A domestic porcine model for studying the effects of radiation on head and neck cancers.

Background: Radiation therapy (RT) of the head and neck region is often accompanied by serious side effects. Research in this area is needed to improve treatment outcomes and ameliorate therapy tolerance. Laboratory rodents are barely matching today's clinical standards in RT research.

BMP-2 immobilized on nanocrystalline diamond-coated titanium screws; demonstration of osteoinductive properties in irradiated bone.

Background: Irradiation results in impaired bone healing. Thus, osteosynthesis procedures are afflicted with increased failure rates. To improve osseointegration bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) immobilized on nanocrystalline diamond (NCD)-coated implant surfaces might be 1 solution.

Mesenchymal stem cells show radioresistance in vivo.

Irradiation impacts on the viability and differentiation capacity of tissue-borne mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), which play a pivotal role in bone regeneration. As a consequence of radiotherapy, bones may develop osteoradionecrosis. When irradiating human bone-derived MSC in vitro with increasing doses, the cells' self-renewal capabilities were greatly reduced.

[Small cell lung cancer].

With about 20% of all lung cancers small cell lung cancer (SCLC) represents a major subset of this entity. Although therapeutic improvements did not receive as much attention as in non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), many small steps of clinical progress have been achieved within the last 20 years. An optimal treatment should be based on an interdisciplinary treatment plan.

[Updated strategies in Small Cell Lung Cancer post ASCO 2007].

Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) is associated with intensive nicotine consumption and characterized by a very aggressive growth rate. Furthermore, metastases often appear very early. At the annual meeting of the "American Society of Clinical Oncology" (ASCO) 2007, recent issues which will influence the daily clinical practice were presented.

Increased CD133 expression in bone marrow of myelodysplastic syndromes.

Fresh frozen bone marrow biopsies were evaluated immunohistochemically, applying monoclonal antibodies against CD31, CD34, VEGFR-2 and CD133, a novel marker identifying human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Specimens of 51 patients diagnosed with MDS were compared with 16 AML and 18 controls. The percentage of CD34 expressing cells was increased and CD31 expression was decreased in advanced stages of MDS compared with normal BM.

Comparative treatment planning on localized prostate carcinoma conformal photon- versus proton-based radiotherapy.

Purpose: To assess the potential benefit of proton-beam therapy in comparison to 3-D conformal photon therapy and photon- based intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in prostate carcinoma for various stages of disease.

Material And Methods: In five patients a 3-D conformal proton-based (two lateral beams) irradiation technique was compared with 3-D conformal photon-beam radiotherapy (four-field box) and IMRT (seven beams). For each patient different target volumes (CTVs) were defined according to early, intermediate and advanced stages of disease: CTV I consisted of the prostate gland, CTV II encompassed prostate and basis of seminal vesicles, and CTV III the prostate and seminal vesicles.

The status of MedAustron.

This paper describes the status of the design study of the Austrian Ion Therapy and Cancer-Research Centre Project MedAustron. This work was performed during the last two years by the MedAustron study group. The team was spread out over several research institutes and University clinics, with full-time members at the Medical University of Vienna, Innsbruck Medical University and Fotec, Wiener Neustadt in collaboration with the Medical University Graz, the Hospital of Wiener Neustadt, the Vienna University of Technology and the research institutes CERN, PSI, the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava and the Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana.

Light ion facility projects in Europe: methodological aspects for the calculation of the treatment cost per protocol.

In the framework of the European Network for Research in Light Ion Hadron Therapy (ENLIGHT), the health economics group develops a methodology for assessing important investment and operating costs of this innovative treatment against its expected benefits. The main task is to estimate the cost per treated patient. The cost analysis is restricted to the therapeutic phase from the hospital point of view.

The patient positioning concept for the planned MedAustron centre.

Especially for ion therapy, efficiency in form of patient throughput is becoming increasingly important, and here, patient positioning in treatment room isocenter is a key aspect. In order to ascertain high quality nonetheless, we suggest an alternative to the rigidly installed couch paradigm in form of real-time patient positioning onhand a ceiling mounted infrared photogrammetric system giving positioning information to a novel treatment couch with 6 degrees of freedom integrated on a rolling platform. All MedAustron treatment planning rooms and even the planning CT are not forseen to have a rigidly installed treatment couch.

