Surface mould brachytherapy in oral and oropharyngeal cancers.

Introduction: There are insufficient data on surface mold brachytherapy (SMB) in treating oral cancers. We reviewed our institutional experience to investigate the efficacy and toxicity of this treatment modality.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all the patients treated between 1989 and 2018 with high-dose-rate iridium-192 SMB for oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas at our institution.

Verrucous carcinoma of the vulva: Patterns of care and treatment outcomes.

Background: Verrucous vulvar carcinoma (VC) is an uncommon and distinct histologic subtype of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The available literature on VC is currently limited to case reports and small single institution studies.

Aims: The goals of this study were to analyze data from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to quantitate the incidence of VC and to investigate the effects of patient demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatment regimens on overall survival (OS) in women with verrucous vulvar carcinoma.

Final Analysis of a Phase 2 Trial of Once Weekly Hypofractionated Whole Breast Irradiation for Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

Purpose: We hypothesize that 5-fraction once weekly hypofractionated (WH) whole breast irradiation (WBI) would be safe and effective after breast-conserving surgery for medically underserved patients with breast cancer. We report the protocol-specified primary endpoint of in-breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) at 5 years.

Methods And Materials: After provided informed consent, patients were treated with WH-WBI after breast-conserving surgery were followed prospectively on an institutional review board-approved protocol.

Patterns of care and outcomes of radiotherapy or hormone therapy in patients with medically inoperable endometrial adenocarcinoma.

Objective: The optimal treatment for medically inoperable endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma is unknown. The goal of this study was to evaluate the patterns of care and efficacy of radiotherapy (RT) or hormone therapy (HT) in the treatment of these patients.

Methods: We performed a query of the National Cancer Database (NCDB) of patients with medically inoperable endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the endometrium diagnosed between 2004 and 2016 and treated with either RT or HT.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of adrenal gland metastases in oligometastatic and oligoprogressive disease.

Background: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) as a form of noninvasive treatment that is becoming increasingly used to manage cancers with adrenal gland metastases. There is a paucity of data on safety and efficacy of this modality. The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of adrenal gland SBRT in oligometastatic and oligoprogressive disease.

Role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with FIGO stage IB grade 3 endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma treated with surgery and post-operative radiotherapy.

Background: The optimal treatment of patients with FIGO stage IB grade 3 endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma remains unknown.

Objective: To compare overall survival following treatment with a hysterectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy in this group of patients.

Methods: Patients diagnosed between January 2004 and January 2016 with FIGO stage IB grade 3 endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma treated with hysterectomy and postoperative radiotherapy with or without adjuvant concurrent chemotherapy were identified in the National Cancer Database.

A Phase II Trial of Once Weekly Hypofractionated Breast Irradiation for Early Stage Breast Cancer.

Purpose: To report an interim analysis of a phase II trial of once weekly, hypofractionated breast irradiation (WH-WBI) following breast conserving surgery (BCS).

Methods: Patients had stage 0-II breast cancer treated with breast BCS with negative margins. WH-WBI was 28.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in recurrent, persistent or oligometastatic gynecological cancers.

Objective: SBRT is a well-tolerated technique and provides local-regional control in a variety of metastatic and recurrent tumor types. The role of SBRT in extracranial recurrent, persistent, or oligometastatic gynecological tumors is not well-studied. We therefore retrospectively analyzed a sizeable number of patients in this setting.

The impact of brachytherapy boost and radiotherapy treatment duration on survival in patients with vaginal cancer treated with definitive chemoradiation.

Purpose: Vaginal cancer is a rare tumor that is optimally treated with a combination of chemotherapy (CHT) and radiation therapy. Because of the rarity of this cancer, the benefit of a brachytherapy boost (BT) and the relevance of radiotherapy time to treatment completion (TTC) are unclear.

Methods: Patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2015 with non-metastatic vaginal cancer treated with definitive CHT and external beam radiotherapy with or without BT but with no surgery were identified in the National Cancer Database.

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Oligometastatic Uterine Cancer: Clinical Outcomes and Toxicity.

We report on clinical outcomes in patients with oligometastatic uterine cancer treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Twenty-seven patients with 61 lesions were treated with SBRT. Median follow-up was 16.

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) in Pelvic Lymph Node Oligometastases.

The role of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in achieving durable local control and palliation of pain in pelvic lymph node oligometastatic disease is not well-studied. We performed a retrospective analysis of 30 patients with 43 pelvic lymph node oligometastases from various primary cancers all but one with non-prostate primaries treated at our institution with SBRT. The median follow-up time was 21 months.

