Innovative therapeutic strategies to overcome radioresistance in breast cancer.

Despite a comparatively favorable prognosis relative to other malignancies, breast cancer continues to significantly impact women's health globally, partly due to its high incidence rate. A critical factor in treatment failure is radiation resistance - the capacity of tumor cells to withstand high doses of ionizing radiation. Advancements in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying radioresistance, coupled with enhanced characterization of radioresistant cell clones, are paving the way for the development of novel treatment modalities that hold potential for future clinical application.

Prognosis versus Actual Outcomes in Stereotactic Radiosurgery of Brain Metastases: Reliability of Common Prognostic Parameters and Indices.

This study aims to evaluate the clinical outcome of stereotactic radiosurgery as the sole treatment for brain metastases and to assess prognostic factors influencing survival. A total of 108 consecutive patients with 213 metastases were retrospectively analyzed. Treatment was determined with close-meshed MRI follow-up.

European Association of Urology Biochemical Recurrence Risk Classification as a Decision Tool for Salvage Radiotherapy-A Multicenter Study.

Background: The European Association of Urology (EAU) has proposed a risk stratification for patients harboring biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP).

Objective: To assess whether this risk stratification helps in choosing patients for salvage radiotherapy (SRT).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Analyses of 2379 patients who developed BCR after RP (1989-2020), within ten European high-volume centers, were conducted.

Impact of COVID-19 on Radiation Oncology, an Austrian Experience.

The COVID-19 pandemic has an unprecedented impact on cancer treatment worldwide. We aimed to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on the radiation treatment of patients in order to provide data for future management of such crises. We compared the number of performed radiotherapy sessions of the pandemic period from February 2020 until May 2021 with those of 2018 and 2019 for reference.

The cancer patient's perspective of COVID-19-induced distress-A cross-sectional study and a longitudinal comparison of HRQOL assessed before and during the pandemic.

Background: To permit timely mitigation of adverse effects on overall clinical outcome, it is essential to understand how the pandemic influences distress and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in cancer patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, adult cancer patients, without COVID-19 symptoms, completed a 13-item questionnaire about the pandemic's impacts on distress and everyday-life; associations with age, sex, or impaired HRQOL were then assessed by binary logistic regressions. In a subsample of patients with HRQOL assessment available from both before and during the pandemic, we evaluated the pandemic's impact on longitudinal changes in HRQOL reported within 6 months before versus during the COVID-19 lockdown using McNemar's test, and thresholds for clinical importance.

Hypofractionated and single-fraction radiosurgery for brain metastases with sex as a key predictor of overall survival.

Overall survival (OS) of patients with brain metastases treated with hypofractionated (HFSRT) or single-fraction (SRS) radiosurgery depends on several prognostic factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of sex as an independent predictor of OS and evaluate the predictive accuracy of common prognostic scores. Retrospective analysis of 281 consecutive patients receiving radiosurgery of brain metastases was performed.

Response evaluation of cervical lymph nodes after chemoradiation in patients with head and neck cancer - does additional [18F]FDG-PET-CT help?

Background: Contrast-enhanced high-resolution computed tomography (contrast-CT) is a standard imaging modality following primary concurrent radiochemotherapy (RCT) for response evaluation in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We investigated the additional benefit of Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) - positron emission tomography with computed tomography (PET-CT), if complete response (CR) in the neck based on contrast-CT was considered unsafe by the interdisciplinary tumor board (ITB).

Methods: In a retrospective observational study, patients recorded in the institutional tumor registry with incident advanced HNSCC following first line treatment with RCT were eligible.

The Role of Cancer Stem Cells in Radiation Resistance.

Cancer stem cells (CSC) are a distinct subpopulation within a tumor. They are able to self-renew and differentiate and possess a high capability to repair DNA damage, exhibit low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and proliferate slowly. These features render CSC resistant to various therapies, including radiation therapy (RT).

