Pain Outcomes in Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Treated with Ra: PARABO, a Prospective, Noninterventional Study.

Ra, a targeted α-therapy, is approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who have bone metastases. In the phase 3 ALSYMPCA study, Ra prolonged survival and improved quality of life versus placebo. Our real-world study, PARABO, investigated pain and bone pain-related quality of life in patients with mCRPC and symptomatic bone metastases receiving Ra in clinical practice.

Multidisciplinary Postoperative Validation of F-FDG PET/CT Scan in Nodal Staging of Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the validity of PET/CT scans in the preoperative identification of lymph node metastases (LNM) and compare them with postoperative outcomes.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we included 87 patients with a solitary lung nodule or biopsy-proven non-small cell lung cancer treated in our institution from 2009 to 2015. Patients were divided into two groups and four subgroups, depending on pre- and postoperative findings.

Diagnostic accuracy of [Tc]Tc-Sestamibi in the assessment of thyroid nodules.

[Tc]Tc-Sestamibi (MIBI) is an increasingly used tool for evaluation of thyroid nodules. However, there is a lack of evidence about the accuracy of this method in the European population. The aim of this study was to assess the utility of MIBI for the differentiation of thyroid nodules in a large cohort.

[F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography Reveals a Complete Remission of Refractory Metastatic Melanoma after Therapy with Ipilimumab.

Ipilimumab (YERVOY) is a monoclonal CTLA-4-antibody with anti-tumor-immunogenic effect and is used to treat malignant melanoma. In this case study, we present [F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET) images of a 37-year-old woman with metastatic melanoma, who was previously treated with interferon-alpha therapy and dacarbazine and still progressed. After four cycles of ipilimumab, there was a complete remission of the disease with no evidence of vital, FDG-positive tumor tissue.

Survival after 131I-labeled lipiodol therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. A single-center study based on a long-term follow-up.

Unlabelled: This study investigated the efficacy of 131iodine-labeled lipiodol (131I-lipiodol) as a palliative therapy, evaluated overall survival (OS) across Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages, and determined the main prognostic factors influencing OS in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Patients, Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 57 (44 men; mean age, 65.7 years; mean activity per session, 1.

Whole-body SPECT/CT for bone scintigraphy: diagnostic value and effect on patient management in oncological patients.

Purpose: This study was designed to assess the additional value of SPECT/CT of the trunk used in conjunction with conventional nuclear imaging and its effects on patient management in a large patient series.

Methods: In 353 patients, whole-body scintigraphy (WBS), SPECT, and SPECT/CT were prospectively performed for staging and restaging. SPECT/CT of the trunk was performed in all patients.

Palliation and survival after repeated (188)Re-HEDP therapy of hormone-refractory bone metastases of prostate cancer: a retrospective analysis.

Unlabelled: This retrospective study compared the effects of single and multiple administrations of (186)Re-hydroxyethylidenediphosphonate ((186)Re-HEDP) on palliation and survival of prostate cancer patients presenting with more than 5 skeletal metastases.

Methods: A total of 60 patients were divided into 3 groups. Group A (n = 19) consisted of patients who had received a single injection; group B (n = 19), patients who had 2 injections; and group C (n = 22), patients who had 3 or more successive injections.

Creatinine-based glomerular filtration rate estimation in patients with liver disease: the new Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation is not better.

Objectives: Limitations of serum creatinine in patients with an impaired liver function are well known. The commonly used modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) equation has a low diagnostic performance to approximate kidney function in patients after liver transplantation (LT) and patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). The Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formula has been shown to provide a more accurate estimation of kidney function in patients with chronic kidney disease, but studies in patients with liver disease are lacking.

[Scintigraphically "hot" thyroid nodules mainly go hand in hand with a normal TSH].

Aim: In recent years, various professional societies published guidelines for diagnostic evaluation of thyroid nodules, in which the indication for scintigraphy is restricted to patients with subnormal TSH values. It is seen controversial whether such recommendations should be transferred to Germany, partly because of lower iodine intake in this country and the consequent higher percentage of autonomous thyroid nodules, which are not accompanied by a measurable dysfunction. Since reliable data to this topic are scarce, we analyzed multicentrically the spectrum of scintigraphically "hot" and "warm" nodules under the current epidemiological conditions.

Is beta-trace protein an alternative marker of glomerular filtration rate in liver transplant recipients?

Background: Renal insufficiency is common after liver transplantation (LT). The use of creatinine (Crea) as a marker of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is limited in patients after LT. Beta-trace protein (BTP), an alternative marker of GFR, is independent of muscle mass and has not been evaluated in LT recipients.

Pathological 99mTc-sestamibi myocardial perfusion scintigraphy is independently associated with emerging cardiac events in elderly patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.

Background: Only few data are available regarding the prognostic impact of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy with (99m)Tc-sestamibi (MPS) regarding emerging cardiac events in elderly patients

Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic value of MPS regarding emerging cardiac events in patients aged ≥70 years with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD).

Material And Methods: One hundred and thirty-three patients (74.6 ± 3.

Significant association of female gender with lower degree of pathological 99mTc-sestamibi scintigraphy results as well as higher cardiac-related deaths free survival in elderly patients.

