This study aims to assess the safety and efficacy of induction CRT followed by surgery in patients with potentially resectable stage III (non–small cell lung cancer) NSCLC and compare treatment outcomes and perioperative morbidity in patients undergoing different thoracic radiation dose groups. We reviewed patients with potentially resectable stage III NSCLC treated with induction CRT followed by surgery from 2009 to 2015 at our hospital. Patients with superior sulcus tumor were excluded. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis was performed with the Cox proportional hazard model. Treatment toxicity was evaluated by CTCAE version 4.0. We identified 86 consecutive patients with stage III NSCLC treated with CRT from 2009 to 2015, of which 34 patients (40%) were treated with induction CRT followed by surgery. Median follow-up time was 27.0 months (range: 2.6-68.3). Patients were divided into two groups based on the total radiation dose: 21 patients received 50 Gy (lower-dose group) and 13 patients received 60 Gy (higher-dose group). Pathological complete response (CR) rate tended higher in the higher-dose group (31% vs 6%, P = .17). Three-year OS rate was 29% (95% CI 11%-74%) in the higher-dose group and 52% (95% CI 35%-79%) in the lower-dose group, respectively. Three-year DFS rate was 21% (95% CI 7%-70%) in the higher-dose group and 48% (95% CI 30%-75%) in the lower-dose group, respectively. In multivariate analysis, no significant difference was observed in OS (HR 1.38, 95% CI 0.58-3.29, P=.47) or DFS (HR 1.67, 95% CI 0.69-4.01, P=.25). Distant recurrence dominated in each group: 85% in the higher-dose group and 62% in the lower-dose group. The crude incidence of Grade 3 or higher hematological toxicity during induction CRT was significantly worse in the higher-dose group (73% vs 28%, P=.01). The crude incidence of G2 or higher postoperative complication rate was not significantly different (54% vs 38%, P=.48). Non-cancer mortality was similar between the two groups: 3 (23%) in the higher-dose group and 4 (19%) in the lower-dose group. Higher-dose induction CRT may be associated with better response rate for patients with potentially resectable stage III NSCLC. However, no significant difference was observed in OS and DFS between the two groups as systemic recurrences dominated. Further study to evaluate patient selection for surgery after CRT is needed.
Introduction/Objective: Various pathological changes have been attributed to leukoaraiosis. Some investigators have suggested that increase in interstitial water may partly contribute to leukoaraiosis. We hypothesized that leukoaraiosis may be attenuated by compression to the cerebral hemisphere if interstitial water may partly contribute to leukoaraiosis. We retrospectively reviewed patients with unilateral chronic subdural hematomas (CSDHs) to investigate the difference in appearance of leukoaraiosis between both cerebral hemispheres. Methods and material: Leukoaraiosis on T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images at the levels of the centrum semiovale and those of the frontal horns of both cerebral hemispheres in five contiguous patients with unilateral CSDHs were scored. The difference in the leukoaraiosis scores on the ipsilateral side and contralateral side of the CSDH was analyzed. Results: Leukoaraiosis was less prominent on the ipsilateral side of the CSDHs than on the contralateral side of the CSDHs, both at the level of the centrum semiovale (P=0.02) and that of the frontal horns (P=0.03). Discussion and conclusion: Our results support the theories that interstitial water may partly contribute to the appearance of leukoaraiosis on MR images.
Twenty-four patients with locally advanced cervical cancer were treated with radiation therapy (RT) and transcatheter arterial infusion (TAI) chemotherapy, while 22 patients were treated with RT alone. RT consisted of a combination of external irradiation and high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy. TAI therapy consisted of two sessions using cisplatin and pirarubicin, performed concurrently during the periods of external irradiation. The local-regional control rates at 1 year for the patients treated with RT plus TAI and for those treated with RT alone were 87.5% and 58.3%, respectively (p < 0.05). The 3-year cause-specific survival (CSS) rates for RT plus TAI, and RT alone were 67.1% and 55.9%, respectively (p = n.s.). The 3-year CSS rate for the 14 patients treated with RT and TAI who had well- or moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma without pelvic lymph node swelling was 100%, while that for the 19 patients with the same background treated with RT alone was 49% (p < 0.01). Radiation therapy combined with TAI appears to be an effective and safe treatment modality for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.
