Recommendations for CTV margins in radiotherapy planning for non melanoma skin cancer.

Purpose: To provide practice guidelines for delineating clinical target volume (CTV) for radiotherapy planning of non melanoma (NMSC) skin cancers.

Methods And Materials: A prospective, single arm, study. Preoperatively, a radiation oncologist outlined the boundary of a gross lesion, and drew 5-mm incremental marks in four directions from the delineated border.

Body radiation exposure in breast cancer radiotherapy: impact of breast IMRT and virtual wedge compensation techniques.

Purpose: Recent reports demonstrate a dramatically increased rate of secondary leukemia for breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant high-dose anthracycline and radiotherapy, and that radiation is an independent factor for the development of leukemia. This study aimed to evaluate the radiation body exposure during breast radiotherapy and to characterize the factors associated with an increased exposure.

Patients And Methods: In a prospective cohort of 120 women, radiation measurements were taken from four sites on the body at the time of adjuvant breast radiotherapy.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy for the treatment of pediatric cancer patients.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a novel form of radiotherapy, which has the potential to reduce the amount of radiation unintentionally delivered to normal tissues while maintaining a high radiation dose to the tumor in comparison with standard radiation techniques. In adults, this technology has been implemented in a number of tumor sites, but in children it has been little used. This article will review the current studies in which IMRT has been used in children.

Inverse vs. forward breast IMRT planning.

Breast intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) improves dose distribution homogeneity within the whole breast. Previous publications report the use of inverse or forward dose optimization algorithms. Because the inverse technique is not widely available in commercial treatment planning systems, it is important to compare the 2 algorithms.

What is the microscopic tumor extent beyond clinically delineated gross tumor boundary in nonmelanoma skin cancers?

Purpose: To quantify the microscopic tumor extension beyond clinically delineated gross tumor boundary in nonmelanoma skin cancers.

Methods And Materials: A prospective, single arm, study. Preoperatively, a radiation oncologist outlined the boundary of a gross lesion, and drew 5-mm incremental marks in four directions from the delineated border.

Effect of androgen suppression on hemoglobin in prostate cancer patients undergoing salvage radiotherapy plus 2-year buserelin acetate for rising PSA after surgery.

Purpose: To examine the effect of 2-year androgen suppression (AS) on the pattern and extent of hemoglobin (Hb) change.

Methods And Materials: The basis of this report was a Phase II study evaluating a combined treatment of salvage radiotherapy plus 2-year AS for a rising prostate-specific antigen level after surgery. Patients had laboratory tests performed, including Hb and serum testosterone, and answered a quality-of-life questionnaire (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-life Questionnaire 30 item) at regular intervals during the AS and post-AS period.

How are hemoglobin levels affected by androgen deprivation in non-metastatic prostate cancer patients?

Purpose: To examine the change of hemoglobin in relation to testosterone level in non-metastatic prostate cancer patients receiving 2-year androgen suppression.

Methods And Materials: A cohort of 72 patients, as participants of a phase II study, were treated with adjuvant radiotherapy plus 2-year androgen suppression after surgery to reduce the risk of relapse. Patients had laboratory tests including hemoglobin (Hb) and testosterone, and a quality of life questionnaire at regular intervals during the androgen suppression and post-androgen suppression period.

Pilot study: potential role of vitamin D (Cholecalciferol) in patients with PSA relapse after definitive therapy.

When local treatments for prostate cancer have failed, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) rises in the absence of symptoms, there is little consensus as to the best management strategy. Calcitriol has been shown to prolong the doubling time of PSA in this context, but near-toxic doses are required. We investigated the effect of the nutrient vitamin D (cholecalciferol), a biochemical precursor of calcitriol, on PSA levels and the rate of rise of PSA in these patients.

Long-term outcome of postorchiectomy surveillance for Stage I testicular seminoma.

Purpose: To examine the long-term outcome and patterns of relapse in clinical Stage I testicular seminoma managed with surveillance alone after radical inguinal orchiectomy.

Methods And Materials: This was a prospective, single-arm study. Patients with Stage I testicular seminoma were treated with surveillance alone in accordance with regular, predefined, schedules and investigations.

An unusual case of concurrent breast and prostate cancer.

Breast and prostate cancer occurring concurrently is a rare occurrence. However, the recent literature has reported that there is an increased incidence of male breast cancer in prostate cancer patients. The authors describe the case of a man who presented with breast cancer, which was preceded by prostate cancer.

Technique for in-office cranial bone harvesting.

Purpose: This is a report of a technique of cranial bone harvesting suitable for the outpatient setting.

Materials And Methods: Bone scrapers are used for the harvesting of cranial bone shavings with the patient under intravenous sedation or general anesthesia.

Results: Graft volumes larger than that usually obtainable from intraoral sites and the tibia have been harvested utilizing this technique.

Iodine-125 brachytherapy for prostate cancer: first published Australian experience.

With the emergence of new imaging and implant techniques, prostate brachytherapy has become increasingly popular over the last decade. Brachytherapy promises to deliver twice the biologically effective dose as conventional external beam treatments without increasing the dose to tissues surrounding the prostate. However, there are few or no published Australian series of its efficacy in the clinic.