Long-Term Outcomes for Patients With Atypical or Malignant Meningiomas Treated With or Without Radiation Therapy: A 25-Year Retrospective Analysis of a Single-Institution Experience.

Purpose: Atypical (World Health Organization [WHO] grade 2) and malignant (WHO grade 3) meningiomas have high rates of local recurrence, and questions remain about the role of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) for patients with WHO grade 2 disease. These patients frequently require salvage therapy, and optimal management is uncertain given limited prospective data. We report on the long-term outcomes for patients with atypical and malignant meningiomas treated with surgery and/or RT at our institution.

Sensitization of Endothelial Cells to Ionizing Radiation Exacerbates Delayed Radiation Myelopathy in Mice.

Delayed radiation myelopathy is a rare, but significant late side effect from radiation therapy that can lead to paralysis. The cellular and molecular mechanisms leading to delayed radiation myelopathy are not completely understood but may be a consequence of damage to oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and vascular endothelial cells. Here, we aimed to determine the contribution of endothelial cell damage to the development of radiation-induced spinal cord injury using a genetically defined mouse model in which endothelial cells are sensitized to radiation due to loss of the tumor suppressor p53.

Characterization of cardiovascular injury in mice following partial-heart irradiation with clinically relevant dose and fractionation.

Background And Purpose: Late cardiac toxicity is a major side effect of radiation therapy (RT) for breast cancer. We developed and characterized a mouse model of radiation-induced heart disease that mimics the dose, fractionation, and beam arrangement of left breast and chest wall RT.

Material And Methods: Female wild-type (C57BL6/J) and atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE) mice (on a C57BL/6J background) on regular chow were treated with 2 Gy × 25 fractions of partial-heart irradiation via opposed tangential beams to the left chest wall.