Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics study of nicotine exposure in THP-1 monocytes.

The tobacco alkaloid nicotine is known for its activation of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Nicotine is consumed in different ways such as through conventional smoking, e-cigarettes, snuff or nicotine pouches. The use of snuff has been associated with several adverse health effects, such as inflammatory reactions of the oral mucosa and oral cavity cancer.

Evaluation of offline adaptive planning techniques in image-guided brachytherapy of cervical cancer.

Modern three-dimensional image-guided intracavitary high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy is often used in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to manage cervical cancer. Intrafraction motion of critical organs relative to the HDR applicator in the time between the planning CT and treatment delivery can cause marked deviations between the planned and delivered doses. This study examines offline adaptive planning techniques that may reduce intrafraction uncertainties by shortening the time between the planning CT and treatment delivery.

A hybrid planning strategy for stereotactic body radiation therapy of early stage non-small-cell lung cancer.

Currently dynamic conformal arcs (DCA) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) are two popular planning techniques to treat lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) patients. Of the two, DCA has advantages in terms of multi-leaf collimator (MLC) motion, positioning error, and delivery efficiency. However, VMAT is often the choice when critical organ sparing becomes important.

Comparison of the progressive resolution optimizer and photon optimizer in VMAT optimization for stereotactic treatments.

The photon optimization (PO) algorithm was recently released by Varian Medical Systems to improve volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) optimization within Eclipse (Version 13.5). The purpose of this study is to compare the PO algorithm with its predecessor, progressive resolution optimizer (PRO) for lung SBRT and brain SRS treatments.