Giant locally advanced and metastatic squamous cell skin carcinoma of head and neck region: case report.

INTRODUCTION: At the present time, the skin tumors are among the most common cancers. Optimal therapy is based on the extent of the disease and the age of the patient. The need for radiotherapy occurs for inoperable locally advanced tumors and in the event of failure, salvage surgery is applied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We provided a case report of an older patient with giant squamous cell skin carcinoma and a review of published articles. RESULTS: We present a rare case of giant squamous cell skin carcinoma with metastatic satellite tumors that was primarily treated with curative radiotherapy. Five months after radiotherapy, a recurrent tumor was detected at the site of origin and the treatment was completed by salvage surgery. Full remission was achieved for four years. CONCLUSION: Despite the seemingly incurable finding it is always necessary to consider radical treatment regardless of the patient´s age. Curative treatment could achieve long term remission in the group of older patients.

Interfraction variation in prostate cancer - analysis of 11726 cone-beam CT.

PURPOSE: To investigate the setup margins in prostate cancer treatment without using daily online repositioning methods. METHODS: We analysed the data from patients treated with curative-intend radiotherapy. Each patient underwent a series of pretreatment online localizations during daily setup using conebeam CT. The skin-prostate shifts and bone-prostate shifts were recorded in anteroposterior (AP), craniocaudal (CC), and laterolateral (LL)direction. The safety margins based on van Herk equation (2.5Σ+0.7σ) were calculated and the correlations between margins and various patient characteristics and prostate locations were investigated. RESULTS: A total of 307 patients were included, representing 11,726 localisations resulting in 70,356 shifts. The man skin-prostate setup inaccuracy was 0.8 ± 5.4mm in AP, 1.3 ± 4.8mm for CC, and 0.1 ± 5.6mm in LL direction. The man bone-prostate setup inaccuracy was 0.4 ± 3.3mm in AP, 0.1 ± 2.5mm for CC, and 0.1 ± 1.4mm in LL direction. According to van Herk equation, clinical target volume (CTV)-planning target volume (PTV) margins of 11.4, 10.6, and 11.8 mm (AP, CC, and LL, respectively) would be required for setup using skin markers and margins of 7.0, 4.7, and 2.1mm would be necessary for setup using bone structures. The average rectal area < 11cm(2) and volume of bladder > 300 cm(3) were associated with smaller CTV-PTV margins for setup using bone structures. The largest margins (15.8 mm in LL direction) were needed in patients with body mass index (BMI) > 35 using skin markers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that the commonly used CTV-PTV margins are inadequate.

Image-guided radiation therapy produces lower acute and chronic gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicity in prostate cancer patients.

PURPOSE: This paper compares individual radiation therapy techniques used for prostate cancer and their benefits in clinical practice. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 921 patients with localized prostate tumors treated between 1997 and 2012. We divided the patients into four groups according to the selected treatment technique (conformal radiation therapy [3DCRT], intensity-modulated radiation therapy [IMRT], image-guided radiation therapy [IGRT], and volumetric-modulated arc therapy [VMAT]) and evaluated the incidence of acute and chronic gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) toxicity. RESULTS: The incidence of grade 2 or greater acute GU and GI toxicity was significantly higher among techniques other than IGRT (p˂0.001). We found the same results in the case of grade 3 or greater acute GU toxicity (p˂0.001). Grade 3 or higher acute GI toxicity occurred only in one patient treated by 3DCRT. Cumulative late GI toxicity of grade 2 or higher and grade 3 or higher was recorded over 3 years significantly more frequently among non-IGRT techniques as compared to IGRT (p˂0.001). As regards GU toxicity, we found significantly higher incidence only for grade 2 or higher (p˂0.001), not for grade 3 or higher. No occurrence of grade 4 toxicity was recorded. The greatest incidence of patients without acute and chronic GI/GU toxicity was recorded in connection with VMAT. CONCLUSION: IGRT demonstrated a pronounced reduction in acute and chronic GU and GI toxicity as compared to non-IGRT techniques in the treatment of localized prostate cancer.

