Seeding metastases: The role and clinical utility of circulating tumour cells.

Peripheral human blood is a readily-accessible source of patient material in which circulating tumour cells (CTCs) can be found. Their isolation and characterization holds the potential to provide prognostic value for various solid cancers. Enumeration of CTCs from blood is becoming a common practice in informing prognosis and may guide therapy decisions.

Stereotactic radiosurgery of cranial nonvestibular schwannomas: results of single- and multisession radiosurgery.

Background: Surgical resection of nonvestibular cranial schwannomas carries a considerable risk of postoperative complications. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers a non-invasive treatment alternative. The efficacy and safety of multi-session SRS of nonvestibular cranial schwannomas has not been well studied.

Impact of integrated PET/CT on variability of target volume delineation in rectal cancer.

Several studies have demonstrated substantial variability among individual radiation oncologists in defining target volumes using computed tomography (CT). The objective of this study was to determine the impact of combined positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET/CT) on inter-observer variability of target volume delineation in rectal cancer. We also compared the relative concordance of two PET imaging tracers, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and 18F-fluorodeoxythymidine (FLT), against conventional computed tomography (CT).

Clinical manifestations of noncoronary atherosclerotic vascular disease after moderate dose irradiation.

Background: Accelerated atherosclerosis and carotid stenosis are well-established risks occurring after high radiation doses that are used to treat cancers of the head and neck. Noncoronary vascular disease has been observed and may relate to more moderate dose irradiation.

Methods: A search of patients treated for Hodgkin disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or seminoma was performed to identify cases with noncoronary vascular complications after irradiation.

Preoperative PSA velocity is an independent prognostic factor for relapse after radical prostatectomy.

Purpose: Preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) velocity (PSAV), or the rate of PSA rise before diagnosis, predicts for risk of cancer death after radical prostatectomy (RP). We evaluated the relative merit of established preoperative factors, including biopsy indices and preoperative PSAV, for their impact on relapse after RP.

Patients And Methods: The outcomes of 202 men who underwent RP were reviewed.

Prostate biopsy volume indices do not predict for significant Gleason upgrading.

Significant discordance exists between biopsy and matched prostatectomy grades. This study tests the hypothesis that surrogate tumor volume indices available from biopsies could yield an improved prediction of the underlying pathologic Gleason grade. Records of 124 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy were reviewed.