Improved local control in p16 negative oropharyngeal cancers with hypermethylated MGMT.

Introduction: Patients with oropharyngeal cancers that are p16 negative (p16-) have worse outcomes than those who are p16 positive (p16+) and there is an unmet need for prognostic markers in this population. O6-Methylguanine (O6-MG)-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) gene methylation has been associated with response to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in glioblastoma. We sought to find if MGMT promoter methylation was associated with outcomes of locally advanced oropharyngeal and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OOSCC) in patients treated with definitive concurrent CRT.

Custom mold applicator high-dose-rate brachytherapy for nonmelanoma skin cancer-An analysis of 273 lesions.

Purpose: Nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in the United States. A modern version of surface brachytherapy, "topographic applicator brachytherapy" (TAB), can be used to treat early-stage nonmelanoma skin cancer (ES-NMSC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acute toxicity, chronic toxicity, and recurrence rates of patients with ES-NMSC treated with TAB.

Low-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Versus Cryotherapy in Low- and Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer.

Purpose: Cryotherapy and brachytherapy are definitive local treatment options for low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer. There are both prospective and retrospective data for brachytherapy, but the use of cryotherapy has been limited primarily to single-institution retrospective studies. Currently, no published evidence has compared low-dose-rate brachytherapy versus cryotherapy.

Single fraction spine stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy with volumetric modulated arc therapy.

This study investigated a single institution's experience with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) directed stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) for vertebral metastases. From 2010 to 2014, 95 lesions of spinal metastases in 73 patients were treated with SABR using VMAT. Clinical local control, pain level, and use of steroid medication were employed to evaluate treatment responses.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy after extra-pleural pneumonectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma is feasible without fatal pulmonary toxicity and provides good survival.

Aim: To analyze patterns of failure, toxicity, relapse-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy following extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP).

Methods: We reviewed 18 charts of patients with MPM from 2005 to 2014 who underwent EPP followed by hemithoracic intensity-modulated radiation therapy. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy dose delivery adhered to published lung dose constraints.

Durability of Artificial Urinary Sphincter With Prior Radiation Therapy.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of prior radiation therapy on artificial urinary sphincter.

Methods: Group 1 was comprised of 63 men who underwent prior radical prostatectomy, and Group 2 was comprised of 31 men who received prior radiation therapy with or without prior radical prostatectomy. Social incontinence was defined as requiring to use > 1 pad per day and/or catheter-dependent at the time of last follow-up.

Bone marrow progenitors are not the source of expanding oval cells in injured liver.

Liver progenitor/oval cells differentiate into hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells, repopulating the liver when the regenerative capacity of hepatocytes is impaired. Recent studies have shown that hematopoietic bone marrow (BM) stem/progenitor cells can give rise to hepatocytes in diseased/damaged liver. One study has reported that BM cells can transdifferentiate into liver progenitor/oval cells, but it has not been proven that the latter can repopulate the liver.