Tumor temperature distributions predict hyperthermia effect.

Review of clinical hyperthermia (HT) trial results shows that there previously has not been a robust model relating efficacy of HT treatments to characteristics of the temperature distribution. Lack of a model has been an impediment in Phase II trials; these trials must include defining the prescription for HT treatment, optimizing the schedule of HT treatments, and defining quality assurance procedures. We propose a model that is based upon noting that the majority of a tumor volume is contained in the outermost "shell" of a solid tumor, across which shell the radial temperature distribution is assumed to be linear.

Preoperative hyperthermia and radiation for soft tissue sarcomas: advantage of two vs one hyperthermia treatments per week.

As part of an ongoing Phase II trial at Duke University Medical Center (DUMC), patients with Stage IIB-IVA soft tissue sarcomas (STS) potentially amenable to wide local excision were treated with preoperative hyperthermia (HT) plus radiation therapy (RT), with HT randomized to one versus two treatments per week, stratified with respect to tumor volume. 17 patients were treated and analyzed. HT was given 30-60 minutes after RT, with heating maintained for 1 hour after 42.

Results of conservative surgery and radiation therapy for multiple synchronous cancers of one breast.

A small number of patients with early stage breast cancer are found on presentation to have two or more separate carcinomas within the breast. To assess the effectiveness of conservative surgery and radiation therapy in these patients we compared treatment outcome among 10 patients with multiple lesions (21 cancers) and 707 patients with single lesions, treated at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy between 1968-1981. Median follow-up was 64 months and 75 months for the multiple and single lesion groups, respectively.

Dependence of the damage and transmission properties of fused silica fibers on the excimer laser wavelength.

The damage and transmission properties of selected commercially available fused silica fibers have been measured as a function of excimer laser wavelength. Two-photon absorption and color center formation in fused silica currently limit the use of these fibers at the excimer wavelengths of 193 nm (ArF) and 248 nm (KrF).

Stage I to IIB Hodgkin's disease: the combined experience at Stanford University and the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy.

The treatment records of 180 patients with pathological stage (PS) IB to IIB Hodgkin's disease treated at Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC) or the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy (JCRT) were reviewed. Pretreatment characteristics were analyzed to assess their influence on survival and freedom from relapse (FFR). The two most important disease characteristics predictive of relapse were the number and type of B symptoms present and the mediastinal mass ratio (MMR).

Emergency prebiopsy radiation for mediastinal masses: impact on subsequent pathologic diagnosis and outcome.

From 1968 to 1983, 19 patients were treated at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy for symptomatic mediastinal masses before a biopsy was obtained. This study evaluates the impact of radiation on the ability to establish a pathologic diagnosis and the results of subsequent empirical therapy if no diagnosis was established. Eight of the 19 (42%) patients were not able to have a histologic diagnosis established at the time of biopsy.

Primary tumors of the heart: a review with emphasis on diagnosis and potential treatment modalities.

Primary cardiac tumors, while uncommon, are not rare neoplasms. They occur in individuals of all ages. A variety of benign and malignant tumors has been described.

Laser-induced preionization of a rare-gas halide discharge.

Modest-energy-density KrF laser radiation has been used to provide uniform preionization in a 5-atm, 2.5 X 2.5- cm2 XeCl discharge.