ESHO 2-85. Hyperthermia as an adjuvant to radiation therapy in the treatment of advanced neck nodes: A randomized multicenter study by the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology.

Background And Purpose: European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO) 2-85 is a multicenter randomized trial investigating hyperthermia (HT) as an adjuvant to radiotherapy (RT) in treatment of locally advanced neck nodes. The trial never fulfilled recruitment and was stopped prematurely, and has not previously been published.

Patients And Methods: Between January 1987 and February 1993, 64 evaluable neck nodes in 54 patients were included.

Six-year follow-up of participants in two clinical trials of rituximab or cyclophosphamide in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Objectives: In this six-year follow-up study, we used patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to compare values at baseline, at 18 months, and at six-year follow up from the CycloME and the RituxME trials.

Methods: Based on the hypothesis that ME/CFS in a subgroup of patients is a variant of an autoimmune disease, we performed two clinical trials between 2014 and 2017. The RituxME trial was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled phase III trial of 151 patients, assessing the B-cell depleting antibody rituximab.

A study of microRNAs as new prognostic biomarkers in anal cancer patients.

Background: MicroRNA (MiR) influences the growth of cancer by regulation of mRNA for 50-60% of all genes. We present as per our knowledge the first global analysis of microRNA expression in anal cancer patients and their prognostic impact.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients with T1-4 N0-3 M0 anal cancer treated with curative intent from September 2003 to April 2011 were included in the study.

ESHO 1-85. Hyperthermia as an adjuvant to radiation therapy in the treatment of locally advanced breast carcinoma. A randomized multicenter study by the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology.

Background: The ESHO protocol 1-85 is a multicenter randomized trial initiated by the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology with the aim to investigate the value of hyperthermia (HT) as an adjuvant to radiotherapy (RT) in treatment of locally advanced breast carcinoma. The trial is one of the largest studies of hyperthermia in radiotherapy but has not been previously published.

Patients And Methods: Between February 1987 and November 1993, 155 tumors in 151 patients were included.

Salvage Reirradiation for Locally Recurrent Prostate Cancer: Results From a Prospective Study With 7.2 Years of Follow-Up.

Purpose: There are no well-established re-treatment options for local recurrence after primary curative radiation therapy for prostate cancer (PCa), as prospective studies with long-term follow-up are lacking. Here, we present results from a prospective study on focal salvage reirradiation with external-beam radiation therapy with a median follow-up of 7.2 years.

Activity monitoring and patient-reported outcome measures in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients.

Introduction: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disease with no validated specific and sensitive biomarker, and no standard approved treatment. In this observational study with no intervention, participants used a Fitbit activity tracker. The aims were to explore natural symptom variation, feasibility of continuous activity monitoring, and to compare activity data with patient reported outcome measures (PROMs).

Stage-dependent prognostic shift in mismatch repair-deficient tumors: Assessing patient outcomes in stage II and III colon cancer.

Introduction: Deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) or high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) is associated with an improved prognosis in colon cancer stage II but poor prognosis in stage IV colon cancer. The clinical significance of dMMR in colon cancer stage III is not established.

Methods: Tissue microarrays (TMAs) from 544 patients with colon cancer stage II and III with clinicopathological and survival data were stained for mismatch repair (MMR) proteins, CD3, CD8, and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1), and programmed death ligand- 1 (PD-L1).

MicroRNAs in Differentiation of Embryoid Bodies and the Teratoma Subtype of Testicular Cancer.

Background: Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCTs) are the most frequent tumour type among young, adult men. TGCTs can be efficiently treated, but metastases of the teratoma subtype, for which there are no circulating biomarkers, represent a challenge.

Materials And Methods: Global microRNA expression in teratoma tissue and embryoid bodies was assessed using next-generation sequencing.

Mapping Proteome Changes in Microsatellite Stable, Recurrent Colon Cancer Reveals a Significant Immune System Signature.

Background/aim: Better stratification of the risk of relapse will help select the right patients for adjuvant treatment and improve targeted therapies for patients with colon cancer.

Materials And Methods: To understand why a subset of tumors relapse, we compared the proteome of two groups of patients with colon cancer with similar stage, stratified based on the presence or absence of recurrence.

Results: Using tumor biopsies from the primary operation, we identified dissimilarity between recurrent and nonrecurrent mismatch satellite stable colon cancer and found that signaling related to immune activation and inflammation was associated with relapse.

Long-Term Outcome in a Phase II Study of Regional Hyperthermia Added to Preoperative Radiochemotherapy in Locally Advanced and Recurrent Rectal Adenocarcinomas.

Hyperthermia was added to standard preoperative chemoradiation for rectal adenocarcinomas in a phase II study. Patients with T3-4 N0-2 M0 rectal cancer or local recurrences were included. Radiation dose was 54 Gy combined with capecitabine 825 mg/m × 2 daily and once weekly oxaliplatin 55 mg/m.

Prognostic role of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes and macrophages in relation to MSI, CDX2 and BRAF status: a population-based study of metastatic colorectal cancer patients.

Background: Tumour-infiltrating CD3, CD8 lymphocytes and CD68 macrophages are associated with favourable prognosis in localised colorectal cancer, but the effect in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is not established.

