Effect of Indenter Nose Shape and Layer Configuration on the Quasi-Static Perforation Behaviour of Metal-Plastic Laminates.

This study investigated the perforation resistance behaviour of metal-plastic laminates (MPLs) when they are indented by different nose shapes. Aluminium (Al) and HDPE (high-density polyethylene) layers were bonded with a suitable adhesive in an alternative manner to prepare bilayer and trilayer MPL configurations. Quasi-static perforation experiments were performed with hemispherical, conical and blunt indenters.

Implementation of advanced radiotherapy technology to improve clinical outcomes in rural NSW.

Problem: Availability of advanced radiotherapy technology to treat cancer is limited in regional Australia. At Central West Cancer Care Centre, the utilisation rate of intensity-modulated radiotherapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy was significantly lower compared to other NSW public health services. Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy treatment was not available at Central West Cancer Care Centre.

Application of first order kinetics to characterize MTBE natural attenuation in groundwater.

Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) was a gasoline oxygenate that became widely used in reformulated gasoline as a means to reduce air pollution in the 1990s. Unfortunately, many of the underground storage tanks containing reformulated gasoline experienced subsurface releases which soon became a health concern given the increase in public and private water supplies containing MTBE. Many states responded to this by banning the use of MTBE as an additive, including Connecticut.

Concordance between thoracic multidisciplinary meeting recommendations for radiation therapy and actual treatment for lung cancer.

Introduction: There is limited evidence whether decisions of Thoracic Multidisciplinary Meetings (TMDMs) are reflected in the treatment lung cancer patients actually receive. Aims were to determine concordance between TMDM recommendations for radiotherapy (RT) and actual RT administered and to compare cases that received RT that were referred or not referred from TMDMs.

Method: A retrospective review of demographic and clinical data for all lung cancer cases within the Auckland-Northland region referred for RT from TMDMs (January-June 2009) and all cases that received RT but were not referred from TMDMs (January-August 2009).

Radiotherapy utilisation in lung cancer in New Zealand: disparities with optimal rates explained.

Background And Purpose: The intervention rate (IR) of radiotherapy (RT) is important for health service planning. As actual IRs are commonly lower than those predicted by models, we sought to determine the reasons for this discrepancy, using lung cancer in a mixed urban-rural region of New Zealand (NZ).

Methods: The appropriate utilisation of RT was calculated as the sum of the actual utilisation 3 years post diagnosis (88% of cases deceased), the estimated utilisation of the 12% remaining alive, and the percentage of cases that may have benefited from RT but did not receive it.

Twinning partnerships through International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to improve radiotherapy in common paediatric cancers in low- and mid-income countries.

Purpose: The article summarises the current use of radiotherapy (RT) in childhood cancer and suggests methods to improve current practice in regions where outcomes of paediatric cancer patients are inferior to those of high-income countries.

Methods And Materials: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is supporting low- and mid-income countries (LMICs) in upgrading cancer care where nuclear applications, particularly RT, are used. A consensus meeting of experts was invited to advise IAEA on the needs for RT in paediatric cancer patients.

Lung cancer patients in New Zealand initially present to secondary care through the emergency department rather than by referral to a respiratory specialist.

Background: The previous study established that lung cancer patients in Auckland-Northland most commonly presented to secondary care through the emergency department (ED).

Aim: To further explore the characteristics and presentation of cases presenting through EDs in Auckland.

Methods: Data were collected for all lung cancer cases (2004) in Auckland that initially presented to secondary care via ED RESULTS: Of (478) lung cancer cases diagnosed in Auckland in 2004, 170 cases (36%) presented via ED.

Hyperparathyroidism after irradiation for childhood malignancy.

Purpose: To examine the occurrence of hyperparathyroidism in a cohort of patients undergoing combined parathyroid and thyroid surgery after previous head-and-neck irradiation for childhood malignancy.

Methods And Materials: This is a retrospective cohort study for the years 1996 to 2007. The study group comprised patients undergoing surgery in the University of Sydney Endocrine Surgical Unit who had received previous head-and-neck irradiation in childhood and who were identified as having pathologic thyroid and parathyroid characteristics.

Comparison of New Zealand Cancer Registry data with an independent lung cancer audit.

Background: Despite the importance of New Zealand Cancer Registry (NZCR) data to research and healthcare decision-making, there has been no previous assessment of the accuracy of NZCR data since mandatory reporting commenced in 1994.

Aim: To assess the completeness and accuracy of NZCR lung cancer data.

Method: An audit of secondary care management in Auckland and Northland of lung cancer patients diagnosed in 2004 provided the opportunity to compare data from regional databases (RD) with NZCR data.

Ethnic differences in the management of lung cancer in New Zealand.

Background: Major ethnic disparities in lung cancer survival exist in New Zealand, with Mäori having a higher case-fatality ratio than non-Mäori.

Aim: To assess whether secondary care management of lung cancer differed by ethnicity and could contribute to ethnic survival disparities.

Methods: An audit of secondary care management in Auckland and Northland of lung cancer patients diagnosed in 2004 permitted comparison of the management of lung cancer in different ethnic groups.

Lung cancer in New Zealand: patterns of secondary care and implications for survival.

