Long-term outcome and morbidity after treatment with accelerated radiotherapy and weekly cisplatin for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer: results of a multidisciplinary late morbidity clinic.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term outcome and morbidity after intensified treatment for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer.

Methods And Materials: Between May 2003 and December 2007, 77 patients with Stage III to IV head-and-neck cancer were treated with curative intent. Treatment consisted of accelerated radiotherapy to a dose of 68 Gy and concurrent cisplatin.

External beam radiotherapy with endocavitary boost for nasopharyngeal cancer: treatment results and late toxicity after extended follow-up.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term outcome after treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and assess late toxicity in a multidisciplinary clinic.

Methods And Materials: A retrospective analysis of 117 patients treated for nasopharyngeal cancer in a single institute between 1985 and 2002 was performed. Fifty-one long-term survivors were evaluated for late toxicity by a multidisciplinary team comprising a radiation oncologist, otolaryngologist, neurologist, and oral and maxillofacial surgeon.

Bath and shower effect in spinal cord: the effect of time interval.

Purpose: To evaluate the time dependency of the sensitizing effect of a large low-dose field on a small high-dose field in the rat cervical spinal cord.

Methods And Materials: Irradiation experiments with a relatively low dose to a large volume (bath, 2 cm, 4 Gy) were combined with high doses to a small volume (shower, 4.7 mm, 26-43 Gy) at intervals of 8 minutes and 3, 12, and 24 hours.

Dose-volume effects in rat thoracolumbar spinal cord: the effects of nonuniform dose distribution.

Purpose: To investigate dose-volume effects in rat spinal cord irradiated with nonuniform dose distributions and to assess regional differences in radiosensitivity.

Methods And Materials: A total of 106 rats divided into three groups were irradiated with (192)Ir gamma-rays at a high dose rate. The groups were irradiated with one, two, or six catheters distributed around the thoracolumbar spinal cord to create different dose distributions.

Oxygen-modifying treatment with ARCON reduces the prognostic significance of hemoglobin in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic significance of hemoglobin (Hb) levels measured before and during treatment with accelerated radiotherapy with carbogen and nicotinamide (ARCON).

Methods And Materials: Two hundred fifteen patients with locally advanced tumors of the head and neck were included in a phase II trial of ARCON. This treatment regimen combines accelerated radiotherapy for reduction of repopulation with carbogen breathing and nicotinamide to reduce hypoxia.

Dose-volume effects in rat thoracolumbar spinal cord: an evaluation of NTCP models.

Purpose: To evaluate models for normal-tissue-complication probability (NTCP) on describing the dose-volume effect in rat thoracolumbar spinal cord.

Methods And Materials: Single-dose irradiation of four field lengths (4, 1.5, 1.

Pimonidazole binding and tumor vascularity predict for treatment outcome in head and neck cancer.

Hypoxia is associated with tumor aggressiveness and is an important cause of resistance to radiation treatment. Assays of tumor hypoxia could provide selection tools for hypoxia-modifying treatments. This study correlated the exogenous 2-nitroimidazole hypoxia marker 1-[(2-hydroxy-3-piperidinyl)propyl]-2-nitroimidazole hydrochloride (pimonidazole) with the endogenous hypoxia-related marker carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9) and with vascular parameters using immunohistochemical techniques and a computerized image analysis system.

ARCON: experience in 215 patients with advanced head-and-neck cancer.

Purpose: "ARCON" combines accelerated radiotherapy to counteract tumor repopulation with carbogen breathing and nicotinamide to reduce chronic and acute hypoxia. The aim of this Phase II study was to assess the feasibility, toxicity, and potential effectiveness of ARCON for advanced head-and-neck cancer.

Methods And Materials: The study included 215 patients with head-and-neck carcinoma distributed as follows: larynx, n = 100; hypopharynx, n = 50; oropharynx, n = 52; oral cavity, n = 13; Stage II, n = 8, Stage III, n = 71, and Stage IV, n = 136.