Purpose Previous analysis of this Intergroup trial demonstrated that with a median follow-up among surviving patients of 45.9 months, the concurrent postoperative administration of cisplatin and radiation therapy improved local-regional control and disease-free survival of patients who had high-risk resectable head and neck carcinomas. With a minimum of 10 years of follow-up potentially now available for all patients, these results are herein updated to examine long-term outcomes. Methods and Materials 410 analyzable patients who had high-risk resected head and neck cancers were prospectively randomized to receive either radiation therapy (RT: 60 Gy in 6 weeks) or identical RT plus cisplatin, 100 mg/m2 i.v. on days 1, 22, and 43 (RT + CT). Results At 10 years, the local-regional failure rates were 28.8% vs. 22.3% (p=0.10), disease-free survival was 19.1% vs. 20.1% (p=0.25) and overall survival was 27.0% vs. 29.1% (p=0.31) for patients treated by RT vs. RT + CT respectively. In the unplanned subset analysis limited to patients who had microscopically involved resection margins and/or extracapsular spread of disease, local-regional failure occurred in 33.1% vs. 21.0% (p=0.02), disease-free survival was 12.3% vs. 18.4% (p=0.05) and overall survival was 19.6% vs. 27.1% (p=0.07) respectively. Conclusion At a median follow-up of 9.4 years for surviving patients no significant differences in outcome were observed in the analysis of all randomized eligible patients. However, analysis of the subgroup of patients who had either microscopically involved resection margins and/or extracapsular spread of disease showed improved local-regional control and disease-free survival with concurrent administration of chemotherapy. The remaining subgroup of patients who were enrolled only because they had tumor in 2 or more lymph nodes did not benefit from the addition of CT to RT.

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ABSTRACT

Purpose In RTOG 9704, as previously published, patients with resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma received continuous infusion 5-FU and concurrent radiotherapy (5FU-RT). 5FU-RT treatment was preceded and followed by randomly assigned chemotherapy, either 5-FU or gemcitabine. This analysis explored whether failure to adhere to specified RT guidelines influenced survival and/or toxicity. Methods and Materials RT requirements were protocol specified. Adherence was scored as per protocol (PP) or less than per protocol (

Blood tests to detect circulating tumor cells (CTC) offer great potential to monitor disease status, gauge prognosis, and guide treatment decisions for patients with cancer. For patients with brain tumors, such as aggressive glioblastoma multiforme, CTC assays are needed that do not rely on expression of cancer cell surface biomarkers like epithelial cell adhesion molecules that brain tumors tend to lack. Here, we describe a strategy to detect CTC based on telomerase activity, which is elevated in nearly all tumor cells but not normal cells. This strategy uses an adenoviral detection system that is shown to successfully detect CTC in patients with brain tumors. Clinical data suggest that this assay might assist interpretation of treatment response in patients receiving radiotherapy, for example, to differentiate pseudoprogression from true tumor progression. These results support further development of this assay as a generalized method to detect CTC in patients with cancer.

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Background and Purpose To determine the incidence of neurovascular events as late complications in pediatric brain tumor patients and to evaluate radiation as a risk factor. Methods Patients were ascertained using the tumor database of a pediatric tertiary care center. Included patients had a primary brain tumor, age birth to 21 years, initial treatment 1/1/93-12/31/02, and at least two visits with Neuro-Oncology. Radiation exposure included: whole brain, whole brain plus a focal boost, or focal brain. The primary outcome was stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Results Of 431 subjects, 14 had 19 events of stroke or TIA over a median follow-up of 6.3 years. The incidence rate was 548/100,000 person-years. Overall, 61.5% of subjects received radiation, including 13/14 subjects with events. Median time from first radiation to first event was 4.9 years. The stroke/TIA hazard ratio for any brain irradiation was 8.0 (95% CI:1.05-62, p=0.045); for Circle of Willis (COW) radiation was 9.0 (95% CI:1.2-70, p=0.035); and for focal non-COW radiation was 3.4 (95% CI:0.21-55, p=0.38). Conclusions The incidence of neurovascular events in this population is 100-fold higher than in the general pediatric population and cranial irradiation is an important risk factor. By defining the incidence of this late effect, physicians are better able to counsel parents regarding treatment, monitor patients at risk, and target a population for primary stroke prevention in future studies.

There was no evidence of a general cognitive decline or progression of white matter changes after 3 years. Results argue for limited damage from XRT at this frequently used dose and volume in the absence of other clinical risk factors.