Impact of delineation uncertainties on dose to organs at risk in CT-guided intracavitary brachytherapy.

Purpose: This study quantifies the inter- and intraobserver variations in contouring the organs at risk (OARs) in CT-guided brachytherapy (BT) for the treatment of cervical carcinoma. The dosimetric consequences are reported in accordance with the current Gynecological Groupe Européen de Curiethérapie/European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology guidelines.

Methods And Materials: A CT planning study of 8 consecutive patients undergoing image-guided BT was conducted.

Tumor and normal tissue dosimetry changes during MR-guided pulsed-dose-rate (PDR) brachytherapy for cervical cancer.

Background And Purpose: To analyze systematic changes in tumor and normal tissue anatomy and dosimetry using serial MR imaging during pulsed dose rate brachytherapy (PDR BT) for cervical cancer.

Material And Methods: Forty-three patients with cervical cancer underwent MR-guided PDR BT using an intrauterine applicator alone after external beam radiotherapy. MR imaging was repeated on days 2 and 3 of treatment and the day 1 plan was applied to the re-contoured volumes.

Concomitant intensity modulated boost during whole breast hypofractionated radiotherapy--a feasibility and toxicity study.

Background: Breast cancer sensitivity to large fraction size may be enhanced using hypofractionated concomitant boost radiotherapy (CBRT), thereby shortening overall treatment time. This ethics approved, prospective single cohort feasibility study was designed to evaluate the dosimetry and toxicity of CBRT using an intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) technique, compared with a standard sequential boost technique (SBT).

Methods: Fifteen women (11 right-sided; 4 left-sided) received 42.

Spinal cord stimulators and radiotherapy: first case report and practice guidelines.

Spinal cord stimulators (SCS) are a well-recognised treatment modality in the management of a number of chronic neuropathic pain conditions, particularly failed back syndrome and radiculopathies. The implantable pulse generator (IPG) component of the SCS is designed and operates in a similar fashion to that of a cardiac pacemaker. The IPG consists of an electrical generator, lithium battery, transmitter/receiver and a minicomputer.

Technological advances in radiotherapy for cervical cancer.

Purpose Of Review: To discuss the important technological advances that have taken place in the planning and delivery of both external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer, and the implications for improved clinical outcomes.

Recent Findings: Technological advances in external beam radiation treatment and brachytherapy for patients with cervical cancer allow more precise targeting of tumour and relative sparing of surrounding normal organs and tissues. Early evidence is emerging to indicate that these advances will translate into improvements in tumour control and reduced side effects.

Toxicity of cetuximab versus cisplatin concurrent with radiotherapy in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancer (LAHNSCC).

We retrospectively reviewed acute toxicity with cetuximab and radiotherapy, comparing it with a matched cisplatin group. The cetuximab group experienced significantly more toxicity--grade ≥3 oral mucositis (p=0.014), skin dermatitis (p=0.

A class apart? Admissions to the Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum 1890-1910.

Our perceptions of 'class' and what it meant to be a pauper or a private patient require redefinition before we can draw any firm conclusions on the importance of class to the patient experience in the nineteenth-century Scottish asylum. This chapter argues that a range of influences within the asylum, including financial concerns and a striving for respectability, led to the reconceptualisation of the private patient in this period, thus negating any direct translation of rich and poor into private and pauper. Such an interpretation challenges Scull's suggestion that divisions between private and pauper asylum patients was an accurate reflection of class divisions within Victorian society.