Biomedical subjects

L Basilico

Publications and source records attributed to L Basilico.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Quality assurance procedures in radiotherapy of brain tumors.

Within the wide range of brain tumor types and their various radiotherapy treatments, quality assurance (QA) criteria play a major role. Attention should be paid to the definition of GTV, CTV, PTV, relevant to 3D stereotactic radiotherapy. In fact the need for delivering high doses with acceptable toxicity, requires an interdisciplinary evaluation of the clinical case as well as a millimetric precision and safety. Conventional treatments with collimated beams are however extensively studied and errors and deviations which may impact on treatment protocol, are identified. Possible GTV and CTV under-and overestimation is described by various authors who point out the useful support of sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. It is stressed that follow-up helps in the reappraisal of the many items of a QA program to detect errors in set-up or implementation as well as possible inadequacies in the initial treatment planning.

Brain Neoplasms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Exclusive radical radiotherapy of laryngeal tumors: 10-year experience].

Exclusive irradiation is used to treat primary neoplasms localized to the larynx because it is known to be able to cure, or at least control, the disease in a high percentage of cases without affecting speech. We report our ten-year experience in the Radiotherapy Department of Chieti Hospital. From 1985 to 1994, exclusive radiotherapy was used to treat 87 patients bearing histologically proved epidermoid carcinomas of the larynx. The patients average age was 67 years. The primary site was the glottis in 64 cases and the supraglottic and subglottic areas in 21 and 2 cases, respectively. The lymph nodes were clinically positive in 8 patients (9%) and negative in 79 (91%). The minimum follow-up was 20 months. All the patients were treated with cobalt 60 beams; the daily dose was 2 Gy, fractionation was 5 days a week. Average tumor dose was 64 Gy (range: 55-70 Gy). Disease-free survival actuarial curves show 72% five-year survival for glottic cancer (75% for N0, 80% for T1 and 61% for T2-T3-T4 cases) and 21% for supraglottic cancer (25% for N0 cases). To conclude, irradiation is confirmed to be a useful tool to treat early laryngeal cancer, while new combinations of surgery, chemotherapy and irradiation are needed to treat locally advanced cancer.

Actuarial Analysis↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Organ preservation in the treatment of brain tumors.

Within the many histological forms, the preservation of function in the central nervous system has always been predominant. However, the limited or null therapeutic interval for high grade gliomas enables organ preservation in small neoplasms only. In case of favorable histology (e.g. dysgerminoma, low grade small glioma), organ preservation is feasible with adequate techniques. When local control is predominant (e.g. neoplasms of eye) the techniques are long known but applied in very few Centers.

Astrocytoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A phase II study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin epirubicin and VP-16 for stage III unresectable non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: The survival rate for surgically resected stage III N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is less than 10%. METHODS: A phase II study of cisplatin, epirubicin, and VP-16 (PEV) was undertaken in an attempt to improve the curative potential of surgery. Forty-one patients with stage III N2 NSCLC received 3 cycles of pEV. Patients with either complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) underwent surgery and 3 additional courses of PEV. RESULTS: The response rate in the whole patient population was 58%. Eighteen patients were resected; twelve resections were complete and 6 were incomplete. Toxicity was mild and consisted mainly of myelosuppression. Twenty-six patients have died, and the median survival of all 41 patients was 18.1 months, with a 3-year survival of 23%. The median survival for those patients who were resected was 27 months with a 3-year survival of 42%. CONCLUSIONS: PEV is an effective low toxic drug combination for limited NSCLC.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Radiotherapy, local control and survival in brain tumors.

High grade glial brain tumors and brain metastases are a complex subject with still unsatisfactory therapeutic results for the frequent absence of early and precise diagnosis as well as for the limited therapeutic interval between the tumor and presumed healthy tissues. The therapeutic problems of cellular hypoxia, the rapid recovery of sublethal damage for neoplastic cells, the rapid regrowth, have led to a number of efforts to deliver the dose of radiotherapy in various associations. The constant technological trend to increase the high dose gradient to the peripheral tumor, is reported.

Brain Neoplasms↗