Acute renal toxicity of 2 conditioning regimens in patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem-cell transplantation. Total body irradiation-cyclophosphamide versus ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide

To compare acute renal toxicity of 2 conditioning regimens of total body irradiation/cyclophosphamide TBI-Cy and Ifosfamide, Carboplatin, and Etoposide ICE. Between August 1996 and February 2004, patients treated with autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation in the Department of Medical and Radiation Oncology, Gulhane Military Medical School, Ankara, Turkey with 2 different conditioning regimens was comparatively analyzed for acute renal toxicity in the early post-transplant period. Forty-seven patients received ICE regimen with 12 g/m2; 1.2 g/m2; and 1.2 g/m2 divided to 6 consecutive days, whereas 21 patients received 12 Gy TBI 6 fractions twice daily in 3 consecutive days and 60 mg/m2/day cyclophosphamide for 2 days. Sixty-eight patients were evaluated in this study. There was no significant difference in baseline renal function between patients in the ICE and TBI-Cy groups. Eleven patients developed nephrotoxicity 23.4% in the ICE group while one patient 4.8% in the TBI-Cy group developed nephrotoxicity p=0.06. Five out of 11 patients developing nephrotoxicity in ICE group required hemodialysis and subsequently 4 8.5% of them died. In contrast, one patient 4.8% died due to nephrotoxicity despite hemodialysis in the TBI-Cy arm. This study reveals that the TBI-Cy conditioning regimen seems no more nephrotoxic than an ICE regimen particularly in patients who had used cisplatin prior to transplantation

dose-response analysis for classical Kaposi's sarcoma management by radiotherapy

To evaluate the dose-response relationship in classical Kaposi's sarcoma CKS patients treated with external beam radiotherapy. Between 1993 and 2004, patients with CKS treated at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Gulhane Military Medical School, Ankara, Turkey were evaluated in this retrospective study. The median age at initial presentation was 60 years. First, we analyzed the overall response rates for normalized total dose 2Gy NTD2Gy of <20 Gy, 20 Gy, and >20 Gy. Secondly, we searched for whether better response rates could be obtained with the NTD2Gy of >/= 20 Gy compared to the NTD2Gy of <20 Gy. There were 109 evaluable lesions in 18 patients. The median follow-up was 4 years. The overall response rates at the post-radiotherapy twelfth month were 88% for NTD2Gy of <20 Gy, 97% for 20 Gy, and 96% for NTD2Gy>20 Gy, which were not statistically different. The complete and partial response rates at 12 months were 93.2%, and 3.4% for NTD2Gy of >/= 20Gy, and 64% and 24% for NTD2Gy of <20 Gy and these were statistically different p=0.001. Late side effects of radiation therapy were acceptable in all but 4 patients with fibrosis and edema. This retrospective analysis showed that radiotherapy schedules with an NTD2Gy of 20 Gy and above by using local irradiation fields are effective in terms of complete response rates in the management of CKS compared to NTD2Gy of <20 Gy

Intracranial cavernomas: analysis of 37 cases and literature review.

AIMS: Thirty-seven patients with intracranial cavernomas managed in our department are retrospectively analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of 37 patients with cavernoma who were admitted to our department between 1995 and 2003 were reviewed retrospectively. There were 30 male and 7 female patients with a median age of 26 years (range, 9-57 years). Four cases were treated surgically, 13 were treated by stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and the remainder were managed conservatively. RESULTS: New hemorrhage or additional neurological deficits were not observed in the surgically treated cases, 12 patients who underwent SRS and the other patients who were followed up. One of the 13 patients treated by SRS, underwent microsurgery due to increased seizure frequency. One of the patients treated surgically died on the 11th postoperative day. CONCLUSION: Clinical observation should be the choice of management for patients without new or progressive neurological deficits, without two or more hemorrhages and in patients where the seizures are controlled with drugs. Surgery is the first choice for the cavernomas located in the non-eloquent locations. Radiosurgery may be an alternative for patients having deep-seated and eloquent area located cavernomas and for patients not willing or suitable for surgery.