Malignant myoepithelioma in the maxillary sinus: case report and review of the literature.

Malignant myoepithelioma of the head and neck usually arises in the salivary glands. We experienced a rare case with malignant myoepithelioma in the maxillary sinus. A 47-year-old woman with malignant myoepithelioma in the maxillary sinus underwent partial maxillectomy.

Classical tandem-source dwelling covering the entire uterus: essential in modern intracavitary radiotherapy for cervical cancer?

Purpose: We investigated whether conventional tandem-source dwelling to cover the entire uterus, classically regarded as the target volume, is necessary in modern intracavitary radiotherapy (ICRT) for cervical cancer.

Materials And Methods: The study included 95 cervical squamous cell carcinoma patients treated by high-dose-rate ICRT (point A dose was 6.0 Gy, with three to five insertions per patient) after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), with central pelvic doses of 12-50 Gy.

Proton irradiation in a single fraction for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with uncontrollable ascites. Technical considerations and results.

Purpose: To present technical considerations and results of proton irradiation in a single fraction for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with uncontrollable ascites.

Patients And Methods: Three HCC patients with uncontrollable ascites underwent proton irradiation of 24 Gy in a single fraction. Hepatic tumors were solitary in two patients, and multiple in one, and tumor sizes were 30, 30, and 33 mm in maximum diameter.

Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with inferior vena cava tumor thrombus: report of three cases.

Three patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and inferior vena cava tumor thrombus (IVCTT) were treated using proton beam therapy at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. A total dose of 50-70 Gy in 10-35 fractions was given to the primary tumor and IVCTT. All the patients survived for more than 1 year from the beginning of proton beam therapy (13-55 months) and no treatment-related toxicity of grade 3 or higher was observed.

Explanation for the failure of neoadjuvant chemotherapy to improve outcomes after radiotherapy for locally advanced uterine cervical cancer from the standpoint of the tumor regression rate.

Purpose: Treatment outcomes for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer are no better with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) combined with radiotherapy (RT) than with RT alone. We investigated the reason for this failure from the standpoint of the tumor regression rate (RR).

Materials And Methods: A total of 48 patients with clinical stage IIB-IVA cervical squamous cell carcinoma were treated clinically with cisplatin-based NAC plus RT (n = 15) or RT alone (n = 33).

Proton beam therapy for aged patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To investigate the safety and efficacy of proton beam therapy for aged patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods And Materials: Twenty-one patients aged > or =80 years with HCC underwent proton beam therapy. At the time of irradiation, patient age ranged from 80 to 85 years (median, 81 years).

Hypofractionated high-dose proton beam therapy for stage I non-small-cell lung cancer: preliminary results of a phase I/II clinical study.

Purpose: To present treatment outcomes of hypofractionated high-dose proton beam therapy for Stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods And Materials: Twenty-one patients with Stage I NSCLC (11 with Stage IA and 10 with Stage IB) underwent hypofractionated high-dose proton beam therapy. At the time of irradiation, patient age ranged from 51 to 85 years (median, 74 years).

Long-term outcome of patients with intracranial germinoma.

Purpose: This study was to clarify the long-term subjective functional state and the therapeutic factors that may influence the outcome and ADL of patients with intracranial germinoma.

Methods And Materials: Subjects were 19 patients with an average age of 16.5 years.

Determination of gate-on and -off timing in respiration-gated radiotherapy.

The purpose of this study was to develop an efficient method of determining gate-on and -off timing in respiration-gated radiotherapy. Gate-on and -off timing in a breathing cycle were defined as the respiratory signal level for the start of irradiation (Ls) in the expiration phase and that for the end of irradiation (Le) in the inspiration phase, respectively. Thirty subjects participated in this study.

Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with severe cirrhosis.

Background And Purpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with severe cirrhosis are usually treated with supportive care because of their poor prognosis. However, the survival of severe cirrhotic patients has recently improved due to advanced treatments. The aim of this study was to define the role of proton beam therapy for HCC patients with severe cirrhosis.

Sequential evaluation of hepatic functional reserve by 99mTechnetium-galactosyl human serum albumin scintigraphy after proton beam therapy: a report of three cases and a review of the literatures.

The treatment strategy for malignant liver tumors should be appropriately determined because post-treatment quality of life greatly depends on the patients' residual hepatic function. In this report, we present three patients with malignant liver tumors treated by proton beam therapy in whom pre- and post-therapeutic hepatic functional reserves were evaluated sequentially for more than a year by 99mTechnetium-galactosyl human serum albumin (99mTc-GSA) scintigraphy. All three patients exhibited the distinctive time course of 99mTc-GSA uptake efficiency, which suggested a transient decline in the ratio of liver activity to heart and liver activity at 15 minutes (LHL15) 3-6 months after proton beam therapy.

Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with limited treatment options.

