Time to surgery and pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiation in rectal cancer: A population study on 2094 patients.

Background: To retrospectively evaluate the difference in terms of pathologic complete response (pCR) according to time elapsed between chemoradiation (CRT) and total mesorectal excision (TME) on a large unselected real-life dataset of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients.

Methods: A multicentre retrospective cohort study of LARC patients from 21 Italian Radiotherapy Institutions was performed. Patients were stratified into 3 different time intervals from CRT.

Value of (18)F-FDG PET for Predicting Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy in Rectal Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive value of (18)F-FDG PET/ CT for pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer.

Materials And Methods: A systematic search was performed (PubMed and Cochrane databases) for potentially relevant studies up to January 2014. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were calculated.

Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in gastric cancer: a pooled analysis of the AIRO gastrointestinal group experience.

Background: Given the poor compliance with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in gastric cancer reported in previous studies, a survey was conducted among 18 Italian institutions within the AIRO Gastrointestinal Group to investigate current treatment modalities, toxicities, and compliance with adjuvant CRT.

Patients And Methods: Data from 348 patients operated on for gastric cancer were collected retrospectively from September 2000 to June 2008 and analyzed. The adjuvant treatments included CRT according to center guidelines.

Adjuvant chemotherapy in rectal cancer: defining subgroups who may benefit after neoadjuvant chemoradiation and resection: a pooled analysis of 3,313 patients.

Recent literature suggests that the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy (aCT) for rectal cancer patients might depend on the response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation (CRT). Aim was to evaluate whether the effect of aCT in rectal cancer is modified by response to CRT and to identify which patients benefit from aCT after CRT, by means of a pooled analysis of individual patient data from 13 datasets. Patients were categorized into three groups: pCR (ypT0N0), ypT1-2 tumour and ypT3-4 tumour.

Early prediction of response by ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT during preoperative therapy in locally advanced rectal cancer: a systematic review.

Aim: To assess the predictive value of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in early assessing response during neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Materials And Methods: A systematic review was performed by search of MEDLINE Library for the following terms: "rectal carcinoma OR rectal cancer", "predictive OR prediction OR response assessment OR response OR assessment", "early OR ad interim", "therapy", "FDG OR (18)F-FDG", "PET OR PET/CT". Articles performed by the use of stand-alone PET scanners were excluded.

Biological target volume overlapping segmentation system method for avoiding false-positive PET findings in assessing response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy in rectal cancer.

Purpose: FDG PET/CT has a recognized high predictive power to assess the response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in patients affected by locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), but a relatively high number of false-positive findings decrease its specificity: with the aim to solve this problem, a new method of imaging analysis is here proposed.

Methods: The new method here described, named Biological target volume (BTV) Overlapping Segmentation System (BOSS), has been applied on 24 consecutive patients with LARC that were all previously classified as nonresponders to CRT by means of the response index criterion that is adopted in our center. The BOSS method is based on the quantification of the amount of superimposition between pretreatment and posttreatment BTV.

Postoperative 5-FU based radiochemotherapy in rectal cancer: retrospective long term results and prognostic factors of a pooled analysis on 1,338 patients.

Aim: To evaluate survival outcomes of patients in pStage II-III rectal cancer treated with adjuvant 5-fluorouracil-based radiochemotherapy and to retrospectively analyze the impact of prognostic variables on local control, metastasis-free survival and cause-specific survival.

Patients And Methods: A total of 1,338 patients, treated between 1985-2005 for locally advanced rectal cancer, who underwent surgery and postoperative 5-fluorouracil-based chemoradiation, were selected.

Results: The actuarial 5- and 10-year outcomes were: local control 87.

Proposal of a new 18F-FDG PET/CT predictor of response in rectal cancer treated by neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy and comparison with PERCIST criteria.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to correlate PERCIST criteria and a new criterion developed in our center that we named PREDIST (PET Residual Disease in Solid Tumor) with tumor regression grade (TRG) classification of pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients affected by rectal cancer.

Methods: Seventy-three consecutive patients affected by locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) were retrospectively included. FDG-PET/CT scans were performed at staging time and after the end of CRT (mean time 6.

Fifteen different 18F-FDG PET/CT qualitative and quantitative parameters investigated as pathological response predictors of locally advanced rectal cancer treated by neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to correlate qualitative visual response and various PET quantification factors with the tumour regression grade (TRG) classification of pathological response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) proposed by Mandard.

Methods: Included in this retrospective study were 69 consecutive patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). FDG PET/CT scans were performed at staging and after CRT (mean 6.

Neoadjuvant therapy with weekly docetaxel and cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil continuous infusion, and concurrent radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer produced a high percentage of long-lasting pathological complete response: a phase 2 study.

Background: This phase 2 study was aimed at defining the pathological response rate of a neoadjuvant schedule including weekly docetaxel and cisplatin, continuous infusion (c.i.) of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and concomitant radiotherapy (RT) in untreated stage II-III adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of mid-distal thoracic esophagus.

A new methodological approach for PET implementation in radiotherapy treatment planning.

In this paper, a new methodological approach to using PET information in radiotherapy treatment planning has been discussed. Computed tomography (CT) represents the primary modality to plan personalized radiation treatment, because it provides the basic electron density map for correct dose calculation. If PET scanning is also performed it is typically coregistered with the CT study.

Information for decision making by patients with early-stage prostate cancer: a comparison across 9 countries.