OBJECTIVE:To clarify the MRI features of parasymphyseal insufficiency fractures of the os pubis.DESIGN AND PATIENTS:MRI was performed in four postmenopausal women with parasymphyseal insufficiency fractures. The diagnosis was confirmed with plain films in every patient. T1-weighted and T2-weighted images were obtained in four patients using a 1.5-T unit. Postcontrast T1-weighted imaging was also done in three patients.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:MRI of pubic parasymphyseal insufficiency fracture characteristically demonstrates a hyperintense mass lesion with a hypointense rim on T2-weighted imaging, showing peripheral and septal enhancement after contrast administration. It is important to have this entity in mind in patients with osteoporosis, especially in patients with a history of pelvic irradiation for malignant disease, so as not to misinterpret it as a chondroid tumor or bone metastasis.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the testis is a rare disease, and treatment outcome is generally poor. In this retrospective study, we investigated treatment results for testicular NHL in an attempt to develop an effective treatment policy for this disease. The survival rate and characteristics were retrospectively analyzed in eight patients with NHL of the testis who were treated between 1969 and 1991 at Kyoto University Hospital, Department of Radiology. Four patients were at stage IEA, one at stage IIEA, and three at stage IVEA. Of the eight testicular lymphomas, six were classed as intermediate grade lymphomas and two as high-grade lymphomas according to the Working Formulation. All of the eight patients received orchiectomy. Six patients received combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy as the primary treatment for the disease. One patient each was treated with radiation therapy alone or combination chemotherapy alone. The 5-year overall and disease-free survival rate was 45 and 33%, respectively. Even though almost all of the patients had received combination chemotherapy, high incidence of relapse in the central nervous system (CNS) was observed. Prophylactic treatment against such recurrence may be necessary to improve the treatment outcome of patients with testicular NHL.
Between 1988 and 1993, 71 patients with glioblastoma or anaplastic astrocytoma were treated either with accelerated hyperfractionation radiotherapy (1.5 Gy twice daily to a total dose of 69 Gy, n = 35) or with conventional fractionation radiotherapy (1.8 Gy daily to 64.8 Gy, n = 36), Two patients in each group did not complete radiotherapy, leaving 67 evaluable, All patients received the chemotherapeutic regime ACNU intraarterially (50 mg/m(2)) or intravenously (100 mg/m(2)) prior to and after radiotherapy, Between 1990 and 1992, 19 patients also received intravenous interferon-beta (3 x 10(6) U, three times weekly) during radiotherapy, The median survival time was 14.5 months for the accelerated hyperfractionation group and 14 months for the conventional fractionation group, The median time to progression was 12 months for the accelerated hyperfractionation group and 9.5 months for the conventional fractionation group, There was no significant difference in either survival (P = 0.89) or progression-free survival (P = 0.25) between the accelerated hyperfractionation and conventional fractionation groups, Interferon therapy was associated with poorer survival, Brain necrosis developed in four out of 10 patients receiving accelerated hyperfractionation radiotherapy plus interferon-beta, but in none of nine patients receiving conventional fractionation radiotherapy plus interferon (P = 0.033), In conclusion, our study failed to demonstrate any possible benefit of accelerated hyperfractionation radiotherapy for malignant glioma, The incidence of brain necrosis may be increased by combining accelerated hyperfractionation radiotherapy and interferon-beta.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the thyroid gland is a rare disease. In the present study, the survival rate and characteristics were retrospectively analyzed in 22 patients with stage IE and IIE thyroid NHL treated with radiotherapy with or without combination chemotherapy. Seventeen NHL had histological evidence of lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type. The 5-year survival rate was 85% in all patients, with 100% and 63% respectively, for stage IE and stage IIE patients. The highly significant factor correlated with decreased determinate survival was concomitant stridor.
OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study is to investigate the CT and MR findings of muscular involvement by malignant lymphoma and identify the CT and MR features that may assist in their diagnosis.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Magnetic resonance imaging was performed on four patients (five lesions) with pathologically proven non-Hodgkin lymphoma using a 1.5 T unit (Cases 1, 2, and 4) and a 0.5 T scanner (Case 3). Computed tomography scans were carried out on three patients (Cases 1, 3, and 4).RESULTS:The lesions that extended along muscle fascicles with preserved fat planes looking like swelling of the muscle were of slightly hyper- to isointensity relative to uninvolved muscles on T1-weighted images, of hyperintensity on T2-weighted images, and of low or isodensity on CT. Microscopically, lymphoma cells were seen clustering among normal and atrophic muscle fibers in a biopsy specimen of one patient. The lesions enhanced relatively homogeneously after Gd-DTPA injection. In three cases, vessels were coursing through the lesion on MRI and in two cases on enhanced CT.CONCLUSION:Magnetic resonance imaging proved useful to show the extension of involvement of muscular lymphoma compared with CT. The diagnosis of infiltration of muscle by lymphoma is entertained when a lesion of relatively homogeneous intensity and density extends along the muscle fascisles without obliteration of the fat planes and especially when vessels are identified within the lesion.
