Impact of Biopsy Compliance on Outcomes for Patients on Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer.

Purpose: Active surveillance for prostate cancer relies on regular prostate specific antigen tests and surveillance biopsies. Compliance rates with biopsies vary but the subsequent impact on oncologic outcomes is not known. The objective of this study was to determine whether noncompliance with the confirmatory biopsy negatively impacts prostate cancer specific outcomes.

Quality of Life of Postoperative Photon versus Proton Radiation Therapy for Oropharynx Cancer.

Purpose: Quality of life (QOL) for patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer is negatively affected by conventional radiation (RT) owing to radiation exposure to normal tissues. Proton therapy, via pencil beam scanning (PBS), can better spare many of these tissues, and may thereby improve QOL.

Patients And Methods: Patient-reported outcomes were prospectively collected from patients treated from April 2013 to April 2015.

Palliative Radiotherapy: Inpatients, Outpatients, and the Changing Role of Supportive Care in Radiation Oncology.

Palliative radiotherapy is an effective treatment in alleviating many symptoms of advanced cancer. Short courses of radiotherapy provide rapid symptom relief and minimize impact on patients. Patients referred for palliative radiotherapy have many concerns beyond radiotherapy; often, these concerns are not fully addressed in traditional radiotherapy clinics.

The impact of treatment package time on locoregional control for HPV+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with surgery and postoperative (chemo)radiation.

Background: For patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) undergoing surgery followed by postoperative radiotherapy (PORT), time from surgery to completion of adjuvant therapy, "package time" impacts locoregional control (LRC). However, the significance of package time in HPV+ oropharyngeal SCC (OPSCC) is unknown.

Methods: We examined patients undergoing TORS resection with PORT for HPV+ OPSCC from January 2010 to December 2015 with ≥18 months follow-up (n = 267).

Spine SBRT With Halcyon™: Plan Quality, Modulation Complexity, Delivery Accuracy, and Speed.

Spine SBRT requires treatment plans with steep dose gradients and tight limits to the cord maximal dose. A new dual-layer staggered 1-cm MLC in Halcyon™ treatment platform has improved leakage, speed, and DLG compared to 120-Millennium (0.5-cm) and High-Definition (0.

Long non-coding RNAs: new frontiers for advancing personalized cancer medicine in prostate cancer.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a group of non-coding transcripts of more than 200 nucleotides that play important biological and clinical roles in prostate cancer (PCa) tumorigenesis, progression and metastasis. They have also shown potential as a biomarker in the diagnosis and prognosis of this disease. LncRNA prostate cancer associated transcript-14 (PCAT-14) was recently identified as a novel prognostic biomarker in PCa, whose low expression was associated with poor outcomes.

Current challenges and future perspectives of radiotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer.

Purpose Of Review: To discuss current issues in the field of radiation oncology for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC).

Recent Findings: Large randomized studies involving nodal irradiation have recently been completed. The incremental benefit of treating the internal mammary nodes (IMNs) remains controversial.

A case of recurrent metastatic ameloblastoma and hypercalcaemia successfully treated with carboplatin and paclitaxel: long survival and prolonged stable disease.

We describe a case of recurrent metastatic malignant ameloblastoma to the lungs with hypercalcaemia in a 47-year-old man. The first lung metastasis was resected nine years after the initial primary, and the tumour recurred with extensive pulmonary metastases 21 years after the primary tumour was resected. This case presented with malignancy-associated hypercalcaemia, likely due to paraneoplastic syndrome, which is exceedingly unusual in association with malignant ameloblastoma.

Association of interleukin-18 gene promoter polymorphisms with breast cancer.

Interleukin-18 [IL-18] gene promoter polymorphism is reported to be a genetic risk factor for several types of cancer. The aims of this investigation were to evaluate and compare the frequencies of IL-18 gene promoter polymorphisms at positions -137 [G/C] and -607 [C/A] in breast cancer patients and healthy controls as well as to study the contribution of these data with clinicopathological parameters at diagnosis. The studied populations comprised 250 cases with breast carcinoma and 206 healthy subjects.

Factors influencing serum concentration of CA125 and CA15-3 in Iranian healthy postmenopausal women.

Screening for breast and ovarian cancers are required due to the late stage at diagnosis and poor survival. Serum CA125 and CA15-3 are important cancerdetecting agents in patients with ovarian and breast cancers, respectively. Elevation of CA125 and CA15-3 level correlates with malignant and non-malignant conditions.

Lineage-specific transcription factors in multipotent hematopoietic progenitors: a little bit goes a long way.

Basal expression of lineage-specific transcription factors (TFs) in multipotent hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) plays a pivotal role in normal hematopoiesis. Indeed, the interplay between lineage-specific TFs and chromatin modifying or remodeling complexes allows chromatin modifications at specific hematopoietic loci and promotes transcriptionally prone conformations. During hematopoiesis, the expression of various lineage-specific genes can be preceded by their potentiation i.

Bone mineral density in beta-thalassemia major and intermedia.

Objective: This study was conducted to assess bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) in patients with thalassemia major and intermedia, and to correlate them with biochemical and hematological profile.

Design: 106 thalassemic patients (49 major and 57 intermedia) were scanned by dual energy xray absorptiometry technique for BMD and BMC at lumbar spine and femoral neck. The effects of sex, transfusion/chelation program as well as hemoglobin, calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase and serum ferritin level were also evaluated on BMD and BMC.

Substance dependency in Iranian patients with hemophilia.

Aims: The prevalence and predisposing factors of substance dependency in 100 Iranian hemophilic patients were investigated.

Measurements: A confidential questionnaire and DSM-IV criteria were used. Data were gathered from 100 randomly selected hemophilic patients.

Interleukin-18 gene promoter polymorphisms and recurrent spontaneous abortion.

Background: IL-18 is a multifunctional cytokine capable of inducing either Th1 or Th2 polarization depending on the immunologic milieu. IL-18 is detected at the materno-fetal interface very soon in early pregnancy. Two polymorphisms in the promoter region of the IL-18 gene at positions of -607 and -137 appear to have functional impacts.

Investigation of Helicobacter pylori infection in beta-thalassaemia major patients with recurrent abdominal pain.

Background: Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) affects many children, especially those affected by beta-thalassaemia major. The role of Helicobacter pylori is still unclear in children with RAP.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was the comparison of beta-thalassaemia major patients and normal controls with RAP in H.

Exon-1 polymorphism of ctla-4 gene is not associated with systemic sclerosis in Iranian patients.

Although, the cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 gene polymorphism at position 49 of exon-1 has been strongly elucidated in different autoimmune diseases, but its role in predisposition to systemic sclerosis (SSc) is yet controversial. This study intends to analyze the genetic correlation of the ctla-4 gene locus with diffuse systemic sclerosis (dSSc), as well as to understand the influence of these genotypes in disease expression. Seventy known cases of SSc, and 151 age-matched healthy controls, were participated in this investigation.