Chemoradiotherapy for T4 and/or M1 lymph node esophageal cancer: experience since 2000 at a high-volume center in Japan.

PURPOSE: To review data for patients with stage T4 and/or M1 lymph node (lym) esophageal cancer who have been treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy since 2000 at a high-volume center in Japan. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients with T4 and/or M1 lym esophageal cancer who were treated by definitive chemoradiotherapy between 2000 and 2010. The eligibility criteria included (1) histopathologically proven esophageal cancer, (2) T4 and/or M1 lym (UICC 2002), (3) 20-79 years of age, (4) having undergone at least 1 cycle of concomitant chemotherapy, (5) having been irradiated with ≥ 50 Gy, and (6) having no other active malignant tumor during treatment. Toxicity was graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v3.0). RESULTS: Data from 128 patients (70 with clinical stage III, 58 with clinical stage IV) were used for analysis in this study. The median observation period for survivors was 46.3 months. The 2- and 4-year overall survival rates were 32.8 and 24.4 %, respectively. The overall survival of patients without M1 lym was significantly better than that of patients with Ml lym (4-year, 32.6 vs 11.7 %, log-rank test; p = 0.04). Overall survival in more recent patients (2006-2010) did not show improvement when compared with past patients (2000-2005). Eight patients had late toxicities of grade ≥3. CONCLUSIONS: T4 patients without M1 lym showed a relatively good 4-year survival rate of approximately 33 %; however, the results did not show significant improvement after 2000.

Long-term results of chemoradiotherapy for stage II-III thoracic esophageal cancer in a single institution after 2000 -with a focus on comparison of three protocols.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the long-term results of chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for stage II-III thoracic esophageal cancer mainly by comparing results of three protocols retrospectively. METHODS: Between 2000 and 2012, 298 patients with stage II-III thoracic esophageal cancer underwent CRT. Patients in Group A received two cycles of cisplatin (CDDP) at 70 mg/m(2) (day 1 and 29) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) at 700 mg/m(2)/24 h (day 1-4 and 29-32) with radiotherapy (RT) of 60 Gy without a break. Patients in Group B received two cycles of CDDP at 40 mg/m(2) (day 1, 8, 36 and 43) and 5-FU at 400 mg/m(2)/24 h (day 1-5, 8-12, 36-40 and 43-47) with RT of 60 Gy with a 2-week break. Patients in Group C received two cycles of nedaplatin at 70 mg/m(2) (day 1 and 29) and 5-FU at 500 mg/m(2)/24 h (day 1-4 and 29-32) with RT of 60-70 Gy without a break. Differences in prognostic factors between the groups were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival rates for patients in Group A, Group B and Group C were 52.4, 45.2 and 37.2%, respectively. The 5-year overall survival rates for patients in Stage II, Stage III (non-T4) and Stage III (T4) were 64.0, 40.1 and 22.5%, respectively. The 5-year overall survival rates for patients who received 1 cycle and 2 cycles of concomitant chemotherapy were 27.9 and 46.0%, respectively. In univariate analysis, stage, performance status and number of concomitant chemotherapy cycles were significant prognostic factors (p < 0.001, p = 0.008 and p < 0.001, respectively). In multivariate analysis, stage, protocol and number of concomitant chemotherapy cycles were significant factors (p < 0.001, p = 0.043 and p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The protocol used in Group A may be an effective protocol of CRT for esophageal cancer. It may be important to complete the scheduled concomitant chemotherapy with the appropriate intensity of CRT.

