Observational Study of Best Supportive Care With or Without Oral Capecitabine in Patients With Metastatic Gallbladder Carcinoma at a Tertiary Center in India.

Purpose: To compare overall survival (OS), toxicity, and quality of life (QOL) in patients with metastatic gallbladder cancer receiving oral capecitabine (X) with best supportive care (BSC) and BSC alone.

Materials And Methods: Patients with metastatic gallbladder cancer and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) ≥70 were accrued and assigned to either arm A or B. Assignment to these two arms was based on physician/patient discretion.

Factors associated with anastomotic leak following gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma and its effect on long-term outcomes.

Objectives: Gastrectomy for cancer is a technically demanding surgery and anastomotic leak is an important complication of this surgery. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with anastomotic leak following gastrectomy in gastric cancer patients and its long-term effect on outcomes.

Material And Methods: This is an ambispective study of 181 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma over 13 years, at our institution.

Cross-Sectional National Survey of Practice Patterns in Radiotherapy for Rectal Cancer: A Snapshot of India.

Purpose: The information on the practice of radiotherapy, including intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) use for rectal cancer in India, is lacking. This national survey was planned to understand the current status of knowledge, attitudes, and practice among radiation oncologists, specifically concerning the practice of IMRT for rectal cancers.

Materials And Methods: A national survey was sent to radiation oncologists through e-mail or a WhatsApp message, where feasible, with a request letter containing the link to the survey questionnaire.

Long-term follow-up in high-grade meningioma and outcome analysis.

Objectives: The determinants of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for higher-grade meningiomas have not been clearly established and to summarize the long-term clinical outcome for patients with grade 2 or 3 meningioma and assess the PFS and OS factors.

Materials And Methods: The study included all individuals, who had undergone surgical removal of cerebral meningiomas between 2005 and 2020 and whose histological results suggested a World Health Organization (WHO) grade 2 or grade 3 diseases. Kaplan-Meier curves are plotted to examine tumor control and OS after the follow-up.

Cholangiocarcinoma: Recent Advances in Molecular Pathobiology and Therapeutic Approaches.

Cholangiocarcinomas (CCA) pose a complex challenge in oncology due to diverse etiologies, necessitating tailored therapeutic approaches. This review discusses the risk factors, molecular pathology, and current therapeutic options for CCA and explores the emerging strategies encompassing targeted therapies, immunotherapy, novel compounds from natural sources, and modulation of gut microbiota. CCA are driven by an intricate landscape of genetic mutations, epigenetic dysregulation, and post-transcriptional modification, which differs based on geography (e.

Meningeal Melanocytoma- A Clinicohistological Masquerader.

Meningeal melanocytoma is a rare benign tumor, most frequently located in the posterior fossa and spinal canal. Localized tumors present as leptomeningeal masses and range from well-differentiated melanocytomas to lesions of intermediate malignancy and overtly malignant melanomas. Spinal meningeal melanocytoma has a benign course and is amenable for gross total resection.

A Pilot Study of Perioperative Cisplatin-Capecitabine Chemotherapy With Preoperative Chemoradiation for Resectable Gastric Cancers.

Objectives: The standard of care for resectable gastric cancers (GCs) includes perioperative chemotherapy (CT) or postoperative chemo/chemoradiotherapy (CRT) strategies. Poor treatment compliance postsurgery suggests that intensified surgical adjuvant treatment is more likely deliverable preceding surgery and, therefore, the safety and efficacy of perioperative cisplatin-capecitabine (CX) with preoperative chemoradiation (preopCRT) were ascertained.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2017 and December 2018, 28 potentially resectable locally advanced GC patients were offered neoadjuvant CT-2 cycles of CX at 3-weekly intervals, followed by preopCRT 45 Gy/25 fractions/5 weeks and concurrent capecitabine, followed by surgical resection and 3 adjuvant cycles of CX.

Optimal Standardized Uptake Value Threshold for Auto contouring of Gross Tumor Volume using Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in Patients with Operable Nonsmall-Cell Lung Cancer: Comparison with Pathological Tumor Size.

Purpose: Incorporating F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (F-FDG-PET/CT) for gross tumor volume (GTV) delineation is challenging due to varying tumor edge based on the set threshold of the standardized uptake value (SUV). This study aims to determine an optimal SUV threshold that correlates best with the pathological tumor size.

Materials And Methods: From January 2013 to July 2014, 25 consecutive patients of operable nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent stagingF-FDG-PET/CT before surgical resection were included in the test cohort and 12 patients in the validation cohort.

Cardiac dose reduction using deep inspiratory breath hold (DIBH) in radiation treatment of left sided breast cancer patients with breast conservation surgery and modified radical mastectomy.

Purpose: Deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) reduces heart and pulmonary doses during left-sided breast radiation therapy (RT); however, there is limited information whether the reduction in doses is similar in patients with modified radical MRM (MRM) and breast conservation surgery (BCS). The primary objective was to determine whether DIBH offers greater dosimetric reduction in cardiac doses in patients with MRM as compared to BCS with secondary objectives of documenting time consumed in counseling, simulation and planning such techniques.

Methods: Thirty patients with diagnosis of left sided breast cancer underwent CT simulation both free breathing (FB) and DIBH.

Comparison of two hypofractionated radiotherapy schedules in locally advanced postmastectomy breast cancer patients.

Introduction: The role of hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) in postmastectomy breast cancer patients is not well established. This study was done to establish the role of two different HFRT schedules in the treatment of chest wall and regional lymph nodes after mastectomy.

