Neoadjuvant stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities.

Background: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) comprise a diverse group of mesenchymal malignancies that require multidisciplinary care. Although surgery remains the primary form of treatment for those with localized disease, radiation therapy (RT) is often incorporated either in the neo- or adjuvant setting. Given the development of modern RT techniques and alternative dosing schedules, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) has emerged as a promising technique.

Consensus on Screening, Diagnosis, and Staging Tools for Prostate Cancer in Developing Countries: A Report From the First Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference for Developing Countries (PCCCDC).

Purpose: To generate and present the survey results on critical issues relevant to screening, diagnosis, and staging tools for prostate cancer (PCa) focused on developing countries.

Methods: A total of 36 of 300 questions concern the main areas of interest of this paper: (1) screening, (2) diagnosis, and (3) staging for various risk levels of PCa in developing countries. A panel of 99 international multidisciplinary cancer experts voted on these questions to create recommendations for screening, diagnosing, and staging tools for PCa in areas of limited resources discussed in this manuscript.

Treatment of Localized and Locally Advanced, High-Risk Prostate Cancer: A Report From the First Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference for Developing Countries.

Purpose: To generate and present survey results on important issues relevant to treatment and follow-up of localized and locally advanced, high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) focusing on developing countries.

Methods: A panel of 99 PCa experts developed more than 300 survey questions of which 67 questions concern the main areas of interest of this article: treatment and follow-up of localized and locally advanced, high-risk PCa in developing countries. A larger panel of 99 international multidisciplinary cancer experts voted on these questions to create the recommendations for treatment and follow-up of localized and locally advanced, high-risk PCa in areas of limited resources discussed in this article.

Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy to the Prostate Bed With Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT): A Phase 2 Trial.

Purpose: Postoperative radiation therapy (RT) is a common therapy used for patients with prostate cancer. Although clinical trials have established the safety and efficacy of hypofractionation as a primary therapy, there are limited data in a postoperative setting. We conducted a prospective trial to evaluate the safety and feasibility of postoperative hypofractionated RT to the prostate bed.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on a daily-based outpatient treatment routine: experience of a radiotherapy department of a tertiary public/university hospital in Brazil.

Objectives: To report the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient attendance at a radiotherapy department two months after the implementation of specific policies regarding the pandemic.

Methods: The proposed treatment schemes, favoring hypofractionated schedules, and COVID-19 management strategies regarding irradiation are presented. Attendance after two months of implementation of these policies was measured and compared with that during the same period in 2019.

Cracked tooth syndrome in irradiated patients with head and neck cancer.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the presence of enamel craze lines (ECLs), part of the spectrum of the so-called cracked tooth syndrome, on the surface of teeth irradiated in vivo.

Study Design: Forty teeth extracted from patients with head and neck cancer were paired, matched, and equally divided into 4 groups: noncarious irradiated (G1); noncarious control (G2); radiation-related caries (RRC) (G3), and carious control (G4). Samples were examined for ECL detection with a fiberoptic transillumination device and photographed, and ECL mean size, number, and patterns of topographic distribution in tooth crown were determined.

Evolution of gamma knife capsulotomy for intractable obsessive-compulsive disorder.

For more than half a century, stereotactic neurosurgical procedures have been available to treat patients with severe, debilitating symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that have proven refractory to extensive, appropriate pharmacological, and psychological treatment. Although reliable predictors of outcome remain elusive, the establishment of narrower selection criteria for neurosurgical candidacy, together with a better understanding of the functional neuroanatomy implicated in OCD, has resulted in improved clinical efficacy for an array of ablative and non-ablative intervention techniques targeting the cingulum, internal capsule, and other limbic regions. It was against this backdrop that gamma knife capsulotomy (GKC) for OCD was developed.

Locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with photobiomodulation for prevention of oral mucositis: retrospective outcomes and safety analyses.

Purpose: The well-established clinical efficacy of photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy in management of oral mucositis (OM) is leading to increasing use in oncology care. This protection and enhanced repair of damage to mucosal tissue have led to the question of the potential effects of PBM therapy on pre-malignant and malignant cells. The purpose of this study was to examine the outcome of cancer therapy and incidence of tumor recurrence in locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients treated with PBM therapy for OM.

Radiation-related caries assessment through the International Caries Detection and Assessment System and the Post-Radiation Dental Index.

Objective: Although radiation-related caries (RRC) are a well-known toxicity of head and neck radiotherapy, a clinical classification system for RRC has not yet been clinically validated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and the Post-Radiation Dental Index (PRDI) were viable methods for the assessment of RRC.

Study Design: Clinicopathologic data and intraoral digital photographs of 60 patients (833 teeth) affected by RRC were assessed and classified according to the ICDAS and PRDI criteria.

Head and neck radiotherapy does not increase gelatinase (metalloproteinase-2 and -9) expression or activity in teeth irradiated in vivo.

