Permanent iodine-125 implants in the up-front treatment of malignant gliomas.

Between July 1989 and July 1992, 58 patients with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed malignant gliomas (40 anaplastic astrocytomas, 18 glioblastoma multiforme) underwent implantation with low-activity iodine-125 sources. Patients were considered appropriate candidates for brachytherapy if their Karnofsky scores were > or = 70 and their contrast-enhancing tumors were < 6 cm in maximum diameter. Tumor volumes ranged from 0.

The use of high-power lasers in oral surgery.

This study describes the treatment of 2989 patients with different type of lasers. The argon laser beam was used in 57 cases for procedures ranging from portwine stains, telangiectasias, and angiofibromas to other vascular lesions. Eighty-four operations including treatment of leukoplakia and hemangioma were performed using the Nd YAG laser.

Pituitary adenoma in adolescents: a biologically more aggressive disease?

Purpose: To determine whether pituitary adenomas behave more aggressively in patients aged 20 years or younger.

Materials And Methods: Of 178 patients with pituitary adenoma considered for radiation therapy, 18 (10.1%) were aged 20 years or younger at the time of diagnosis.

Chemoradiotherapy of esophageal carcinoma.

Background: Chemoradiotherapy has demonstrated efficacy in esophageal cancer but rarely is curative. To improve local control and decrease metastases, a 7-month regimen was used with standard-dose radiotherapy (RT), cisplatin (DDP), and continuous infusion (CI) 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in patients with locoregional squamous/adenocarcinoma of the esophagus.

Methods: Initial treatment consisted of RT to the esophagus (4000-5000 cGy) for 5-6 weeks, CI 5-FU (300 mg/m2/day) concurrent with RT, and DDP (25 mg/m2/day x 3) for Days 1-3 and 21-23.

Arc repressor will not denature under pressure in the absence of water.

Hydration forces are believed to play a determining role in protein folding. We have examined the contribution of water for the stability of the native dimer state of Arc repressor, a DNA-binding protein. Hydrostatic pressure was utilized to convert Arc repressor protein from a native state to a denatured, molten-globule state at decreasing concentrations of water.

Radiation Therapy for Esophageal Cancer: Improving the Therapeutic Ratio.

Recent studies in nonmetastatic cancer of the esophagus have shown improved local control and survival by the use of combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy compared with radiation only. This has been achieved by accepting an increased incidence of acute side effects, usually mucositis or myelosuppression, secondary to the concurrent therapy. Local tumor resistance or progression has been a major problem, occurring in approximately half of patients following chemoradiation.

A prospective study of short-course radiotherapy in poor prognosis glioblastoma multiforme.

Purpose: Older age and poor performance status at presentation are unfavorable prognostic factors for patients with glioblastoma multiforme. Some studies suggest a shorter, palliative course of radiotherapy may confer similar benefits as compared to a radical course in such patients. We report a prospective, single arm trial, describing the use of a short-course of radiation in patients with glioblastoma and poor prognostic features.

[Combined effect of CO2 and Nd:YAG laser on the rat tongue].

Authors fixed the handpieces of a CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers together so, that the two laser beams had a common focus. It is histologically proved in this paper, that the combined effect fulfills all the known advantages of either of the two lasers, while disadvantages are largely eliminated. Based on these results the device is planned to be introduced in oral surgery.

[Indication for Chiari's pelvic osteotomy].

The results of 61 Chiari's pelvic osteotomies carried out during a 10 years period are reported. Present role of the operation in the correction of acetabular dysplasia in comparison to Pemberton's acetabuloplasty, to triple pelvic osteotomies and to the prosthetic replacement of the hip joint is discussed. In conclusion the operation is still indicated in special cases.

Cognitive functioning in long-term survivors of high-grade glioma.

In a pilot study, two groups of patients with malignant glioma underwent sequential neuropsychological evaluations after successful tumor treatment. Group 1 included nine patients treated from 1981 to 1985; all patients received irradiation and eight underwent chemotherapy. The baseline neuropsychological assessment was performed 1 to 63 months after tumor diagnosis, with follow-up evaluations at irregular intervals over the next 3 to 7 years.

Predictors of survival following surgical resection of thymoma.

The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of long-term survival following surgical resection of thymoma. Forty-one patients with a histologically proven diagnosis of thymoma were evaluated and treated over a 30-year period (1961 to 1991) at our institution. Seven patients (Masaoka stage III or IV) were unresectable and were treated by radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, with an overall 5 year survival of 50%.

Primary cerebral fibrosarcomas. Clinicopathologic study and review of the literature.

Background: Primary of the brain and meninges are uncommon tumors. Information regarding optimum treatment is limited due to their rarity, and the best form of therapy is not yet known.

