Association Between Inflammatory Biomarker C-Reactive Protein and Radiotherapy-Induced Early Adverse Skin Reactions in a Multiracial/Ethnic Breast Cancer Population.

Purpose This study examined an inflammatory biomarker, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), in radiotherapy (RT)-induced early adverse skin reactions or toxicities in breast cancer. Patients and Methods Between 2011 and 2013, 1,000 patients with breast cancer who underwent RT were evaluated prospectively for skin toxicities through the National Cancer Institute-funded Wake Forest University Community Clinical Oncology Program Research Base. Pre- and post-RT plasma hsCRP levels and Oncology Nursing Society skin toxicity criteria (0 to 6) were used to assess RT-induced skin toxicities.

Radiation therapy for increasing prostate-specific antigen levels after radical prostatectomy.

Herein we present data on outcomes in patients with increasing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels treated with irradiation to the pelvis and/or prostatic bed after radical prostatectomy. Between 1988 and 1998, 92 patients who presented with increasing PSA levels after radical prostatectomy were treated with irradiation, 29 to the pelvis and prostatic bed and 63 to the prostatic bed only. The mean follow-up was 4 years for the 3D-CRT group and 6.

Impact of breathing motion on whole breast radiotherapy: a dosimetric analysis using active breathing control.

Purpose: The active breathing control (ABC) apparatus was used to quantify the effect of breathing motion on whole breast radiotherapy (RT) with standard wedges and intensity-modulated RT (IMRT).

Methods And Materials: Ten patients with early-stage breast cancer underwent routine free-breathing (FB) CT simulations for whole breast RT. An ABC apparatus was used to obtain two additional CT scans with the breath held at the end of normal inhalation and normal exhalation.

Accelerated partial breast irradiation using 3D conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT).

Purpose: We present a novel three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) technique to treat the lumpectomy cavity, plus a 1.5-cm margin, in patients with early-stage breast cancer and study its clinical feasibility.

Methods And Materials: A 3D-CRT technique for partial-breast irradiation was developed using archived CT scans from 7 patients who underwent an active breathing control study.

The emerging role of brachytherapy in the management of patients with breast cancer.

Brachytherapy remains an important treatment option in the overall management of patients with breast cancer. In patients treated with breast conserving therapy (BCT), prospective randomized trials have established the advantage of a boost in most patients. Interstitial brachytherapy has consistently been shown to provide an important option to boost patients, and in certain clinical settings it may provide a more appropriate means of dose delivery.

The dose-volume relationship of acute small bowel toxicity from concurrent 5-FU-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy for rectal cancer.

Purpose: A direct relationship between the volume of small bowel irradiated and the degree of acute small bowel toxicity experienced during concurrent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemoradiotherapy for rectal carcinoma is well recognized but poorly quantified. This study uses three-dimensional treatment-planning tools to more precisely quantify this dose-volume relationship.

Methods And Materials: Forty patients receiving concurrent 5-FU-based chemotherapy and pelvic irradiation for rectal carcinoma had treatment-planning CT scans with small bowel contrast.