Radiation Therapy Is a Reasonable Option for Improving the Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Radiation therapy (RT) may be suitable for treating patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are difficult to treat with any other option. However, it remains unclear whether RT extends survival in these patients. Among the 957 HCC patients treated at Tohoku University Hospital from January 2007 to December 2013, only 49 patients received RT. We therefore retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of these patients; they were divided into three groups based on the reasons for choosing RT: 27 patients at Stage IV A (67.1 ± 1.6 years, 50.5 ± 2.1 Gy), 9 patients with alternative therapy (72.2 ± 2.4 years, 58.9 ± 1.1 Gy), and 13 patients who received RT after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) (75.6 ± 2.1 years, 56.5 ± 1.5 Gy). RT was employed to ensure the local control of the lesion. The patients at Stage IV A were treated with radical RT (n = 16) or with palliative RT (n = 11). In radical RT group, the response rate was 37.5% and the complete response rate was 25%. The survival rate was 12.5 ± 2.6 months after radical RT. This is considered relatively good for Stage IV A. The disease-free survival rate was 13.0 ± 2.8 months after RT. This excellent disease-free survival indicates that RT is an alternative to other treatments. In the TACE group, patients who received the RT had the significantly long disease-free survival rate than only-TACE (18.0 ± 3.8 months vs. 11.2 ± 0.58 months). We propose that RT is effective and safe for HCC.

Outcomes after stereotactic body radiotherapy for lung tumors, with emphasis on comparison of primary lung cancer and metastatic lung tumors.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to determine the prognostic factors associated with an improved overall outcome after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for primary lung cancer and metastatic lung tumors. METHODS: A total of 229 lung tumors in 201 patients were included in the study. SBRT of 45 Gy in 3 fractions, 48 Gy in 4 fractions, 60 Gy in 8 fractions or 60 Gy in 15 fractions was typically used to treat 172 primary lungs cancer in 164 patients and 57 metastatic lung tumors in 37 patients between January 2001 and December 2011. Prognostic factors for local control (LC) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: The median biologically effective dose was 105.6 Gy based on alpha/beta = 10 (BED10). The median follow-up period was 41.9 months. The 3-year LC and OS rates were 72.5% and 60.9%, and the 5-year LC and OS rates were 67.8% and 38.1%, respectively. Radiation pneumonitis of grades 2, 3 and 5 occurred in 22 patients, 6 patients and 1 patient, respectively. Multivariate analyses revealed that tumor origin (primary lung cancer or metastatic lung tumor, p < 0.001), tumor diameter (p = 0.005), BED10 (p = 0.029) and date of treatment (p = 0.011) were significant independent predictors for LC and that gender (p = 0.012), tumor origin (p = 0.001) and tumor diameter (p < 0.001) were significant independent predictors for OS. CONCLUSIONS: SBRT resulted in good LC and tolerable treatment-related toxicities. Tumor origin and tumor diameter are significant independent predictors for both overall survival and local control.

Long-term results of radiotherapy combined with nedaplatin and 5-fluorouracil for postoperative loco-regional recurrent esophageal cancer: update on a phase II study.

BACKGROUND: In 2006, we reported the effectiveness of chemoradiotherapy for postoperative recurrent esophageal cancer with a median observation period of 18 months. The purpose of the present study was to update the results of radiotherapy combined with nedaplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for postoperative loco-regional recurrent esophageal cancer. METHODS: Between 2000 and 2004, we performed a phase II study on treatment of postoperative loco-regional recurrent esophageal cancer with radiotherapy (60 Gy/30 fractions/6 weeks) combined with chemotherapy consisting of two cycles of nedaplatin (70 mg/m2/2 h) and 5-FU (500 mg/m2/24 h for 5 days).The primary endpoint was overall survival rate, and the secondary endpoints were progression-free survival rate, irradiated-field control rate and chronic toxicity. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients were enrolled in this study. The regimen was completed in 76.7% of the patients. The median observation period for survivors was 72.0 months. The 5-year overall survival rate was 27.0% with a median survival period of 21.0 months. The 5-year progression-free survival rate and irradiated-field control rate were 25.1% and 71.5%, respectively. Grade 3 or higher late toxicity was observed in only one patient. Two long-term survivors had gastric tube cancer more than 5 years after chemoradiotherapy.Pretreatment performance status, pattern of recurrence (worse for patients with anastomotic recurrence) and number of recurrent lesions (worse for patients with multiple recurrent lesions) were statistically significant prognostic factors for overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Radiotherapy combined with nedaplatin and 5-FU is a safe and effective salvage treatment for postoperative loco-regional recurrent esophageal cancer. However, the prognosis of patients with multiple regional recurrence or anastomotic recurrence is very poor.

