BACKGROUND.The role of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) for lymph node‐negative locally advanced breast carcinoma (T3N0M0) after modified radical mastectomy (MRM) with regard to improvement in survival remains an area of controversy.METHODS.The 1973–2004 National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was examined for patients with T3N0M0 ductal, lobular, or mixed ductal and lobular carcinoma of the breast who underwent MRM, treated from 1988‐2003. Patients who were men, who had positive lymph nodes, who survived ≤6 months, for whom breast cancer was not the first malignancy, who had nonbeam radiation, intraoperative or preoperative radiation were excluded. The average treatment effect of PMRT on mortality was estimated with a propensity score case‐matched analysis.RESULTS.In all, 1777 patients were identified; 568 (32%) patients received PMRT. Median tumor size was 6.3 cm. The median number of lymph nodes examined was 14 (range, 1–49). Propensity score matched case‐control analysis showed no improvement in overall survival with the delivery of PMRT in this group. Older patients, patients with ER− disease (compared with ER+), and patients with high‐grade tumors (compared with well differentiated) had increased mortality.CONCLUSIONS.The use of PMRT for T3N0M0 breast carcinoma after MRM is not associated with an increase in overall survival. It was not possible to analyze local control in this study given the limitations of the SEER database. The impact of potential improvement in local control as it relates to overall survival should be the subject of further investigation. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society.
Brain metastases occur frequently and are a significant threat to the quality of life in patients with small cell lung carcinoma. The primary treatment modality has historically been whole brain radiation, which can provide a moderate extension of life and improvement in neurologic symptoms. Despite increasing interest in the use of alternative therapeutic agents-primarily chemotherapy-these have yet to be demonstrated to be superior to radiation in management of brain metastasis. Prophylactic cranial irradiation prevents or delays the occurrence of brain metastases in patients with small cell lung carcinoma. Until recently, this benefit has been thought to be primarily restricted to a minority of patients with limited stage disease. A large European trial, however, has now shown a survival benefit to the use of prophylactic cranial irradiation in patients who have any response to systemic chemotherapy. This finding should significantly shift management practices for this aggressive disease for most patients.
Object Oligometastatic brain metastases may be treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) alone, but no consensus exists as to when SRS alone would be appropriate. A survey was conducted at 2 radiosurgery meetings to determine which factors SRS practitioners emphasize in recommending SRS alone, and what physician characteristics are associated with recommending SRS alone for ≥ 5 metastases. Methods All physicians attending the 8th Biennial Congress and Exhibition of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society in June 2007 and the 18th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Stereotactic Radiosurgery in July 2009 were asked to complete a questionnaire ranking 14 clinical factors on a 5-point Likert-type scale (ranging from 1 = not important to 5 = very important) to determine how much each factor might influence a decision to recommend SRS alone for brain metastases. Results were condensed into a single dichotomous outcome variable of “influential” (4–5) versus “not influential” (1–3). Respondents were also asked to complete the statement: “In general, a reasonable number of brain metastases treatable by SRS alone would be, at most, ___.” The characteristics of physicians willing to recommend SRS alone for ≥ 5 metastases were assessed. Chi-square was used for univariate analysis, and logistic regression for multivariate analysis. Results The final study sample included 95 Gamma Knife and LINAC-using respondents (54% Gamma Knife users) in San Francisco and 54 in Sendai (48% Gamma Knife users). More than 70% at each meeting had ≥ 5 years experience with SRS. Sixty-five percent in San Francisco and 83% in Sendai treated ≥ 30 cases annually with SRS. The highest number of metastases considered reasonable to treat with SRS alone in both surveys was 50. In San Francisco, the mean and median numbers of metastases considered reasonable to treat with SRS alone were 6.7 and 5, while in Sendai they were 11 and 10. In the San Francisco sample, the clinical factors identified to be most influential in decision making were Karnofsky Performance Scale score (78%), presence/absence of mass effect (76%), and systemic disease control (63%). In Sendai, the most influential factors were the size of the metastases (78%), the Karnofsky Performance Scale score (70%), and metastasis location (68%). In San Francisco, 55% of respondents considered treating ≥ 5 metastases and 22% considered treating ≥ 10 metastases “reasonable.” In Sendai, 83% of respondents considered treating ≥ 5 metastases and 57% considered treating ≥ 10 metastases “reasonable.” In both groups, private practitioners, neurosurgeons, and Gamma Knife users were statistically significantly more likely to treat ≥ 5 metastases with SRS alone. Conclusions Although there is no clear consensus for how many metastases are reasonable to treat with SRS alone, more than half of the radiosurgeons at 2 international meetings were willing to extend the use of SRS as an initial treatment for ≥ 5 brain metastases. Given the substantial variation in clinicians' approaches to SRS use, further research is required to identify patient characteristics associated with optimal SRS outcomes.
Radiosurgery was safe and effective in significantly reducing the functional capacity of a paraganglioma. Care must be taken to avoid inducing a hypertensive crisis during and following treatment, and longer follow-up will help determine whether and when pharmacologic blockade can be discontinued.
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