Effect and toxicity of endoluminal high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy in centrally located tumors of the upper respiratory tract.

Aim: To assess effect and toxicity of high-dose-rate afterloading (HDR) alone or in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in centrally located tumors of the upper respiratory tract.

Patients And Methods: From 1987 to 1996, 55 patients were treated. Twenty-one patients (group A1: 17 non-small-cell lung cancer [NSCLC], A2: 4 metastases from other malignancies) were treated using HDR alone due to a relapse after external beam irradiation.

Neurobehavioral toxicity of total body irradiation: a follow-up in long-term survivors.

Purpose: Total body irradiation (TBI) in preparation for bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is a routine treatment of hematological malignancy. A retrospective and a prospective group study of long-term cerebral side effects was performed, with a special emphasis on neurobehavioral toxicity effects.

Methods And Materials: Twenty disease-free patients treated with hyperfractionated TBI (14.

Cataract incidence after total-body irradiation.

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate cataract incidence in a homogeneously-treated group of patients after total-body irradiation (TBI) followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

Methods And Materials: Between 1982 and 1994, a total of 260 patients received either autologous bone marrow or blood stem cell transplantation for hematological malignancy at the University of Heidelberg. Two hundred nine of these patients received TBI in our hospital.

[Effect if 3D compared with 2D radiotherapy planning within a conventional treatment schedule of advanced lung cancer].

Background: The effect of 3D radiotherapy planning (3D RTP) in comparison to 2D radiotherapy planning (2D RTP) was evaluated in a usually practiced treatment schedule (starting by v./d. opposing portals, continued with computer-planned portals) for non-small-cell lung cancer.

HDR-brachytherapy boost for residual tumour after external beam radiotherapy in patients with tracheal malignancies.

Seven inoperable patients with tracheal neoplasms received a high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy boost (median 15 Gy, single dose 3-5 Gy) for residual tumour after external beam radiotherapy (median 50 Gy, 5 x 2 Gy/week). The median actuarial survival was 34.3 months.