Novel mutations of the GLA gene in Japanese patients with Fabry disease and their functional characterization by active site specific chaperone.

Fabry disease is an X-linked recessive inborn metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme alpha-galactosidase A (EC 3.2.1.22). The causative mutations are diverse, include both large rearrangements and single-base substitutions, and are dispersed throughout the 7 exons of the alpha-galactosidase A gene (GLA). Mutation hotspots for Fabry disease do not exist. We examined 62 Fabry patients in Japan and found 24 GLA mutations, including 11 novel ones. A potential treatment reported for Fabry disease is active site specific chaperone (ASSC) therapy using 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin (DGJ), an inhibitor of alpha-galactosidase A, at subinhibitory concentrations. We transfected COS-7 cells with the 24 mutant GLAs and analyzed the alpha-galactosidase A activities. We then treated the transfected COS-7 cells with DGJ and analyzed its effect on the mutant enzyme activities. The activity of 11 missense mutants increased significantly with DGJ. Although ASSC therapy is useful only for misfolding mutants and therefore not applicable to all cases, it may be useful for treating many Japanese patients with Fabry disease.

Curative treatment of Stage I non-small-cell lung cancer with carbon ion beams using a hypofractionated regimen.

PURPOSE: A phase I/II study on carbon ion radiotherapy for Stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was first conducted between 1994 and 1999 and determined the optimal dose. Second, a Phase II study using the optimal dose was performed. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the local control and 5-year survival rates. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between April 1999 and December 2000, 50 patients with 51 primary lesions were treated. Using a fixed dose of 72 GyE in nine fractions over 3 weeks, the primary tumors were irradiated with carbon ion beams alone. The average age of the patients was 74.5 years. Thirty-three (66%) of these were medically inoperable. Local control and survival were determined by using the Kaplan-Meier method and the data were statistically processed by using the log-rank test. RESULTS: All patients were observed for a minimum of 5 years or until death with a median follow-up time of 59.2 months (range, 6.0-83.0 months). The local control rate for all patients was 94.7%. The patients' 5-year cause-specific survival rate was 75.7% (IA: 89.4; IB: 55.1), and overall survival 50.0% (IA: 55.2; IB: 42.9). No toxic reactions in the lung greater than Grade 3 were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Carbon ion radiotherapy, a new treatment modality with superior benefits in terms of quality of life and activity of daily living, has been proven as a valid alternative to surgery for Stage I NSCLC and to offer particular benefits, especially for elderly and inoperable patients.

The utility of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for early diagnosis of radiation-induced myocardial damage.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the clinical significance of focal increased uptake in the basal myocardium on F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in patients with esophageal cancer after radiotherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between August 2004 and July 2005, a total of 64 patients who had been irradiated for thoracic esophageal cancer underwent FDG-PET at least three months after the completion of chemoradiotherapy. Some patients showed increased FDG uptake in the basal portion of the myocardium. To clarify the clinical significance of these findings, further examinations of hearts were performed. The dose distribution in the myocardium with high FDG uptake was also analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Thirteen (20.3%) of the 64 patients showed high FDG uptake in the basal myocardium corresponding to the irradiated fields compared with FDG uptake in the myocardium outside the irradiated fields. Eight of the 13 patients consented to undergo examinations of the heart. Five of those eight patients showed low 123I-BMIPP uptake and four showed low 201TlCl uptake in the myocardium corresponding with high FDG uptake regions. In two patients, delayed enhancement was found in some parts of the area with high FDG uptake on Gd-DTPA magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the delay-enhanced lesion showed hypokinesia on cine-MRI in one patient. CONCLUSIONS: FDG-PET often shows focal increased uptake in the basal myocardium after radiotherapy for esophageal cancer. This finding indicates the possibility of radiation-induced cardiac damage, and cardiac function and symptoms of such patients should be followed carefully.

