Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
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Many patients with localised prostate cancer present with symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and require neoadjuvant hormone therapy to shrink the gland before brachytherapy. The impact of this hormone therapy has been evaluated in 667 patients treated with Iodine seed monotherapy. ⋯ Overall hormone therapy had no significant effect on outcome. The apparent lower D90 in hormone treated patients may be related to a change in volume between pre-implant and post-implant dosimetry.
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Proton beam therapy offers potential clinical advantages compared with conventional radiation therapy for many cancer patients. The benefits are mainly a result of a more favourable dose distribution. The treatment cost with proton radiation is higher than for conventional radiation, mainly due to the large investment cost of building a proton therapy facility. It is therefore important to evaluate whether the medical benefits of proton therapy are large enough to justify the higher treatment costs, compared with conventional radiation therapy. ⋯ The results indicate that proton therapy for breast cancer can be cost-effective if appropriate risk groups are chosen as targets for the therapy.
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Clinical Trial
Acute esophageal toxicity in non-small cell lung cancer patients after high dose conformal radiotherapy.
To correlate acute esophageal toxicity with dosimetric and clinical parameters for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) alone or with chemo-radiotherapy (CRT). ⋯ Both concurrent CRT and the volume that receives at least 35 Gy were predictors of acute esophageal toxicity.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Randomized trial of 8 Gy in 1 versus 20 Gy in 5 fractions of radiotherapy for neuropathic pain due to bone metastases (Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group, TROG 96.05).
Despite numerous randomized trials investigating radiotherapy (RT) fractionation schedules for painful bone metastases, there are very few data on RT for bone metastases causing pain with a neuropathic component. The Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group undertook a randomized trial comparing the efficacy of a single 8 Gy (8/1) with 20 Gy in 5 fractions (20/5) for this type of pain. ⋯ 8/1 was not shown to be as effective as 20/5, nor was it statistically significantly worse. Outcomes were generally poorer for 8/1, although the quantitative differences were relatively small.