Thymidine phosphorylase to dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase ratio as a predictive factor of response to preoperative chemoradiation with capecitabine in patients with advanced rectal cancer.

Purpose: To identify if thymidine phosphorylase (TP), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), and ratio TP/DPD levels in tumor tissues are potential predictive factors for response to combined preoperative chemoradiation with capecitabine, in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).

Methods And Patients: Between 2004 and 2006, 28 patients with LARC (cT2-T4, N0-N2) were treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation. Total radiation dose was 50.

Dosimetry in translation total body irradiation technique: a computer treatment planning approach and an experimental study concerning lung sparing.

Purpose: To describe and evaluate a method that uses a 3-dimensional (3D) treatment planning system (TPS) to determine the relative dose to the lung, and to study the beam filtration required for lung sparing in translation total body irradiation (TBI). Special dosimetric problems related to moving couch were also considered.

Materials And Methods: The irradiation technique employed in our hospital is that of patient translation.

Concurrent hypofractionated radiotherapy and 5-Fluorouracil for advanced sarcomas of the bone.

Purpose. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) has shown radiosensitizing properties in vitro. This paper reports the effects of radiotherapy and concomitant intravenous 5-FU radiosensitization in the treatment of advanced bone sarcomas.

Intraoperative electron beam radiotherapy followed by moderate doses of external beam radiotherapy in the treatment of resected soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities.

Purpose: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) have a high incidence of local recurrence. In an effort to improve the local control rate and the survival in patients with STS, treatment strategies employing intraoperative electron beam radiotherapy (IOERT) in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and extensive surgical resection have been explored. This study assesses the rate of overall survival (OS), local control and toxicity of this multimodal approach for primary and recurrent STS of the extremities.

Pre-operative chemoradiotherapy with oral capecitabine in locally advanced, resectable rectal cancer.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of pre-operative chemoradiotherapy with oral capecitabine in Greek patients with locally advanced, resectable rectal cancer.

Materials And Methods: Thirty patients, 16 men and 14 women with a median age of 58 years (range, 21-75 years), with potentially resectable T3NO (30%), T3N1 (53%) and T4NO-1 (17%) rectal cancer, were treated with capecitabine (825 mg/m(2), twice daily for 7 days/week) and concomitant radiotherapy (50.4 Gy/28 fractions) for 5.

Randomized phase II study of temozolomide and radiotherapy compared with radiotherapy alone in newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

Purpose: Surgery remains the standard treatment for glioma, followed by radiotherapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy. Despite multidisciplinary approaches, the median survival time for patients with glioblastoma multiform (GBM) remains at less than 1 year from initial diagnosis. Temozolomide (TMZ), an oral alkylating agent, has shown promising activity in the treatment of malignant gliomas.

Clinical and experimental evidence of Bcl-2 involvement in the response to photodynamic therapy.

Purpose: The role of apoptosis related proteins in the response of human malignancies to photodynamic therapy (PDT) is under investigation. The aim of the study was to examine the role of p53 and of bcl-2 protein expression in the response to PDT.

Materials And Methods: Paraffin-embedded material from 37 patients with early esophageal cancer treated with PDT (argon dye laser after intravenous injection of hematoporphyrine derivative) was studied immunohistochemically for p53 protein nuclear accumulation and bcl-2 cytoplasmic expression.

Outcome of patients receiving photodynamic therapy for early esophageal cancer.

Purpose: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has shown remarkable activity in a variety of human cancers. In the present study, we report the effects of PDT on inoperable early-stage esophageal cancer.

Methods And Materials: Sixty-two patients were treated with an argon dye laser (630 nm wavelength, 300-800 mW of power, energy dose of 200-300 J/cm) after intravenous injection of 5 mg/kg of hematoporphyrin derivative.

Liposomal doxorubicin and conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and head and neck cancer.

Purpose: Stealth (ALZA Corporation, Palo Alto, CA) liposomal drug formulation allows a higher intratumoral accumulation and a prolonged plasma half-life of the encapsulated drugs. In the study presented here, we evaluated the feasibility of Stealth liposomal doxorubicin (Caelyx; ALZA Corporation) administered concurrently with conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and head and neck cancer (HNC).

Patients And Methods: Fifteen patients with NSCLC and 15 with squamous-cell HNC were recruited in two phase I dose-escalation trials.

Concurrent conventionally factionated radiotherapy and weekly docetaxel in the treatment of stage IIIb non-small-cell lung carcinoma.

Docetaxel has shown remarkable radiosensitizing in vitro properties. In a previous phase I/II dose escalation study in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) we observed a high response rate after concomitant boost radiotherapy and weekly docetaxel. The maximum tolerated dose was 30 mg m(-2) week(-1).

Hypofractionated radiotherapy with 5-fluorouracil radiosensitization for locally "far advanced" breast cancer.

Seventeen patients who had locally far-advanced breast cancer were treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy (4-5 Gy/fraction, twice a week) and concomitant 5-fluorouracil (5-FU 300 mg/m2 intravenously, 1 hour before every radiotherapy fraction). Fourteen of the seventeen patients had disease that was not responding to chemotherapy. Early toxicity was low and none developed grade III/IV toxicity.

Cytogenetic comparisons of synchronous carcinomas and polyps in patients with colorectal cancer.

Thirty tumorous lesions from seven patients with colorectal cancer were short-term cultured and cytogenetically analysed: 16 non-adenomatous polyps, six adenomas, seven carcinomas, including one in polyp, and one lymph node metastasis. Clonal chromosome aberrations were found in 20 samples in 100% of the carcinomas, in 100% of the adenomas and in 37.5% of the non-adenomatous polyps, i.

Correlation between karyotypic pattern and clincopathologic features in 125 breast cancer cases.

A correlation analysis was performed on 125 cytogenetically characterized breast cancer cases to assess the relationship between the tumor karyotype and clinicopathologic features. The carcinomas of young women had a higher modal chromosome number than those of older women. The number of chromosomal aberrations and modal chromosome number were also found to correlate with the histologic type, grade and mitotic activity of the tumor.