Feasibility and safety of Taipei Veterans General Hospital Heavy Ion Therapy Center: The first carbon-ion irradiation facility in Taiwan.

Background: Unlike conventional photon radiotherapy, particle therapy has the advantage of dose distribution. Carbon-ion radiotherapy is also advantageous in terms of biological effectiveness and other radiobiological aspects. These benefits lead to a higher response probability for previously known radioresistant tumor types.

The effect of radiotherapy on patients with pathological stage IIB breast cancer after breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy: A cohort study.

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, and treatment options include surgery, systemic therapies, and radiotherapy (RT). While postoperative RT plays an important role in reducing local recurrence rates and improving survival outcomes, its exact impact on patients with pathological stage IIB breast cancers remains unidentified.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, patients with newly diagnosed pathological stage IIB breast cancer who underwent surgery and postoperative RT were included.

Carbon Ion Radiotherapy: An Evidence-Based Review and Summary Recommendations of Clinical Outcomes for Skull-Base Chordomas and Chondrosarcomas.

Skull-base chordoma and chondrosarcoma are rare radioresistant tumors treated with surgical resection and/or radiotherapy. Because of the established dosimetric and biological benefits of heavy particle therapy, we performed a systematic and evidence-based review of the clinical outcomes of patients with skull-base chordoma and chondrosarcoma treated with carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT). A literature review was performed using a MEDLINE search of all articles to date.

Is it advisable to perform radiosurgery for EGFR-TKI-controlled brain metastases? A retrospective study of the role of radiosurgery in lung cancer treatment.

Purpose: Given the availability of TKIs with high central nervous system efficacy, the question arises as to whether upfront SRS provides additional clinical benefits. The goal of this study was to characterize the clinical outcomes of SRS as salvage therapy for TKI-uncontrolled BMs.

Methods: This retrospective study included EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients presenting BMs at the time of primary tumor diagnosis.

Association of radiation dose to cardiac substructures with major ischaemic events following breast cancer radiotherapy.

Background And Aims: Patients with left-sided breast cancer receive a higher mean heart dose (MHD) after radiotherapy, with subsequent risk of ischaemic heart disease. However, the optimum dosimetric predictor among cardiac substructures has not yet been determined.

Methods And Results: This study retrospectively reviewed 2158 women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant radiotherapy.

Association Between Pseudoprogression of Vestibular Schwannoma After Radiosurgery and Radiological Features of Solid and Cystic Components.

Background And Objectives: The pathophysiology of vestibular schwannoma (VS) pseudoprogression after Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) remains unclear. Radiological features in pretreatment magnetic resonance images may help predict VS pseudoprogression. This study used VS radiological features quantified using an automated segmentation algorithm to predict pseudoprogression after GKRS treatment.

Leptomeningeal metastasis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer after stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastasis.

Objective: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an effective treatment for brain metastases (BMs) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, factors associated with the development of post-SRS leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) remain unclear. The authors analyzed the incidence and risk factors of LM development in patients with NSCLC and BMs after SRS and examined the survival outcomes and prognostic factors after LM development.

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Irradiation of Surgical Cavity of Brain Metastases: Factor Analysis and Gene Mutations.

(1) Background: Surgical resection for the removal of brain metastases often fails to prevent tumor recurrence within the surgical cavity; hence, researchers are divided as to the benefits of radiation treatment following surgical resection. This retrospective study assessed the effects of post-operative stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) on local tumor control and overall survival. (2) Methods: This study examined the demographics, original tumor characteristics, and surgical outcomes of 97 patients who underwent Gamma Knife Radiosurgery (GKRS) treatment (103 brain metastases).

Magnetic resonance imaging signal characteristics associated with prognosis of skull base chordoma after gamma knife radiosurgery.

Objective: To investigate the association between the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal characteristics of skull base chordoma and radiosurgical outcomes.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with skull base chordomas treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) after previous surgical resection were retrospectively (2001-2021) examined. Pre-GKRS MRIs were analyzed for R (tumor-to-brainstem signal intensity ratio on T2-weighted imaging), R (tumor-to-brainstem signal intensity ratio on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging), and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC).

Natural history of lung squamous cell brain metastases in patients treated with radiosurgery: a thirty-year experience at a tertiary medical center.

Purpose: In this study we report our 30-year experience in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treatment of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) brain metastases (BMs). It will serve to provide detailed longitudinal outcomes and predictors of efficacy in treating LUSC-BMs with SRS.

