Retrospective stratification of a consecutive cohort of prostate cancer patients treated with a combined regimen of external-beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy.

PURPOSE: The evaluation of clinical variables that influence biochemical relapse-free survival in a cohort of patients treated by combined radiotherapy over a fixed interval. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Three hundred forty-eight patients diagnosed with clinical Stage T1--T3a prostate cancer were treated with a course of (103)Pd or (125)I brachytherapy followed by a limited course of external beam radiation formed the basis for study. All censored patients had a minimum 2-year follow-up. Biochemical relapse-free survival (BRFS) was estimated using a modified American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology consensus definition. Discrete "risk groups" were developed based on BRFS as influenced by pretreatment parameters. RESULTS: Significant risk factors contributing to biochemical failure were serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) greater than 20 ng/mL, Gleason sum of 7 or greater, or clinical stage T2c or greater. Five-year biochemical control for those exhibiting no risk factor was 88%; one risk factor, 75%; two or more risk factors, 51%. The differences in BRFS among all three risk groups were statistically significant. Outcomes for patients presenting with PSA 10 to 20 ng/mL, but otherwise low-risk disease, fared no differently from those low risk patients presenting with PSA less than 10 ng/mL. CONCLUSIONS: Combined radiotherapy with (103)Pd or (125)I followed by external beam radiotherapy achieves a high rate of biochemical and clinical control in patients with low- to intermediate-risk clinically organ confined disease.

Psychosocial factors, curative therapies, and behavioral outcomes. A comparison of testis cancer survivors and a control group of healthy men.

In a retrospective study of 223 testis cancer survivors and 120 controls matched sociodemographically, we examined the relative impact of sociodemographic and clinical factors on long-term outcomes in the areas of sexual function, relationships, employment, and mental outlook. For most of the survivors, testis cancer did not lead to unemployment (4.5%), divorce (6.8%), or disabling psychological problems. Multivariate analysis results confirm that cancer survivors report significantly more infertility and sexual performance distress, but not more desire distress, than the control group. Survivors' sexual impairment varied according to treatment received (and therefore histologic factors) and sociodemographic variables. Parental status (not having children) and education (college or less) independently predict infertility distress, whereas education and lower occupational level independently predicted sexual performance distress. Adjusting for socioeconomic status (SES), the men with advanced testis cancer who received chemotherapy and standard retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) had significantly more infertility and performance distress than those men who received other treatments. Neither the treatment or SES variables predicted disrupted relationships or a deteriorated mental outlook. However, men with sexual impairment distress were more likely to report strained relationships and a pessimistic mental outlook. These findings have implications for treatment decisions and can be used to identify subgroups of survivors who could benefit from counseling and sexual rehabilitation services.

Radiation therapy of seminoma: 17-year experience at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy.

One hundred and sixteen patients with stage I and II primary testicular seminoma were treated at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy (JCRT) between 1968 and 1984. Complete follow-up is available for 114 patients (98%) with a median follow-up time of 6 years. Actuarial relapse-free survival (RFS) and survival for the entire group at 10 years were 94 and 86%, respectively, with 27 patients still at risk beyond 10 years. Actuarial RFS and survival at 10 years by stage were 97 and 92% for stage I, 93 and 81% for stage IIa, 100 and 100% for stage IIb, but only 75 and 51% for stage IIc. The difference in actuarial survival between stage IIc patients and stage I, IIa and IIb patients was significant (p less than 0.01). These results indicate that radiation therapy is excellent treatment for stage I and II seminomas as long as the largest mass of disease is not greater than 5 cm (stage IIc). Patients with stage IIc seminoma are now treated with cisplatin-containing combination chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy to areas of bulk disease. Although the majority of patients with stage II disease in this series received mediastinal irradiation, this is no longer recommended at the JCRT.

Combined modality treatment of peritoneal mesotheliomas.

Five patients with peritoneal mesothelioma were treated with a multimodality approach consisting of debulking surgery, ip chemotherapy, and whole-abdomen irradiation. Chemotherapy included cisplatin and doxorubicin; radiation was given by an open-field technique. Three patients remain disease free at 46, 60, and 61 months after diagnosis. This treatment approach may serve as a model for common tumors characterized by abdominal carcinomatosis.

Craniopharyngioma in an elderly patient.

Craniopharyngioma, a tumor most commonly diagnosed in the young, may occur at any age. The oldest patient known to have histologic documentation of a craniopharyngioma, an 82.5-year-old woman, presented with visual field changes, panhypopituitarism, and mental status changes. This diagnosis should be considered in such patients, because craniopharyngioma is a potentially curable tumor by either surgery or radiation therapy.

Cardiac disease after mediastinal irradiation for seminoma.

One hundred twenty-four patients with seminoma (119 primary testis, five primary extragonadal) were treated between 1968 and 1984 at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy. Fifty-seven of the 124 patients were treated with irradiation to the mediastinum as well as to an infradiaphragmatic field. One patient received supradiaphragmatic radiotherapy only. The remaining patients had radiation treatment limited to the infradiaphragmatic field only. Median dose to the mediastinum among the 58 patients was 2400 cGy. Four patients developed heart disease (one fatal myocardial infarction, one uncomplicated myocardial infarction, one constrictive pericarditis resulting in permanent total body anasarca, and one patient requiring aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting for atherosclerotic disease) and two died suddenly. The two sudden deaths were thought to be cardiac in origin by the patient's primary physicians. All six complications occurred in the group that received mediastinal irradiation. No cardiac disease was manifested in the group not treated with mediastinal irradiation. This difference in the incidence of cardiac disease between the two groups is statistically significant (two sided, P = 0.019). Neither group had a statistically significant difference in cardiac disease rate from a normal population (Framingham study), although the ratio of observed to expected cardiac disease was 1.97 in the group receiving mediastinal radiation. Further experience from this and other institutions is necessary to confirm this finding.