Prolonged treatment planning can increase real rectal dose in 3D brachytherapy for cervical cancer.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of 3D brachytherapy planning time on the real dose distribution. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 10 patients with cervical cancer were evaluated using 2 computed tomography (CT) scans brachytherapy. The first scan was performed after the insertion of UVAG applicators, and the second was done after creating the treatment plan, just before the irradiation of first and third fraction. Both plans were compared in terms of changes of volumes and differences in the dose for high-risk organs using GEC-ESTRO Working Group parameters. RESULTS: The median planning time was 54 minutes (36-64 minutes). The absolute median change of volume for bladder, rectum, and sigmoid was 32.1 cm3 (1.6-108.6 cm3), 5.6 cm3 (0.4-61.8 cm3), and 8.4 cm3 (0.2-74.1 cm3), respectively. This difference led to an increased dose for bladder and sigmoid for D0.1cc by 46.7 cGy and 25.7 cGy, for D1cc by 59.2 cGy and 11.8 cGy, and for D2cc by 44.7 cGy and 10 cGy, respectively, per each fraction. Measured volume change in case of rectum led to a decreased dose per each fraction for D0.1cc with 7.1 cGy, for D1cc with 3.5 cGy, and for D2cc with 4.8 cGy. We observed that statistically significant dependency between the planning time and the dose was proved for rectum. The longer time for planning, the higher dose for rectum. The correlation coefficient for D0.1cc was 0.6715 (p = 0.0061), for D1cc was 0.6404 (p = 0.011), and for D2cc was 0.5891 (p = 0.0197). CONCLUSIONS: Extended treatment planning time for brachytherapy due to the changes in topography of small pelvis can lead to different dose in high-risk organs than previously planned. It seems that the most significant changes are related to rectum.

Krukenberg tumor with yolk sac tumor differentiation.

An unusual case of bilateral Krukenberg tumor with foci of yolk sac tumor (YST) differentiation occurring in a 50-year-old patient is reported. The primary tumor was in the gastric antrum, and it showed morphology of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with diffuse and solid growth pattern. A component of typical YST was not found in the gastric primary and lymph node metastases, although some cells in these locations were positive for alpha-fetoprotein. In the ovarian metastases, YST element showed microcystic/reticular and solid patterns, whereas the adenocarcinoma component was of diffuse type with signet ring cells and with some undifferentiated areas. The case represents further example of the somatic cell-derived tumor with focal germ cell-type differentiation and the first report of YST differentiation in Krukenberg tumor.

Tumor bed radiotherapy in women following breast conserving surgery for breast cancer-safety margin with/without image guidance.

Image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) enables the achievement of higher precision in radiation delivery, a reduction in safety margins and a reduced risk of toxicity in healthy tissues. The present study investigated the magnitude of safety margins for the radiation boost setup on skin marks or metal clips implanted into the tumor bed during breast cancer surgery. One hundred eighty-four patients after breast conserving surgery with implanted metal clips into tumor bed were analyzed. The present study investigated the difference in safety margin required for the treatment setup on skin marks and metal clips. The skin marks were created using a positioning laser system in the treatment room. Metal clips implanted in the tumor bed were registered using IGRT with kilovoltage X-rays in orthogonal projection. Treatment setup was performed during free breathing. The safety margin corresponding to the planning target volume (PTV) was calculated from the recorded data. Calculated safety margins for the treatment setup on skin marks were 9.4, 11.1 and 11.1 mm in the anteroposterior, craniocaudal, and laterolateral directions, respectively. Corresponding safety margins with the use of IGRT and metal clips registration were 4.7, 5.1 and 5.9 mm, respectively. The safe PTV margin was 12 mm using setup on skin marks without IGRT, whereas a 6-mm margin was sufficient with the use of metal clip-based IGRT with daily online correction. IGRT has been adopted as the standard treatment method within the Oncology Centre of Multiscan and Pardubice Hospital (Pardubice, Czech Republic).