Results of radiation therapy combined with nedaplatin (cis-diammine-glycoplatinum) and 5-fluorouracil for postoperative locoregional recurrent esophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Although the effectiveness of radiotherapy with concurrent administration of several anti-tumor drugs for postoperative recurrent esophageal cancer has been demonstrated, the results are not satisfactory. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of radiotherapy combined with nedaplatin and 5-FU for postoperative locoregional (excluding hematogenous metastasis) recurrent esophageal cancer. METHODS: In June 2000, we started a phase II study on treatment of postoperative locoregional recurrent esophageal cancer with radiotherapy (60 Gy/30 fr/6 weeks) combined with chemotherapy consisting of two cycles of nedaplatin (70 mg/m2/2 h) and 5-FU (500 mg/m2/24 h for 5 days). The primary endpoint of the present study was overall survival rate, and the second endpoints were irradiated-field control rate, tumor response and toxicity. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients were included in this study. The 1-year and 3-year overall survival rates were 60.6% and 56.3%, respectively, with a median survival period of 39.0 months, and the 1-year and 3-year irradiated-field control rates were 86.4% and 72%, respectively. Complete response and partial response were observed in 13.3% and 60.0% of the patients, respectively. Grade 3 or higher leukocytopenia and thrombocytopenia were observed in 30% and 3.3% of the patients, respectively, but renal toxicity of grade 3 or higher was not observed. The regimen was completed in 76.7% of the patients. In univariate analysis, the difference between survival rate in preradiotherapy performance status, recurrent pattern (worse for patients with anastomotic recurrence) and age (worse for younger patients) were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Radiotherapy combined with nedaplatin and 5-FU is a safe and effective salvage treatment for postoperative locoregional recurrent esophageal cancer.

Metabolic tumor volume on FDG-PET/CT is a possible prognostic factor for Stage I lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy: a retrospective clinical study.

The aim of this study was to determine whether metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) are associated with outcomes in Stage I lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Thirty-eight patients underwent [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) within 60 days before SBRT at our institution between January 2001 and December 2011. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), MTV2, MTV4, MTV6, TLG40%, TLG50% and TLG60% were calculated. Prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and local control (LC) were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazards model, and survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves of PET parameters for OS and LC were calculated. The median follow-up period for survivors was 37.7 months. Three-year OS and LC rates were 56.4% and 70.5%, respectively, and 5-year OS and LC rates were 36.8% and 70.5%, respectively. In univariate analyses, tumor diameter (P = 0.019), single dose ≥10 Gy (P = 0.017), MTV2 (P = 0.030) and MTV4 (P = 0.048) were significant predictors for OS. Tumor diameter (P < 0.001), single dose ≥10 Gy (P = 0.007), SUVmax (P = 0.035), MTV2 (P < 0.001), MTV4 (P = 0.003), MTV6 (P = 0.017), TLG40% (P < 0.001), TLG50% (P = 0.001) and TLG60% (P = 0.003) were significant predictors for LC. SUVmax was not a significant predictor for OS. We made the ROC curves at PET parameters, and the largest area under the curve value for OS was MTV2 and for LC was TLG40% Tumor diameter, single dose ≥10 Gy, MTV2 and MTV4 are prognostic factors for OS and LC rates and MTV2 is a better prognostic factor for OS than other PET parameters.

Salvage radiation therapy for residual superficial esophageal cancer after endoscopic mucosal resection.

PURPOSE: To analyze the outcomes of radiation therapy for patients with residual superficial esophageal cancer (rSEC) after endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). METHODS AND MATERIALS: From May 1996 to October 2002, a total of 30 rSEC patients without lymph node metastasis received radiation therapy at Tohoku University Hospital and associated hospitals. The time interval from EMR to start of radiation therapy ranged from 9 to 73 days (median interval, 40 days). Radiation doses ranged from 60 Gy to 70 Gy (mean dose, 66 Gy). Chemotherapy was used in 9 of 30 patients (30%). RESULTS: The 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall survival rates and cause-specific survival rates were 91%, 82%, and 51%, respectively, and 95%, 85%, and 73%, respectively. The 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year local control rates for mucosal cancer were 91%, 91%, and 91%, respectively, and those for submucosal cancer were 89%, 89%, and 47%, respectively. These differences in survival rates for patients with two types of cancer were not statistically significant. Local recurrence and lymph node recurrence were more frequent in patients with submucosal cancer than in patients with mucosal cancer (p = 0.38 and p = 0.08, respectively). Esophageal stenosis that required balloon dilatation developed in 3 of the 30 patients, and radiation pneumonitis that required steroid therapy developed in 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS: Radiation therapy is useful for preventing local recurrence after incomplete EMR.

