Oncology Vol 28 No 1S

Long-term salvage rates for men who undergo standard fraction radiation therapy (SFRT) due to biochemical failure after prostatectomy remain suboptimal. There is a poor understanding as to which patients are curable with standard salvage doses of radiation.

Our prostate brachytherapy technique at the Medical University of South Carolina evolved from implanting free seeds using a Mick Applicator (MA) (Mick Radio-Nuclear Instruments, Inc) to using intraoperatively built custom-linked (IBCL) seeds constructed with the QuickLink device (C.R. Bard, Inc). In this work, we compare dosimetric and early clinical outcomes using free seeds and IBCL seeds.

While biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS) for prostate cancer treated with brachytherapy is excellent, reported outcomes differ between groups. One hypothesis that has been proposed for improved biochemical outcomes is prescribing to a planning target volume (PTV) that extends substantially beyond the prostate. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the effect of overlap vs underlap between prescription isodose lines and prostate contours on BPFS. We also assessed whether these spatial differences are correlated with increased acute toxicity.

The use of neoadjuvant radiotherapy is the standard of care in the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer. The aim of our study was to identify if patients underwent radiation first vs surgery and if the treatment patterns changed with time.

To review our local control (LC), survival, and swallowing outcomes using an innovative endoesophageal brachytherapy technique. Further, we conducted a dose-volume comparison for clinical target volume (CTV) using the standard 1-tube vs our novel 3-tube technique.

Standard treatment of patients with stage II and III rectal cancer consists of a multimodality approach, including the use of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

The proximity of the pancreas to the bowel presents a unique challenge for pancreatic cancer stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). This study explores the safety and effectiveness of a novel approach optimizing pancreatic tumor coverage and duodenal sparing.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation or a short course of pelvic radiation therapy followed by surgery is the standard of care for patients diagnosed with locally advanced rectal cancer. For patients who are not surgical candidates, delivery of a tumor boost is frequently considered. The present analysis compares dosimetry of endorectal brachytherapy (ERBT) with three different image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) techniques.

Intriguing data suggest that clinical complete response following neoadjuvant chemoradiation (CRT) may obviate the need for definitive resection in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Effective cancer screening should detect disease at an earlier, more curable stage and thus reduce the incidence of late-stage diagnosis. In the last 3 decades, the Pap smear has become widely practiced in the US and is effective in the early diagnosis and prevention of cervical cancers.

Laparoscopic hysterectomy is increasingly replacing total abdominal hysterectomy as the standard approach in the management of endometrial cancer. An uncommon but reported complication of this minimally invasive approach is the recurrence of disease at the surgical entry site, known as port- or trocar-site metastasis.

The purpose of this study is to describe the outcomes of definitive radiation in medically inoperable early-stage endometrial carcinoma. Although early-stage disease usually results in favorable overall survival (OS) after surgery, there is a growing cohort of patients who are medically inoperable secondary to morbid obesity.

While it is known that definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for cervical cancer should be completed within 56 days, many patients experience delays which prolong treatment. Our objective is to evaluate factors predictive of prolonged treatment time, including time of stent placement, in this patient population.

Despite improvements in public health and important advancements in clinical care, cervical cancer is still an important condition among older women.

We report the initial analysis on the tolerability and toxicity of radiotherapy “sandwiched” with carboplatin and paclitaxel in surgically staged carcinosarcoma.

Obesity is a significant problem in the US, and an increase in body mass index (BMI) has an unclear effect on outcomes for patients with cervical carcinoma who receive definitive chemoradiation.

Adjuvant chemotherapy coupled with intravaginal radiotherapy (RT) seems to provide a good outcome in terms of low rate of isolated pelvic recurrence. However, given the rate of distant metastasis, further intensification of systemic therapy is still needed in this group of patients.

There is a paucity of data on the clinical outcomes in women with uterine clear-cell carcinoma. The purpose of this study is to report single-institution clinical outcomes in patients with early-stage uterine clear-cell carcinoma.

Sinonasal carcinomas are rare, highly morbid neoplasms originating in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. The mainstay of treatment over the past 2 decades has been a combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. We sought to characterize trends in the initial management of sinonasal malignancy with a particular focus on the impact of hospital volume on surgical care and outcomes.

Rhabdomyosarcomas are the most common soft tissue tumors in the pediatric population, and they have a high propensity for local recurrence. Adjuvant radiation therapy is often used in their management and has a vital role in maximizing local control.

Some published reports indicate that radiation therapy (RT) may be overutilized in adult patients at end of life (EOL), defined as within 30 days of death. With regard to the pediatric population, very little data exist evaluating the use of RT at EOL.

Radiation-induced cerebrovascular injury in the form of accelerated arteriosclerosis of blood vessels is a well-known phenomenon. Delayed cerebrovasculopathy in pediatric cancer patients as a result of cranial irradiation has been reported to present as Moyamoya disease or intracerebral hemorrhage.

The treatment of pediatric low-grade gliomas (LGGs) generally begins with maximal safe resection. Radiation therapy (RT) and chemotherapy are typically reserved for patients with incomplete resection and/or disease progression. We report long-term treatment outcomes and toxicities in a cohort of pediatric patients with LGG after RT.

Complications in pediatric patients receiving anesthesia-assisted radiation therapy (AART) are rare, but the procedure is time-, space-, and resource-consuming. We analyzed our experience with AART for identifiable patterns regarding age and gender in children receiving daily proton radiation therapy.

It is well known that survival of patients with p16-negative oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma has a poor prognosis with standard chemoradiation. Studies have not compared the addition of surgery to chemoradiation as a method to improve survival. This study was designed to assess the benefit in progression-free survival (PFS) based on p16 status when surgery is included as part of the treatment paradigm for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx.