Nd:YAG laser treatment of early stage carcinoma of the penis preserves form and function of penis.

Introduction: We analysed the results of penis-preserving (conservative) treatment of early stage cancer of the penis with neodymium: yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser with long-term follow-up in a developing country.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 32 patients with cancer penis from 1993 to 2005 who were treated by Nd:YAG laser local excision and in situ coagulation of the tumour bed.

Results: Out of 32 patients who were treated with Nd:YAG laser, 25 had (p)T(1) and seven had (p)T(2) stage cancer penis.

Long-term follow-up results of Nd: YAG laser treatment of premalignant and malignant (Stage I) squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.

Background And Objectives: Only few studies (none from India) have reported the role of Neodymium Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet (Nd: YAG) laser for treatment of premalignant and stage I (T1N0M0) oral cancer. This study aimed to assess the outcome of Nd: YAG laser in the said lesions after a follow-up of 5 years.

Design: Prospective study;

Setting: a tertiary care hospital, North India.

Estimating differences in volumetric flat bone growth in pediatric patients by radiation treatment method.

Purpose: To estimate potential differences in volumetric bone growth in children with sarcoma treated with intensity-modulated (IMRT) and conformal (CRT) radiation therapy using an empiric dose-effect model.

Methods And Materials: A random coefficient model was used to estimate potential volumetric bone growth of 36 pelvic bones (ischiopubis and ilium) from 11 patients 4 years after radiotherapy. The model incorporated patient age, pretreatment bone volume, integral dose >35 Gy, and time since completion of radiation therapy.

Effect of prevailing local treatment options of breast cancer on survival outside controlled clinical trials: experience of a specialist breast unit in North India.

Background: This study aimed at analyzing different treatments of breast cancer (BC) prevalent in the region, their effect on patients' survival, and discusses the most suitable method within available resources.

Methods: The study was set up at a tertiary care hospital in north India. We retrospectively reviewed data of 473 female BC patients who attended the departments of Surgical Oncology and Radiotherapy from January 1997 to December 1999.

Cervical epidural anesthesia: a safe alternative to general anesthesia for patients undergoing cancer breast surgery.

Background: General anesthesia (GA) is the standard anesthesia for patients undergoing modified radical mastectomy (MRM) for breast cancer. Cervical epidural anesthesia (CEA) is practiced less often because of its reported complications. This prospective study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CEA as an anesthetic technique for MRM.

Esophageal mucosal stripping for palliation of dysphagia in advanced carcinoma of lower third esophagus diagnosed at laparotomy.

We report our novel technique, as a palliative procedure for carcinoma of the lower third esophagus, of stripping the mucosa of the esophagus with enbloc resection of cancer of the lower third esophagus with gastric pull up and cervical hand sewn esophagogastric anastomosis. This was undertaken primarily for the relief of dysphagia in locally advanced/metastatic cancer diagnosed at laparotomy. The technique has distinct advantages of being simpler, economical with minimal morbidity.

Correlation of nutritional parameters of gallbladder cancer patients.

Background And Objective: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a highly fatal disease with poor prognosis and 5-year survival <5%. Weight loss and nutritional deterioration are associated with adverse outcomes in terms of cancer prognosis. Protein-calorie malnutrition is the single most common secondary diagnosis in a patient with cancer, and is a direct consequence of the anorexia of malignancy and altered host metabolism induced by the tumor.

An objective assessment of demography of gallbladder cancer.

Background And Objectives: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a lethal disease with a wide geographical, ethnic, and cultural variation suggesting major environmental influences such as diet and life style factors in the development of disease. An objective assessment of demographic profile and full implication of these features to recognize the population at risk is needed. This study was therefore undertaken to study the demography of GBC in Varanasi.

CA 125: a potential tumor marker for gallbladder cancer.

Background: CA 125 is a glycoprotein and a commonly used tumor marker in ovarian carcinoma. Its use in gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) has not yet been reported. We have henceforth examined for the first time the diagnostic utility of CA 125 in patients with gallbladder diseases.

Preliminary study of p53 and c-erbB-2 expression in gallbladder cancer in Indian patients manuscript id: 8962091628764582.

Background: The inactivation of the tumour suppressor gene and activation of the proto-oncogene are the key steps in the development of the human cancer. The p53 and c-erbB-2 are the best examples of it. In the present study, our aim was to determine the role of these genes in the carcinogenesis of gallbladder by immunohistochemistry.

Proteomic analysis of acidic chaperones, and stress proteins in extreme halophile Halobacterium NRC-1: a comparative proteomic approach to study heat shock response.

Background: Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 is an extremely halophilic archaeon and has adapted to optimal growth under conditions of extremely high salinity. Its proteome is highly acidic with a median pI of 4.

A multi-platform approach to image guided radiation therapy (IGRT).