Method: We retrospectively reviewed 51 patients and 109 tumors treated with SRS at our center between 1993 and 2022.

EGFR mutant status and tyrosine-kinase inhibitors affect the GKRS outcomes for NSCLC brain metastases.

Objective: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is the first-line treatment for EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, its applicability to patients with wild-type NSCLC remains an issue of contention. This study compared the effects of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) alone versus combining GKRS and TKIs in treating two genetic forms of NSCLC.

Methods: This retrospective study examined 479 NSCLC patients with 1982 brain metastases who underwent GKRS and for whom imaging follow-up data or death records were available.

Compactness index: a radiosurgery outcome predictor for patients with unruptured brain arteriovenous malformations.

Objective: The goal of the study was to define and quantify brain arteriovenous malformation (bAVM) compactness and to assess its effect on outcomes after Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for unruptured bAVMs.

Methods: Unsupervised machine learning with fuzzy c-means clustering was used to differentiate the tissue constituents of bAVMs on T2-weighted MR images. The percentages of vessel, brain, and CSF were quantified.

Combined stereotactic radiosurgery and tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy versus tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy alone for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer patients with brain metastases.

Objective: Whether combined radiation and tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain metastases (BMs) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations confers additional benefits over TKI therapy alone remains a matter of debate. The goal of this study was to compare outcomes between combined TKI therapy with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) versus TKI therapy alone in NSCLC patients with BMs and EGFR mutations.

Methods: Consecutive cases of NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations and BMs treated with TKIs were selected for inclusion in this study.

The Irradiated Brain Volume Within 12 Gy Is a Predictor for Radiation-Induced Changes After Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Patients With Unruptured Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations.

Purpose: Our purpose was to determine whether the coverage of brain parenchyma within the 12 Gy radiosurgical volume (V12) correlates with the development of radiation-induced changes (RICs) in patients with unruptured cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVM) after undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Methods And Materials: This study conducted regular follow-up examinations of 165 patients with unruptured AVMs who had previously undergone SRS. The RICs identified in T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at any time point in the first 3 years after SRS were labeled "early RICs.

Does the Diffuseness of the Nidus Affect the Outcome of Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Patients with Unruptured Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations?

Background: We proposed an algorithm to automate the components within the identification of components within the nidus of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) which may be used to analyze the relationship between its diffuseness and treatment outcomes following stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Objectives: to determine the impact of the diffuseness of the AVM nidus on SRS outcomes.

Methods: This study conducted regular follow-ups of 209 patients with unruptured AVMs who underwent SRS.

Survival impacts of different nodal characteristics and T-classification in N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.

Objectives: We investigated the survival impacts of various nodal characteristics and T-classification on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients with the 8th AJCC/UICC staging criteria N3.

Materials And Methods: Pretreatment MRIs from 110 staged N3 NPC patients were reviewed. There were 23 T1, 25 T2, 32 T3, and 30 T4, respectively.

Repeated gamma knife radiosurgery enables longer tumor control in cases of highly-recurrent intracranial ependymoma.

Purpose: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a potential re-irradiation treatment for recurrent intracranial ependymoma after prior radiation therapy. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy and safety of repeated SRS in the treatment of recurrent intracranial ependymomas.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of consecutive patients with residual or recurrent intracranial ependymomas who were treated with SRS between 1993 and 2018.

Radiomics as prognostic factor in brain metastases treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery.

Purpose: Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) is a non-invasive procedure for the treatment of brain metastases. This study sought to determine whether radiomic features of brain metastases derived from pre-GKRS magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could be used in conjunction with clinical variables to predict the effectiveness of GKRS in achieving local tumor control.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 161 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (576 brain metastases) who underwent GKRS for brain metastases.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery for cerebral cavernous malformation.

This is a retrospective study examining the efficacy and safety of Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKS) in treating patients with cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). Between 1993 and 2018, 261 patients with 331 symptomatic CCMs were treated by GKS. The median age was 39.

Epidermal growth factor receptor mutations: association with favorable local tumor control following Gamma Knife radiosurgery in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and brain metastases.

Objective: The presence of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been associated with elevated radiosensitivity in vitro. However, results from clinical studies on radiosensitivity in cases of NSCLC with EGFR mutations are inconclusive. This paper presents a retrospective analysis of patients with NSCLC who underwent regular follow-up imaging after radiotherapy for brain metastases (BMs).