The impact of socioeconomic and geographic factors on access to transoral robotic/endoscopic surgery for early stage oropharyngeal malignancy.

Objective: To evaluate the role of social and geographic factors on the likelihood of receiving transoral robotic surgery (TORS) or non-robotic transoral endoscopic surgery treatment in early stage oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC).

Materials And Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried to form a cohort of patients with T1-T2 N0-N1 M0 OPSCC (AJCC v.7) who underwent treatment from 2010 to 2016.

Prospective Study of Use of Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale Versus Routine Symptom Management During Weekly Radiation Treatment Visits.

Purpose: During radiotherapy (RT), patient symptoms are evaluated and managed weekly during physician on-treatment visits (OTVs). The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) is a 9-symptom validated self-assessment tool for reporting common symptoms in patients with cancer. We hypothesized that implementation and physician review of ESAS during weekly OTVs may result in betterment of symptom severity during RT for certain modifiable domains.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival compared with concurrent chemoradiation alone in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with N3 disease.

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) trials in endemic regions of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) found improved survival, but studies are lacking in nonendemic regions. We assessed whether adding NAC to concurrent chemoradiation (CRT) improves overall survival (OS), especially in high-risk nonendemic patients.

Methods: Definitively treated NPC patients (n = 5424) from the National Cancer Database were analyzed for predictors of NAC and NAC effects on OS with multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis (multivariate analysis [MVA]).

Effect of blood glucose level on standardized uptake value (SUV) in F- FDG PET-scan: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 20,807 individual SUV measurements.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of pre-scan blood glucose levels (BGL) on standardized uptake value (SUV) in F-FDG-PET scan.

Methods: A literature review was performed in the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane library databases. Multivariate regression analysis was performed on individual datum to investigate the correlation of BGL with SUV and SUV adjusting for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus diagnosis, F-FDG injected dose, and time interval.

Role of Concurrent Systemic Therapy with Adjuvant Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Cutaneous Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Objective To evaluate the role of concurrent systemic therapy to postoperative radiation therapy (RT) for locally advanced cutaneous head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA-cHNSCC). Materials and methods A retrospective study of 32 patients with LA-cHNSCC receiving postoperative RT with and without systemic therapy was conducted. Patients with LA-cHNSCC after surgical resection with one or more high risk features were evaluated.

False Positive Positron Emission Tomography / Computed Tomography Scans in Treated Head and Neck Cancers.

Objective: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging for head and neck cancers (HNC) is commonly utilized for post-treatment assessment. Though PET/CT in this setting has been reported to have high negative predictive values (> 90%), positive predictive values have been reported at approximately 50%, leading to high rates of false positivity (FP) and troubling management decisions for both patient and practitioner. The objective of this study was to identify patient, disease, treatment and imaging factors that might be associated with a higher likelihood of FP on initial post-treatment PET/CT imaging for patients treated for HNC.

Image guided volumetric response during chemoradiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma as a predictor of disease outcomes.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to correlate volumetric image guided disease response to clinical outcomes in patients receiving chemoradiation therapy (CRT) for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Materials And Methods: Thirty four patients completing definitive CRT for locally advanced HNSCC with megavoltage computed tomography (MVCT) guided tomotherapy IMRT were retrospectively reviewed for volumetric response. Grossly identifiable primary tumor (PT) and nodal disease (ND) response was evaluated by weekly MVCT regression.

Controlling the diameter, monodispersity, and solubility of ApoA1 nanolipoprotein particles using telodendrimer chemistry.

Nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs) are nanometer-scale discoidal particles that feature a phospholipid bilayer confined within an apolipoprotein "scaffold," which are useful for solubilizing hydrophobic molecules such as drugs and membrane proteins. NLPs are synthesized either by mixing the purified apolipoprotein with phospholipids and other cofactors or by cell-free protein synthesis followed by self-assembly of the nanoparticles in the reaction mixture. Either method can be problematic regarding the production of homogeneous and monodispersed populations of NLPs, which also currently requires multiple synthesis and purification steps.

Development of a standardized method for contouring the lumbosacral plexus: a preliminary dosimetric analysis of this organ at risk among 15 patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy for lower gastrointestinal cancers and the incidence of radiation-induced lumbosacral plexopathy.

Purpose: To generate a reproducible step-wise guideline for the delineation of the lumbosacral plexus (LSP) on axial computed tomography (CT) planning images and to provide a preliminary dosimetric analysis on 15 representative patients with rectal or anal cancers treated with an intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) technique.

Methods And Materials: A standardized method for contouring the LSP on axial CT images was devised. The LSP was referenced to identifiable anatomic structures from the L4-5 interspace to the level of the sciatic nerve.

Validating the RTOG-endorsed brachial plexus contouring atlas: an evaluation of reproducibility among patients treated by intensity-modulated radiotherapy for head-and-neck cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate interobserver variability for contouring the brachial plexus as an organ-at-risk (OAR) and to analyze its potential dosimetric consequences in patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for head-and-neck cancer.

Methods And Materials: Using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG)-endorsed brachial plexus contouring atlas, three radiation oncologists independently delineated the OAR on treatment planning computed-tomography (CT) axial scans from 5 representative patients undergoing IMRT to a prescribed dose of 70 Gy for head-and-neck cancer. Dose-volume histograms for the brachial plexus were calculated, and interobserver differences were quantified by comparing various dosimetric statistics.

Palliative radiation therapy of symptomatic recurrent bladder cancer.

Background: Palliative radiation therapy (RT) is an established tool in the management of symptoms caused by malignancies. RT is effective at palliating both locally advanced and metastatic cancer, including related symptoms of pain, bleeding, or obstruction. Most data on palliative RT is in regard to its use in the treatment of painful bone metastases.