Increased cell killing effect in neutron capture enhanced proton beam therapy.

Thermal neutrons generated in the body during proton beam therapy (PBT) can be used to cause boron neutron capture reactions and have recently been proposed as neutron capture enhanced PBT (NCEPBT). However, the cell killing effect of NCEPBT remains underexplored. Here, we show an increase in the cell killing effect of NCEPBT.

Long-term stability of a PTW 34070 large-area parallel ionization chamber in clinical proton scanning beams.

Purpose: In the modeling of beam data for proton therapy planning systems, absolute dose measurements are performed utilizing a Bragg peak chamber (BPC), which is a parallel-plate ionization chamber. The long-term stability of the BPC is crucial for ensuring accurate absolute dose measurement. The study aims to assess the long-term stability of the BPC in clinical proton pencil beam scanning delivery.

Impact of interplay effects on spot scanning proton therapy with motion mitigation techniques for lung cancer: SFUD versus robustly optimized IMPT plans utilizing a four-dimensional dynamic dose simulation tool.

Background: The interaction between breathing motion and scanning beams causes interplay effects in spot-scanning proton therapy for lung cancer, resulting in compromised treatment quality. This study investigated the effects and clinical robustness of two types of spot-scanning proton therapy with motion-mitigation techniques for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using a new simulation tool (4DCT-based dose reconstruction).

Methods: Three-field single-field uniform dose (SFUD) and robustly optimized intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) plans combined with gating and re-scanning techniques were created using a VQA treatment planning system for 15 patients with locally advanced NSCLC (70 GyRBE/35 fractions).

Assessing alimentary tract radiation in liver cancer treatment with proton beam therapy: a PET/CT imaging study.

Background: Proton beams deposit energy along their path, abruptly stopping and generating various radioactive particles, including positrons, along their trajectory. In comparison with traditional proton beam therapy, scanning proton beam therapy is effective in delivering proton beams to irregularly shaped tumors, reducing excessive radiation exposure to the alimentary tract during the treatment of liver cancer.

Methods: In this study, we utilized positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging to assess the total amount of radiation to the alimentary tract during liver cancer treatment with proton beam therapy, involving the administration of complex irradiation in 13 patients.

Proton-beam Therapy for Locally Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Inferior Vena Cava Tumor Thrombus: Case Report.

Background/aim: We report on a case of locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accompanied by an inferior vena cava tumor thrombus (IVCTT), treated successfully with proton-beam therapy (PBT).

Case Report: A 63-year-old male presented with a primary, single HCC with IVCTT, without metastasis to the intrahepatic region, lymph nodes, or distant organs. The clinical staging was identified as T4N0M0 Stage IIIB.

Salivary metabolites as novel independent predictors of radiation pneumonitis.

Purpose: Radiotherapy is an integral treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, radiation-induced toxicities such as radiation pneumonitis (RP) present a considerable challenge. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the potential of salivary metabolomics as an independent risk factor for predicting RP.

Methods: This study included 62 consecutive patients with NSCLC who underwent thoracic radiotherapy at Tokyo Medical University between September 2016 and December 2018.

Relative Biological Effectiveness Values of Spot-scanning Proton Beam Therapy at Shonan Kamakura General Hospital.

Background/aim: This study aimed to confirm the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) values of the proton beam therapy (PBT) system installed in Shonan Kamakura General Hospital.

Materials And Methods: Clonogenic cell-survival assays were performed with a human salivary gland (HSG) cell line, a human tongue squamous-cell carcinoma cell line (SAS), and a human osteosarcoma cell line (MG-63). Cells were irradiated with proton beams and X-rays with different doses (1.

Predicting risk factors for hypothyroidism after definitive radiotherapy for early glottic carcinomas.

Hypothyroidism may occur after definitive radiotherapy in rare cases of early glottic carcinoma. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study to date has examined the risk factors for hypothyroidism specifically after definitive radiotherapy in patients with early glottic carcinoma. The present study determined risk factors for hypothyroidism after definitive radiotherapy in patients with early glottic carcinoma.

Mathematical evaluation of post-radiotherapy salivary gland function using salivary gland scintigraphy.

Objective: Xerostomia is the most common treatment-related toxicity after radiotherapy (RT) for head and neck carcinoma, reducing the quality of life of patients due to a decrease in salivary gland function.

Methods: Salivary gland scintigraphy was performed to quantitatively evaluate the salivary gland functions in patients undergoing RT. It was done chronologically for 62 salivary glands of 31 patients before RT and retested 12 months later.

Predicting factors for primary cervical cancer recurrence after definitive radiation therapy.

Objectives: The study aimed to retrospectively investigate the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of primary cervical cancer to examine the recurrence correlations in patients treated with radiotherapy (RT).

Methods: The ADC of 31 patients with cervical cancer treated with RT were analyzed as possible risk factors for recurrence. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the mean ADC (ADCmean) for the recurrence was generated to determine the cut-off value that yielded optimal sensitivity and specificity.

Implications of radiation microdosimetry for accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy: a radiobiological perspective.

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) has great potential to selectively destroy cancer cells while sparing surrounding normal cells. The basic concept of BNCT was developed in the 1930s, but it has not yet been commonly used in clinical practice, even though there is now a large number of experimental and translational studies demonstrating its marked therapeutic potential. With the development of neutron accelerators that can be installed in medical institutions, accelerator-based BNCT is expected to become available at several medical institutes around the world in the near future.