Squamous Cell and Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Collision Tumor of the Soft Palate Treated with Surface Mold Brachytherapy.

Simultaneous primary cancers are rare in the oropharynx. This report describes the first reported case of a collision tumor of squamous cell and adenoid cystic carcinoma in the soft palate. The patient was immunosuppressed with a history of liver transplantation, smoking and heavy alcohol drinking.

Symptomatic Meckel's Cave Metastasis from Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Treated with Gamma Knife Radiosurgery.

Prostate cancer commonly spreads to the axial and appendicular skeleton, but metastases to the brain parenchyma or skull base are uncommon. In the cases that this happens, the symptoms are usually associated with disease involving the orbit. Metastasis to the Meckel's cave causing trigeminal nerve palsy is an exceedingly rare entity.

Cardiac radiation dose distribution, cardiac events and mortality in early-stage lung cancer treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).

Background: The impact of radiation dose to the heart in early-stage lung cancer patients treated with definitive stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is not well known. We, therefore, analyzed whether higher radiation dose to the heart would lead to an increase in cardiac toxicity and overall mortality.

Methods: Seventy-four patients with 75 tumors treated definitively with SBRT for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and two cases of limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with an average follow-up of 35 months (range, 1-130 months) were retrospectively analyzed.

Lung and Heart Dose Variability During Radiation Therapy of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: To investigate the hypothesis that positional and anatomic variations during radiation therapy induce changes in lung and heart volumes and associated radiation doses.

Methods And Materials: In this longitudinal investigation, variations in lung and heart volumes and standard dose parameters of mean lung dose, lung V, mean heart dose, and heart V were analyzed on weekly 4-dimensional CT scans of 15 lung cancer patients during conventionally fractionated radiochemotherapy. Tumor, individual lung lobes, and heart were delineated on the mid-ventilation phase of weekly 4-dimensional CT scans.

Effect of atelectasis changes on tissue mass and dose during lung radiotherapy.

Purpose: To characterize mass and density changes of lung parenchyma in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients following midtreatment resolution of atelectasis and to quantify the impact this large geometric change has on normal tissue dose.

Methods: Baseline and midtreatment CT images and contours were obtained for 18 NSCLC patients with atelectasis. Patients were classified based on atelectasis volume reduction between the two scans as having either full, partial, or no resolution.

Co-administration of the mTORC1/TORC2 inhibitor INK128 and the Bcl-2/Bcl-xL antagonist ABT-737 kills human myeloid leukemia cells through Mcl-1 down-regulation and AKT inactivation.

Effects of concurrent inhibition of mTORC1/2 and Bcl-2/Bcl-xL in human acute myeloid leukemia cells were examined. Tetracycline-inducible Bcl-2/Bcl-xL dual knockdown markedly sensitized acute myeloid leukemia cells to the dual TORC1/2 inhibitor INK128 in vitro as well as in vivo. Moreover, INK128 co-administered with the Bcl-2/xL antagonist ABT-737 sharply induced cell death in multiple acute myeloid leukemia cell lines, including TKI-resistant FLT3-ITD mutants and primary acute myeloid leukemia blasts carrying various genetic aberrations e.

A Preliminary Study on Racial Differences in HMOX1, NFE2L2, and TGFβ1 Gene Polymorphisms and Radiation-Induced Late Normal Tissue Toxicity.

Purpose: This study tested whether racial differences in genetic polymorphisms of 4 genes involved in wound repair and response to radiation can be used to predict the occurrence of normal tissue late effects of radiation therapy and indicate potential therapeutic targets.

Methods And Materials: This prospective study examined genetic polymorphisms that modulate the expression of 4 genes involved in inflammation and fibrosis and response to radiation (HMOX1, NFE2L2, NOS3, and TGFβ1). DNA from blood samples of 179 patients (∼ 80% breast and head and neck) collected at the time of diagnosis by their radiation oncologist as exhibiting late normal tissue toxicity was used for the analysis.

Effect of electrode orientation on lesion sizes produced by irrigated radiofrequency ablation catheters.

Background: Irrigated radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheters may produce different lesion sizes dependent upon the electrode orientation to the tissue. This study examined the effect of irrigated electrode orientation on the lesion size and explores a potential mechanism for this effect.

Methods And Results: Lesions were created in isolated porcine myocardium using an open irrigation, closed irrigation, and nonirrigated RF catheter (all 3.