Focalized external radiotherapy for resected solitary brain metastasis: does the dogma stand?

in Radiotherapy & Oncology (1998), 47(1), 99-101

To investigate whether whole brain irradiation might be replaced by focalized irradiation after resection of a single brain metastasis in patients where extracranial tumor control is deemed to be obtained ... [more ▼]

To investigate whether whole brain irradiation might be replaced by focalized irradiation after resection of a single brain metastasis in patients where extracranial tumor control is deemed to be obtained. Patients and methods: Twelve patients were introduced in a phase I/II prospective study of conformal postoperative external irradiation after resection of a solitary brain metastasis. The radiation treatment consisted of 50.4 Gy (1.8 Gy per fraction, five fractions per week). The planning target volume consisted of the tumor bed and a 2 cm safety margin. All treatments were optimized with head immobilization, dedicated tomodensitometry and computer assisted three-dimensional treatment planning. Results: The median survival was 7.2 months (range 2.4–50.4 months). Eleven of the 12 patients died. Eight of the 12 patients presented intracranial recurrence and seven died as a consequence of intracranial tumor progression. Conclusions: Focalized external irradiation cannot serve as a reasonable alternative to whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) even for patients with apparently one single resected brain metastasis. The dogma of ‘one metastasis=multiple metastases' seems to be confirmed. [less ▲]

hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (HART) immediately followed by surgery in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC)

in Radiotherapy & Oncology (1998), 48(Supp1), 73

Primary radiation therapy or surgery combined or not to radiation therapy in the management of squamous cell carcinoma of the penis

in International Journal of Radiation, Oncology, Biology, Physics (1997), 39(2 (Supplément)), 295

Prognostic factors in urothelial renal pelvis and ureter tumors: A multicenter Rare Cancer Network study

in International Journal of Radiation, Oncology, Biology, Physics (1997), 3(2(supp)), 290

Cell-line specific radiosensitizing effect of zalcitabine (DDC)

in Acta Oncologica (1997)

The potential of zalcitabine (ddC) to act as an ionizing radiation response modifier was tested on exponentially growing human cancer cells in vitro. Two human cell lines, WiDr (colon) and MCF-7 (breast ... [more ▼]

The potential of zalcitabine (ddC) to act as an ionizing radiation response modifier was tested on exponentially growing human cancer cells in vitro. Two human cell lines, WiDr (colon) and MCF-7 (breast) were exposed to ddC at 10 p M concentration for various lengths of tide (18, 24, 48 and 72 h). On the WiDr cell line the dual effect of concentration and duration of exposure prior to irradiation was investigated. Experimental endpoints were clonogenicity and viability, as measured by colony formation assay (CFA) and MTT assay respectively. The impact on cell-cycle distribution prior to irradiation was assessed by flow cytometry using a double labeling technique (propidium iodide and bromodeoxyuridine pulse label). A significant reduction in surviving fraction and viability was observed for WiDr-cells irradiated after pre-exposure to 10 pM for 18, 48 and 72 h as compared to corresponding irradiated controls. At lower concentrations (1 and 5 pM), the radiosensitizing effect was only significant after a 72-h exposure (assessed by CFA). For MCF-7, ddC induced a significant modification of the dose response only with 24 and 48 h preincubation. However, the overall effect was less pronounced as compared to WiDr. Cell-cycle analysis showed accumulation in S-phase, 48 and 72 h after treatment with 10 pM ddC in the WiDr cells, with a progressive shift to late S-phase as shown by the biparametric analysis. The degree of radiosensitization is cell-line dependent with the most important sensitization observed on the most <<radioresistant cell line>>, ix., the cell line with the lowest alpha value and highest SF 2 (WiDr). For WiDr, radiosensitization by ddC depends on the duration of exposure and the concentration of the drug. Received 29 February 1996 Accepted 10 December 1996 [less ▲]