Background: The authors conducted a retrospective review to define the usefulness of proton beam therapy for patients who had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with limited treatment options.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with HCC for whom other treatment modalities either were contraindicative or were unfeasible because of coexisting diseases and unfavorable conditions received proton beam therapy. Four patients had renal failure, 2 patients had severe heart disease, 9 patients had severe cirrhosis, 1 patient had aplastic anemia, 1 patient had a dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysm before treatment, and 4 patients had bleeding tendency or unresectable tumors.

Proton beam therapy for invasive bladder cancer: a prospective study of bladder-preserving therapy with combined radiotherapy and intra-arterial chemotherapy.

Purpose: To present outcomes of bladder-preserving therapy with proton beam irradiation in patients with invasive bladder cancer.

Methods And Materials: Twenty-five patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder, cT2-3N0M0, underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor(s), followed by pelvic X-ray irradiation combined with intra-arterial chemotherapy with methotrexate and cisplatin. Upon completion of these treatments, patients were evaluated by transurethral resection biopsy.

Repeated proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the safety and effectiveness of repeated proton beam therapy for newly developed or recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods And Materials: From June 1989 through July 2000, 225 patients with HCC underwent their first course of proton beam therapy at the University of Tsukuba. Of them, 27 with 68 lesions who had undergone two or more courses were retrospectively reviewed in this study.

Early determination of uterine cervical squamous cell carcinoma radioresponse identifies high- and low-response tumors.

Purpose: To investigate whether early-assessed radioresponse of tumors corresponds with late-assessed radioresponse, which is associated with local disease control in radiotherapy (RT) for cervical cancer.

Methods And Materials: This prospective study included 12 patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma treated by RT with or without concurrent cisplatin. Tumor volume was estimated by scheduled magnetic resonance imaging before (preRT), 3 to 4 weeks after (early assessment), and 6 to 7 weeks after (late assessment) RT initiation.

Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombus.

Background: Treatment modalities for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) are limited and controversial; furthermore, the prognosis for these patients is extremely poor. The authors conducted a retrospective review to determine the role of proton beam therapy in the treatment of patients who had HCC with PVTT.

Methods: Twelve patients with HCC who had tumor thrombus in the main trunk or major branches of the portal vein (clinical T3-T4N0M0) were treated with proton beam therapy.

Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective review of 162 patients.

Purpose: We present results of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with proton beam therapy.

Experimental Design: We reviewed 162 patients having 192 HCCs treated from November 1985 to July 1998 by proton beam therapy with or without transarterial embolization and percutaneous ethanol injection. The patients in the present series were considered unsuitable for surgery for various reasons, including hepatic dysfunction, multiple tumors, recurrence after surgical resection, and concomitant illnesses.

Monitoring of hepatocellular carcinoma, following proton radiotherapy, with contrast-enhanced color Doppler ultrasonography.

Background: We have reported that proton radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a safe and effective therapeutic option. However, it is difficult to evaluate its effect in certain cases. Recently, it has been reported that the usage of contrast-enhanced color Doppler ultrasonography (CECDU) can improve diagnostic accuracy, both in terms of the presence of hepatic tumor and in the evaluation of treatment.

Real-time monitoring of a digestive tract marker to reduce adverse effects of moving organs at risk (OAR) in radiotherapy for thoracic and abdominal tumors.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of real-time monitoring of a fiducial marker in/near the digestive tract and to analyze the motion of organs at risk to determine a reasonable internal margin.

Methods And Materials: We developed two methods to insert a fiducial marker into/near the digestive tract adjacent to the target volume. One method involves an intraoperative insertion technique, and the other involves endoscopic insertion into the submucosal layer of the normal digestive tract.

Preliminary estimation of treatment effect on uterine cervical squamous cell carcinoma in terms of tumor regression rate: comparison between chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy alone.

Purpose: We preliminarily estimated the treatment effect on cervical cancer in terms of the tumor regression rate (TRR) achieved with chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy alone.

Materials And Methods: The study included cervical squamous cell carcinomas treated by radiotherapy alone (n=45) or chemoradiotherapy (concurrent once-a-week cisplatin 30 mg/m2, n=13). Tumors were measured three-dimensionally on pre- and mid-treatment magnetic resonance images.

Stereotactic radiotherapy for patients who initially presented with brain metastases from non-small cell carcinoma.

The purpose of this study was retrospectively to evaluate the effectiveness of fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT) for patients who presented with intracranial metastases as the initial symptom of lung carcinoma. Fifteen patients with three or fewer brain metastases from lung carcinoma underwent FSRT receiving 42 Gy in 7 fractions or 40 Gy in 4 fractions from April 1999 to October 2002. Patients who developed new lesions were retreated with FSRT or whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT).

Concurrent proton beam radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy for the metastatic liver tumor of gastric carcinoma: a case report.

We report a case of a woman with a metastatic liver tumor from gastric carcinoma, who has been successfully treated with concurrent proton beam therapy and systemic chemotherapy. A 76-year-old woman underwent distal gastrectomy with regional lymph node dissection for advanced gastric carcinoma on January 17, 2002. She received five courses of sequential chemotherapy with methotrexate-5-fluorouracil after the surgical resection.