for the treating radiation oncologists. Despite advances in the treatment of newly dia-gnosed head and neck carcinomas, relapses occur very frequently and contribute significantly to patient mortality. External beam reirradiation is still considered to be a controversial therapeutic intervention. Historically, in the era of 2- and 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, its narrow therapeutic ratio has long led to a general concern that the potential benefit could not sufficiently outweigh the high risk associated with the treatment...

The poor outcome of pancreas ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) is frequently linked to therapy resistance. Modulated electro-hyperthermia (mEHT) generated by 13.56 MHz capacitive radiofrequency can induce direct tumor damage and promote chemo- and radiotherapy. Here, we tested the effect of mEHT either alone or in combination with radiotherapy using an in vivo model of Panc1, a KRAS and TP53 mutant, radioresistant PDAC cell line. A single mEHT shot of 60 min induced ~50% loss of viable cells and morphological signs of apoptosis including chromatin condensation, nuclear shrinkage and apoptotic bodies...

We present a case of a young 26-year-old woman, who has been suffering from localised scleroderma (morphea) for 15 years. Recently, a lesion on the dorsum of her right foot ulcerated. Based on a CT scan and X-ray a diagnosis of ulcerative osteomyellitis was established. The patient was treated with a combination of antibiotics. Subsequent histological examinations showed granulomatous tissue and chronic inflammatory changes on top of pseudoepiteliomatous hyperplasia. The patients status was deteriorating, which resulted in a limb amputation under the knee...

BACKGROUND: Vulva anatomy--FIGO classification--Vulva tumors anatomopathology--Tretments of vulva cancers. METHODS: Our stady is a retrospective, longitudinal and continuous one. It concerns 11 malignant vulva tumors whith were treated in the département "C" of the centre of maternity of Tunis. The period of stady is fifty four months (2002-2006). AIM: The aim of our study is to analyse the charactéristics of the vulva cancer and to compare our results to littérature...

PURPOSE: To report toxicity and local control in patients with localized prostate cancer, treated with high dose radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of 100 consecutive patients with clinically localized prostate cancer treated between june 2003 and may 2006 were reviewed. They received 80 Gy to the target volume with a biphasic technique (3DCRT + IMRT). The median pretreatment PSA was 9. The median follow-up time was 12 months. RESULTS: Eighteen (18%) developed acute Grade 2 rectal toxicity, and no patient experienced acute grade 3 or higher rectal symptoms...

Isolated recurrence of rectal carcinoma have been reported from 7% to 33% with a median of 15. Increasing recurrence is associated with increasing Dukes's stage. Patient who have recurrence after a low-anterior resection are more likely to present with non fixed, surgically correctable lesion versus recurrences after abdominoperineal resection. The most common symptom related to pelvic recurrence is pain, which may be perineal or radiate to the lower extremities. The diagnosis of a locally recurrent rectal cancer was obtained with CT; imaging is the first step to estimate the extent and location of the local tumor growth and the presence or absence of distant metastases...

In eighty patients with glioblastomas surgically treated, there were nine patients (11%) survived for more than three years, and one of the 9 patients survived for six years. The contributing factors responsible for the longteun survival are: (a) extensive removal of the tumor; (b) radioterapy by linear accelarator (40-60Gy) after surgery; (c) post operative chemotherapy with BCNU.

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