Intrafractional 6D head movement increases with time of mask fixation during stereotactic intracranial RT-sessions.

Background: The present study investigates the intrafractional accuracy of a frameless thermoplastic mask used for head immobilization during stereotactic radiotherapy. Non-invasive masks cannot completely prohibit head movements. Previous studies attempted to estimate the magnitude of intrafractional inaccuracy by means of pre- and postfractional measurements only.

Occurrence of pneumonitis following radiotherapy of breast cancer - A prospective study.

Aim: of this study is to determine the temporal resolution of therapy-induced pneumonitis, and to assess promoting factors in adjuvant treated patients with unilateral mammacarcinoma.

Patients And Methods: A total of 100 post-surgery patients were recruited. The cohort was treated by 2 field radiotherapy (2FRT; breast and chest wall, N = 75), 3 field radiotherapy (3FRT; + supraclavicular lymphatic region, N = 8), or with 4 field radiotherapy (4FRT; + parasternal lymphatic region, N = 17).

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.

Proteomic approach to understand metastatic spread.

The majority of tumor-related deaths are due to metastasis. Despite the clinical importance of understanding metastasis, we lack knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor cell spreading and cell survival far from the primary tumor. Elucidating the molecular characteristics of highly metastatic carcinoma cells would help identify biomarkers or therapeutic targets relevant to predicting or combatting metastasis, and for this the phenotype of metastatic cells could be much more important than their genotype.

Rac1 as a multifunctional therapeutic target to prevent and combat cancer metastasis.

Metastatic progression of malignant tumors resistant to conventional therapeutic approaches is an ultimate challenge in clinical oncology. Despite the efforts of basic and clinical researchers, there is still no effective treatment schedule to prevent or combat metastatic spread of malignant tumors. This report presents recent findings that could help in the development of targeted therapeutics directed against the most aggressive and treatment-resistant carcinoma cells.

T cell receptor-mediated activation is a potent inducer of macroautophagy in human CD8(+)CD28(+) T cells but not in CD8(+)CD28(-) T cells.

A key feature of the aged human immune system is the accumulation of highly differentiated CD8(+)CD28(-) T cells, a phenomenon that negatively influences immune function in the elderly. However, the mechanisms that regulate survival or death of CD8(+)CD28(-) T cells remain incompletely understood. Macroautophagy has been shown to protect cells from unfavorable environmental conditions and extend lifespan of various cells and organisms.

The effect of chronological age on the inflammatory response of human fibroblasts.

The immune system undergoes profound age-related changes, including a gradual increase in the production and circulation of proinflammatory cytokines. Despite the known capacity of fibroblasts to produce cytokines, little is known so far about the inflammatory response of fibroblasts to cellular stress such as viral and/or bacterial infection in the context of aging. Therefore the aim of this study was to analyze the levels of IL6 and IL8 secretion in supernatants of human skin fibroblasts from young and elderly persons.

Upregulation of miR-24 is associated with a decreased DNA damage response upon etoposide treatment in highly differentiated CD8(+) T cells sensitizing them to apoptotic cell death.

The life-long homeostasis of memory CD8(+) T cells as well as persistent viral infections have been shown to facilitate the accumulation of highly differentiated CD8(+) CD28(-) T cells, a phenomenon that has been associated with an impaired immune function in humans. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating homeostasis of CD8(+) CD28(-) T cells have not yet been elucidated. In this study, we demonstrate that the miR-23∼24∼27 cluster is up-regulated during post-thymic CD8(+) T-cell differentiation in humans.

Gain and loss of T cell subsets in old age--age-related reshaping of the T cell repertoire.

The immune system is affected by the aging process and undergoes significant age-related changes, termed immunosenescence. Different T cell subsets are affected by this process. Alterations within the bone marrow and thymus lead to a shift in the composition of the T cell repertoire from naïve to antigen-experienced T cells, thereby compromising the diversity of the T cell pool.