Japanese Structure Survey of Radiation Oncology in 2011.

We evaluated the evolving structure of radiation oncology in Japan in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load and geographic distribution to identify and overcome any existing limitations. From March 2012 to August 2015, the Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology conducted a questionnaire based on the Japanese national structure survey of radiation oncology in 2011. Data were analyzed based on the institutional stratification by the annual number of new patients treated with radiotherapy per institution.

Japanese structure survey of radiation oncology in 2010.

We evaluated the evolving structure of radiation oncology in Japan in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load, and geographic distribution to identify and overcome any existing limitations. From March 2011 to June 2013, the Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology conducted a questionnaire based on the Japanese national structure survey of radiation oncology in 2010. Data were analyzed based on the institutional stratification by the annual number of new patients treated with radiotherapy per institution.

Japanese structure survey of radiation oncology in 2009 with special reference to designated cancer care hospitals.

Background: The structure of radiation oncology in designated cancer care hospitals in Japan was surveyed in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load, and geographic distribution, and compared with the structure in other radiotherapy facilities and the previous survey.

Methods: The Japanese Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology surveyed the national structure of radiation oncology in 2009. The structures of 365 designated cancer care hospitals and 335 other radiotherapy facilities were compared.

Japanese structure survey of radiation oncology in 2009 based on institutional stratification of the Patterns of Care Study.

The ongoing structure of radiation oncology in Japan in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load and geographic distribution was evaluated in order to radiation identify and improve any deficiencies. A questionnaire-based national structure survey was conducted from March 2010 to January 2011 by the Japanese Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO). These data were analyzed in terms of the institutional stratification of the Patterns of Care Study (PCS).

Strategy of radiation therapy for bone metastases and MSCC in breast cancer patients.

Bone metastasis is a common event in advanced cancers such as prostate, breast, lung, and renal cancers. Radiation therapy has been widely used for bone metastasis. However, it remains a challenging therapy because no radiation therapeutic guidelines, including radiation dose, radiation field, and fractionation, for patients with bone metastasis have been established.

National medical care system may impede fostering of true specialization of radiation oncologists: study based on structure survey in Japan.

Purpose: To evaluate the actual work environment of radiation oncologists (ROs) in Japan in terms of working pattern, patient load, and quality of cancer care based on the relative time spent on patient care.

Methods And Materials: In 2008, the Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology produced a questionnaire for a national structure survey of radiation oncology in 2007. Data for full-time ROs were crosschecked with data for part-time ROs by using their identification data.

Japanese structure survey of radiation oncology in 2007 with special reference to designated cancer care hospitals.

Background And Purpose: The structure of radiation oncology in designated cancer care hospitals in Japan was investigated in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load, and geographic distribution. The effect of changes in the health care policy in Japan on radiotherapy structure was also examined.

Material And Methods: The Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology surveyed the national structure of radiation oncology in 2007.

Cesium implant for tongue carcinoma with a thickness of 1.5 cm or more: cases successfully treated with a Modified Manchester System.

Purpose: Deciding on treatment carcinoma of the tongue when the tumor has a thickness of 1.5 cm or more is difficult. Surgery often requires wide resection and re-construction, leading to considerable functional impairment.

Japanese structure survey of radiation oncology in 2007 based on institutional stratification of patterns of care study.

Purpose: To evaluate the ongoing structure of radiation oncology in Japan in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load, and geographic distribution to identify and improve any deficiencies.

Methods And Materials: A questionnaire-based national structure survey was conducted from March to December 2008 by the Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO). These data were analyzed in terms of the institutional stratification of the Patterns of Care Study.

National structure of radiation oncology in Japan with special reference to designated cancer care hospitals.

Background: The structure of radiation oncology in designated cancer care hospitals in Japan was investigated in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load, and geographic distribution, and compared with the structure in other radiotherapy facilities.

Methods: The Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO) conducted a questionnaire survey about the national structure of radiation oncology in 2005. In the current study, the structures of 326 designated cancer care hospitals and the other 386 radiotherapy facilities in Japan were compared.

[Board-certified radiation oncologists--what does a cancer treatment specialist mean ?].

The Japanese Board of Cancer Therapy (JBCT) has started the board certification of general oncologists, who have a general knowledge for the treatment of cancer. Board-certified general oncologists could co-operate with board-certified specialists for specific cancer or organs so as to provide all cancer patients in the nation with high-quality treatment. The number of board-certified radiation oncologists in Japan is so small that they cannot meet the increasing demand for radiation therapy.