Formula corrected maximal standardized uptake value in FDG-PET for partial volume effect and motion artifact is not a prognostic factor in stage I non-small cell lung cancer treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: It is known that the partial volume effect and respiratory motion blur affect quantitative parameters such as the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in FDG-PET, especially in small lesions. The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic value of corrected SUVmax, which was corrected SUVmax for the partial volume effect and respiratory motion blur, in patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after treatment with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). METHODS: Fifty-one patients who were treated with SBRT between 2005 and 2011 in our institute were enrolled. The median tumor diameter was 2.2 cm (range 0.9-3.9 cm). The prescribed dose was typically 48 Gy in 4 fractions, 60 Gy in 8 fractions or 60 Gy in 15 fractions to the isocenter of irradiation fields. Each raw SUVmax was corrected using the recently proposed formula, and the correlations of raw SUVmax and corrected SUVmax with local control rate (LCR) were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Median raw SUVmax before SBRT was 6.4 (range 0.6-22.8). Median corrected SUVmax was 8.0 (range 0.8-22.8), which was significantly increased (p < 0.01). The median follow-up period for survivors was 45.3 months (range 18.5-82.0 months). The 3-year LCR and overall survival rates were 81.8 and 65.2 %, respectively. In univariate analysis, raw SUVmax [per 1 increase; p = 0.02, hazard ratio (HR) 1.20, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.42] was significantly correlated with LCR, but corrected SUVmax did not show a significant correlation with LCR (per 1 increase; p = 0.15, HR 1.07, 95 % CI 0.96-1.19). Other factors significantly correlated with LCR were diagnosis (pathological diagnosis vs. clinical diagnosis; p = 0.04, HR 6.17, 95 % CI 1.08-116) and tumor diameter (per 1 mm increase; p < 0.01, HR 1.33, 95 % CI 1.15-1.61). CONCLUSIONS: Tumor diameter was the most significant predictor of LCR after SBRT. Correction for the partial volume effect and respiratory motion blur may weaken the prognostic value of SUVmax.

Impact of tumor attachment to the pleura measured by a pretreatment CT image on outcome of stage I NSCLC treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Pleural invasion status is known to be a predictor of survival after pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancer. Our goal was to determine whether the length of tumor attachment to the pleura on a pretreatment CT image has prognostic value as an alternative to pleural invasion status for stage I non-small cell lung cancer treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). METHODS: A total of 90 tumors in 87 patients (males: 68, females: 19) who received SBRT between March 2005 and September 2011 in our institution were reviewed. The median age of the patients was 78 years (range, 48-90 years). The median tumor diameter was 2.2 cm (range, 0.9-4.2 cm). The prescribed dose was typically 48 Gy in 4 fractions, 60 Gy in 8 fractions or 60 Gy in 15 fractions to the isocenter with 6 MV X-ray using 4 non-coplanar and 3 coplanar static beams. The lengths of attachment were measured using pretreatment CT images at the lung window. Cumulative incidence rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier curves, and univariate and multivariate analyses for in-field tumor control, locoregional control (LRC), freedom from distant metastasis and freedom from progression (FFP) were performed using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Of the 90 tumors, 42 tumors were attached to the pleura (median, 14.7 mm; range, 4.3-36.0 mm), 21 tumors had pleural indentation and 27 tumors had no attachment. The median follow-up period for survivors was 46.1 months. The 3-year in-field control, LRC, FFP and overall survival rates were 91.2%, 75.3%, 63.8% and 68.6%, respectively. SBRT dose and tumor diameter were independently significant predictors of in-field control (p = 0.02 and p = 0.04, respectively). Broad attachment to the pleura, the length being more than 14.7 mm, was a negative independent predictor of LRC and FFP (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Pleural attachment status on a pretreatment CT image might be an important predictor of LRC and FFP.

