Weight-Based Protocols Offer Significant Reduction in Radiation Dose Without Affecting PET-CT Image Quality.

Purpose: To investigate the use of weight-based protocols during full- and half-body fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) and their effect on image quality, radiation dose, and lifetime attributable risks.

Methods: A total of 1817 patients were referred for FDG PET-CT studies. Each scanning group (4 total: full-body groups A and C and half-body groups B and D) was randomly allotted into conventional or weight-based CT.

Management of patients with high-risk and advanced prostate cancer in the Middle East: resource-stratified consensus recommendations.

Purpose: Prostate cancer care in the Middle East is highly variable and access to specialist multidisciplinary management is limited. Academic tertiary referral centers offer cutting-edge diagnosis and treatment; however, in many parts of the region, patients are managed by non-specialists with limited resources. Due to many factors including lack of awareness and lack of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, a high percentage of men present with locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer at diagnosis.

Randomized, Prospective, Open-label Phase III Trial Comparing Mebo Ointment With Biafine Cream for the Management of Acute Dermatitis During Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer.

Purpose: Acute radiation dermatitis is a common side-effect of radiotherapy in breast cancer and has a profound impact on patients' quality of life, due to pain and discomfort. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of β-sitosterol (Mebo) ointment to trolamine (Biafine) cream for the prevention and treatment of radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant radiation therapy.

Materials And Methods: This is a prospective open-label randomized phase III study developed to assess the efficacy of 2 topical agents used for management of acute radiation dermatitis.

[18F]-FDG uptake dose-response correlates with radiation pneumonitis in lung cancer patients.

Purpose: To quantify the post-radiotherapy 2-[(18)F]-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) pulmonary uptake dose-response in lung cancer patients and determine its relationship with radiation pneumonitis symptoms.

Methods And Materials: The data from 24 patients treated for lung cancer with thoracic radiotherapy who received restaging PET/CT imaging between 4 and 12 weeks after radiotherapy completion were evaluated. Their radiation dose distribution was registered with the post-treatment restaging PET/CT.

Detection of (154)Eu in patients post (153)Sm-EDTMP therapy using a clinical gamma camera.

Enhancements in radiation detection equipment at border crossings and airports resulted in a report to our institution from a Sm-EDTMP therapy patient who was questioned after triggering radiation alarms. Using a clinical SPECT camera in its service mode, gamma-ray spectroscopy was performed on three patients whose Sm-EDTMP injections were given between 4 mo and 2 y prior to this study. The spectra revealed the presence of high-energy photon peaks characteristic of those from Eu.

The Level of Europium-154 Contaminating Samarium-153-EDTMP Activates the Radiation Alarm System at the US Homeland Security Checkpoints.

(153)Sm-EDTMP is a radiopharmaceutical composed of EDTMP (ethylenediamine-tetramethylenephosphonate) and Samarium-153 [1]. (153)Sm-EDTMP has an affinity for skeletal tissue and concentrates in areas with increased bone turnover; thus, it is successfully used in relieving pain related to diffuse bone metastases [1]. The manufacturing process of (153)Sm-EDTMP leads to contamination with (154)Eu (Europium-154) [2].