Preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy (RT) for non-small cell lung cancer: still an open question.

Preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) with or without chemotherapy has been used in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for decades. Numerous trials have investigated the potential survival benefit of this strategy, but despite greater knowledge of the disease, considerable technological developments in imaging and radiotherapy, and significant progress in surgery, many questions remain unsolved. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on this problem and discuss issues which still require elucidation.

Systemic treatments for thymoma and thymic carcinoma: A systematic review.

Thymic tumours are rare diseases that for most of the cases are cured with surgery and eventually adjuvant radiotherapy. However, about 30% of patients present with advanced stage or relapsing tumours, which require administration of chemotherapy. While cisplatin-adriamycin-cyclophosphamide combination is regularly prescribed, other drugs have been assessed in the literature.

Is chest radiation now a classical practice for extensive small cell lung cancer?

The recent phase III published by Slotman et al. addressed the question of additional chest radiation showing a benefit mainly in local control. A critical analysis of this trial point out all the limitations and in view of other studies, the real benefit of chest radiation for extensive small cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains unclear.

Small Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder: A Retrospective, Multicenter Rare Cancer Network Study of 107 Patients.

Purpose: Small cell carcinomas of the bladder (SCCB) account for fewer than 1% of all urinary bladder tumors. There is no consensus regarding the optimal treatment for SCCB.

Methods And Materials: Fifteen academic Rare Cancer Network medical centers contributed SCCB cases.

Systematic qualitative review of randomised trials conducted in nonsmall cell lung cancer with a noninferiority or equivalence design.

The use of noninferiority randomised trials for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer has emerged during the past 10-15 years but has raised some issues related to their justification and methodology. The present systematic review aimed to assess trial characteristics and methodological aspects. All randomised clinical trials with a hypothesis of noninferiority/equivalence, published in English, were identified.

Radioembolization of the spleen: a revisited approach for the treatment of malignant lymphomatous splenomegaly.

Intraarterial administration of (90)Y microspheres to the spleen in patients with malignant lymphoma was mentioned once in the literature in 1973. This case study illustrates the potential indication of selective internal radiotherapy in a heavily pretreated patient with highly refractory disease with a marginal zone lymphoma in leukemic phase and symptomatic splenomegaly. We describe the clinical course of disease; the biological and clinical response to the treatment after radioembolization; and simulation and dosimetry by multimodal imaging via single-photon emission computed tomography and computed tomography.

Radiotherapy for marginally resected, unresectable or recurrent giant cell tumor of the bone: a rare cancer network study.

The role of radiotherapy for local control of marginally resected, unresectable, and recurrent giant cell tumors of bone (GCToB) has not been well defined. The number of patients affected by this rare disease is low. We present a series of 58 patients with biopsy proven GCToB who were treated with radiation therapy.

Primary tumor standardized uptake value measured on fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography is of prognostic value for survival in non-small cell lung cancer: update of a systematic review and meta-analysis by the European Lung Cancer Working Party for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Staging Project.

Introduction: Few validated prognostic factors are available for survival in patients with lung cancer. [F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography has been shown to be of additional value to conventional imaging for staging lung cancer. The prognostic value of this lung tumor metabolic activity was studied in a first systematic review of studies published until 2006.

Outcome and prognostic factors in olfactory neuroblastoma: a rare cancer network study.

Purpose: To assess the outcome in patients with olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB).

Methods And Materials: Seventy-seven patients treated for nonmetastatic ONB between 1971 and 2004 were included. According to Kadish classification, there were 11 patients with Stage A, 29 with Stage B, and 37 with Stage C.

Primary tumor standardized uptake value (SUVmax) measured on fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is of prognostic value for survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): a systematic review and meta-analysis (MA) by the European Lung Cancer Working Party for the IASLC Lung Cancer Staging Project.

Hypothesis: The 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography is an imaging tool for assessing clinical tumor, node, metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Primary tumor standardized uptake value (SUV) has been studied as a potential prognostic factor for survival. However, the sample sizes are limited leading to conduct a meta-analysis to improve the precision in estimating its effect.

Radiotherapy in the treatment of mucosal melanoma of the upper aerodigestive tract: analysis of 74 cases. A Rare Cancer Network study.

Purpose: To retrospectively analyze a series of mucosal melanoma of the upper aerodigestive tract to determine the prognostic factors and contribute to understanding the role of radiotherapy in the therapeutic strategy.

Methods And Materials: Seventy-four patients were analyzed. The most frequent locations were nasal and oral, in 31 patients (41.

[Metastasis of a lumbosacral ependymoma with very long disease-free survival: a case report and review of the literature].

Ependymoma is rare glial tumour of the central nervous system and is considered to be low-grade. The lumbosacral location of spinal ependymoma is the most common. Prognosis of ependymomas is dependent on tumour location, histological subtype and differentiation, extent of the tumour and of the completeness of the surgical resection.