Angiogenesis in stage IIIB squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix: reproducibility of measurement and preliminary outcome as a prognostic factor.

This study was performed to determine the reliability and replicability of IMD analysis using the Factor VIII immunohistochemical method. The following purpose was determining the relationship between IMD and clinical outcome in individual cervical cancer patient treated with radical radiotherapy. Twenty nine patients with stage IIIB cervical cancer were enrolled. Phase one was performed by using two pieces of tissue biopsy from different locations in the tumor from each patient. The IMD value was counted by the two pathologists after counterstaining by Factor VIII immunohistochemical method. No interobserver disagreement between the two pathologists was found (correlation coefficient = 0.92, 95% CI 0.82-0.96 for the first piece of tissue and 0.85, 95% CI 0.67-0.93 for the second piece). There was no variability in the IMD between the 2 pieces of tissue specimens from different locations of the tumor Phase two followed to evaluate the relationship between IMD and clinical outcome in individual cervical cancer patients. Because of the small sample size, different patients' characteristics, different treatment protocol and short term follow up, there is no statistically significant conclusion.

Hyperthermia in combination with radiation therapy for treatment of advanced inoperable breast cancer.

Twelve breast cancer patients with locally advanced inoperable lesions were studied. Six cases had received chemotherapy, 6 had not. Most of the tumors were ulcerative lesions with an average size of 11.5 cm. The patients were treated with 43 degrees C hyperthermia once or twice a week together with radiation at a dose of 20-70 Gy. Six of them were also treated with concurrent chemotherapy. Two cases responded completely (17%) and 10 cases responded partially (83%). The result indicates that the combination of hyperthermia and radiation, with or without chemotherapy, might be a good treatment option for locally advanced inoperable breast cancer, especially for patients who have had failure or contraindication to chemotherapy. It is an effective treatment for palliation of local symptoms, showing a tendency to achieve local control of large, ulcerative advanced breast lesions especially when such treatment is followed by salvage surgery.

Concurrent radiation therapy and irinotecan in stage IIIB cervical cancer.

The present study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of concurrent radiation therapy and irinotecan in patients with stage IIIB cervical cancer. Fifteen patients with no prior radiation therapy and chemotherapy were enrolled in the study. These patients received 50 Gy of external radiation to whole the pelvis, 50 Gy with an additional dose of 6-10 Gy to the parametrium and 1 or 2 sessions of intracavitary Cesium-137. Weekly intravenous infusion of 40 mg/m2 irinotecan was given for 5 cycles during the course of radiation therapy. Of 14 evaluable patients, 4 (28.6%) achieved complete response and 7 (50.0%) achieved partial response. Treatment-related toxicity included grade 1 & 2 anemia, grade 1 & 2 leucopenia, grade 1 & 2 neutropenia and 7.1 per cent grade 3 diarrhea. No grade 4 toxicity or treatment-related death occurred in the present study. CONCLUSION: Irinotecan is a promising new cytotoxic agent in treatment concurrently with radiation therapy in newly diagnosed locally advanced cervical cancer. This modality of treatment appeared to be effective with acceptable toxicity.