High Intelectin-1 Expression Associated with Aggressive Tumor Behavior and Worse Survival in Rectal Cancer.

Background: Multimodal treatment involving preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery is the current standard of care for rectal cancer. Despite advancements, the risk of recurrence, metastasis, and decreased survival remains high. This study aims to evaluate potential biomarkers to stratify prognosis in patients with rectal cancer undergoing preoperative CRT and surgery.

Efficacy and safety of consolidative thoracic radiotherapy after first-line chemoimmunotherapy in patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) has shown potential benefits in improving local control and overall survival (OS) in chemotherapy-responsive small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cases. However, its role in the era of chemoimmunotherapy remains underexplored. In the current era of immunotherapy, this study evaluated the efficacy and safety of consolidative TRT (cTRT) in patients with extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC) and assessed its impact on OS.

Quantitative evaluation of accumulated and planned dose deviations in patients undergoing gated and non-gated lung stereotactic body radiation therapy patients: a retrospective analysis.

Background: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is crucial for treating early-stage inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) due to its precision and high-dose delivery. This study aimed to investigate the dosimetric deviations in gated (GR) versus non-gated radiotherapy (NGR), analyzing the impact of tumor location, target volume, and tumor motion range on dose distribution accuracy.

Methods: Sixty patients treated with either gated (n=30) or non-gated (n=30) SBRT for early-stage NSCLC were retrospectively analyzed.

Long-term survival after combination therapy with atezolizumab in a patient with small-cell lung cancer: a case report.

Background: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is highly malignant. Despite being highly sensitive to initial chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the recurrence rate is high. Atezolizumab is the first immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) that has been proven to provide an overall survival (OS) benefit for extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC), making ICIs in combination with chemotherapy the standard first-line treatment for ES-SCLC.

The current landscape and prospects of antibody-drug conjugates for lung cancer brain metastases: a narrative review.

Background And Objective: As the most common cancer to progress to brain metastases (BMs), lung cancer presents with intracranial involvement in approximately 20% of patients at the time of diagnosis and lung cancer BMs constitute approximately half of all BMs. The current clinical strategy for managing lung cancer BMs involves a combination of systemic anticancer therapies with local radiation or surgical interventions. The efficacy of systemic treatments is often constrained by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the poor inhibition effect of the drug itself.

Abdominal synthetic CT generation for MR-only radiotherapy using structure-conserving loss and transformer-based cycle-GAN.

Purpose: Recent deep-learning based synthetic computed tomography (sCT) generation using magnetic resonance (MR) images have shown promising results. However, generating sCT for the abdominal region poses challenges due to the patient motion, including respiration and peristalsis. To address these challenges, this study investigated an unsupervised learning approach using a transformer-based cycle-GAN with structure-preserving loss for abdominal cancer patients.

Therapeutic dose prediction using score-based diffusion model for pretreatment patient-specific quality assurance.

Objectives: Implementing pre-treatment patient-specific quality assurance (prePSQA) for cancer patients is a necessary but time-consuming task, imposing a significant workload on medical physicists. Currently, the prediction methods used for prePSQA fall under the category of supervised learning, limiting their generalization ability and resulting in poor performance on new data. In the context of this work, the limitation of traditional supervised models was broken by proposing a conditional generation method utilizing unsupervised diffusion model.

NIRADS-based case assessment of post-treatment head and neck cancer and its clinical correlation: A validation study.

Introduction: The neck imaging reporting and data system (NIRADS) lexicon is aimed at surveillance of head and neck cancer during post-treatment follow-up using either a CECT or PET-CT scan. These recommendations standardize management, reduce interobserver variability, and standardizes scientific communication.

Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to validate the correlation between the NI-RADS category and disease status on clinical follow-up and histopathological analysis.

Infrahyoid myocutaneous flap for reconstruction in head and neck cancer patients.

Background: Reconstruction of head and neck defects following tumor excision is one of the most challenging surgeries due to multiple reasons, such as associated cosmetic and functional impairments. The three-dimensional aspect of the defect makes it more difficult. Although in modern settings, microvascular surgery is preferred in many conditions, it requires the presence of resources and expertise.

Conventional chemoradiation versus accelerated chemoradiation: A prospective study in oropharyngeal cancer.

Background: Squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck is predominantly a loco regional disease, and the primary treatment methods are surgery and radiotherapy. For patients with locally-regionally advanced oropharyngeal cancer, concurrent chemoradiotherapy is the standard treatment.

Material And Method: The aim and objectives of study were a) to compare locoregional response in two arms, b) to compare acute and chronic treatment-related toxicities in the two arms, and c) to compare the quality of life.

Microinvasive oral squamous cell carcinoma: A management protocol.

Microinvasive oral squamous cell carcinoma (MISCC) is the early stage of oral cancer that shows a breach in the basement membrane, and the depth of invasion of the tumour is limited to 0.5-2mm into the papillary stroma. A review of the available data on MISCC was conducted to formulate a management protocol for MISCC and to assess the association of MISCC with oral potentially malignant disorders.

Deep Learning-Enabled Integration of Histology and Transcriptomics for Tissue Spatial Profile Analysis.

Spatially resolved transcriptomics enable comprehensive measurement of gene expression at subcellular resolution while preserving the spatial context of the tissue microenvironment. While deep learning has shown promise in analyzing SCST datasets, most efforts have focused on sequence data and spatial localization, with limited emphasis on leveraging rich histopathological insights from staining images. We introduce GIST, a deep learning-enabled gene expression and histology integration for spatial cellular profiling.