Siemens Medical Solutions, Oncology Care Systems Group (SMSOCSG) is supporting the development of several technologies that enable image acquisition and decision making processes required for IGRT in various clinical settings. Four such technologies are presented including: (i) the integration of a traditional multi-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner "on rails" with a C-arm gantry linear accelerator; (ii) the development of a high sensitivity, fast, megavoltage (MV) electronic portal imaging device capable of clinical MV Conebeam CT (MVCBCT) reconstruction and fluoroscopy mounted on a C-arm gantry linear accelerator; (iii) the modification of a mobile C-arm with flat panel kilovoltage (kV) diagnostic imager; and (iv) the development of an in-line megavoltage and kilovoltage flat panel imaging system that has the potential to image both anatomical and dosimetric information in "real-time" utilizing the traditional C-arm gantry linear accelerator geometry. Each method of IGRT has unique as well as complementary qualities which are discussed from both a clinical and technical perspective.

Association between tobacco use and body mass index in urban Indian population: implications for public health in India.

Background: Body mass index [BMI, weight (kg)/height (m2)], a measure of relative weight, is a good overall indicator of nutritional status and predictor of overall health. As in many developing countries, the high prevalence of very low BMIs in India represents an important public health risk. Tobacco, smoked in the form of cigarettes or bidis (handmade by rolling a dried rectangular piece of temburni leaf with 0.

Correlates between vegetable consumption and gallbladder cancer.

The results of several studies indicate that a diet rich in fresh vegetables protects against several common epithelial neoplasms. This probable effect has been related to specific micronutrients contained in vegetables. In the present case-control study a systematic assessment of the relationship between vegetable intake and the risk of gallbladder cancer has been undertaken.

Displacement-based binning of time-dependent computed tomography image data sets.

Respiration can cause tumors in the thorax or abdomen to move by as much as 3 cm; this movement can adversely affect the planning and delivery of radiation treatment. Several techniques have been used to compensate for respiratory motion, but all have shortcomings. Manufacturers of computed tomography (CT) equipment have recently used a technique developed for cardiac CT imaging to track respiratory-induced anatomical motion and to sort images according to the phase of the respiratory cycle they represent.

Modeling radiation dosimetry to predict cognitive outcomes in pediatric patients with CNS embryonal tumors including medulloblastoma.

Purpose: Model the effects of radiation dosimetry on IQ among pediatric patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors.

Methods And Materials: Pediatric patients with CNS embryonal tumors (n = 39) were prospectively evaluated with serial cognitive testing, before and after treatment with postoperative, risk-adapted craniospinal irradiation (CSI) and conformal primary-site irradiation, followed by chemotherapy. Differential dose-volume data for 5 brain volumes (total brain, supratentorial brain, infratentorial brain, and left and right temporal lobes) were correlated with IQ after surgery and at follow-up by use of linear regression.

Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme status in oral carcinoma patients.

Objective: To measure the lipid peroxidation and endogenous antioxidant enzyme status in oral carcinoma and the protective role of exogenous antioxidants.

Material And Methods: 20 new cases of histologically proven oral squamous cell carcinoma, 20 of leukoplakia and 20 age and sex matched healthy conrols were included. Intra oral pH of patients and controlled were measured by quantitative litmus paper test and serum was analysed for malonialdehyde (MDA), super oxide bismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GP).

Breast tuberculosis: diagnosis, clinical features & management.

The significance of breast tuberculosis is due to rare occurrence and mistaken identity with breast cancer and pyogenic breast abscess. Breast tuberculosis was scarcely reported even from endemic areas until lately when several reports have come up from South Africa and India. The incidence of tubercular mastitis although decreasing in the West, could show a resurgence with the global pandemic of AIDS.

Clinical and quality of life comparison of accelerometer, piezoelectric crystal, and blended sensors in DDDR-paced patients with sinus node dysfunction in the mode selection trial (MOST).

Introduction: Permanent pacemakers are capable of increasing heart rate in response to physical activity by a variety of sensors including accelerometers, piezoelectric crystals, or blended sensors. The impact of these different physiologic sensors on cardiovascular events and quality of life is not known.

Methods: Of 2,010 patients randomized in the Mode Selection Trial, 1,245 patients were selected with the most commonly used pacemakers with these three sensors.

Breastfeeding practices and health-seeking behavior for neonatal sickness in a rural community.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge of mothers and grandmothers regarding breastfeeding and health-seeking behavior for neonatal sickness in a rural community. A cross-sectional survey, using a triangulation of qualitative (focus group discussion) and quantitative (structured questionnaire) methods was carried out. Although most of the grandmothers and mothers believed in early feeding within 2 h of delivery, they often administered prelacteal feeds such as ghutti and honey.

Heart failure hospitalization is more common in pacemaker patients with sinus node dysfunction and a prolonged paced QRS duration.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a prolonged paced QRS duration increases the risk of cardiac dysfunction.

Background: Right ventricular apical pacing mimics left bundle branch block, results in a prolonged QRS duration of variable duration, and causes ventricular desynchronization.

Methods: In the Mode Selection Trial (MOST), QRS duration was measured in patients who had at least one paced ventricular complex recorded on 12-lead ECG within 3 months of enrollment (early) and after 9 months (late).