Heavy and light roles: myosin in the morphogenesis of the heart

Myosin is an essential component of cardiac muscle, from the onset of cardiogenesis through to the adult heart. Although traditionally known for its role in energy transduction and force development, recent studies suggest that both myosin heavy-chain and myosin lightchain proteins are required for a correctly formed heart. Myosins are structural proteins that are not only expressed from early stages of heart development, but when mutated in humans they may give rise to congenital heart defects. This review will discuss the roles of myosin, specifically with regards to the developing heart. The expression of each myosin protein will be described, and the effects that altering expression has on the heart in embryogenesis in different animal models will be discussed. The human molecular genetics of the myosins will also be reviewed

Impaired Quality of Life in Patients Commencing Radiotherapy for Cancer

This study tested a three-item questionnaire of global quality of life (QOL) and pain in patients commencing radiotherapy, based on items from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 instrument. In pre-test, the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the three-item short questionnaire were administered to 100 patients, yielding similar global QOL and pain scores. After the pre-test, the three-item questionnaire was administered to 1,837 patients prior to first radiotherapy treatment. We identified 254 (13.8%) patients with impaired QOL. These patients had a mean global QOL score of 32.6 compared to 72.4 (p<0.001) found in patients with satisfactory QOL. Patients with impaired QOL were also more likely younger than 60 years and treated for lung, gastrointestinal or head &amp; neck cancer or advanced, metastatic cancer. This brief instrument addresses important aspects of quality of life, is feasible to use in a clinical setting and therefore represents a potentially useful tool for detecting those patients who may benefit from further evaluation and/or psychosocial support

ENLIGHT: European network for Light ion hadron therapy

The European Network for Light Ion Hadron Therapy (ENLIGHT) was established in 2002 following various European particle therapy network initiatives during the 1980s and 1990s (e.g. EORTC task group, EULIMA/PIMMS accelerator design). ENLIGHT started its work on major topics related to hadron therapy (HT), such as patient selection, clinical trials, technology, radiobiology, imaging and health economics. It was initiated through CERN and ESTRO and dealt with various disciplines such as (medical) physics and engineering, radiation biology and radiation oncology. ENLIGHT was funded until 2005 through the EC FP5 programme. A regular annual meeting structure was started in 2002 and continues until today bringing together the various disciplines and projects and institutions in the field of HT at different European places for regular exchange of information on best practices and research and development. Starting in 2006 ENLIGHT coordination was continued through CERN in collaboration with ESTRO and other partners involved in HT. Major projects within the EC FP7 programme (2008–2014) were launched for R&D; and transnational access (ULICE, ENVISION) and education and training networks (Marie Curie ITNs: PARTNER, ENTERVISION). These projects were instrumental for the strengthening of the field of hadron therapy. With the start of 4 European carbon ion and proton centres and the upcoming numerous European proton therapy centres, the future scope of ENLIGHT will focus on strengthening current and developing European particle therapy research, multidisciplinary education and training and general R&D; in technology and biology with annual meetings and a continuously strong CERN support. Collaboration with the European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN) and other similar networks will be pursued

Radiation dose associated with local control in advanced anal cancer:Retrospective analysis of 129 patients

Background and purpose: To retrospectively analyse a large consecutive cohort of patients with anal cancer for treatment-related factors influencing local control and survival. Materials and methods: All patients referred for primary radiotherapy at Medical University of Vienna in 1990-2002 with anal canal carcinoma without distant metastases were analysed. Treatment consisted of external radiotherapy with or without brachytherapy and with or without chemotherapy. Patient-, tumour-, and treatment-factors were tested for influence on survival and local control using Cox multivariate analysis. Results: Median age was 67 years (n = 129), the UICC stage distribution was 15%, 58%, and 27% for stages I, II, and III, respectively. With median follow-up of 8.0 years for surviving patients (3.9 years including deceased patients), five-year overall survival and disease-free-survival were 57% and 51%, respectively. Local control at 5 years was 87%. Stage and age were significant factors for overall and colostomy-free-survival, N-stage for disease-free-survival. Shorter overall treatment time favoured local control in stage T1-2 (p = .015), higher total radiation dose and female gender were associated with improved local control in T3-4 tumours (p = .021). Conclusions: These results support potential improvement of anal cancer treatment by studying advanced technology such as IMRT, making it possible to tailor high-dose regions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved