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NUT midline carcinoma has dismal prognosis. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy improves survival, but do not provide long term control except in anecdotal cases. Further research is needed to improve outcomes in future.

Oral mucositis (OM) is a major limiting acute side effect of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer. The spectrum of problems associated with mucositis includes oral pain, odynophagia, reduced oral intake, and secondary infections. Incidence of mucositis is increased with addition of concurrent chemotherapy as well as altered fractionation schedules. This leads to treatment interruption and suboptimal disease control. Hence, prevention as well as timely management of OM is necessary for optimum tumor control. We reviewed the English literature with key words "Radiation induced mucositis, Mucositis, Oral Mucositis" to find relevant articles describing incidence, pathophysiology, prophylaxis, and treatment of oral mucositis. Prevention and treatment of OM is an active area of research. Maintenance of oral hygiene is an important part in prevention of OM. A battery of agents including normal saline and alkali (soda bicarbonate) mouth washes, low level laser therapy, and benzydamine (non-steroidal analgesic and anti-inflammatory) have effectiveness in the prevention and treatment of radiation induced oral mucositis. Chlorhexidine mouth gargles are recommended for prevention of chemotherapy induced oral mucositis but is not recommended for radiotherapy associated mucositis. Treatment of co-existing infection is also important and both topical (povidone iodine) and systemic anti fungals should be used judiciously. Radiation induced oral mucositis is a common problem limiting the efficacy of radiation by increasing treatment breaks. Adequate prophylaxis and treatment may limit the severity of radiation mucositis and improve compliance to radiation which may translate in better disease control and survival.

The lung is one of the most sensitive tissues to radiation. The most radiosensitive sub-unit of the lung is alveolarcapillary complex (Ghafoori et al., 2008). The alveolar epithelium consists of type 1 and type 2 pneumocytes

Glioblastoma remains the most common primary brain tumor after the age of 40years. Maximal safe surgery followed by adjuvant chemoradiotherapy has remained the standard treatment for glioblastoma (GBM). But recurrence is an inevitable event in the natural history of GBM with most patients experiencing it after 6-9months of primary treatment. Recurrent GBM poses great challenge to manage with no well-defined management protocols. The challenge starts from differentiating radiation necrosis from true local progression. A fine balance needs to be maintained on improving survival and assuring a better quality of life. Treatment options are limited and ranges from re-excision, re-irradiation, systemic chemotherapy or a combination of these. Re-excision and re-irradiation must be attempted in selected patients and has been shown to improve survival outcomes. To facilitate the management of GBM recurrences, a treatment algorithm is proposed.

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Medulloblastoma (MB) is composed of four molecular subgroups viz. WNT, SHH, groups 3 and 4, identified using various high-throughput methods. Translation of this molecular data into pathologist-friendly techniques that would be applicable in laboratories all over the world is a major challenge. Ninety-two MBs were analyzed using a panel of 10 IHC markers, real-time PCR for mRNA and miRNA expression, and FISH for MYC amplification. β-catenin, GAB1 and YAP1 were the only IHC markers of utility in classification of MBs into three subgroups viz. WNT (9.8%), SHH (45.6%) and non-WNT/SHH (44.6%). mRNA expression could further classify some non-WNT/SHH tumors into groups 3 and 4. This, however, was dependent on integrity of RNA extracted from FFPE tissue. MYC amplification was seen in 20% of non-WNT/SHH cases and was associated with the worst prognosis. For routine diagnostic practice, we recommend classification of MBs into three subgroups: WNT, SHH and non-WNT/SHH, with supplementation by prognostic markers like MYC for non-WNT/SHH tumors. Using this panel, we propose a new three-tier risk stratification system for MBs. Molecular subgrouping with this limited panel is rapid, economical, works well on FFPE tissue and is reliable as it correlates significantly with clinicopathological parameters and patient survival.

No abstract