Objective: Recent studies suggested that head and neck radiotherapy increases active forms of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the dentin-enamel junction (DEJ), leading to enamel delamination and radiation-related caries. This study aimed to assess the expression and activity of the gelatinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the DEJ and dentin-pulp complex tissues of teeth irradiated in vivo.

Study Design: Thirty-six teeth were studied, including 19 irradiated and 17 non-irradiated controls.

The role of diffusion tensor imaging tractography for Gamma Knife thalamotomy planning.

OBJECTIVE The role of tractography in Gamma Knife thalamotomy (GK-T) planning is still unclear. Pyramidal tractography might reduce the risk of radiation injury to the pyramidal tract and reduce motor complications. METHODS In this study, the ventralis intermedius nucleus (VIM) targets of 20 patients were bilaterally defined using Iplannet Stereotaxy Software, according to the anterior commissure-posterior commissure (AC-PC) line and considering the localization of the pyramidal tract.

A review of the epidemiology and treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma.

Merkel cell carcinoma is a very rare and aggressive neoplasm. Due to its rarity, therapeutic guidelines are not well established, especially for regionally advanced disease. Articles in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish from the last 20 years were identified in MEDLINE and reviewed.

Adding external beam to intra-luminal brachytherapy improves palliation in obstructive squamous cell oesophageal cancer: a prospective multi-centre randomized trial of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Background: Whether the combination of high dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRBT) and External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) is superior to HDRBT alone for the palliation of oesophageal cancer has only been explored in a previous IAEA pilot randomized trial.

Methods: Two hundred and nineteen patients were randomized to adding EBRT or not, after receiving two fractions of HDRBT within 1 week. Each HDRBT consisted of 8 Gy prescribed at 1cm from source centre.

Treatment of resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder with ventral capsular/ventral striatal gamma capsulotomy: a pilot prospective study.

A subgroup of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients remains refractory to conventional treatments. For them, a new stereotactic radiosurgery has been recently developed: the ventral capsular/ventral striatal (VC/VS) gamma capsulotomy. The authors aim to report efficacy and adverse events of VC/VS gamma capsulotomy.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy for soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities.

Introduction And Objective: Neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies for soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities are still controversial. The aim of this study was to analyze the results of a protocol of neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy for extremity sarcomas.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out in a consecutive series of 49 adult patients with advanced extremity soft tissue sarcomas that could not be resected with adequate margins during the primary resection.

High dose rate and external beam radiotherapy in locally advanced prostate cancer.

Purpose: To report the outcomes and toxicity of high dose rate brachytherapy as a boost for localized prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: Between 1997 and 2000, the medical records of 131 patients with prostate adenocarcinoma who were treated with external beam radiation therapy and high dose rate brachytherapy, were retrospectively analyzed. Furthermore, 55% of the patients received neoadjuvant/concurrent or adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy.

Updated results of high-dose rate brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy for locally and locally advanced prostate cancer using the RTOG-ASTRO Phoenix definition.

Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic factors for patients with local or locally advanced prostate cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy (RT) and high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR) according to the RTOG-ASTRO Phoenix Consensus Conference.

Materials And Methods: The charts of 209 patients treated between 1997 and 2005 with localized RT and HDR as a boost at the Department of Radiation Oncology, AC Camargo Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil were reviewed. Clinical and treatment parameters i.

The relationship between the biochemical control outcomes and the quality of planning of high-dose rate brachytherapy as a boost to external beam radiotherapy for locally and locally advanced prostate cancer using the RTOG-ASTRO Phoenix definition.

Purpose: To evaluated prognostic factors and impact of the quality of planning of high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) for patients with local or locally advanced prostate cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and HDR-BT.

Methods And Materials: Between 1997 and 2005, 209 patients with biopsy proven prostate adenocarcinoma were treated with localized EBRT and HDR-BT at the Department of Radiation-Oncology, Hospital A. C.

High-dose-rate brachytherapy for soft tissue sarcoma in children: a single institution experience.

Purpose: To report our experience treating soft tissue sarcoma (STS) with high dose rate brachytherapy alone (HBRT) or in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in pediatric patients.

Methods And Materials: Eighteen patients, median age 11 years (range 2 - 16 years) with grade 2-3 STS were treated with HBRT using Ir-192 in a interstitial (n = 14) or intracavitary implant (n = 4). Eight patients were treated with HBRT alone; the remaining 10 were treated with a combination of HBRT and EBRT.

Dental extractions related to head and neck radiotherapy: ten-year experience of a single institution.

Objective: This study evaluates the frequency of osteoradionecrosis associated with dental extractions.

Study Design: A total of 405 patients submitted to radiotherapy and had dental extractions were evaluated. The patients were divided into 3 groups.

Whole brain radiotherapy for brain metastases from breast cancer: estimation of survival using two stratification systems.

Background: Brain metastases (BM) are the most common form of intracranial cancer. The incidence of BM seems to have increased over the past decade. Recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) of data from three Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) trials (1200 patients) has allowed three prognostic groups to be identified.