Prognostic factors in patients with symptomatic spinal metastases and normal neurological function.

Aims: To evaluate potential prognostic factors for predicting survival after radiotherapy in patients with painful spinal metastases and normal neurological function.

Materials And Methods: In total, 173 patients were included. The following prognostic factors were assessed: primary cancer site, age, gender, albumin and haemoglobin levels, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), analgesic use, pain intensity, number of extraspinal bone metastases and visceral metastases, presence of tumour-conditioned spinal canal stenosis and metastatic spinal cord compression, and extension of spinal metastatic disease on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Radiotherapy for spinal metastases from breast cancer with emphasis on local disease control and pain response using repeated MRI.

Aims: To evaluate metastatic lesions within the radiation field using repeated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to compare the imaging findings with pain response following radiotherapy (RT) in patients with spinal metastases (SM) from breast cancer.

Material And Methods: 32 Patients with SM from breast cancer admitted for fractionated RT were included in this study. MRI examinations of the spine were scored for the extent of bone metastases, epidural disease and the presence and severity of vertebral fractures.

High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue in the primary treatment of metastatic and pelvic osteosarcoma: final results of the ISG/SSG II study.

Background: Patients with metastatic osteosarcoma at diagnosis or axial primary tumors have a poor prognosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of intensified treatment with high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and stem cell rescue in this group.

Methods: From May 1996 to August 2004, 71 patients were included in a Scandinavian-Italian single arm phase II study.

Incidence and mortality of second sarcomas - a population-based study.

Background: Studies on second sarcoma in unselected populations of cancer survivors have not previously been published.

Methods: Second sarcoma was defined as a sarcoma following a previous invasive cancer. Patients with this malignancy were retrieved from the Cancer Registry in Norway for the period 1960-2007 among a total of 728874 cancer patients including 11 612 with a sarcoma.

MRI and neurological findings in patients with spinal metastases.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the recommended primary investigation method for metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC). Initiating treatment before the development of motor deficits is essential to preserve neurological function. However, the relationship between MRI-assessed grades of spinal metastatic disease and neurological status has not been widely investigated.