Quality of life assessment in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients undergoing an accelerated radiotherapy regimen: report of ECOG study 4593. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the quality of life (QOL) before, at completion, and after therapy for patients receiving an accelerated fractionation schedule of radiotherapy for advanced, unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer in a Phase II multi-institutional trial.

Methods And Materials: The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) patient questionnaire was used to score the QOL in patients enrolled in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Phase II trial (ECOG 4593) of hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer. Radiotherapy (total dose 57.

A cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis of radiosurgery vs. resection for single-brain metastases.

Purpose: The median survival of well-selected patients with single-brain metastases treated with whole-brain irradiation and resection or radiosurgery is comparable, although a randomized trial of these two modalities has not been performed. In this era of cost containment, it is imperative that health-care professionals make fiscally prudent decisions. The present environment necessitates a critical appraisal of apparently equi-efficacious therapeutic modalities, and it is within this context that we present a comparison of the actual costs of resection and radiosurgery for brain metastases.

Growth inhibition of squamous cell carcinoma xenografts with the polyamine analogue BE 4444.

Background: The capacity of radiation to cure advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is compromised by the proliferation of surviving tumor cells during the course of therapy (overall duration, often 7-9 weeks). Antiproliferative agents that inhibit tumor proliferation, even in the absence of direct cytotoxicity, may be useful adjuncts for concurrent use with radiation. Modulation of endogenous polyamine (PA) metabolism has the potential to inhibit cell growth.

A multiinstitutional outcome and prognostic factor analysis of radiosurgery for resectable single brain metastasis.

Purpose: Recent randomized trials of selected patients with single brain metastasis comparing resection followed by whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) to WBRT alone have shown a statistically significant survival advantage for surgery and WBRT. A multiinstitutional retrospective study was performed, which identified comparable patients who were treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (RS) and WBRT.

Methods And Materials: The RS databases of four institutions were reviewed to identify patients who met the following criteria: single-brain metastasis; no prior cranial surgery or WBRT; age > 18 years; surgically resectable lesion; Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) > or = 70 at time of RS; nonradiosensitive histology.