Assessment of myocardial metabolic disorder associated with mediastinal radiotherapy for esophageal cancer -a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the dose-effect relations for myocardial metabolic disorders after mediastinal radiotherapy (RT) by performing iodine-123 ß-methyl-iodophenyl pentadecanoic acid (I-123 BMIPP) scintigraphy. METHODS: Between 2011 and 2012, we performed I-123 BMIPP scintigraphy for patients with esophageal cancer before and six months after curative mediastinal RT. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images of pre-RT and post-RT were registered into RT dose distributions. The myocardium was contoured, and the regional RT dose was calculated. Normalization is required to compare pre- and post-RT SPECT images because the uptake pattern is changed due to the breathing level. Normalization was applied on the mean of SPECT counts in regions of the myocardium receiving less than 5 Gy. Relative values in each dose region (interval of 5 Gy) were calculated on the basis of this normalization for each patient. The reduction in the percent of relative values was calculated. RESULTS: Five patients were enrolled in this study. None of the patients had a past history of cardiac disease. The left ventricle was partially involved in RT fields in all patients. The patients received RT with median total doses of 60-66 Gy for the primary tumor and metastatic lymph nodes. Concomitant chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin or nedaplatin and 5-fluorouracil with RT was performed in 4 patients. All patients had reduced uptake corresponding to RT fields. Dose-effect relations for reduced uptake tended to be observed at 6 months after RT with mean decreases of 8.96% in regions at 10-15 Gy, 12.6% in regions at 20-25 Gy, 15.6% in regions at 30-35 Gy, 19.0% in regions at 40-45 Gy and 16.0% in regions at 50-55 Gy. CONCLUSIONS: Dose-effect relations for myocardial metabolic disorders tended to be observed. We may need to make an effort to reduce high-dose mediastinal RT to the myocardium in RT planning.

Overview of clinical experiences on carbon ion radiotherapy at NIRS.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Carbon ion beams provide physical and biological advantages over photons. This study summarizes the experiences of carbon ion radiotherapy at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between June 1994 and August 2003, a total of 1601 patients with various types of malignant tumors were enrolled in phase I/II dose-escalation studies and clinical phase II studies. All but malignant glioma patients received carbon ion radiotherapy alone with a fraction number and overall treatment time being fixed for each tumor site, given to one field per day and 3 or 4 days per week. In dose-escalation studies, the total dose was escalated by 5 or 10% increments to ensure a safe patient treatment and to determine appropriate dose levels. RESULTS: In the initial dose-escalation studies, severe late complications of the recto-sigmoid colon and esophagus were observed in those patients who received high dose levels for prostate, uterine cervix and esophageal cancer. Such adverse effects, however, did shortly disappear as a result of determining safe dose levels and because of improvements in the irradiation method. Carbon ion radiotherapy has shown improvement of outcome for tumor entities: (a) locally advanced head and neck tumors, in particular those with non-squamous cell histology including adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and malignant melanoma; (b) early stage NSCLC and locally advanced NSCLC; (c) locally advanced bone and soft tissue sarcomas not suited for surgical resection; (d) locally advanced hepatocellular carcinomas; (e) locally advanced prostate carcinomas, in particular for high-risk patients; (f) chordoma and chondrosarcoma of the skull base and cervical spine, and (g) post-operative pelvic recurrence of rectal cancer. Treatment of malignant gliomas, pancreatic, uterine cervix, and esophageal cancer is being investigated within dose-escalation studies. There is a rationale for the use of short-course RT regimen due to the superior dose localization and the unique biological properties of high-LET beams. This has been proven in treatment of NSCLC and hepatoma, where the fraction number has been successfully reduced to 4-12 fractions delivered within 1-3 weeks. Even for other types of tumors including prostate cancer, bone/soft tissue sarcoma and head/neck tumors, it was equally possible to apply the therapy in much shorter treatment times as compared to conventional RT regimen. CONCLUSION: Carbon ion radiotherapy, due to its physical and biologic advantages over photons, has provided improved outcome in terms of minimized toxicity and high local control rates for locally advanced tumors and pathologically non-squamous cell type of tumors. Using carbon ion radiotherapy, hypofractionated radiotherapy with application of larger doses per fraction and a reduction of overall treatment times as compared to conventional radiotherapy was enabled.

