Target volume delineation for partial breast radiotherapy planning: clinical characteristics associated with low interobserver concordance.

Purpose: To examine variability in target volume delineation for partial breast radiotherapy planning and evaluate characteristics associated with low interobserver concordance.

Methods And Materials: Thirty patients who underwent planning CT for adjuvant breast radiotherapy formed the study cohort. Using a standardized scale to score seroma clarity and consensus contouring guidelines, three radiation oncologists independently graded seroma clarity and delineated seroma volumes for each case.

Reliability and validity testing of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale in evaluating linear scars after breast cancer surgery.

Background: The Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale is a promising new method incorporating observer and patient ratings in evaluating burn scars. The authors compared this tool to the Vancouver Scar Scale in a cohort of women with linear scars from breast cancer surgery.

Methods: Twenty women with newly diagnosed breast cancer were prospectively accrued.

Prospective evaluation of the prevalence and severity of fatigue in patients with prostate cancer undergoing radical external beam radiotherapy and neoadjuvant hormone therapy.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the prevalence and severity of fatigue and its impact on quality of life (QOL) during and after radical external beam radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer.

Method And Materials: Twenty-eight men with prostate cancer undergoing RT over 6-8 consecutive weeks were prospectively accrued. The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), a validated fatigue assessment tool, was administered at five time points: baseline (week 1), middle of RT (week 3-4), end of RT (last week of RT), and follow-up (median 6.

Identification and functional characterization of voltage-dependent calcium channels in T lymphocytes.

In T lymphocytes, sustained calcium (Ca2+) influx through Ca2+ channels localized in the plasma membrane is critical for T cell activation and proliferation. Previous studies indicated that voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) play a role in Ca2+ mobilization during T lymphocyte activation. However, the role of VDCCs in otherwise nonexcitable cells is still poorly understood.