Long-term survival in peritoneal mesothelioma. The role of radiotherapy and combined modality treatment.

Ten patients with peritoneal mesothelioma were treated at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy between 1968 and 1985. Six of the ten patients remained free of disease at 19+ to 78+ months after diagnosis. The six patients received sequential surgical debulking, combination chemotherapy, and whole-abdomen irradiation. Four patients not treated with this multimodality approach died with disease. This approach may have an impact on the natural course of peritoneal mesothelioma, and warrants further study.

Pulmonary emboli as a complication of germ cell cancer treatment.

A total of 3 patients with germ cell cancer had pulmonary emboli while receiving cisplatin-containing chemotherapy. In addition to cisplatin, 1 patient was receiving etoposide plus doxorubicin, 1 vinblastine plus bleomycin and 1 etoposide plus bleomycin at the time of the vascular event. One patient died of cardiovascular collapse, while the other 2 presented with severe shortness of breath, hemoptysis and pleuritic chest pain. A review of vascular complications of cisplatin-containing chemotherapy is presented. Awareness and early recognition of pulmonary emboli in patients receiving these chemotherapeutic agents may minimize treatment-related morbidity and mortality.

Late recurrence in endometrial carcinoma.

This report describes a patient with a recurrence of endometrial carcinoma 26.5 years after diagnosis, a much longer interval to recurrence than previously reported. She presented at age 47 years with an International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) grade 2, Stage IA adenoacanthoma and was treated with an intracavitary radium implant followed by radical hysterectomy. Pathologic examination showed the tumor to be confined to the corpus with only superficial myometrial invasion. She subsequently developed an isolated lower vaginal recurrence histologically identical to the original tumor. The patient was retreated with radiation therapy, and is currently alive and free of disease. This report emphasizes the possibility of late recurrence of endometrial carcinoma even with favorable prognostic features (Stage I, superficial invasion, younger than age 50 years, adenoacanthoma, preoperative irradiation).

Lymphomatoid papulosis following Hodgkin's disease.

Lymphomatoid papulosis has occurred in association with Hodgkin's disease. In all cases previously described, Hodgkin's disease has developed after, or concurrently with, the onset of lymphomatoid papulosis. Two patients who developed lymphomatoid papulosis 1 and 10 years after the diagnosis and therapy for advanced Hodgkin's disease are reported. The purpose of this report is to document this unusual sequence.

Possible benefit of doxorubicin treatment in patients with refractory germ cell cancer.

Forty patients with germ cell cancer (GCC) refractory to vinblastine, cisplatin, and bleomycin therapy were treated with etoposide (E), cisplatin +/- bleomycin +/- doxorubicin and were evaluated retrospectively to determine response to treatment. Thirty cancers were primary testicular and ten extragonadal in origin. Fifty-five percent (22/40 patients) of the group responded to therapy. Eight of 40 (20%) patients had complete responses (CR) and 14 of 40 (35%) had partial responses (PR). Seven of 30 (23%) patients with a testes primary had a CR in contrast to 1 of 10 patients with extragonadal origin cancer. Six of eight patients (75%) having a CR received doxorubicin in combination, while only 2 of 18 (11%) patients having no response were treated with a doxorubicin-combining regimen. Of the entire group, 12 of 14 patients (86%) treated with doxorubicin for the first time responded to therapy compared to 10 to 26 patients (38.5%) not receiving doxorubicin (P = 0.009 Fisher's exact test). Myelosuppression was more frequent in patients treated with doxorubicin (87%) than in those treated without doxorubicin (70%). No increased frequency of hospitalization was required and no treatment-related fatalities occurred. Salvage therapy of patients with GCC appears to be improved when doxorubicin is added to etoposide, cisplatin, and bleomycin.

Immunosuppression: a cause of porokeratosis?

Two patients are reported in which the development of porokeratosis occurred following chemotherapy for systemic malignancy. Immunosuppression associated with malignancy and chemotherapy may exacerbate or initiate the development of porokeratosis in patients predisposed to alterations of cutaneous growth dynamics.

Chemotherapy of refractory germ cell cancer with Etoposide.

Eighteen patients with advanced germ-cell cancer (12 primary gonadal, six extragonadal) that was refractory to vinblastine (V), cisplatin (P), and bleomycin (B) were treated with Etoposide (VP-16-213) and cisplatin +/- bleomycin sulfate +/- doxorubicin hydrochloride. All patients experienced nausea, vomiting, alopecia, and myelosuppression. There were no treatment-related deaths. Five (42%) of 12 patients with primary gonadal germ-cell cancer achieved a complete remission and are presently alive with no evidence of disease. None of the six patients with extragonadal germ-cell cancer achieved a complete response. Thirteen patients died 6.2 months (median) after starting Etoposide treatment. Etoposide-containing chemotherapy is useful in patients with primary gonadal germ-cell cancer. Alternative therapies are needed for patients with extragonadal germ cell cancer.