Predictive factors for local control of early glottic squamous cell carcinomas after definitive radiotherapy.

The aim of the present study was to retrospectively investigate the risk factors of local failure for T1 glottic carcinoma irradiated with a prescription dose of 66 Gy. Between July 2006 and December 2017, 64 patients with T1 glottic squamous cell carcinoma treated with 66 Gy/33 fractions were analyzed for risk factors of local failure. The sex, age, performance status, T stage, overall treatment time, anterior commissure involvement, smoking status during/after treatment, histological tumor grade and pretreatment hemoglobin level were investigated.

Prognostic impact of solid tumor component diameter in early-stage non-small cell lung carcinoma treated with intensity-modulated fractionated radiotherapy: a retrospective analysis impact of solid tumor component diameter in NSCLC treated with IMRT.

Objective: To investigate the suitability of the new diameter-based subgroupings of the eighth edition Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) classification system regarding radiotherapy treatment for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we retrospectively re-analyzed the clinical data of patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy using non-coplanar beams (ncIMRT) for Stage I NSCLC.

Methods: Between March 2011 and March 2018, 92 patients with 94 tumors who were diagnosed with Stage I NSCLC according to the seventh edition TNM classification system were enrolled and underwent ncIMRT of 75 Gy in 30 fractions. Local control (LC), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were retrospectively investigated according to the T-classification subdivisions of the eighth edition and maximal solid tumor component diameter.

Long-term Histopathologic Follow-up of a Spherical Embolic Agent; Observation of the Transvascular Migration of HepaSphere.

Very few studies have been published on the long-term histopathologic follow-up of spherical embolic agents after their injection. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature regarding pathological analysis of the transvascular migration of HepaSphere particles. We here report a case of a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent liver transplantation 12 months after drug eluting microsphere transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (DEM-TACE), and long-term histopathologic follow-up of the microspheres was performed.

Phase II study of compensator-based non-coplanar intensity-modulated radiotherapy for Stage I non-small-cell lung cancer.

We conducted a Phase II study to evaluate the usefulness of compensator-based non-coplanar intensity-modulated radiotherapy (ncIMRT) for patients with surgically inaccessible Stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients with pathologically proven or clinically diagnosed surgically inaccessible Stage I NSCLC were enrolled in this study from May 2011 to April 2014. These patients underwent ncIMRT of 75 Gy in 30 fractions regardless of the tumor location.

Cytological differences between invasive and noninvasive or minimally invasive lung adenocarcinomas diagnosed in Japanese patients using needle biopsy specimens of pulmonary lesions ≤3 cm in diameter.

Background: According to the WHO classification for lung cancer, adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) have a better prognosis than invasive adenocarcinoma (IAD). However, detecting the foci of invasion in lung adenocarcinomas radiologically remains difficult. The present study examined whether or not differences in the cytological characteristics between IAD and AIS or MIA (noninvasive or minimally invasive adenocarcinomas [NMIAD]) plays a role in the differential diagnosis.

Successful recanalization of acute extensive portal vein thrombosis by aspiration thrombectomy and thrombolysis via an operatively placed mesenteric catheter: a case report.

Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) after hepatobiliary surgery is rare but can cause lethal and severe complications. If early diagnosis and recanalization can be achieved, the PVT is expected to be eliminated. A 70-year-old male was diagnosed as having hepatocellular carcinoma occupying the right lobe of the liver.

DCE-MRI for Early Prediction of Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma after TACE and Sorafenib Therapy: A Pilot Study.

Objective: Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) can measure the changes in tumor blood flow, vascular permeability and interstitial and intravascular volume. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of DCE-MRI in prediction of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging B or C hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) response after treatment with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) followed by sorafenib therapy.

Methods: Sorafenib was administered four days after TACE of BCLC staging B or C HCC in 11 patients (21 lesions).

Is severe emphysema, as defined by quantitative CT measurement, a negative risk factor of radiation fibrosis?

Objective: To investigate whether patients with emphysema, as evaluated by quantitative CT image measurement, are at risk of developing radiation pneumonitis (RP) after radiotherapy (RT) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Between March 2011 and June 2015, 68 consecutive patients with Stage I NSCLC treated with a RT dose of 75 Gy given in 30 fractions were enrolled. The median age was 79 years and there were 45 males and 23 females.

Prediction of high-stage liver fibrosis using ADC value on diffusion-weighted imaging and quantitative enhancement ratio at the hepatobiliary phase of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI at 1.5 T.

Background Recently, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and quantitative enhancement ratio measured at the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been established as an effective method for evaluating liver fibrosis. Purpose To evaluate which is a more favorable surrogate marker in predicting high-stage liver fibrosis, apparently diffusion coefficient (ADC) value or quantitative enhancement ratio measured on HBP. Material and Methods Eighty-three patients with 99 surgically resected hepatic lesions were enrolled in this study.

Salvage Embolization and Histologic Analysis of Gastric Cancer with Hemorrhagic Shock Using Spherical Embolic Material.

Background: In a recent study, it was reported that transcatheter arterial embolization with spherical embolic material for life-threatening hemorrhages in various cancer patients was safe and effective. Calibrated microspheres are able to access distal regions of the target arteries, which results in the disappearance of tumor staining. However, there are few reports on the pathological behavior of EmboSpheres in gastric cancer specimens.