Influence of radiotherapy on long-term relapse in clinically non-secreting pituitary adenomas. A retrospective study (1970-1988).

Objective: We wished to evaluate the influence of postoperative radiotherapy on the incidence of tumour regrowth in non-secreting pituitary adenomas.

Methods: The cases of 57 patients with clinically non-secreting pituitary adenomas were retained for a retrospective study of long-term disease-free survival out of a series of 66 patients treated between 1970 and 1988. Thirty-three patients were treated by surgery only (Group A), and twenty-four by surgery followed by external radiotherapy (Group B).

Is reseeding from the primary a plausible cause of node failure?

In a previous analysis of node failures in 1251 consecutive patients with node positive oropharyngeal and pharyngolaryngeal squamous cell carcinomas treated by external radiotherapy alone at the Institut Curie, the main reasons for patient exclusion were node recurrence associated with primary failure (N+T failures) and doses less than 55 Gy. These exclusions reduced the number of node failures from 399/1251 (32%) to 77/798 (10%). Multivariate analysis of node recurrence indicated that node size and fixity, treatment duration, and T stage of primary were significant (higher probability of isolated node failure for the T1-T2 primaries).

Radiotherapy in N0 head and neck cancer patients.

The efficacy of elective radiotherapy in N0 cancer of the oropharynx, hypopharynx and supraglottic larynx was assessed retrospectively in a large series of head and neck cancer patients treated at the Institut Curie between 1958 and 1976. Despite a significant incidence of false-negative cases accompanied by extra-capsular tumor spread, radiation tissue doses of 4500-5500 cGy were highly successful in preventing nodal disease in clinically negative necks. Isolated node failure occurred in only 2% of 611 cases of oropharyngeal and pharyngolaryngeal cancer from a total group of 1646 patients and 2% of 237 N0 cases of supraglottic vestibular cancer taken from a series of 340 patients.

Chiasmal gliomas: results of irradiation management in 57 patients and review of literature.

Fifty-seven patients with optic gliomas, treated by megavoltage radiotherapy between May 1970 and March 1986, are retrospectively analyzed. The mean follow-up was 7.5 years (2.