Multi-centre evaluation of variation in cumulative dose assessment in reirradiation scenarios.

Background And Purpose: Safe reirradiation relies on assessment of cumulative doses to organs at risk (OARs) across multiple treatments. Different clinical pathways can result in inconsistent estimates. Here, we quantified the consistency of cumulative dose to OARs across multi-centre clinical pathways.

Evaluation of a dedicated software for semi-automated VMAT planning of spine Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT).

Purpose: To determine whether SBRT of spinal metastasis using a dedicated treatment planning system (TPS) and delivered with a gantry-based LINAC could provide plans of similar quality to the Cyberknife technology. Additional comparison was also done with other commercial TPS used for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) planning.

Materials And Methods: Thirty Spine SBRT patients, previously treated in our institution with CyberKnife (Accuray, Sunnyvale) using Multiplan TPS, were replanned in VMAT with an dedicated TPS (Elements Spine SRS, Brainlab, Munich) and our clinical TPS (Monaco, Elekta LTD, Stockholm), using exactly the same arc geometry.

Management of reirradiations: A clinical and technical overview based on a French survey.

Introduction: The reirradiation number increased due to systemic therapies and patient survival. Few guidelines regarding acceptable cumulative doses to organs at risk (OARs) and appropriate dose accumulation tools need, made reirradiation challenging. The survey objective was to present the French current technical and clinical practices in reirradiations.

Clinical outcomes and lung toxicities after lung SABR using dynamic conformal arc therapy: a single-institution cohort study.

Background: Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is a validated treatment for early stage lung cancer and pulmonary metastases. It provides a high local control rate with low symptomatic toxicities. Recently, Dynamic Conformal Arc Therapy (DCAT), a delivery option that differs from conventional DCA, has been implemented in the Monaco Treatment Planning System for SABR.

Measuring Binding at the Putative Melatonin Receptor MT3.

Melatonin, (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine), is a neurohormone which possesses a wide range of biological effects. The effects mediated by melatonin are in part attributed to the antioxidant properties of the molecule. For a long time, melatonin had been described as a ligand of a putative "receptor" present in mammalian brains named MT.

Reirradiation: A complex situation.

Reirradiation of a tumor recurrence or second cancer in a previously irradiated area is challenging due to lack of high-quality physical, radiobiological, clinical data and inherent substantial risks of toxicity with cumulative dose and uncertain tissue recovery. Yet, major advances have been made in radiotherapy techniques, that have the potential to achieve cure while limiting severe toxicity rates, but still much research is necessary to better appraise the therapeutic index in such a complex situation.

Problematic rise of vitamin B6 supplementation overuse and potential risk to bariatric surgery patients.

Objectives: Due to the increased prevalence of obesity in the world, bariatric surgeries are on the rise and necessitate life-long surveillance for deficiencies; hence the recommended vitamin supplementation in these patients. However, inadequate multivitamin supplementation may induce vitamin B6 overload.

Methods: We reviewed all vitamin B6 dosages at the university hospitals of Poitiers, Tours, Bordeaux, and Limoges for the past 5 to 8 years.

MCH-R1 Antagonist GPS18169, a Pseudopeptide, Is a Peripheral Anti-Obesity Agent in Mice.

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a 19 amino acid long peptide found in the brain of animals, including fishes, batrachians, and mammals. MCH is implicated in appetite and/or energy homeostasis. Antagonists at its receptor (MCH-R1) could be major tools (or ultimately drugs) to understand the mechanism of MCH action and to fight the obesity syndrome that is a worldwide societal health problem.

Autologous stem-cell collection following VTD or VRD induction therapy in multiple myeloma: a single-center experience.

Triplet-drug regimen bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone (VTD) and bortezomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone (VRD) are considered as standard of care induction prior autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) in myeloma. In addition to improve response rate, induction therapy should preserve an adequate stem-cell collection. In the present retrospective study, we analyzed stem-cell collection in 325 newly diagnosed myeloma patients who received either VTD or VRD induction before ASCT.

Mid-position treatment strategy for locally advanced lung cancer: a dosimetric study.

Objective: The internal target volume (ITV) strategy generates larger planning target volumes (PTVs) in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) than the Mid-position (Mid-p) strategy. We investigated the benefit of the Mid-p strategy regarding PTV reduction and dose to the organs at risk (OARs).

Methods: 44 patients with LA-NSCLC were included in a randomized clinical study to compare ITV and Mid-p strategies.

A contemporary look at allergic conjunctivitis.

Allergic eye disease is common, yet often overlooked in North America. In the U.S.

Comparison among four immobilization devices for whole breast irradiation with Helical Tomotherapy.