Modification-specific Proteomic Analysis Reveals Cysteine S-Palmitoylation Involved in Esophageal Cancer Cell Radiation.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of radiation (RT) on protein and protein S-palmitoylation levels in esophageal cancer (EC) cell lines. EC cells ( = 6) were randomly divided into RT and negative control. The results revealed that 592 proteins were identified in the RT group, including 326 upregulation proteins and 266 downregulation proteins.

Impact of Clinical Surveillance on Outcomes of Locally Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Background: Local recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) occurs in 10%-20% of patients, with salvage potential in early recurrences. Yet, clear surveillance protocols are lacking. We compare survival outcomes and suitability for salvage in symptomatic and incidentally detected locally recurrent NPC.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6)-associated tumor microenvironment remodelling and cancer immunotherapy.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine playing a pivotal role during inflammation and immune responses. In the recent years, the function of IL-6 in the tumor microenvironment (TME) for affecting tumorigenesis and immunotherapy response has been investigated. The genetic mutations are mainly responsible for the development of cancer, while interactions in TME are also important, involving both cancers and non-cancerous cells.

Impact of Social Media on Oncology Care.

This review examines the evolving role of social media (SM) in oncology, highlighting its impact on patient support, professional collaboration, and public health communication. SM platforms enable cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, and oncology professionals to share information, seek support, connect with one another, and engage in education. However, the widespread use of SM introduces challenges, including misinformation and privacy concerns.

Functional Radiosurgery in the Management of Cancer Pain: A Comprehensive Review.

Functional radiosurgery is a minimally invasive and highly precise approach to managing refractory cancer pain, offering targeted interventions for both nociceptive and neuropathic pain mechanisms. By focusing on key neuroanatomical targets, such as the thalamus, cingulate cortex, pituitary gland, celiac plexus, and dorsal root ganglia, functional radiosurgery provides effective relief for complex pain syndromes that are often unresponsive to conventional therapies. Advances in imaging and treatment delivery have enhanced the safety and efficacy of these techniques, allowing clinicians to tailor interventions to individual patients.

FLASH Radiotherapy: From In Vivo Data to Clinical Translation.

Delivery of radiotherapy (RT) at ultra-high dose rates or FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) is an emerging treatment option for patients with cancer that could increase survival outcomes and quality of life. In vivo data across a multitude of normal tissues and associated tumors have been published demonstrating the FLASH effect while bringing attention to the need for additional research. Combination of FLASH-RT with other treatment options including spatially fractionated RT, immunotherapy, and usage in the setting of reirradiation could also provide additional benefit.

Development and Implementation of Digital Health Tools in Radiation Oncology: A Rapid Review.

A rapid review of 21 studies into 20 unique digital health tools found significant benefits to utilizing the following 4 categories of tools: (1) educational videos increased patient knowledge of radiotherapy (RT) and reduced treatment-related anxiety; (2) extended reality tools improved patient understanding of RT and reduced anxiety, with virtual reality coaching enhancing tumor motion reproducibility during CT simulation; (3) digital patient engagement tools helped patients manage treatment symptoms, increased health literacy, and improved quality of life; (4) an electronic feedback form decreased patient anxiety and increased RT knowledge. Most interventions were single-use and implemented before the start of RT.

Image Guided Percutaneous Robotic Interventions for Solid Organs.

Robotic systems for minimally invasive procedures, particularly in interventional oncology, have advanced significantly, especially for percutaneous interventions guided by CT, Cone-beam CT, and MRI. These systems, which include needle-guiding and needle-driving robots, enhance the precision of procedures like biopsy and tumor ablation. Needle-guiding robots plan and align the needle, while needle-driving robots autonomously advance it, improving needle placement accuracy, enabling out-of-plane insertion, and reducing radiation exposure.

Pancreas Irradiation for Treatment-Resistant Acute Cellular Rejection in a Severely Immunocompromised Pancreas after Kidney Transplant Recipient - Case Report.

Treating acute rejection of a pancreas transplant in a severely immunocompromised patient with viral opportunistic infection is challenging due to the balance of rescuing from rejection without worsening the morbidity of infection and prolonging the infection episode. We present a case involving a pancreas-after-kidney transplant in a patient with CMV high-risk discordance (donor positive/recipient negative) and chronic lymphopenia who developed difficult-to-treat CMV disease approximately six months after pancreas transplant. Following the withdrawal of the antimetabolite due to the persistent CMV DNAemia and lymphopenia, the patient experienced acute pancreas rejection without adequate and sustained response to treatment with steroids and Thymoglobulin.

« Augmented radiotherapy » in the management of high-risk prostate cancer (PCa): a systematic review.

Background: In patients with high-risk (HR) prostate cancer (PCa) treated with radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), intensification with androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) improves overall survival (OS), at the cost of significant side-effects. We hypothesized that "augmented RT" schedules (defined as either dose-escalation on the prostate gland over 78Gy and/or addition of whole pelvic radiotherapy (WPRT)), combined with long-term ADT can reach excellent prostate cancer specific survival (PCSS) in this population with little detrimental impact on quality of life.

Methods: We searched Pubmed database until February 8, 2024.

A meta-analysis of the value of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging in guiding surgical resection of primary and metastatic liver cancer.

Objective: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the value of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging in precision resection surgery for primary and metastatic liver cancer.

Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and major scientific websites was conducted until June 2024. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies comparing indocyanine green fluorescence imaging-guided liver cancer resection with traditional methods were included.

Radiotherapy toxicities: mechanisms, management, and future directions.

For over a century, radiotherapy has revolutionised cancer treatment. Technological advancements aim to deliver high doses to tumours with increased precision while minimising off-target effects to organs at risk. Despite advancements such as image-guided, high-precision radiotherapy delivery, long-term toxic effects on healthy tissues remain a great clinical challenge.