Japanese structure survey of radiation oncology in 2005 based on institutional stratification of patterns of care study.

Purpose: To evaluate the structure of radiation oncology in Japan in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load, and geographic distribution to identify and improve any deficiencies.

Methods And Materials: A questionnaire-based national structure survey was conducted between March 2006 and February 2007 by the Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. These data were analyzed in terms of the institutional stratification of the Patterns of Care Study.

Analyses of dose-response in radiotherapy for patients with mature T/NK-cell lymphomas according to the WHO classification.

Background And Purpose: This study was conducted to analyze the influence of radiotherapy doses and chemotherapy doses and clinical parameters on in-field disease control in order to assess the optimal radiation doses for treatment of mature T/NK-cell lymphomas according to the newly proposed WHO classification.

Patients And Methods: Subjects consisted of 62 patients with mature T/NK-cell lymphomas treated with radiotherapy at four Japanese institutions between 1983 and 2002. We reevaluated all histopathological specimens of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), using the WHO classification.

Results of radiation therapy for superficial esophageal cancer using the standard radiotherapy method recommended by the Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO) Study Group.

Background: Superficial esophageal cancer (SEC) is defined as esophageal cancer limited to the submucosal layers, including mucosal cancer and submucosal cancer, and is squamous cell carcinoma in most patients. In 2000, the Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO) Study Group for SEC published a consensus guideline of standard radiotherapy methods. In this study, the interim treatment outcomes of SEC patients, who had received radiation therapy following the standard radiotherapy methods, were investigated.

[Altered fractionation].

For improving radiotherapy treatment results, altered fractionation (AF) is one of the most important biological factors to modify the conventional fractionation schedule. AF is classified into two categories. One is decreasing in dose-per-fraction and increasing in total dose, so-called hyperfractionation (HF), which expands the difference in radio-sensitivity between tumor and normal tissue.

[A multicenter study to determine the efficacy and safety of strontium (89Sr) chloride for palliation of painful bony metastases in cancer patients].

Purpose: A multicenter study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of strontium chloride (89SrCl2) for palliation of painful bony metastases using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and Functional Assessment for Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G).

Methods: Ninety patients received a single injection of 2.0 MBq/kg and were classified as responders if VAS scores decreased without increased use of analgesics or if analgesic consumption decreased without an increase in the VAS.

[General remarks on brachytherapy].

Brachytherapy has long been used because its therapeutic gain factor is high. The high-dose-rate remote after loading system (RALS) that enables therapists to treat patients without any radiation exposure recently has become the mainstream method and has been used in preference to low-dose-rate brachytherapy. 192Ir fine seeds were developed to expand the number of diseases treated and to increase the precision of treatment through computerization.

Results of radiation monotherapy for primary central nervous system lymphoma in the 1990s.

Purpose: Results of radiation therapy for primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) were poor in the 1970-1980s, with most reported 5-year survival rates being less than 10%. To investigate whether the prognosis of PCNSL patients treated by radiation alone remains still poor, we investigated the results of radiation monotherapy in the 1990s.

Methods And Materials: We collected data on 132 patients with histologically proven PCNSL treated by radiation alone in the 1990s from three nationwide or regional multiinstitutional studies conducted by the Japanese Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO) Lymphoma Study Group or the Chubu Radiation Oncology Group.

[Radiotherapy for head and neck cancer].

Radiotherapy plays an important role in therapy for head and neck cancers from the aspect of functional and cosmetic conservation. In 2001, 130,000 patients underwent radiotherapy for the first time, and those with head and neck cancer accounted for 12.5% of this population.

A prospective, randomized trial comparing neoadjuvant chemotherapy with radiotherapy alone in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: A prospective, randomized study was performed to determine the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy over radiotherapy alone in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Methods: From January 1991 to December 1998, 80 patients were enrolled in this study. Patients with locoregional carcinoma of the nasopharynx were randomized to receive two courses of chemotherapy, consisting of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (CDDP-5FU), that were administered before radiation therapy (CT arm) or radiotherapy alone.

[Radiotherapy and chemotherapy for esophageal cancer].

The nonsurgical gold standard treatment for esophageal cancer is radiotherapy, but chemoradiation therapy using anticancer agents concurrently is becoming standard management. With chemoradiation adverse responses in the acute stage may be enhanced in comparison with conventional radiation therapy alone, but improved treatment outcomes are reported. A consensus has nearly been reached on the standard radiation technique and dose, and a guideline changes, but drug type, timing, and optimum dosage in chemoradiation are unclear.