Volumetric modulated arc therapy for spine SBRT patients to reduce treatment time and intrafractional motion

Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is an efficient technique to reduce the treatment time and intrafractional motion to treat spine patients presented with severe back pain. Five patients treated with spine stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) using 9 beams intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) were retrospectively selected for this study. The patients were replanned using two arcs VMAT technique. The average mean dose was 104% ± 1.2% and 104.1% ± 1.0% in IMRT and VMAT, respectively (p = 0.9). Accordingly, the average conformal index (CI) was 1.3 ± 0.1 and 1.5 ± 0.3, respectively (p = 0.5). The average dose gradient (DG) distance was 1.5 ± 0.1 cm and 1.4 ± 0.1 cm, respectively (p = 0.3). The average spinal cord maximum dose was 11.6 ± 1.0 Gy and 11.8 ± 1.1 Gy (p = 0.8) and V10Gy was 7.4 ± 1.4 cc and 8.6 ± 1.7 cc (p = 0.4) for IMRT and VMAT, respectively. Accordingly, the average number of monitor units (MUs) was 6771.7 ± 1323.3 MU and 3978 ± 576.7 MU respectively (p = 0.02). The use of VMAT for spine SBRT patients with severe back pain can reduce the treatment time and intrafractional motion

Principal component analysis identifies patterns of cytokine expression in non-small cell lung cancer patients undergoing definitive radiation therapy

Radiation treatment (RT) stimulates the release of many immunohumoral factors, complicating the identification of clinically significant cytokine expression patterns. This study used principal component analysis (PCA) to analyze cytokines in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients undergoing RT and explore differences in changes after hypofractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and conventionally fractionated RT (CFRT) without or with chemotherapy

Need for a safe vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus infection

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is a major cause of severe respiratory tract illnesses in infants and young children worldwide. Despite its importance as a respiratory pathogen, there is currently no licensed vaccine for HRSV. Following failure of the initial trial of formalin-inactivated virus particle vaccine, continuous efforts have been made for the development of safe and efficacious vaccines against HRSV. However, several obstacles persist that delay the development of HRSV vaccine, such as the immature immune system of newborn infants and the possible Th2-biased immune responses leading to subsequent vaccine-enhanced diseases. Many HRSV vaccine strategies are currently being developed and evaluated, including live-attenuated viruses, subunit-based, and vector-based candidates. In this review, the current HRSV vaccines are overviewed and the safety issues regarding asthma and vaccine-induced pathology are discussed