Methods: Nine patients between the ages of 22 and 61 years with primary fibrosarcomas confined to the brain and meninges were studied clinicopathologically.

Radiation therapy in the unresectable cavernous hemangioma of the liver.

Hemangioma is the most common benign neoplasm of the liver, for which a 'wait and see' policy has been advised when it is small or without symptoms. Surgery is the treatment of choice of these tumors when marked symptomatology is present. However, some of these lesions cannot be excised due to their size, multiplicity, location or medical conditions.

An analysis of radiotherapy data from the CNS cancer consortium's randomized prospective trial comparing AZQ to BCNU in the treatment of patients with primary malignant brain tumors. The CNS cancer consortium.

The CNS Cancer Consortium has conducted a phase III study comparing diaziquone (AZQ) with carmustine (BCNU) in the treatment of adults with primary anaplastic glial brain tumors. Patients eligible for this study were 18 years of age or older at the time of biopsy, subtotal resection, or gross total resection of an anaplastic glial brain tumor. Within 3 weeks of surgery, patients received whole brain radiotherapy at 1.

Reversible pressure dissociation of R17 bacteriophage. The physical individuality of virus particles.

In the absence of urea, pressures up to 2.5 kbar promote only 10% dissociation of the whole particles of R17 bacteriophage. In the presence of concentrations of urea between 1.

A double-blind, randomized, prospective trial to evaluate topical vitamin C solution for the prevention of radiation dermatitis. CNS Cancer Consortium.

Purpose: The object of this study was to ascertain the value of topical ascorbic acid in the prevention of radiation dermatitis.

Methods And Materials: Patients with primary or metastatic brain tumors were eligible. Patients applied a topical solution, twice per day prior to and throughout the course of radiotherapy, to the left and right sides of the head.

Radiation therapy of pituitary adenoma: delayed sequelae.

Clinical records and follow-up computed tomographic (CT) scans were reviewed for 134 pituitary adenoma patients who underwent radiation therapy between 1970 and 1988, to determine the long-term clinical and radiologic complication rates for patients treated in a fairly standard manner for nonmalignant disease. The group consisted of 82 males and 52 females aged 16-85 years (median, 46 years). Fifty-nine (44%) of the 134 tumors were secretory.

Malignant glioma--timing of response to radiation therapy.

Purpose: The response of malignant gliomas to radiation was examined retrospectively in 71 patients with newly diagnosed supratentorial malignant gliomas. Questions asked included frequency, timing and clinical significance of response.

Methods And Materials: After surgery, all were treated with whole brain plus boost radiotherapy followed 8 weeks later by chemotherapy.

Giant pituitary adenomas: role of radiotherapy.

Between 1970 and 1989, 31 patients with a diagnosis of giant pituitary adenoma were referred to the London Regional Cancer Center. Giant pituitary adenoma was defined in terms of extension in excess of 40 mm from the midpoint of the jugum sphenoidale. The diagnosis was made surgically in 30 patients and clinically in one.

Conventional radiation therapy of intracranial arteriovenous malformations: long-term results.

Conventional radiation therapy has been used in the treatment of arteriovenous malformations (AVM's) for many years, but there are limited data pertaining to specific treatment parameters, long-term results, and complications. Between 1955 and 1985, 15 patients with AVM's deemed inoperable or incompletely obliterated using surgical or endovascular techniques were treated at the University of Western Ontario. There were nine males and six females, aged 15 to 48 years (mean 29 years).

[The KT 1000 arhtrometer in the comparative study of stability of knee joints operated on for instability].

In 1981 through 1989 authors performed 160 complex reconstruction operations for instability of the knee joint according to the basic principles of W. Müller, striving to restore all structures injured. 92 patients with 378 operations were controlled.

[Laser in contemporary dentistry].

In the 30 years of laser history the oral cavity application has always played an important role. In the laboratory diagnostics the analysis of the saliva, tissues and hard dental tissues is performed by laser. In the clinical diagnostics the laser is used for examining the caries, dental matter, in orthodontics, in the surgical analysis of splanchnocranium and the teeth.

[Comparative light microscopic, scanning-electron microscopic and electron microscopic studies of the effect of experimental interventions by surgical scalpel, electrocautery and CO2-laser beam in the oral cavity].

Tissue effect interventions by means of surgical scalpel, elecrtokauter and CO2-laser ray in the mouth cavity of 20 white rats has been examined. According to their light microscopical examinations both the laser and the electrokauter caused thermal injuries taking place in typical zones while by the scalpel the cut surface in rendered ragged. The band-width of the thermoinjury caused by the kauter is a multiple of that caused by the laser.