Materials And Methods: Between 2012 and 2016, consecutively registered patients of locally advanced breast cancer patients having undergone mastectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) at a tertiary cancer center were analyzed.

Comparative retrospective analysis of locoregional recurrence in unselected breast cancer patients treated with conventional versus hypofractionated radiotherapy at a tertiary cancer center?

Background: Role of hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) in early breast cancer is established; comparatively, there are limited data for HFRT in locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). We report the impact of HFRT in unselected breast cancer patients in comparison with historically treated patients with conventional fractionated radiotherapy (CFRT).

Patients And Methods: Records of 463 breast cancer patients treated between January 09 and July 13 with CFRT (50 Gy/25 fr) or HFRT (42.

Inflammatory Biomarkers, Hematopoietic Stem Cells, and Symptoms in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Adjuvant Radiation Therapy.

Background: Fatigue and insomnia are common symptoms experienced by breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant radiation therapy (RT), yet the underlying mechanisms of these symptoms are unclear. In particular, the roles of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and inflammatory cytokines remain to be elucidated.

Methods: Breast cancer patients (n = 147) completed questionnaires to longitudinally assess symptoms before, during, and after adjuvant RT.

Patient-reported acute fatigue in elderly breast cancer patients treated with and without regional nodal radiation.

Purpose: Although regional nodal irradiation (RNI) improves outcomes in breast cancer (BC) patients, it is associated with increased toxicity. Therefore, controversy still exists surrounding its indications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare patient-reported acute fatigue in elderly BC patients with and without regional nodal radiation (RNI).

Utilization patterns and temporal trends of internal mammary nodal irradiation at a tertiary cancer center.

Purpose: The role and uptake of internal mammary nodal irradiation (IMNI) is variable. This study was designed to quantify the rates and determinants of IMNI at a tertiary cancer center.

Methods: Consecutively treated breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant locoregional radiation therapy (RT) from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2017 were sorted by IMNI receipt, disease risk and time period of RT delivery (2012-2015 vs 2016-2017).

Coverage with dosimetric concordance index (CDCI): a tool for evaluating dosimetric impact of inter-observer target variability in brachytherapy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to propose an index for evaluating dosimetric impact of inter-observer target delineation variability in brachytherapy.

Material And Methods: The coverage with dosimetric concordance index (CDCI) is expressed as CDCI and CDCI. The CDCI is the mean coverage of target volume with common volume irradiated by prescription dose among all observers and represents the condition of worst target coverage.

Impact of inter-observer variations in target volume delineation on dose volume indices for accelerated partial breast irradiation with multi-catheter interstitial brachytherapy.

Purpose: To investigate dosimetric impact of inter-observer variation in clinical target volume(CTV) delineation for patients undergoing interstitial partial breast brachytherapy.

Methods: Five radiation oncologists delineated CTV in twenty patients who underwent multi-catheter partial breast brachytherapy. Five treatment plans for each patient were graphically optimized for CTV of all observers and evaluated using coverage index(CI), external volume index(EI), overdose volume index(OI) and conformal index(COIN).

Comparative assessment of late toxicity in patients of carcinoma cervix treated by radiotherapy versus chemo-radiotherapy - Minimum 5 years follow up.

Background: A randomised trial was carried out comparing chemo-radiation (CTRT) vs. radiotherapy (RT) in patients of carcinoma cervix and showed similar rates of pelvic disease control, disease free survival and overall survival. Late toxicity is presented.

Change of target volume and its dosimetric impact during the course of accelerated partial breast irradiation using intraoperative multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy after open cavity surgery.

Purpose: To investigate the change of clinical target volume (CTV) and its dosimetric impact during the course of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using intraoperative multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy after open cavity surgery.

Methods And Materials: Twenty-two patients of APBI with intraoperative placement of catheters underwent computed tomography scans for the treatment planning before the first (CT1) and the last (CT2) treatment fraction. Delineation of lumpectomy cavity and CTV was done consistently on both CT data sets by one of the coauthors.

Interobserver variations of target volume delineation and its impact on irradiated volume in accelerated partial breast irradiation with intraoperative interstitial breast implant.

Purpose: To investigate the interobserver variations in delineation of lumpectomy cavity (LC) and clinical target volume (CTV), and its impact on irradiated volume in accelerated partial breast irradiation using intraoperative multicatheter brachytherapy.

Material And Methods: Delineation of LC and CTV was done by five radiation oncologists on planning computed tomography (CT) scans of 20 patients with intraoperative interstitial breast implant. Cavity visualization index (CVI), four-point index ranging from (0 = poor) to (3 = excellent) was created and assigned by observers for each patient.

A rare case of multicentric carcinoma left breast synchronous with carcinoma right lung: Therapeutic challenge in radiotherapy.

Multiple primary malignancies (MPMs) are a known phenomenon. We present a rare case of multicentric carcinoma of left breast synchronous with carcinoma of right lung. There was a diagnostic dilemma about the nature of the lung lesion, which otherwise would have been labeled as a metastasis from the breast primary; however, the immunohistochemistry markers distinguished between the two.

Breath-holding times in various phases of respiration and effect of respiratory training in lung cancer patients.

Introduction: Breath-holding (BH) technique is used for reducing the intrafraction-tumour motion in mobile lung tumours treated with radiotherapy (RT). There is paucity of literature evaluating differences in BH times in various phases of respiration in patients with lung cancer.

Methods: One hundred consecutive patients with lung cancer planned for radical RT/chemoradiation were accrued in the study.