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor production by human proximal tubular epithelial cells in culture.

Fibrin deposition in the peritubular capillaries and along the tubular basement membrane is commonly observed in several renal diseases and suggests the involvement of blood coagulation in tubulointerstitial damage. It has been demonstrated that tissue factor (TF) is present in tubular epithelial cells of animal models of nephritis. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) regulates the extrinsic pathway of blood coagulation through its ability to inhibit TF activity and it is now thought to be produced mainly by the vascular endothelial cells. We examined whether human proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) could produce TFPI and attempted to clarify the regulatory factors affecting TFPI production. Cultured human PTEC were used. The procoagulant activity (PCA) in PTEC lysate was quantified by measurement of the one-stage recalcification time. TFPI in the cell supernatants was measured by ELISA. The mRNA of TF and TFPI in PTEC was analyzed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). PCA which is compatible with TF activity was present in the PTEC lysate. TF mRNA and TFPI mRNA were detected in PTEC. The amount of TFPI increased over time in the cell supernatants. Immnoblot analysis revealed 40 kD protein of TFPI, and TFPI antigen was demonstrated in PTEC by immunofluorescence. The concentration of TFPI was significantly increased following incubation with thrombin and heparin in a dose- and time-dependent manner, although the amount of TFPI mRNA was not changed. Our study showed that TFPI is produced in cultured PTEC and added one more cell type that produced TFPI other than endothelial cells. Thrombin and heparin stimulated TFPI secretion from PTEC. TFPI of PTEC may act against generation of thrombin and tubular fibrin formation induced by tissue factor activation. The augmentation of TFPI secretion by heparin may play an important role in the modulation of anticoagulant properties of PTEC.

Effects of eparlestat on plasma levels of advanced glycation end products in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Advanced glycation end products (AGE) are produced by a nonenzymatic reaction between glucose and proteins in the plasma of diabetic patients. Recently, AGE have been reported to promote and accelerate diabetic complications and atherosclerosis. The activity of aldose reductase (AR) is increased in diabetic patients. AGE are reported also to be produced by increased levels of fructose through increased activity of AR in diabetes. Consequently, we administered eparlestat, one of AR inhibitors, to diabetic patients and investigated the plasma carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) concentration, one of the AGE, before and after the administration of eparlestat. Though plasma CML concentration did not show any significant changes in all patients after the administration of eparlestat in the present study (from 2.7 +/- 0.3 mU/mL to 2.5 +/- 0.2 mU/mL; 3 months, 2.9 +/- 0.3 mU/mL; 6 months), plasma CML concentration were significantly decreased 3 months after the administration of eparlestat in the patients whose CML concentration before the treatment was higher than 3 mU/mL (from 3.4 +/- 0.2 mU/mL to 2.6 +/- 0.2 mU/mL; 3 months, p = 0.017). Serum thrombomodulin and HbA1c levels did not show any significant changes. These results suggest that the administration of eparlestat may be beneficial in preventing diabetic complications by decreasing plasma CML in diabetic patients.

Evaluation of various deformable image registration algorithms for thoracic images.

