Systemic Treatment Selection for Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours (PanNETs).

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PanNETs) are rare diseases and a good example of how research is not only feasible, but also of crucial importance in the scenario of rare tumours. Many clinical trials have been performed over the past two decades expanding therapeutic options for patients with advanced PanNETs. Adequate management relies on optimal selection of treatment, which may be challenging for clinicians due to the fact that multiple options of therapy are currently available.

Positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography for diagnosis of synchronous tumors.

Background: The hybrid method 18F-FDG PET/ CT has been proven as a method of choice in oncology for diagnostics, staging, restaging of the tumor and evaluation of the therapeutic effect. The aim of the study was to determine the value of 18F-FDG PET/ CT for detection of synchronous tumors and consequently the influence on the patients management.

Material And Methods: The examinations were performed on Discovery, GE Healthcare PET/ CT using standard protocol.

Scintimammography and single-photon emission computed tomography for postoperative image guidance for radiation treatment planning in breast cancer patients.

Purpose: To evaluate post-surgical tumor-metabolic regions outside of the computed tomography (CT)-defined volume for radiation therapy (RT) planning using functional imaging of scintimammography (SMG) ± single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) in breast cancer (BC) patients.

Methods: 62 operated high-risk BC females, mean age 50.45 years, underwent SMG±SPECT before RT planning.

Clinical tolerance in large field radiotherapy--the knowledge gained over the last ten years.

Malignant disorders are still far from being successfully managed in spite of the apparent progress achieved by surgical treatment, high energy radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy (CHT). They keep being the second most frequent cause of lethal outcomes both in Bulgaria and in most countries of the world. One of the promising approaches to increasing the efficaciousness of treatment is development and use of methods that are in full accord with the modern requirements of a complex therapy.

Radiation therapy in Hodgkin's disease - decades of steady progress.

The treatment of lymphoproliferative diseases has changed dramatically during the last decades. The improved therapeutic results for this disease group are included among the most important achievements of modern oncohaematology. They are due to better disease staging, use of new markers for risk assessment, patient stratification in separate risk groups, implementation of highly effective chemotherapy (CHT), progress of targeted therapies using monoclonal antibodies, proteasome inhibitors, modern radiation therapy (RT) and supportive care.

Nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens and bone marrow transplantation--some contemporary aspects.

The extensive use of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in the treatment of a number of life threatening hematologic, oncologic and immunodeficiency disorders has come as a result of more than four decades of research and clinical experience. It is estimated that about 50,000 BMT per year are currently performed at more than 500 clinical centers all over the world. Total body irradiation (TBI) in combination with intensive chemotherapy (CT) proves to be a method without alternative in the preparation of patients with hematologic diseases for bone marrow or hematopoietic stem cells transplantation.

Long-term outcome of treatment for Hodgkin's disease: the University Hospital Sofia experience.

Background: To establish the efficacy of the combined modality treatment (CMT) including curative extended field radiotherapy (EFRT) and chemotherapy (CHT) by examining the long-term outcome in Hodgkin's disease (HD) patients at the Sofia University Hospital "Queen Giovanna-ISUL", with particular focus on second primary malignancy (SPM), and to establish independent factors correlated with treatment outcome.

Methods And Materials: Between 1982 and 2007, 170 patients with HD with median age of 12 years (range 3-40), (68 females, 102 males), were included in this retrospective study. The clinical stage (CS) distribution was CS I in 1 patient (0.

Whole abdominal irradiation in endometrial cancer - a single institution study.

Purpose: To examine the use of whole abdominal irradiation (WAI) open field technique in patients with stage III endometrial cancer (EC).

Methods: Between 1993 and 2007, 26 patients (age 39-70 years, median 58) with stage III EC (IIIA 15, IIIB 2, IIIC 8) were treated with WAI after primary surgery. Five (21)) patients had grade 1 disease, 18 (67%) grade 2 and 3 (12%) grade 3.

Total body irradiation prior to bone marrow transplantation; some aspects of fifty year experience.

There has been a remarkable growth in the use of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in the past 30 years. The rapid expansion of BMT reflects its increasingly important role in the treatment of several life-threatening diseases of the hemopoietic system. The first BMT in human patients was performed after conditioning with total body irradiation (TBI).

Tolerance of half-body irradiation as systemic therapy for patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Background: Locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) is one of the main causes of cancer death among women in Bulgaria. In 1988, when this study started, there was still controversy about the role of chemotherapy in controlling systemic disease. There were encouraging results from the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 82-06 study suggesting that half-body irradiation (HBI) should be used earlier in the disease course to prevent the development of metastases.