Late effects following HSCT for childhood ALL: A national single-center study using three different modalities of delivery of total body irradiation.

Background: Total body irradiation (TBI) is a pivotal part of conditioning prior to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), yet evidence is sparse regarding the effect of TBI delivery techniques on acute and late toxicities.

Design: In a national cohort of pediatric HSCT-recipients, we compared three TBI schedules; 12 Gray (Gy) delivered as (i) 4 Gy daily fractions from 2008 to 2011 (n = 12); (ii) 2 Gy fractions twice daily with two-dimensional (2D) planning technology from 2012 to 2015 (n = 16); and (iii) 2 Gy twice daily with three-dimensional (3D) planning intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) from 2016 to 2020 (n = 14).

Results: The 5-year event-free survival was 75.

A systematic review on clinical adaptive radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

Introduction: Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients' anatomy may undergo significant changes during radiotherapy (RT). This potentially affects dose distribution and compromises conformity between planned and delivered dose. Adaptive radiotherapy (ART) is a promising technique to overcome this problem but requires a significant workload.

A comparison of loco-regional relapse pattern in HPV positive vs negative oropharyngeal cancers following radiotherapy; relation to pretreatment FDG-PET and radiotherapy target volumes.

Background: Previous studies have shown that a large proportion of relapses in head-and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) following radiotherapy (RT) occur in the pretreatment FDG-PET avid volume (GTV-PET). The aim of the current work was to see if this was valid also in an oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) only population, and to compare the loco-regional relapse pattern between HPV positive and HPV negative patients.

Material And Methods: Among 633 OPSCC patients treated between 2009 and 2017, 46 patients with known HPV (p16) status and isolated loco-regional relapse were included.

Early non-cancer mortality risk prediction after curative-intent radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: In patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), curative-intent radiotherapy (RT) and chemoradiotherapy (CRT) are associated with substantial acute morbidity and 5-10% of patients die within 180 days of treatment initiation. Most of these early deaths occur without HNSCC recurrence or progression and may therefore be preventable to some extent. We developed a prediction tool to estimate the risk of non-HNSCC mortality occurring within the first 180 days followingRT/CRT initiation.

FDG-PET/CT identified distant metastases and synchronous cancer in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: the impact of smoking and P16-s.

Purpose: Whole-body FDG-PET-CT is widely used at diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) but may identify suspicious lesions outside the neck that require investigation. This study evaluated the impact of smoking and P16-status on the incidence of malignant disease outside the head and neck region in newly diagnosed patients with SCCHN.

Methods: All PET-positive foci outside the head-neck area were registered in 1069 patients planned for postoperative or curative intent radiotherapy with whole-body FDG-PET/CT from 2006 to 2012.

An Extended Hypofractionated Palliative Radiotherapy Regimen for Head and Neck Carcinomas.

Background: Palliative radiotherapy to patients with head and neck cancer is often necessary, but there is a substantial variation in the treatment regimens reported in the literature, and consensus on the most appropriate schedules does not exist. In order to minimize acute toxicity while at the same time trying to achieve prolonged tumor control, a long hypofractionated regimen has been used routinely in Denmark. In the current retrospective study, we investigated the outcome in patients intended for palliative radiotherapy with this regimen.

Long-term effect of epirubicin on incidence of heart failure in women with breast cancer: insight from a randomized clinical trial.

Aims: Anthracycline-based chemotherapy improves survival in breast cancer patients but is associated with increased risk of heart failure (HF). However, the risk of late-onset HF is debatable and mainly based on observational studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of anthracycline-based chemotherapy on long-term risk of clinical HF.

[Indications for the use of PET or PET/CT in patients with breast cancer].

PET and PET/CT, using 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose, are not suited for primary diagnostics of small tumours or lymph node metastases to the axilla. In return, the method has a high sensitivity and specificity regarding the detection of loco-regional recurrence and metastases to mediastinal lymph nodes, bones, liver and lungs. Whether the method can replace the conventional evaluation or be a supplement if conventional evaluation is non-conclusive, remains unresolved.

Value of post-operative reassessment of estrogen receptor α expression following neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without gefitinib for estrogen receptor negative breast cancer.

The NICE trial was designed to evaluate the possible benefits of adding epidermal growth factor receptor targeted therapy to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with estrogen receptor α (ER) negative and operable breast cancer. Preclinical data have suggested that signalling through the ErbB receptors or downstream effectors may repress ER expression. Here the authors investigated whether gefitinib, given neoadjuvant in combination with epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (EC), could restore ER expression.

Effect of adding gefitinib to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in estrogen receptor negative early breast cancer in a randomized phase II trial.

Gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has shown both anti-proliferative and anti-tumoral activity in breast cancer. This study was designed to determine the effect of adding gefitinib to neoadjuvant epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (EC) on tumor response rates. Women with unilateral, primary operable, estrogen receptor negative invasive breast cancer ≥ 2 cm were eligible for inclusion.