Purpose: The results of three-dimensional treatment planning using a computed tomography simulator were evaluated in patients with maxillary cancer.Methods and Materials: Treatment planning was done in 25 patients using an x-ray simulator and plain x-ray films (1979-1982, group 1) in 34 patients using an x-ray simulator and computed tomography films (1983-1987, group 2), in 24 patients using a computed tomography simulator (1988-1992, group 3). The number of patients with Stage IV disease increased in the order of group I to group 3.Results: The average radiation field was smallest in group 3 (66.5 cm(2)) followed by group 2 (67.4 cm(2)) and group 1 (72.9 cm(2)). A radiation dose of more than 30 Gy to the lens of the effected side was delivered to 13% of group 3, 44% of group 2, and 44% of group 1. The dose to the lens on the uneffected side was zero in 56% of group 1, 74% of group 2, and 96% of group 3. A long-term decrease in visual activity on the effected side occurred in 11% of group 3, 32% of group 2, and 44% of group 1. However, a significant increase in survival was only noted between groups I and 2, because the three population of patients were different.Conclusion: The three-dimensional treatment planning results in a better treatment than two-dimensional treatment planning as measured by complication rates and field sizes.
Purpose: Local control rate and survival rate of esophageal cancer treated with radical radiation therapy (RT) were analyzed with special respect to total treatment time and fractionation.Methods and Materials: Between 1979 and 1992, 88 patients with Stages I-III esophageal cancer were treated radically with RT at Kyoto University Hospital and Wakayama Red Cross Hospital. Of the 88 patients, 52 patients were treated with conventional fractionation (1.7-2.0 Gy/day, five times/week), and the remaining 36 patients were treated with accelerated hyperfractionation (AHF). In 1989, we started AHF regimen for esophageal cancer. Daily fractionations were 2.0 Gy and 1.2 Gy (field-in-field), or 1.5 Gy and 1.5 Gy at 5- to 6-h interval. Most of the patients treated with AHF received the total radiation dose of 64-68 Gy. Twenty-seven patients were treated with intraluminal brachytherapy (IBT) as boost therapy following external RT. Fourteen patients were treated with IBT following AHF.Results: The median of treatment time of AHF was approximately 2 weeks shorter than that of conventional fractionation. Local control rate at 1 year were 47% for AHF, which was significantly higher than that for conventional fractionation (22%, p < 0.05). The improvement of local control by AHF was responsible for a trend to an improved cause-specific survival (p = 0.07). Local control rates at 1 year were plotted as a function of total treatment time. The slope of the linear regression line was -2.3 +/- 0.5% per day (p < 0.025) for patients treated with external RT alone, indicating a 2.3% per day loss in local control. Pretreatment and treatment parameters were evaluated in a multivariate analysis for the end point of local control. T stage (T1, 2 vs. T3, 4; p = 0.003) and fractionation schedule (p = 0.03) were independent of prognostic significance. Patients could tolerate the AHF well, although esophageal stenosis was noted frequently as a late toxicity.Conclusion: Accelerated hyperfractionation was the most important treatment-related variable in this patient population. Total treatment time may have a significant impact on the treatment outcome for esophageal cancer.
We present a case of solitary secondary gynecologic lymphoma, in which MR imaging contributed to the diagnosis. The finding was a region of uterine enlargement consisting of ill-defined nodules of variable signal intensity diffusely mixed with the myometrium.
The combined effects of purified human natural tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and hyperthermia were investigated in a transplanted TNF‐sensitive Meth‐A tumor model. We assessed the sequence and interval for the two treatments, the temperature that caused maximal heat sensitization, and the effects of pH modification on this combination therapy. Tumor response was evaluated by means of a tumor growth delay assay. TNF at a dose of 50 JRU/g caused significant tumor growth delay. A synergistic effect of TNF and hyperthermia was observed when TNF was administered 10 min before heating. This thermal enhancement of the action of TNF became more prominent with an increase in the heating temperature. Tumor growth delay was maximal when TNF was given immediately before or after hyperthermia. However, after an increase in the time interval to more than 2 h, there was no enhancement of growth delay. Injection of glucose (5 g/kg) caused a significant fall in pH at 10 and 30 min after administration. Further enhancement in tumor growth delay was seen with the tri‐modality of glucose, TNF, and heat compared to combined treatment with heat and either TNF or glucose at a hyperthermia of 42°C. This effect was not obtained with heating to 40°C. TNF appears to be a potent heat sensitizer when an appropriate temperature and time interval between hyperthermia and TNF administration are used. Trimodality treatment with hyperthermia, TNF, and glucose may be a new method of anticancer therapy.
