Solid state TL detectors for in vivo dosimetry in brachytherapy.

In vivo dosimetry provides information about the actual dose delivered to the patient treated with radiotherapy and can be adopted within a routinary treatment quality assurance protocol. Aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of performing in vivo rectal dosimetry by placing thermoluminescence detectors directly on the transrectal ultrasound probe adopted for on-line treatment planning of high dose rate brachytherapy boosts of prostate cancer patients. A suitable protocol for TLD calibration has been set up.

Breast cancer patients treated without axillary surgery: clinical implications and biologic analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of breast carcinoma (T1-2N0) surgery without axillary dissection on axillary and distant relapses, and to evaluate the usefulness of a panel of pathobiologic parameters determined from the primary tumor, independent of axillary nodal status, in planning adjuvant treatment.

Methods: In a prospective nonrandomized pilot study, 401 breast cancer patients who underwent breast surgery without axillary dissection were accrued from January 1986 to June 1994. At surgery, all patients were clinically node-negative and lacked evidence of distant metastases after clinical or radiologic examination.

The effects of tramadol and morphine on immune responses and pain after surgery in cancer patients.

Unlabelled: There has been growing interest in determining the possible immune consequences of opioid administration for the management of postoperative pain. We studied the effects of morphine and tramadol on pain and immune function during the postoperative period in 30 patients undergoing abdominal surgery for uterine carcinoma. Phytohemoagglutinin-induced T lymphocyte proliferation and natural killer cell activity were evaluated immediately before and after surgery, and 2 h after the acute administration of either 10 mg of morphine IM or 100 mg tramadol IM for pain.

Expression of p53, glutathione S-transferase-pi, and Bcl-2 proteins and benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy in breast cancer.

Background: In clinical breast cancer research, the utility of certain biomarkers as predictors of response to surgery, chemotherapy, or hormonal therapy has been studied intensively. Much less research has been done on the relevance of biologic predictors of response to radiotherapy, which represents an effective local-regional treatment for breast cancer.

Purpose: The utility of biomarkers involved in DNA damage repair (p53 protein), control of programmed cell death (p53 and Bcl-2 proteins), and cellular detoxification (glutathione S-transferase-pi [GST-pi] enzyme) in predicting local breast cancer recurrence was analyzed retrospectively in two cohorts of breast cancer patients.

[Hemodynamic changes in orthotopic transplantation of the liver].

Objective: To evaluate the hemodynamic changes during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

Design: Retrospective analysis of the hemodynamic data during OLT.

Setting: National Cancer Hospital.