Purpose: To evaluate the repositioning accuracy of 4 immobilization devices (ID) used for whole breast Helical Tomotherapy treatments: arm float with VacFix® (Par Scientific, Denmark), all-in-one® (AIO®) system (Orfit, Belgium), MacroCast thermoplastic mask (Macromedics, The Netherlands) and BlueBag® system with Arm-Shuttle (Elekta, Sweden).

Materials And Methods: Twenty four women with breast cancer with PTV including the breast/chest wall and lymph nodes were involved in this study (6 women per group). Pretreatment registration results were first collected using automatic bone registration + manual adjustment on the vertebra followed by independent registrations on different ROIs representing each treated area (axillary, mammary chain, clavicular, breast/chest wall).

Do all the linear accelerators comply with the ICRU 91's constraints for stereotactic body radiation therapy treatments?

Recent technological developments in linear accelerators (linacs) and their imaging systems have made it possible to routinely perform stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) treatments. To ensure the security and quality of the treatments, national and international recommendations have been written. This review focuses on the recommendations of the report 91 of the International Commission on Radiation Units (ICRU) on stereotactic treatments with small photon beams and proposes to answer the question of the eligibility of the commercially available accelerators for the treatment of extra-cranial SRT (SBRT).

Volumetric and dosimetric comparison of two delineation guidelines for the radiation treatment of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: Three methods have been recently proposed for the delineation of the primary tumor clinical target volume (CTV-P) in Head and Neck Cancers: the anatomic method popularized in the French literature by Lapeyre et al. the geometric methods proposed by the DAHANCA group, and more recently the international guidelines promoted by Grégoire et al. integrating the latter two.

S29434, a Quinone Reductase 2 Inhibitor: Main Biochemical and Cellular Characterization.

Quinone reductase 2 (QR2, E.C. 1.

Monitoring saltwater intrusion in Rupert Bay, Québec, Canada, after the partial diversion of a major tributary.

As part of a large hydroelectric project in northern Québec (Canada), a portion of the flow of the Rupert River was diverted toward the existing La Grande hydroelectric complex. As a result of the partial diversion, the discharge of the Rupert River at its mouth is reduced by an average of 50% annually. This corresponds to an 18% decrease in the total freshwater inflow into the bay and, thus, to a shift of the upstream limit of the saltwater intrusion in Rupert Bay.

Thermodynamic integration methods, infinite swapping, and the calculation of generalized averages.

In the present paper we examine the risk-sensitive and sampling issues associated with the problem of calculating generalized averages. By combining thermodynamic integration, stationary phase Monte Carlo, and infinite swapping techniques, we develop an approach for such problems and explore its utility for a prototypical class of applications.

Effects of testosterone treatment on body fat and lean mass in obese men on a hypocaloric diet: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Whether testosterone treatment has benefits on body composition over and above caloric restriction in men is unknown. We hypothesised that testosterone treatment augments diet-induced loss of fat mass and prevents loss of muscle mass.

Methods: We conducted a randomised double-blind, parallel, placebo controlled trial at a tertiary referral centre.

Relationships between insulin resistance and frailty with body composition and testosterone in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.

Objective: While androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been associated with insulin resistance and frailty, controlled prospective studies are lacking. We aimed to examine the relationships between insulin resistance and frailty with body composition and testosterone.

Design: Case-control prospective study.

Effect of testosterone treatment on cardiac biomarkers in a randomized controlled trial of men with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To assess the effect of testosterone treatment on cardiac biomarkers in men with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Design: Randomized double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled trial.

Patients: Men aged 35-70 years with T2D and a total testosterone level ≤12·0 nmol/l (346 ng/dl) at high risk of cardiovascular events, median 10-year United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) coronary heart disease (CHD) risk 21% (IQR 16%, 27%).

On performance measures for infinite swapping Monte Carlo methods.

We introduce and illustrate a number of performance measures for rare-event sampling methods. These measures are designed to be of use in a variety of expanded ensemble techniques including parallel tempering as well as infinite and partial infinite swapping approaches. Using a variety of selected applications, we address questions concerning the variation of sampling performance with respect to key computational ensemble parameters.

Effect of testosterone treatment on constitutional and sexual symptoms in men with type 2 diabetes in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the effect of T treatment on constitutional and sexual symptoms in men with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Design: This was a randomized double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled trial.

Setting: The study was conducted at a tertiary referral center.

Effect of testosterone treatment on glucose metabolism in men with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether testosterone therapy improves glucose metabolism in men with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and lowered testosterone.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled trial in 88 men with T2D, aged 35-70 years with an HbA1c ≤8.5% (69 mmol/mol), and a total testosterone level, measured by immunoassay, of ≤12.