Thirty patients with histologically proven primary intracranial non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were treated at Kyoto University. Ten of them were treated prospectively with a radiation-chemotherapy protocol. All but four specimens were recently reexamined and classified according to the Working Formulation system. The predominant histologic types were diffuse large cell type, large cell immunoblastic type, and diffuse mixed small and large cell type, seen in 38%, 21%, and 21% of cases, respectively. Before 1980, 16 patients were treated with postoperative radiation without definite chemotherapy, and only one has survived more than 5 years. Local recurrence was the most common cause of failure. In 1981, the authors started a protocol in which four to six courses of systemic chemotherapy with vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and prednisolone (VEPA) was given after whole brain radiation (30-40 Gy) with a local boost up to 50 to 60 Gy. Eight patients completed this protocol, and all of them are alive at 16 to 100 months after diagnosis, with three patients surviving more than 5 years. Only one patient developed recurrence. On the other hand, six patients who did not complete or receive chemotherapy after 1981 are dead or alive with recurrence. Correlation between the Working Formulation subtype and prognosis was not clear because of the variety of treatment. Two patients receiving chemotherapy developed brain necrosis, which was fatal in one case, and the other two patients treated with the protocol are in a poor state without signs of recurrence. Chemotherapy may enhance the radiation effect on normal brain tissue as well as tumor. Combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy can improve the survival rate, but the optimal dosage needs to be investigated further.
We report the effect of human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (hG-CSF) on the recovery from granulocytopenia induced by irradiation. Female 9-week old C3H/He mice were used. The irradiation schedule was as follows: Group 1 and 2 received whole-body irradiation of 1 Gy and 5 Gy, respectively, on day 0; Group 3 and 4 received whole-body irradiation of 0.5 and 1.0 Gy, respectively, for 5 consecutive days; Group 5 received upper hemibody irradiation of 3 Gy for 5 consecutive days. Daily subcutaneous injections of G-CSF (3 × 105 Unit/mouse) or 0.3 ml of saline to each group were started from the day after the first irradiation and continued for 18 days. Mice were sampled randomly from each group, and the total number of leukocytes, erythrocytes of peripheral blood, nucleated cells in femur, and spleen weight were counted and measured, respectively, on day 0, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, and 18. The leukocyte counts decreased with an increase in radiation doses. In Group 1 and 2 mice, G-CSF enhanced the leukocyte count more than saline. In Group 3 mice, the recovery of leukocytopenia was facilitated by G-CSF, but in Group 4 mice, G-CSF had no effect on the leukocyte count decrease or on leukocytopenia recovery. In Group 5 mice, G-CSF greatly affected leukocytopenia recovery. Increase in spleen weight paralleled the peripheral leukocyte count. Daily administration of recombinant hG-CSF accelerated the granulocytopenia recovery which was induced by irradiation, and it may be a useful therapeutic agent for treating myelosuppressive cases.
The clinicopathologic features of 114 Japanese patients with extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the head and neck region were analyzed. The median age was 60.5 years and the male:female ratio was 1.5:1. The most common site of involvement was Waldeyer's ring, followed by the oral cavity, thyroid gland, paranasal sinuses, nasal cavity, and larynx. Seventy-five percent of the patients were in Stage I or Stage II at admission. Histologically, diffuse lymphoma accounted for 94% and follicular lymphoma for 6% of cases. The histologic grade according to the Working Formulation System of the National Cancer Institute was low in 11%, intermediate in 75%, and high in 14% of cases. Immunohistochemical study showed that the majority of the cases were of B-cell type and only 13 cases (11%) were of the T-cell type. Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (eight cases) mainly occurred in the nasopharynx and nasal cavity, whereas four of five thymic T-cell lymphomas were found in the palatine tonsil. The over-all 5-year survival rate was 54%, and the factors affecting survival were sex, histologic grade, T/B phenotype, clinical stage, and the site of initial presentation. Five-year survival with nasal cavity and Waldeyer's ring lymphoma was 24% and 46%, respectively. The poor prognosis of lymphomas at these sites might result from the predominance of T-cell lymphoma, the paucity of low grade lymphoma, and the relatively high incidence of cases that were in an advanced stage at presentation. In Stage II, patients treated with combined therapy tended to have a better 5-year survival rate than those treated with radiotherapy alone.