Introduction: The survival of patients with lung cancer in New Zealand is poor compared with Australia and the United States. To determine whether these poorer outcomes were related to secondary care management or to other factors, we documented stage of disease, comorbidities, and initial secondary care management for patients diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004, in Auckland and Northland (New Zealand). These data were compared with international data.

Dispelling the myths surrounding radiotherapy for treatment of cutaneous melanoma.

The role of radiotherapy is well established in the management of most locally advanced and metastatic cancers; however, there has been reluctance to extend this role to melanoma. The reasons can be traced historically to in-vitro and in-vivo data suggesting that melanomas are resistant to radiation. Current findings indicate that these cancers have a wide range of sensitivity to radiation that overlaps extensively with those for common epithelial cancers: indeed, some melanomas show high sensitivity to radiation.

Radiation therapy in the management of cutaneous melanoma.

The role of RT in the management of melanoma is complex and spans the entire course of the disease. To provide optimal management of patients who have melanoma, radiation oncologists are an integral part of a multidisciplinary team. Appropriate integration of radiation into the management plan can improve locoregional control and alleviate symptoms from meta-static disease.

Internal mammary node metastasis from primary cutaneous melanoma on the anterior chest.

Background: Direct lymphatic drainage from the skin of the anterior chest and breast to internal mammary lymph nodes does not normally occur.

Methods: Preoperative lymphoscintigraphy was performed in a 55-year-old man with a 3.7 mm-thick primary melanoma on his right anterior chest, who had undergone surgery and radiotherapy to successfully treat a localized lymphosarcoma in his right axilla 35 years earlier.

Transfection of melanoma cells with antisense PAX3 oligonucleotides additively complements cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity.

Advanced melanoma is difficult to treat, in part because of greater resistance to therapy compared with other cancer types. The mechanisms underlying this resistance are not well-understood. One factor that is reported to be involved in melanoma cell survival is PAX3, a transcription factor normally expressed during embryonic development, and which is critically required for development of neural crest-derivatives, including skin melanocytes.

Cyclin D1 overexpression in AIDS-related and classic Kaposi sarcoma.

The anatomic distribution and rate of progression vary significantly between acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and classic KS. The reasons are unclear, but cyclin D1 overexpression is associated with tumor progression in other malignancies. Cyclin D has an important regulatory role in the progression of cell cycle at the G1-S phase due to its effect in phosphorylating the retinoblastoma gene product.

Radiosensitization of vinorelbine and gemcitabine in NCI-H460 non-small-cell lung cancer cells.

Purpose: Results from recent clinical studies of gemcitabine and vinorelbine have encouraged the use of this combination concurrently with radiotherapy in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer, although preclinical data are limited. The present study aimed to quantify the in vitro interaction and radiosensitizing effect of gemcitabine and vinorelbine individually and in combination.

Methods And Materials: Cytotoxicity was measured by exposing NCI-H460 cells to gemcitabine and/or vinorelbine simultaneously or sequentially, followed by irradiation at 0-10 Gy.

Long-term review of a breast conservation series and patterns of care over 18 years.

Background: Multiple randomized trials of breast conservation compared with mastectomy in early breast cancer have validated equivalence of survival. Overwhelmingly the standard management of breast conservation includes surgical removal of the tumour, axillary dissection, postoperative breast irradiation, and adjuvant systemic therapy as appropriate. The outcomes are reviewed of 832 women with early breast cancer treated by local resection and irradiation at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital over an 18 year period, with particular emphasis on the changing patterns of practice.

p53, deleted in colorectal cancer gene, and thymidylate synthase as predictors of histopathologic response and survival in low, locally advanced rectal cancer treated with preoperative adjuvant therapy.

Purpose: Adjuvant therapy, either preoperatively or postoperatively, and modifications of surgery have been used to try to improve outcome of surgery for rectal cancer in regard to both local recurrence and survival. Assessment of prognosis in patients after resection is currently primarily based on clinicopathologic factors. These predict the subsequent behavior of the tumor only imperfectly.

Sites of local recurrence after surgery, with or without chemotherapy, for rectal cancer: implications for radiotherapy field design.

Purpose: To examine the sites of pelvic recurrence in patients with rectal cancer previously untreated with radiotherapy to determine the relative frequency and location of recurrence within the pelvis.

Methods And Materials: The records of patients with locally recurrent rectal cancer referred to three radiation oncology departments between 1984 and 1997 were reviewed. The data collected included the date and type of the initial resection and the pathologic findings.

Thyroid neoplasia following irradiation in adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer.

Objectives: To describe a cohort of survivors of childhood malignancy at risk of developing thyroid abnormality, and propose guidelines for management of such patients.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Setting: Late-effects oncology clinic at a large children's hospital in Sydney.

Surgical management of cerebral metastases from melanoma: outcome in 147 patients treated at a single institution over two decades.

Object: The aim of this study was to review the outcome of patients who underwent surgery for treatment of cerebral metastatic melanoma.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed in 147 patients with cerebral metastases from melanoma who were treated surgically at a single institution between 1979 and 1999. Almost all patients underwent postoperative wholebrain radiation therapy.