High Response Rate and Prolonged Survival of Unresectable Biliary Tract Cancer Treated With a New Combination Therapy Consisting of Intraarterial Chemotherapy Plus Radiotherapy.

Synopsis: A new combination therapy consisting of intraarterial chemotherapy plus radiotherapy was demonstrated to have the potential to improve the response rate and survival time in patients with unresectable biliary tract cancer.

Purpose: We retrospectively investigated the effectiveness and safety of a new combination therapy consisting of intraarterial chemotherapy plus radiation therapy (AI+RT), which may have the potential to improve unresectable biliary tract cancer (BTC).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 52 BTC cases treated with AI+RT and analyzed the anti-tumor effect, survival time and adverse events.

A multi-institutional retrospective analysis of external radiotherapy for mucosal melanoma of the head and neck in Northern Japan.

Purpose: A multi-institutional retrospective study was performed in northern Japan to analyze the outcome of external radiotherapy as the definitive treatment modality for localized mucosal melanoma of the head and neck.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-one patients with localized mucosal melanoma of the head and neck treated by external radiotherapy at nine institutions of the Northern Japan Radiation Therapy Oncology Group between 1980 and 1999 were enrolled in this study. Radiotherapy alone was performed in 21 patients, and the remaining 10 patients received postoperative radiotherapy for gross residual tumors.

Intraluminal low-dose-rate 192Ir brachytherapy combined with external beam radiotherapy and biliary stenting for unresectable extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the results of combined-modality therapy, including external beam radiotherapy, intraluminal (192)Ir, and biliary stenting for extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: Between 1988 and 1998, 93 patients with unresectable extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma underwent definitive radiotherapy. The dose of external beam radiotherapy was 50 Gy in 25 fractions.

[Percutaneous transhepatic central venous port implantation via the middle hepatic vein: a case report].

Percutaneous transhepatic central venous access with a subcutaneous infusion port was performed in a 34-year-old woman with extensive third-degree burns whose peripheral vessels were not available because of infection or dermatoplastic sites. This procedure could be done in the same way as the usual PTCD maneuver without serious complications. The infusion system functioned well, and the patient's alimentation could be carried out.