Spacer application was well tolerated. Increased perirectal space reduced rectal irradiation, reduced rectal toxicity severity, and decreased rates of patients experiencing declines in bowel quality of life. The spacer appears to be an effective tool, potentially enabling advanced prostate RT protocols.

The benefit of a hydrogel spacer in reducing the rectal dose, toxicity, and QOL declines after image guided intensity modulated radiation therapy for prostate cancer was maintained or increased with a longer follow-up period, providing stronger evidence for the benefit of hydrogel spacer use in prostate radiation therapy.

No abstract

The use of a hydrogel spacer decreased dose to the penile bulb, which was associated with improved erectile function compared with the control group based on patient-reported sexual QOL.

To evaluate the role of palliative radiotherapy for adrenal metastases, a retrospective review was performed on 16 patients treated between 1972 and 1988 for palliation of symptomatic adrenal metastases. The median patient age was 56 years. In 15 cases lung cancer was the primary site (7 adenocarcinomas, 3 squamous cell carcinomas, 3 large cell carcinomas, and 2 small cell carcinomas) and in 1 case there was an unknown primary (squamous cell carcinoma). Ten of 16 patients were treated with 3000 cGy to opposed anterior and posterior fields (300‐cGy fractions [four patients] and 250‐cGy fractions [six patients]). The remaining six patients were treated with a variety of techniques, with total doses ranging from 2925 cGy to 4500 cGy. The patients were analyzed for response at their first follow‐up visit (2 to 4 weeks after treatment). The overall response rate was 75% (12 of 16 patients). Six patients (38%) had complete pain relief without medication that lasted until death. Two patients had marked pain relief, but still required analgesics. Four patients had marked or moderate pain relief that did not continue through follow‐up. Four patients had minimal to no response. All patients were observed until death, with a median survival time after irradiation of 3 months (range, 0.5 to 11 months). Although the prognosis for patients with adrenal metastases is poor, radiotherapy to symptomatic adrenal metastases can be administered with a high probability of achieving effective palliation.

Background. Major goals of concurrent radiation and chemotherapy in the treatment of esophageal cancer are the early restoration and long‐term maintenance of swallowing function. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of concurrent radiation and chemotherapy on swallowing function. Methods. Between September 1980 and September 1990, 120 patients with esophageal cancer were treated at the Fox Chase Cancer Center on the basis of one of three prospective nonrandomized protocols using concurrent chemotherapy and radiation. Swallowing function was retrospectively assessed in these patients by use of a swallowing‐function scoring system. In addition, patients who had long‐term control of their esophageal cancer underwent a more detailed analysis of swallowing function. Results. Initial improvement in dysphagia occurred in 88% of the 102 assessable patients, with a median time to improvement of 2 weeks. There was no difference in overall percentage of initial improvement for patients with adenocarcinoma versus squamous cell carcinoma. Patients with distal tumors, however, showed both earlier and higher frequency of initial improvement than did patients with tumors in the upper two‐thirds of the thoracic esophagus (95% versus 79%). Local relapse‐free survival of definitively treated patients at 3 years was 60% and was significantly better for patients with Stage I (76%) versus Stage II cancers (55%) (P < 0.05). All 25 patients treated with curative intent who survived for more than 1 year without evidence of disease were able to eat soft or solid foods and had a benign stricture rate of only 12%. Even in patients with advanced disease who were treated with palliative intent, 91% had an initial improvement in swallowing function and 67% had improvement in swallowing function that lasted until death. Conclusions. High‐dose concurrent radiation and chemotherapy provides rapid improvement in dysphagia, and this improvement results in normal or near‐normal swallowing function of long duration.

No abstract

The clinical and pathologic characteristics of five patients with esophageal sarcomas are presented, including the only recorded esophageal Triton tumor (malignant schwannoma), the third recorded synovial sarcoma, two patients with carcinosarcoma, and one with leiomyosarcoma. All five patients were males who presented with dysphagia. Three tumors were in the cervical esophagus, and the remaining two were in the distal esophagus. On endoscopic examination, three of the tumors were noted to be polypoid, while the other two were sessile. Two patients presented with disseminated disease, and a third was locally unresectable. These three patients were treated with palliative intent. The remaining two patients underwent surgical excision and postoperative radiation therapy, and are alive and well 6 and 7 years following treatment. This experience suggests that combined modality therapy employing postoperative radiation may be effective in managing these rare lesions.