Early treatment and toxicity outcomes for small posterior uveal melanomas treated using custom loaded eye plaques.

Introduction: Iodine-125 loaded Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study plaques can achieve excellent tumor control for patients diagnosed with uveal melanomas. Our ocular cancer team hypothesized that use of novel, partially loaded COMS plaques could ease and improve accurate plaque placement during treatment of small, posterior tumors while providing equivalent tumor control.

Materials/methods: Records of 25 patients treated with custom plaques were compared to 20 patients treated with fully loaded plaques, who had received treatment prior to our institution's adopting the use of these partial plaques.

The Impact of a Multidisciplinary Third-Year Oncology Elective Rotation on Decisions to Pursue Oncologic Careers and Oncology Exposure.

Purpose: The majority of oncologic care is provided in the outpatient setting, yet at many medical schools, the dominant means of exposure to oncology occurs during inpatient rotations. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the specialty, radiation oncology departments are well positioned to lead outpatient oncology rotations within medical schools. Since 1992, the University of Cincinnati's Department of Radiation Oncology has administered a 2-week, third-year clinical oncology elective.

Practice Patterns Among Radiation Oncologists Treating Pediatric Patients With Proton Craniospinal Irradiation.

Purpose: Craniospinal irradiation (CSI) is an important component of therapy for many pediatric central nervous system malignancies. Proton therapy is increasingly available and used for minimizing radiation exposure to normal tissues. The absence of an exit dose with proton therapy mandates decisions regarding coverage of the vertebral bodies (VB) in non-skeletally mature patients.