Background: The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of female gender on the extent of myocardial perfusion defects as revealed by (99m)Tc-sestamibi myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) and on emerging cardiac events (CE) in patients aged ≥ 70 years.

Patients And Methods: 86 patients aged ≥ 70 years with known or suspected CAD undergoing MPS (74.4 ± 3.

Avoidance of invasive diagnostic and harmful therapeutic measures in a patient with malignant fibrous histiocytoma and extensive clinically occult metastases.

Malignant fibrous histiocytomas are rare soft-tissue sarcomas of uncertain histogenesis but represent the most common soft-tissue sarcomas in adults. In this report of a 70-year-old male patient suffering from this rare malignant disease, we describe the diagnostic benefits of combined functional and morphological imaging as realized in positron emission tomography and computed tomography, helping to avoid invasive diagnostic methods and, most importantly, harmful and quality-of-life-reducing, oncologically ineffective therapies.

Renal impairment after liver transplantation - a pilot trial of calcineurin inhibitor-free vs. calcineurin inhibitor sparing immunosuppression in patients with mildly impaired renal function after liver transplantation.

Objectives: Chronic kidney disease is frequent in patients after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and has impact on survival. Patients receiving calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) are at increased risk to develop impaired renal function. Early CNI reduction and concomitant use of mycophenolat mofetil (MMF) has been shown to improve renal function.

Hemodynamic variables during stress testing can predict referral to early catheterization but failed to show a prognostic impact on emerging cardiac events in patients aged 70 years and older undergoing exercise (99m)Tc-sestamibi myocardial perfusion scintigraphy.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic value of hemodynamic variables during ergometric stress testing for (99m)Tc-sestamibi myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) as compared to several patient-related variables and MPS results with regard to referral to early coronary angiography (<3 months after MPS; CA) as well as cardiac event (CE) free survival in a study population aged > or =70 years. About 90 patients aged > or =70 years (74.5 +/- 3.

Subclinical hyperthyroidism seems not to have a significant impact on systemic anticoagulation in patients with coumarin therapy.

There is little data regarding the impact of subclinical hyperthyroidism on coagulation metabolism in patients undergoing systemic anticoagulation therapy with coumarin derivates. In this retrospective analysis we studied 233 patients with benign thyroid disorders receiving therapeutic iodine-131, as well as concomitant systemic anticoagulation therapy (subclinical hyperthyroidism: n = 178; overt hyperthyroidism: n = 15; euthyroidism: n = 40). Multivariate regression analyses were performed in the total study population as well as in the subgroup of patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism to identify the possible impact of several variables on anticoagulation therapy, large enough to push the International Normalized Ratio (INR) level out of the therapeutic range (INR <2.

Preoperative 18F-FDG-PET/CT imaging and sentinel node biopsy in the detection of regional lymph node metastases in malignant melanoma.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of preoperative 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography scanning, preoperative lymphoscintigraphy (LS), and sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with malignant melanoma. Fifty-two patients (36 men: 16 women; mean age 55.0+/-13.

Radioembolization for unresectable neuroendocrine hepatic metastases using resin 90Y-microspheres: early results in 148 patients.

Purpose: The use of 90Y-microspheres to treat unresectable liver metastases originating from a variety of neuroendocrine tumors was reviewed.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective review from 10 institutions of patients given 90Y-microsphere therapy for neuroendocrine hepatic metastases. Physical, radiographic, biochemical, and clinical factors associated with treatment and response were examined.

Beta-trace protein-based equations for calculation of GFR in renal transplant recipients.

Recently, we showed that serum beta-trace protein (BTP) is an alternative marker of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in renal transplant recipients (RTR). We have now developed three BTP-based GFR formulae derived by multiple regression analyses from the patients who had participated in that study. Currently, we validated the diagnostic performance of these BTP-formulae in 102 consecutive RTR who underwent a technetium diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) clearance for GFR measurement in comparison to the re-expressed Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation and a recently proposed BTP-based equation (referred to as 'White equation').

Feasibility of 18F-fluoromethylcholine PET/CT for imaging of vessel wall alterations in humans--first results.

Purpose: Recently published data indicated (18)F-fluorocholine to be feasible for imaging vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques in an animal model.

Methods: Five patients undergoing whole-body (18)F-fluoromethylcholine-((18)F-FMCH-) PET/CT for imaging of prostate cancer disease were retrospectively evaluated. Whole-body PET scans were started immediately after i.

Impact of thyroid metabolism on the course of INR levels in a patient with systemic anticoagulation suffering from amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis.

We report the case of a 60 year old female patient on continuous systemic anticoagulation therapy with coumarin due to mechanical aortic valve replacement and a more than 3 years lasting amiodarone therapy due to severe ventricular extrasystoles suffering from amiodarone induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT). During the course of AIT, showing different thyroid metabolic conditions, INR levels revealed a course closely related to the thyroid conditions indicating a significant and clear-cut effect of both hyper- and hypothyroidism on systemic anticoagulation therapy with coumarin. This continuous interaction of different thyroid metabolic conditions and the anticoagulation state could be well documented in the presented case over a time period of approximately five months.

Sentinel node in breast cancer procedural guidelines.

Procedure guidelines for scintigraphic detection of sentinel node in breast cancer are presented.