1,721,316 research outputs found
The risk/benefit ratio of radiotherapy in pituitary tumors
No full textRadiation therapy (RT) is an effective treatment for patients with either nonfunctioning or secreting pituitary adenomas unsuccessfully treated by surgery and/or medical therapy, resulting in local control of 90–95% at 5–10 years and variable normalization of hormonal hypersecretion for patients with GH-, ACTH-, and prolactin-secreting adenomas in the range of 40–80% at 5 years; however, its use has been limited because of concerns regarding potential late toxicity of radiation and delayed efficacy in normalization of hormone hypersecretion. In the last decades, there have been advances in all aspects of radiation treatment, including more accurate immobilization, imaging, treatment planning and dose delivery. RT has evolved with the development of highly conformal stereotactic techniques and new planning and dose delivery techniques, including intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). All these new techniques allow precise and sharply focused radiation delivery reducing the dose to surrounding critical neurovascular and brain structures, and potentially limiting the long-term consequences of radiation treatments. In this review, we present a critical analysis of the more recent available literature on the use of RT in patients with both nonfunctioning and secreting pituitary adenomas, focussing particularly on the risk/benefit ratio of modern radiation techniques
Radiotherapy and radiosurgery for Cushing's disease
No full textPatients with residual or recurrent Cushing's disease receive external beam radiotherapy (RT) with the aim of achieving long-term tumour control and normalization of elevated hormone levels. Treatment is given either as conventional radiotherapy using conformal techniques or as stereotactic radiotherapy, which is either used as fractionated treatment (SCRT) or as single fraction radiosurgery (SRS). We describe the technical aspects of treatment and report a systematic review of the published literature on the efficacy and toxicity of conventional RT, SCRT and SRS. There are no studies directly comparing the different radiation techniques and the reported results are inevitably of selected patients by investigators with interest in the treatment tested. Nevertheless the review of the published literature suggests better hormone and tumour control rates after fractionated irradiation compared to single fraction radiosurgery. Hypopituitarism represents the most commonly reported late complication of radiotherapy seen after all treatments. Although the incidence of other late effects is low, the risk of radiation injury to normal neural structures is higher with single fraction compared to fractionated treatment. Stereotactic techniques offer more localized irradiation compared with conventional radiotherapy, however longer follow-up is necessary to confirm the potential reduction of long-term radiation toxicity of fractionated SCRT compared to conventional RT. On the basis of the available literature, fractionated conventional and stereotactic radiotherapy offer effective treatment for Cushing's disease not controlled with surgery alone. The lower efficacy and higher toxicity of single fraction treatment suggest that SRS is not the appropriate therapy for the majority of patients with Cushing's disease
Watch the Mass, Save the Gland (Radiation Therapy Perhaps Later)
No full textThis 35-year-old woman presented with central diabetes insipidus and a lesion of approximately 1.5 cm located in the pituitary stalk. The neuroradiologist provided the differential diagnoses of langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), sarcoidosis, germ cell tumor, and Rathke’s cleft cyst. In addition, other rare inflammatory lesions, including IgG4-related disease and lymphocytic infundibuloneurohypophysitis, should be considered. To help formulate the diagnosis, additional investigations include a bone scan, a positron emission tomography scan, and spine magnetic resonance imaging, as well as measurement of cerebral spinal fluid angiotensin converting enzyme, antipituitary antibodies, and high serum IgG4 concentration
Radiation therapy for older adults with glioblastoma: radical treatment, palliative treatment, or no treatment at all?
No full textThe incidence of glioblastoma in older adults has increased over the last few decades. Current treatment includes surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, but optimal disease management remains a matter of debate. Both standard (60 Gy in 30 daily fractions) and hypofractionated radiotherapy (30–40 Gy in 10–15 daily fractions) have been employed with a similar survival benefit. Recent randomized studies indicate that chemotherapy with the alkylating agent temozolomide is a safe and effective therapeutic option for patients aged 60 years or older with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, suggesting that it should be a sufficient treatment for patients presenting with a methylated O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter gene. The addition of concomitant temozolomide chemotherapy, adjuvant temozolomide chemotherapy, or both to postoperative radiotherapy, which is the standard treatment for adults with glioblastoma, has been associated with a survival benefit for older patients with a good performance status; however, aggressive treatment in this population may be associated with a high risk of neurological toxicity and deterioration of quality of life. Survival stratification according to age, MGMT promoter methylation status, and neurological status may be useful for clinical decision making and designing randomized trials for adequately evaluating the optimal combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for older patients with glioblastoma
Diffusione attuale della mezzadria nella Provincia di Perugia
No full textCamera di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura di Perugi
Technical advances in radiation therapy for brain tumors
No full textRadiation therapy plays a critical role in the management of brain tumors. Recent advances in radiation techniques include the use of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). All of these techniques allow the delivery of higher radiation doses to the target volume, at the same time reducing the risk of toxicity to normal tissues as compared with conventional 3D conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT). Proton therapy may represent a treatment alternative to photon irradiation, due to the more favorable dose distribution to the target volume. This review summarizes current developments in radiation therapy and their clinical impact on the management of patients with brain tumors
Target delineation and optimal radiosurgical dose for pituitary tumors
No full textStereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) delivered as either single-fraction or multi-fraction SRS (2-5 fractions) is frequently employed in patients with residual or recurrent pituitary adenoma. The most common delivery systems used for SRS include the cobalt-60 system Gamma Knife, the CyberKnife (CK) robotic radiosurgery system, or a modified conventional radiotherapy machine (linear accelerator, LINAC). Tumor control and normalization of hormone hypersecretion have been reported in 75-100 % and 25-80 % of patients, respectively. Hypopituitarism is the most commonly reported late complication of radiation treatment, whereas other toxicities occur less frequently. We have provided an overview of the recent available literature on SRS in patients with a pituitary adenoma. Critical aspects of pituitary irradiation, including target delineation and doses to organs at risk, optimal radiation dose, as well as the long-term efficacy and toxicity of SRS for either nonfunctioning or secreting pituitary adenomas are discussed. Single-fraction SRS represents an effective treatment for patients with a pituitary adenoma; however, caution should be used for lesions > 2.5-3 cm in size and/or involving the anterior optic pathway. Future studies will be necessary to optimize target doses and critical organ dose constrains in order to reduce the long-term toxicity of treatments while maintaining high efficacy
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