Audio recordings of mindfulness-based stress reduction training to improve cancer patients' mood and quality of life--a pilot feasibility study.

Purpose: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), typically taught in eight weekly classes, helps patients cope with illness, including cancer. Current research is almost exclusively based on post-treatment class attendance. Research suggests that short courses and alternative delivery techniques may also be beneficial.

Target repositioning optimization in prostate cancer: is intensity-modulated radiotherapy under stereotactic conditions feasible?

Purpose: To assess repositioning reproducibility of the prostate when treatment setup conditions before radiotherapy (RT) are optimized and internal organ motion is reduced with an endorectal inflatable balloon.

Methods And Materials: Thirty-two patients were treated with 64 Gy to the prostate and seminal vesicles using a three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy technique, followed by a boost (two fractions of 5-8 Gy, 3-5 days apart) delivered to a reduced prostate volume (the peripheral tumor bearing zone with 3-mm margins) using intensity-modulated RT. A commercially available infrared-guided stereotactic repositioning system and a rectal balloon were used.

Influence of rectal volume changes during radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a predictive model for mild-to-moderate late rectal toxicity.

Purpose: To assess the rectal volume changes during radiotherapy for prostate cancer, to estimate an average rectal dose distribution profile during treatment, and to correlate these parameters with mild-to-moderate late rectal toxicity.

Materials And Methods: Nine patients with localized prostate cancer underwent virtual CT simulation using a six-field conformal 18-MV photon technique. During treatment, patients underwent weekly pelvic CT scans under simulation conditions.