Concomitant radiochemotherapy, as compared with sequential radiochemotherapy, improved survival of patients with locally advanced NSCLC, primarily because of a better locoregional control, but at the cost of manageable increased acute esophageal toxicity.

The purpose of this study is to report clinical aspects and treatment results of patients seen at Johns Hopkins. A search of the tumor registry of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center found 453 patients with malignancies of the vulva registered between 1977 and 1997. Patient and tumor characteristics, treatment methods, and follow-up were obtained from charts. Seven patients were identified with sarcoma of the vulva. Of these, one was removed from analysis due to histology. Three patients had leiomyosarcoma, two had fibrosarcoma, and one had epithelioid sarcoma. The mean age was 41. Mean time to diagnosis was 6 months. All but one of the tumors was located on the labia majora. Median tumor size was 3.5 cm. Surgery varied from wide local excision to radical vulvectomy with inguinal lymph node dissection. Surgical margins were microscopically negative in five of the six cases. Two patients had received adjuvant external beam radiation. One of them had a tumor greater than 5 cm and close surgical margins and the other had high-grade tumor, which recurred after previous surgery. Mean follow-up was 127.8 months. There have been no recurrences to date.

The purpose of this study is to report clinical aspects and treatment results of patients seen at Johns Hopkins. A search of the tumor registry of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center found 453 patients with malignancies of the vulva registered between 1977 and 1997. Patient and tumor characteristics, treatment methods, and follow-up were obtained from charts. Seven patients were identified with sarcoma of the vulva. Of these, one was removed from analysis due to histology. Three patients had leiomyosarcoma, two had fibrosarcoma, and one had epithelioid sarcoma. The mean age was 41. Mean time to diagnosis was 6 months. All but one of the tumors was located on the labia majora. Median tumor size was 3.5 cm. Surgery varied from wide local excision to radical vulvectomy with inguinal lymph node dissection. Surgical margins were microscopically negative in five of the six cases. Two patients had received adjuvant external beam radiation. One of them had a tumor greater than 5 cm and close surgical margins and the other had high-grade tumor, which recurred after previous surgery. Mean follow-up was 127.8 months. There have been no recurrences to date.

Multi-institutional prospective randomized trials using modern radiotherapy techniques such as conformal radiotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy are necessary to evaluate the real role of radiotherapy and its effect on survival in renal cell carcinoma, especially in selected patients with a high risk of local or regional failure.

Gangliogliomas are rare tumors of the central nervous system. The definite role of postoperative radiotherapy has not been established. In studying three cases who underwent radiotherapy after subtotal resection, we evaluated the clinical, pathological, radiological features with follow-up of mean 8.1 years. All of three patients were male, and mean age was 22.3 years. All of the cases have temporal lobe lesions and, except for one, they all have seizures. Radiotherapy was given to all patients after surgery. Parallely opposed local fields were used. A total of 54 Gy in 5.5 weeks was given to the mid-plane using a Co-60 tele-therapy device. No recurrence, no new symptoms, and no new neurological deficiency were detected during follow-up.

Megestrol acetate can be safely and effectively given to patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Although lower doses of megestrol acetate can be effective for anorexia and cachexia, the higher dose level seems to be more efficient.

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Purpose: In this study our objective was to evaluate the therapeutic significance of concurrent paclitaxel and radiotherapy compared with radiotherapy alone. Patients and methods: Patients with stage III A/B NSCLC were randomly assigned to receive either radiotherapy alone (group 2) or concurrent weekly paclitaxel with radiotherapy (group 1) in GMMA. Radiotherapy was given as a split-course schedule with the total dose of 56 Gy. Paclitaxel, 60 mg/m 2 , was administered only to group 1 on the first day of each radiotherapy week. To assess differences between values, P values were calculated with the v 2 test. A Mann Whitney U-test was used to assess significant differences between the two values. Actuarial survival curves were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: There were 25 patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy and 26 who underwent radiotherapy only. Median follow-up was 14 months. The overall response rate was 92% and 70% for groups 1 and 2, respectively (P= 0.003). Median survival was 15.2 months for group 1, and 12.0 months for group 2 (P= 0.027). Conclusion: Based on this response and the toxicity profile, outpatient split-course radiotherapy and weekly paclitaxel seems to be feasible and safe.Keywords Radiotherapy AE Chemotherapy AE Non-small cell lung cancer logically confirmed Stage III A/B NSCLC (American Joint Committee on Cancer 1992); measurable or assessable disease; no previous radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery; age between 18 and 75 years; Eastern Oncology Group (ECOG ) performance status £ 2; serum bilirubin level £ 1.5 mg/dl; white blood cell