International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Apr 2012
Coordination of breast cancer care between radiation oncologists and surgeons: a survey study.
To assess whether radiation oncologists and surgeons differ in their attitudes regarding the local management of breast cancer, and to examine coordination of care between these specialists. ⋯ Despite the widespread availability of tumor boards, a substantial minority of radiation oncologists indicated other providers failed to include them in the breast cancer treatment decision-making process early enough. Earlier inclusion of radiation oncologists may influence patient decisions, and interventions to facilitate this should be considered.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Apr 2012
Outcome after conformal salvage radiotherapy in patients with rising prostate-specific antigen levels after radical prostatectomy.
This study attempts to improve our understanding of the role of salvage radiotherapy (SRT) in patients with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) relapse after radical prostatectomy with regard to biochemical control, rate of distant metastasis, and survival. ⋯ Men with postoperative PSA relapse can undergo salvage treatment by prostate bed radiotherapy, but durable PSA control is maintained only in about one-third of the patients. Despite a high biochemical failure rate after SRT, prostate cancer-specific survival does not decrease rapidly.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Apr 2012
Comparative StudyReduced acute bowel toxicity in patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy for rectal cancer.
We have previously shown that intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) can reduce dose to small bowel, bladder, and bone marrow compared with three-field conventional radiotherapy (CRT) technique in the treatment of rectal cancer. The purpose of this study was to review our experience using IMRT to treat rectal cancer and report patient clinical outcomes. ⋯ In the management of rectal cancer, IMRT is associated with a clinically significant reduction in lower GI toxicity compared with CRT. Further study is needed to evaluate differences in late toxicity and long-term efficacy.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Apr 2012
Multicenter StudyEffect of tumor subtype on survival and the graded prognostic assessment for patients with breast cancer and brain metastases.
The diagnosis-specific Graded Prognostic Assessment (GPA) was published to clarify prognosis for patients with brain metastases. This study refines the existing Breast-GPA by analyzing a larger cohort and tumor subtype. ⋯ The Breast-GPA documents wide variation in prognosis and shows clear separation between subgroups of patients with breast cancer and brain metastases. This tool will aid clinical decision making and stratification in clinical trials. These data confirm the effect of tumor subtype on survival and show the Breast-GPA offers significantly more predictive power than the tumor subtype alone.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Apr 2012
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialIs it time to tailor the prediction of radio-induced toxicity in prostate cancer patients? Building the first set of nomograms for late rectal syndrome.
Development of user-friendly tools for the prediction of single-patient probability of late rectal toxicity after conformal radiotherapy for prostate cancer. ⋯ We developed and internally validated the first set of nomograms available in the literature for the prediction of radio-induced toxicity in prostate cancer patients. Calculations included dosimetric as well as clinical variables to help radiation oncologists predict late rectal morbidity, thus introducing the possibility of RT plan corrections to better tailor treatment to the patient's characteristics, to avoid unnecessary worsening of quality of life, and to provide support to the patient in selecting the best therapeutic approach.