The med AUSTRON/OGRO patterns of care study on radiotherapy indications in Austria.

Purpose: In Austria a national survey was conducted by Med AUSTRON/Osterreichische Gesellschaft for Radio--Onkologie, Radiobiologie und Medizinische Radiophysik (OGRO) in order to estimate the indications, patient numbers and radiotherapy treatment planning procedures and performances at all Austrian radiotherapy institutes. Results were correlated with incidence rates (Austrian cancer registry) to determine patterns of radiotherapy practice in Austria.

Material And Methods: At 12 radiotherapy departments of Austria data of all patients receiving irradiation within a 3 months (2002/2003) period were assessed.

Epidemiological aspects of hadron therapy: a prospective nationwide study of the Austrian project MedAustron and the Austrian Society of Radiooncology (OEGRO).

Background: The planned MedAustron hadron therapy facility is designed to compare proton and carbon ion beam therapy under the same technical conditions. For the calculation of the number of potential patients for hadron therapy so far, only epidemiological estimations on cancer incidence are available without inclusion of the percentage of patients routinely referred to conventional radiotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Nationwide prospective survey to collect disease and treatment related data on patients receiving conventional radiotherapy at all 12 treatment facilities.

Reproducibility of patient positioning for fractionated extracranial stereotactic radiotherapy using a double-vacuum technique.

Background And Purpose: Precise reproducible patient positioning is a prerequisite for conformal fractionated radiotherapy. A fixation system based on double-vacuum technology is presented which can be used for conventional as well as hypofractionated stereotactic extracranial radiotherapy.

Material And Methods: To form the actual vacuum mattress, the patient is pressed into the mattress with a vacuum foil which can also be used for daily repositioning and fixation.

Treatment planning comparison of conventional, 3D conformal, and intensity-modulated photon (IMRT) and proton therapy for paranasal sinus carcinoma.

Purpose: To determine the potential improvements in patients with paranasal sinus carcinoma by comparing proton and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with conventional and conformal photon treatment planning techniques.

Methods And Materials: In 5 patients, comparative treatment planning was performed by comparing proton plans and related conventional, conformal, and IMRT photon plans. The evaluations analyzed dose-volume histogram findings of the target volumes and organs at risk (OARs, i.

A simple and non-invasive vacuum mouthpiece-based head fixation system for high precision radiotherapy.

Purpose: To demonstrate why conventional non-invasive mouthpiece-based fixation has not achieved the expected accuracy and to suggest a solution of the problem.

Patients And Methods: The Vogele Bale Hohner (VBH) head holder is a non-invasive vacuum mouthpiece-based head fixation system. Feasibility and repositioning accuracy were evaluated by portal image analysis in 12 patients with cranial tumors intended for stereotactic procedures, fixated with the newest version (VBH HeadFix-ARC).

Head and neck tumors: fractionated frameless stereotactic interstitial brachytherapy-initial experience.

The authors used a frameless stereotactic navigation system, the Vogele-Bale-Hohner head holder, and a targeting device to reproducibly position brachytherapy needles for fractionated interstitial brachytherapy in 12 patients with inoperable cancers of the head and neck. In all cases, deviations of the needle relative to the planned position were within 1-15 mm depending on the location of the tumor.

A challenge for high-precision radiation therapy: the case for hadrons.

Developments in Hadron therapy, i.e., fast neutrons, protons, pions, heavy ions and boron neutron capture therapy are reviewed.

New drugs for BNCT: an experimental approach.

New kinds of boron-containing drugs were developed and tested in several murine tumor models. The boron-containing ether lipid B-Et-11-OMe was injected in mammary carcinoma (AT17) and osteosarcoma (OTS-64) bearing mice. Furthermore boron-substituted ferrocenium derivatives were tested.

Oxygen tension in transplanted mouse osteosarcomas during fractionated high-LET- and low-LET radiotherapy--predictive aspects for choosing beam quality?

Purpose: The lower OER of high-LET radiations, compared to conventional (low-LET) radiations, has often been put forward as an argument for using high-LET radiotherapy in the management of hypoxic tumours. Among the different neutron beams used in therapy, the reactor fission neutrons have the lowest OER. The aim of the present study is to follow the variations of tumour oxygenation status during fractionated irradiation with different radiation qualities.