Methods: A Scandinavian population-based cohort of non-resectable mCRC patients was studied. Tissue microarrays (n = 460) were stained with CD3, CD8 and CD68 using fluorescence-based multiplex immunohistochemistry.

A map of metabolic phenotypes in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating disease usually presenting after infection. Emerging evidence supports that energy metabolism is affected in ME/CFS, but a unifying metabolic phenotype has not been firmly established. We performed global metabolomics, lipidomics, and hormone measurements, and we used exploratory data analyses to compare serum from 83 patients with ME/CFS and 35 healthy controls.

Serum miR371 in testicular germ cell cancer before and after orchiectomy, assessed by digital-droplet PCR in a prospective study.

MicroRNA-371a-3p (miR371) has been suggested as a sensitive biomarker in testicular germ cell cancer (TGCC). We aimed to compare miR371 with the classical biomarkers α-fetoprotein (AFP) and β-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Overall, 180 patients were prospectively enrolled in the study, with serum samples collected before and after orchiectomy.

Blocking Aerobic Glycolysis by Targeting Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase in Combination with EGFR TKI and Ionizing Radiation Increases Therapeutic Effect in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells.

Increased glycolytic activity is a hallmark of cancer initiation and progression and is often observed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex acts as a gatekeeper between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, and activation of PDH is known to inhibit glycolytic activity. As part of a standard therapeutic regimen, patients with NSCLC harboring oncogenic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR TKIs).

Spatial Agreement of Brainstem Dose Distributions Depending on Biological Model in Proton Therapy for Pediatric Brain Tumors.

Purpose: During radiation therapy for pediatric brain tumors, the brainstem is a critical organ at risk, possibly with different radio-sensitivity across its substructures. In proton therapy, treatment planning is currently performed using a constant relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of 1.1 (RBE), whereas preclinical studies point toward spatial variability of this factor.

Brainstem NTCP and Dose Constraints for Carbon Ion RT-Application and Translation From Japanese to European RBE-Weighted Dose.

Background And Purpose: The Italian (CNAO) has applied dose constraints for carbon ion RT (CIRT) as defined by Japan's (NIRS). However, these institutions use different models to predict the (RBE). CNAO applies the (LEM I), which in most clinical situations predicts higher RBE than NIRS's (MKM).

Mismatch repair phenotype determines the implications of tumor grade and CDX2 expression in stage II-III colon cancer.

Mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency is an indicator of good prognosis in localized colon cancer but also associated with lack of expression of caudal-type homeobox transcription factor 2 (CDX2) and high tumor grade; markers that in isolation indicate a poor prognosis. Our study aims to identify clinically relevant prognostic subgroups by combining information about tumor grade, MMR phenotype, and CDX2 expression. Immunohistochemistry for MMR proteins and CDX2 was performed in 544 patients with colon cancer stage II-III, including a cohort from a randomized trial.

Evaluation of the stage classification of anal cancer by the TNM 8th version versus the TNM 7th version.

: The UICC TNM 7th edition introduced stage groups for anal cancer which in 2019 has not yet come into general use. The new TNM 8th edition from 2016 defines 7 sub-stages. Background data for these changes are lacking.

Ten-Year Results From a Phase II Study on Image Guided, Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy With Simultaneous Integrated Boost in High-Risk Prostate Cancer.

Purpose: There is no consensus on how to treat high-risk prostate cancer, and long-term results from hypofractionated radiation therapy are lacking. We report 10-year results after image guided, intensity modulated radiation therapy with hypofractionated simultaneous integrated boost and elective pelvic field.

Methods And Materials: Between 2007 and 2009, 97 consecutive patients with high-risk prostate cancer were included, treated with 2.

Intravenous Cyclophosphamide in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. An Open-Label Phase II Study.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disease with high symptom burden, of unknown etiology, with no established treatment. We observed patients with long-standing ME/CFS who got cancer, and who reported improvement of ME/CFS symptoms after chemotherapy including cyclophosphamide, forming the basis for this prospective trial. This open-label phase II trial included 40 patients with ME/CFS diagnosed by Canadian criteria.

Optic nerve constraints for carbon ion RT at CNAO - Reporting and relating outcome to European and Japanese RBE.

Background And Purpose: Until now, carbon ion RT (CIRT) dose constraints for the optic nerve (ON) have only been validated and reported in the NIRS RBE-weighted dose (D). The aim of this work is to improve CNAO's RBE-weighted dose (D) constraints by analyzing institutional toxicity data and by relating it to D.

Material And Methods: A total of 65 ONs from 38 patients treated with CIRT to the head and neck region in the period 2013-14 were analyzed.

Quantitative PCR Measurement of miR-371a-3p and miR-372-p Is Influenced by Hemolysis.

Cell-free microRNAs have been reported as biomarkers for several diseases. For testicular germ cell tumors (GCT), circulating microRNAs 371a-3p and 372-3p in serum and plasma have been proposed as biomarkers for diagnostic and disease monitoring purposes. The most widely used method for quantification of specific microRNAs in serum and plasma is reverse transcriptase real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) by the comparative Ct-method.