Selecting treatment for patients with malignant epidural spinal cord compression-does age matter?: results from a randomized clinical trial.

Study Design: Randomized clinical trial. OBJECTIVE.: To determine if age affects outcomes from differing treatments in patients with spinal metastases.

Clinical approach to metastatic epidural spinal cord compression.

Metastatic epidural spinal cord compression (MESCC) is a devastating complication of cancer that occurs when cancer metastasizes to the spine and then secondarily compresses the spinal cord. It is a relatively common complication of cancer and. in the United States, more than 20,000 cases of MESCC are diagnosed annually.

Direct decompressive surgical resection in the treatment of spinal cord compression caused by metastatic cancer: a randomised trial.

Background: The standard treatment for spinal cord compression caused by metastatic cancer is corticosteroids and radiotherapy. The role of surgery has not been established. We assessed the efficacy of direct decompressive surgery.

Percutaneous sacroplasty for the treatment of sacral insufficiency fractures.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to illustrate the effectiveness and utility of percutaneous sacroplasty in the treatment of sacral insufficiency fractures. We also outline the technical considerations in performing the procedure.

Conclusion: Percutaneous sacroplasty is an effective treatment for sacral insufficiency fractures.

Recursive partitioning analysis classifications I and II: applicability evaluated in a randomized trial for resected single brain metastases.

Purpose: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) prognostic classes I and II for patients with brain metastases is derived from a database made up primarily of patients with unresected and multiple metastases. An analysis of a previously published randomized trial was performed to determine the applicability of these RPA prognostic classes in the setting of resection of single metastases to the brain.

Patients And Methods: Ninety-five patients with single metastases to the brain that were treated with complete surgical resection entered this study.

A phase I trial of continuously infused intratumoral bleomycin for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

Intratumoral (IT) chemotherapy has theoretical advantages in the treatment of brain tumors. The blood-brain barrier is not a factor in drug delivery, and large concentrations of drug can be instilled in the tumor with little systemic toxicity. Bleomycin has activity against gliomas and is a cell cycle selective agent whose efficacy should be enhanced by continuous infusion.