Purpose: To describe decisional roles of patients with early-stage prostate cancer in 9 countries and to compare the information they rated important for decision making (DM).

Method: A survey of recently treated patients was conducted in Canada, Italy, England, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey. Participants indicated their decisional role in their actual decision and the role they would prefer now.

Development and external validation of a predictive model for pathological complete response of rectal cancer patients including sequential PET-CT imaging.

Purpose: To develop and validate an accurate predictive model and a nomogram for pathologic complete response (pCR) after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for rectal cancer based on clinical and sequential PET-CT data. Accurate prediction could enable more individualised surgical approaches, including less extensive resection or even a wait-and-see policy.

Methods And Materials: Population based databases from 953 patients were collected from four different institutes and divided into three groups: clinical factors (training: 677 patients, validation: 85 patients), pre-CRT PET-CT (training: 114 patients, validation: 37 patients) and post-CRT PET-CT (training: 107 patients, validation: 55 patients).

Patient-reported outcomes after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer: a multicenter prospective observational study.

Objective: To prospectively describe patient-reported outcomes (PROs) after preoperative chemoradiotherapy (pCRT) for rectal cancer.

Background: Little evidence is available on PROs after pCRT for rectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with rectal cancer, candidates to receive pCRT, were enrolled in a multicenter prospective observational trial.

Information needs of early-stage prostate cancer patients: a comparison of nine countries.

Background And Purpose: Providing information to patients can improve their medical and psychological outcomes. We sought to identify core information needs common to most early-stage prostate cancer patients in participating countries.

Material And Methods: Convenience samples of patients treated 3-24 months earlier were surveyed in Canada, England, Italy, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey.

The role of dual-time combined 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and computed tomography in the staging and restaging workup of locally advanced rectal cancer, treated with preoperative chemoradiation therapy and radical surgery.

Purpose: In patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) staging and, after preoperative chemo-radiation therapy (CRT), restaging workup could be useful to tailor therapeutic approaches. Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ([(18)F]FDG-PET) is a promising tool for monitoring the effect of antitumor therapy. This study was aimed to evaluate the possible role of dual time sequential FDG-PET scans in the staging and restaging workup of LARC.

Prognostic value of pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced rectal cancer: long-term analysis of 566 ypCR patients.

Purpose: In the literature, a favorable prognosis was observed for complete pathologic response after preoperative therapy (ypCR) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. The aim of this study is to verify whether ypCR predicts a favorable outcome in a large series of patients.

Methods And Materials: The Gastro-Intestinal Working Group of the Italian Association of Radiation Oncology collected clinical data for 566 patients with ypCR (ypT0N0) after neoadjuvant therapy.

Sequential FDG-PET/CT reliably predicts response of locally advanced rectal cancer to neo-adjuvant chemo-radiation therapy.

Purpose: Prediction of rectal cancer response to preoperative, neo-adjuvant chemo-radiation therapy (CRT) provides the opportunity to identify patients in whom a major response is expected and who may therefore benefit from alternative surgical approaches. Traditional morphological imaging techniques are effective in defining tumour extension in the initial diagnostic and staging work-up, but perform poorly in distinguishing residual neoplastic tissue from scarring post CRT, when restaging the patient before surgery. Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a promising tool for monitoring the effect of anti-tumour therapy.

Long-term prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer previously treated with neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic value of (18)F-FDG PET performed at restaging in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who previously underwent neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy.

Subjects And Methods: Eighty-eight patients with histologically proven rectal cancer classified at clinical TNM stages II and III were enrolled. Six weeks after radiochemotherapy completion, all patients were restaged by sonography, CT, MRI, endoscopy, and (18)F-FDG PET.

A rare case of paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration discovered by whole-body F-18 FDG PET.

A rare case of paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) in a 36-year-old woman is reported. She developed hyposthenia of the inferior limbs, diplopia, and disequilibrium in July 2001. Routine blood tests, tumoral markers, brain MRI, evoked potentials, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination were substantially normal.

Relationship between pathologic T-stage and nodal metastasis after preoperative chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer.

Background: We investigated the relationship between pathologic T-stage and mesorectal metastases after preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for clinical stage II to III rectal carcinoma.

Methods: The records of consecutive patients with clinical stage II to III carcinoma of the mid or low rectum who underwent surgery after CRT were reviewed. Indications for preoperative CRT were cancer up to 11 cm from the anal verge, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 to 2, age 18 to 75 years, and clinical tumor-node-metastasis stage II or III.

Information priorities of Italian early-stage prostate cancer patients and of their health-care professionals.

The study was designed to compare the information priorities of Italian early-stage prostate cancer patients to those of their health-care professionals. Doctors (urologists and oncologists), nurses, radiation therapy technologist (RTs), and patients treated with radiotherapy in Northern Italy were surveyed. Respondents rated the importance of addressing each of 78 questions as: essential, important, or superfluous.

Restaging after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal adenocarcinoma: role of F18-FDG PET.

Multimodality treatment of loco-regional advanced rectal cancer has demonstrated to improve local control and overall survival. Proctoscopy, digital rectal examination (DRE), computer tomography (CT), endorectal ultrasound (ERUS), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cannot correctly detect downstaging in rectal tumors after chemo radiation therapy (CRT). New imaging techniques, like 18F-FDG PET, may play some role in predicting the pathologic response to CRT before surgical resection.