Oxaliplatin-dacarbazine combination chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma of the limbs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study was designed to explore the feasibility, safety, and outcomes of pre-operative oxaliplatin-dacarbazine combination therapy for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of the limb.</p> <p>Patients and Methods</p> <p>Between November 2005 and November 2008, 31 patients with advanced limb STS classified with stage IV STS were randomly assigned into experimental or control groups, and both were given 2 cycles of chemotherapy before undergoing surgery. The regimen for the experimental group was oxaliplatin (120 mg/m², d₁) in combination with dacarbazine (175 mg/m², d₁₃), while that for the control group was a standard vincristine, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide therapy. Operations were carried out four weeks after the second chemotherapy cycle, followed by another 24 more chemotherapy cycles of the previous regimen.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Following preoperative chemotherapy, the experimental group exhibited a significant improvement in tumor regression compared to controls. Both regimens were well-tolerated, and no significant differences in adverse reactions were noted. At a median follow-up of 24 months, 28 patients were still alive and had normal limb function. The progression free survival rate of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (10/15 vs. 4/16, <it>p </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Oxaliplatin- dacarbazine neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemotherapy improved the prognosis of patients with advanced limb STS in comparison with vincristine, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide combination therapy.</p

A modified Inflammatory Bowel Disease questionnaire and the Vaizey Incontinence questionnaire are simple ways to identify patients with significant gastrointestinal symptoms after pelvic radiotherapy

After radiotherapy for pelvic cancer, chronic gastrointestinal problems may affect quality of life (QOL) in 6–78% of patients. This variation may be due to true differences in outcome in different diseases, and may also represent the inadequacy of the scales used to measure radiotherapy-induced gastrointestinal side effects. The aim of this study was to assess whether outcome measures used for nonmalignant gastrointestinal disease are useful to detect gastrointestinal morbidity after radiotherapy. Results obtained from a Vaizey Incontinence questionnaire and a modified Inflammatory Bowel Disease questionnaire (IBDQ) – both patient completed – were compared to those from a staff administered Late Effects on Normal Tissue (LENT) – Subjective, Objective, Management and Analytic (SOMA) questionnaire in patients who had completed radiotherapy for a pelvic tumour at least 3 months previously. In all, 142 consecutive patients were recruited, 72 male and 70 female, median age 66 years (range 26–90 years), a median of 27 (range 3–258) months after radiotherapy. In total, 62 had been treated for a gynaecological, 58, a urological and 22, a gastrointestinal tract tumour. Of these, 21 had undergone previous gastrointestinal surgery and seven suffered chronic gastrointestinal disorders preceding their diagnosis of cancer. The Vaizey questionnaire suggested that 27% patients were incontinent for solid stools, 35% for liquid stools and 37% could not defer defaecation for 15 min. The IBDQ suggested that 89% had developed a chronic change in bowel habit and this change significantly affected 49% patients: 44% had more frequent or looser bowel movements, 30% were troubled by abdominal pain, 30% were troubled by bloating, 28% complained of tenesmus, 27% were troubled by their accidental soiling and 20% had rectal bleeding. At least 34% suffered emotional distress and 22% impairment of social function because of their bowels. The small intestine/colon SOMA median score was 0.1538 (range 0–1) and the rectal SOMA median score was 0.1428 (range 0–1). Pearson's correlations for the IBDQ score and small intestine/colon SOMA score was −0.630 (P<0.001), IBDQ and rectum SOMA −0.616 (P<0.001), IBDQ and Vaizey scores −0.599 (P<0.001), Vaizey and small intestine/colon SOMA 0.452 (P<0.001) and Vaizey and rectum SOMA 0.760 (P<0.001). After radiotherapy for a tumour in the pelvis, half of all patients develop gastrointestinal morbidity, which affects their QOL. A modified IBDQ and Vaizey questionnaire are reliable in assessing new gastrointestinal symptoms as well as overall QOL and are much easier to use than LENT SOMA

