International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Nov 2007
Use of palliative radiotherapy among patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer.
Radiotherapy (RT) is known to effectively palliate many symptoms of patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Anecdotally, RT is believed to be commonly used in this setting, but limited population-based data are available. The objective of this study was to examine the utilization patterns of palliative RT among elderly patients with Stage IV NSCLC and, in particular, to identify factors associated with its use. ⋯ Elderly patients with metastatic NSCLC frequently receive palliative RT, but its use varies, especially with age and receipt of chemotherapy. Additional research is needed to determine whether this variability reflects good quality care.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Nov 2007
Intensity-modulated radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy for previously irradiated, recurrent head and neck cancer.
Primary treatment fails in >70% of locally advanced head and neck cancer patients. Salvage therapy has a 30-40% response rate, but few long-term survivors. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) has recently emerged as a new modality for salvage therapy. This retrospective study evaluated our experience using every-other-week IMRT with concurrent chemotherapy. ⋯ Concurrent chemotherapy with repeat radiotherapy with IMRT given every other week appears to be both well tolerated and feasible in patients treated with previous radiotherapy for recurrent head and neck cancer. IMRT represents a reasonable modality for reducing treatment-related toxicities in a repeat RT setting.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Nov 2007
Multicenter StudyA population-based study of the fractionation of palliative radiotherapy for bone metastasis in Ontario.
To describe the use of palliative radiotherapy (PRT) for bone metastases in Ontario between 1984 and 2001 and identify factors associated with the choice of fractionation. ⋯ Despite increasing evidence of the effectiveness of single-fraction PRT for bone metastases, most patients continued to receive fractionated PRT throughout the two decades of this study. Single fractions were used more frequently when waiting times were longer. There was persistent, unexplained variation in the fractionation of PRT among different centers.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Nov 2007
Multicenter StudyCardiotoxic effects of tangential breast irradiation in early breast cancer patients: the role of irradiated heart volume.
To assess the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) after postlumpectomy irradiation restricted to tangential fields. ⋯ Patients irradiated for left-sided BC with tangential fields have a higher incidence of CVD compared with those with right-sided cancer. However, the risk does not seem to increase with larger irradiated heart volumes.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Nov 2007
Differential radiosensitizing potential of temozolomide in MGMT promoter methylated glioblastoma multiforme cell lines.
To investigate the radiosensitizing potential of temozolomide (TMZ) for human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cell lines using single-dose and fractionated gamma-irradiation. ⋯ This study on TMZ-sensitive GBM cell lines shows that TMZ can act as a radiosensitizer and is at least additive to gamma-irradiation. Enhancement of the radiation response by TMZ seems to be independent of the epigenetically silenced MGMT gene.