Breast Radiation Therapy Survivorship and Cancer Support Groups: an Opportunity for Community Engagement and Education Through the Addressing Breast Cancer Dermatologic Side Effects (ABCDEs) Program.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women in the USA. To serve under-insured breast cancer patients in South Texas, we designed a patient education program to improve health literacy of secondary dermatologic changes after completing radiation therapy. A needs assessment survey was distributed to better understand the patients' stage of treatment, experiences with radiation-induced dermatologic side effects, and over-the-counter skin products and home remedies used.

Feasibility and value of salivary cortisol sampling to reflect distress in head and neck cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation: A proof-of-concept study.

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing chemo/radiation commonly experience severe and persistent distress associated with treatment related fear and physical side effects such as xerostomia, dysphagia, and dryness of mouth. Cortisol, a stress sensitive hormone, can be easily measured in saliva to reflect biobehavioral responses to such stressors. Unfortunately, it has not been used in this population due to concerns associated with chemoradiation (C/RT) related xerostomia.

Emotional disclosure and cognitive processing in couples coping with head and neck cancer.

Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients and their spouses experience communication problems and high rates of emotional distress. Couple-based interventions that encourage emotional disclosure hold promise for improving cognitive processing and distress in this population, but more research needs to examine when and for whom emotional disclosure is an effective coping strategy. In this observational study, 125 HNC patients (83% male) and their spouses were videotaped discussing a cancer-related concern in the laboratory.

Dyadic Coping in Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer and Their Spouses.

Head and neck cancer (HNC) adversely affects the psychological (i.e., depression, anxiety) and marital adjustment of patients and their spouses.

Parotid gland dose in intensity-modulated radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: is what you plan what you get?

Purpose: To quantify the differences between planned and delivered parotid gland and target doses, and to assess the benefits of daily bone alignment for head and neck cancer patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

Methods And Materials: Eleven head and neck cancer patients received two CT scans per week with an in-room CT scanner over the course of their radiotherapy. The clinical IMRT plans, designed with 3-mm to 4-mm planning margins, were recalculated on the repeat CT images.

Reduce in variation and improve efficiency of target volume delineation by a computer-assisted system using a deformable image registration approach.

Purpose: To determine whether a computer-assisted target volume delineation (CAT) system using a deformable image registration approach can reduce the variation of target delineation among physicians with different head and neck (HN) IMRT experiences and reduce the time spent on the contouring process.

Materials And Methods: We developed a deformable image registration method for mapping contours from a template case to a patient case with a similar tumor manifestation but different body configuration. Eight radiation oncologists with varying levels of clinical experience in HN IMRT performed target delineation on two HN cases, one with base-of-tongue (BOT) cancer and another with nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), by first contouring from scratch and then by modifying the contours deformed by the CAT system.

The effect of dental artifacts, contrast media, and experience on interobserver contouring variations in head and neck anatomy.

Objectives: To investigate interobserver variability in the delineation of head-and-neck (H&N) anatomic structures on CT images, including the effects of image artifacts and observer experience.

Methods: Nine observers (7 radiation oncologists, 1 surgeon, and 1 physician assistant) with varying levels of H&N delineation experience independently contoured H&N gross tumor volumes and critical structures on radiation therapy treatment planning CT images alongside reference diagnostic CT images for 4 patients with oropharynx cancer. Image artifacts from dental fillings partially obstructed 3 images.

Measuring head and neck cancer symptom burden: the development and validation of the M. D. Anderson symptom inventory, head and neck module.

Background: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a symptom inventory for patients with head and neck cancer and to assess the occurrence and severity of symptoms, the overall symptom burden, and the interference the symptoms cause in daily life.

Methods: Items were generated from a comprehensive literature review, our prior work, and focus groups with head and neck cancer patients, symptom researchers, and a multidisciplinary group of head and neck cancer health care workers. We selected 11 provisional head and neck cancer-specific items for addition to the core M.

Importance of patient examination to clinical quality assurance in head and neck radiation oncology.

Background: When quality assurance programs in clinical radiation oncology focus mainly on the technical aspects of treatment, they tend to underplay questions of therapeutic process and outcome. We determined the value of clinical peer review in radiation therapy for head and neck cancer that involved head and neck examination.

Methods: Data were collected prospectively on 134 consecutive patients with preliminary radiation therapy (RT) plans.

Impact of changes to the American Joint Committee on Cancer T classification on outcome prediction in patients with oropharyngeal cancer.

Background: The efficacy of the current 6th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor staging criteria in improving outcome prediction for patients with oropharyngeal cancer was analyzed.

Methods: From the database of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas M. D.

Determining optimal clinical target volume margins in head-and-neck cancer based on microscopic extracapsular extension of metastatic neck nodes.

Purpose: To determine the optimal clinical target volume margins around the gross nodal tumor volume in head-and-neck cancer by assessing microscopic tumor extension beyond cervical lymph node capsules.

Methods And Materials: Histologic sections of 96 dissected cervical lymph nodes with extracapsular extension (ECE) from 48 patients with head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma were examined. The maximum linear distance from the external capsule border to the farthest extent of the tumor or tumoral reaction was measured.

Parathyroid carcinoma: a 22-year experience.

Purpose: Because parathyroid carcinoma is rare, clear consensus is not available regarding the optimal management of patients with this condition. Treatment strategies generally derive from clinical and anecdotal experiences. We report our experience with this entity.

Is concurrent chemoradiation the treatment of choice for all patients with Stage III or IV head and neck carcinoma?

Background: Many patients with small primary tumors of the oropharynx have AJCC Stage III/IV disease on the basis of lymphadenopathy. In the current retrospective study, the authors hypothesized that these patients have high rates of locoregional control when treated with radiotherapy, either alone or combined with neck surgery, and may not require concurrent chemotherapy.

Methods: Two hundred ninety-nine patients met staging and inclusion criteria.