Primary parotid gland lymphoma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas are the most common lymphomas of the salivary glands. The benign lymphoepithelial lesion is also a lymphoproliferative disease that develops in the parotid gland. In the present case report, we describe one case of benign lymphoepithelial lesion with a subsequent low transformation to grade mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma appearing as a cystic mass in the parotid gland.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 78-year-old Caucasian female smoker was referred to our clinic with a non-tender left facial swelling that had been present for approximately three years. The patient underwent resection of the left parotid gland with preservation of the left facial nerve through a preauricular incision. The pathology report was consistent with a low-grade marginal-zone B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma) following benign lymphoepithelial lesion of the gland.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Salivary gland mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cystic or bilateral salivary gland lesions. Parotidectomy is recommended in order to treat the tumor and to ensure histological diagnosis for further follow-up planning. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy should be considered in association with surgery in disseminated forms or after removal.</p

An overview to endobronchial brachytherapy: Past, present and future

1st Congress of the Balkan-Union-of-Oncology -- JUL 03-07, 1996 -- ATHENS, GREECEWOS: A1996BG40Z00048Balkan Union Onco

Flow cytometric analysis of depletion and recovery kinetics of T cell subsets in rats after total-body-irradiation: Footprints of treg-augmented immunosuppression

OBJECTIVE Total-body-irradiation (TBI) causes significant immunosuppression, but different lymphocyte subsets have various radiosensitivities. Regulatory T (Treg) cells, which are crucial for self-tolerance and are potent sup-pressors of antitumor immunity are found to be resistant to radiotherapy (RT) compared with T helper (Th) cells and Cytotoxic-T lymphocytes (CTL) in both in-vivo and in-vitro studies, but the data on this subject is relatively scarce. Besides, recent developments in the context of combination of immunotherapy with RT compelled us to revisit the concept of radiation-induced quantitative and functional changes in lymphocyte subsets by flow cytometry using animal models with the aim of transitioning the findings to clinical studies. METHODS Twenty-three Swiss albino rats were exposed to TBI at a single fraction of 5 Gy. Immediately prior to irradiation, at time points of 1 day and 7 and 14 days post-TBI, flow cytometric analyses were performed. RESULTS There has been statistically significant decrease in all T lymphocyte subsets at 1, 7 and 14 days post-TBI. The decrease in Th subset was more pronounced compared to CTL. Baseline CD4+/CD8+ ratio was 0.85 which significantly decreased to 0.29 1 day post-TBI, then increased steadily in subsequent measurements and reached near normal. The number of Treg cells markedly declined to 6.5% of baseline value one day after TBI, and then steadily increased during the follow-up. By the end of 14 days, it reached half of its baseline value. CONCLUSION Radiation-induced immunosuppression may be explained not only by the decrease in lymphocyte cell number but also by the relative increase in Treg cell number because the higher regenerative capacity may present an additional role. © 2018, Turkish Society for Radiation Oncology

More Boys are Diagnosed with Cancer than Girls Globally: What are the Reasons of Gender Imbalance in Pediatric Cancer Incidence?

[No Abstract Available

HEALTH STATUS EVALUATION OF CHILDREN WITH BRAIN TUMORS WHO WERE TREATED BY CRANIOSPINAL IRRADIATION

WOS: 00043347620142

The effect of CT-MR image registration on target volume delineation and dose distribution in radiotherapy planning of brain tumors [Beyin tu;mo;rlerinin radyoterapi planlamasi{dotless}nda, bt ve mrg go;ru;ntu; eş leştirilmesinin hedef volu;m belirlenmesine vedoz dagi{dotless}li{dotless}mi{dotless}na etkisi]

OBJECTIVES To determine the accuracy of computed tomography (CT)/ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image registration performed using tomography system and software present in our department and discover the magnitude of error during the process. METHODS First, calibration data of the CT was reviewed. Following image registration, done using four anatomic landmarks, deliniation of eyeballs and target volume took place. RESULTS The registration score was 9.51±0.11 out of 10 and mean distance was 1.92±0.51 mm. Center coordinates of the eyeballs, contoured using MRI and CT images were compared. Maximum difference was 2.25 mm for the right eye and 2.11 mm for the left eye. Volumes of tumor contours produced from registered images were bigger (75.37 cmsup3/sup vs. 44.81 cmsup3/sup). But in the treatment plans without image registration, the tumor volume received 95-107% of presicribed dose. CONCLUSION Image registration process found to be applicable and repro-ducable for our clinic. It has seen that image registration improves target volume delineation. © 2011 Association of Oncology