We evaluated the accuracy of one commercially available and three publicly available deformable image registration (DIR) algorithms for thoracic four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) images. Five patients with esophagus cancer were studied. Datasets of the five patients were provided by DIR-lab (dir-lab.com) and consisted of thoracic 4D CT images and a coordinate list of anatomical landmarks that had been manually identified. Expert landmark correspondence was used for evaluating DIR spatial accuracy. First, the manually measured displacement vector field (mDVF) was obtained from the coordinate list of anatomical landmarks. Then the automatically calculated displacement vector field (aDVF) was calculated by using the following four DIR algorithms: B-spine implemented in Velocity AI (Velocity Medical, Atlanta, GA, USA), free-form deformation (FFD), Horn-Schunk optical flow (OF) and Demons in DIRART of MATLAB software. Registration error is defined as the difference between mDVF and aDVF. The mean 3D registration errors were 2.7 ± 0.8 mm for B-spline, 3.6 ± 1.0 mm for FFD, 2.4 ± 0.9 mm for OF and 2.4 ± 1.2 mm for Demons. The results showed that reasonable accuracy was achieved in B-spline, OF and Demons, and that these algorithms have the potential to be used for 4D dose calculation, automatic image segmentation and 4D CT ventilation imaging in patients with thoracic cancer. However, for all algorithms, the accuracy might be improved by using the optimized parameter setting. Furthermore, for B-spline in Velocity AI, the 3D registration error was small with displacements of less than ∼10 mm, indicating that this software may be useful in this range of displacements.

Prognostic factors for local control of stage I non-small cell lung cancer in stereotactic radiotherapy: a retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to investigate the prognostic factors of stereotactic radiotherapy for stage I NSCLC to improve outcomes. METHODS: Stage I non-small cell lung cancer patients who were treated with stereotactic radiotherapy between 2005 and 2009 at our hospital were enrolled in this study. The primary endpoint was local control rate. Survival estimates were calculated from the completion date of radiotherapy using the Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic factors including patients' characteristics and dose-volume histogram parameters were evaluated using Cox's proportional hazard regression model. RESULTS: Eighty patients (81 lesions) treated with 3 dose levels, 48 Gy/4 fractions, 60 Gy/8 fractions and 60 Gy/15 fractions, were enrolled in this study. Median follow-up was 30.4 months (range, 0.3 - 78.5 months). A Cox regression model showed T factor (p = 0.013), biological effective dose calculated from prescribed dose (BED10) (p = 0.048), and minimum dose for PTV (p = 0.013) to be prognostic factors for local control. Three-year overall survival rate and local control rate were 89.9% (T1: 86.8%, T2: 100%) and 89.0% (T1: 97.9%; T2: 64.8%), respectively. When the 3-year local control rates were examined by prescribed doses, they were 100% for the dose per fraction of 48 Gy /4 fractions (105.6 Gy BED10), 82.1% for 60 Gy/8 fractions (105 Gy BED10), and 57.1% for 60 Gy/15 fractions (84 Gy BED10). The median value of the minimum dose for PTV (%) was 89.88 (%), and the 3-year local control rates were 100% in those with the minimum dose for PTV (%) ≥ 89.88% and 79.2% in those with the minimum dose for PTV (%) < 89.88%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that T factor, BED10, and minimum dose for PTV influence the local control rate. Local control rate can be improved by securing the minimum dose for PTV.

Long-term results of radiochemotherapy for solitary lymph node metastasis after curative resection of esophageal cancer.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term efficacy and toxicity of definitive radiochemotherapy for solitary lymph node metastasis after curative surgery of esophageal cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We performed a retrospective review of 35 patients who underwent definitive radiochemotherapy at Tohoku University Hospital between 2000 and 2009 for solitary lymph node metastasis after curative esophagectomy with lymph node dissection for esophageal cancer. Radiotherapy doses ranged from 60 to 66 Gy (median, 60 Gy). Concurrent chemotherapy was platinum based in all patients. The endpoints of the present study were overall survival, cause-specific survival, progression-free survival, irradiated-field control, overall tumor response, and prognostic factors. RESULTS: The median observation period for survivors was 70.0 months. The 5-year overall survival was 39.2% (median survival, 39.0 months). The 5-year cause-specific survival, progression-free survival, and irradiated-field control were 43.3%, 31.0% and 59.9%, respectively. Metastatic lesion, size of the metastatic lymph node, and performance status before radiochemotherapy were significantly correlated with prognosis. Complete response and partial response were observed in 22.9% and 57.1% of the patients, respectively. There was no Grade 3 or higher adverse effect based on the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v3.0) in the late phase. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our study findings, approximately 40% of patients with solitary lymph node metastasis after curative resection for esophageal cancer have a chance of long-term survival with definitive radiochemotherapy.