Psychosocial counseling of patients planned for hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation for malignant conditions-practical challenges and solutions from India.

Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is a life-saving procedure often performed to cure relapsed and difficult-to-treat malignancies. Only a handful of centers in India were initially involved in the delivery of these services. However, in the last decade, more than 100 centers in the private and public domain have started offering transplant services in the country. Moreover, there are funding options, which has opened up this expensive treatment options for economically backward patients. Costs apart, there are multiple social, familial, and emotional challenges faced by these patients. A multidisciplinary support team involving social workers, psychologists, and transplant nurses, besides the treating hematologist/oncologist, is required for the optimum care of these patients. These challenges, in the Indian context, are often unique. Unfortunately, there is limited information and resource available to guide counseling of patients planned for HSCT in India. We conducted a workshop at our center where a panel of experts with experience in dealing with patients undergoing HSCT discussed issues faced by them. These discussions constitute a valuable resource for counseling patients planned for HSCT. They were transcribed by a postgraduate doctor and are summarised here in a case-based format.

A study on the impact of patient-related parameters in the ability to spare parotid glands by intensity-modulated radiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to study the effect of geometric- and patient-related variables in achieving the desired dose-volume constraints to parotid for patients undergoing definitive/adjuvant intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study considered HNSCC patients who underwent IMRT at our center between 2009 and 2014. Patients' details and dose-volume parameters were collected, and correlated with dose to parotids using Pearson's correlation test. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients were found to be eligible. Oral primary predominated (37.3%) and 53 (79%) had locally advanced disease. The parotid volume (PV) had no impact on mean dose. There was a negative linear correlation between the ratio (Parotid-planning target volume [PTV] overlap)/PV and mean dose to the whole parotid (y = 1.14-0.011×; R2 = 0.509; P = 0.001), suggesting that a ratio of 0.7 resulted in mean dose ≥ 40 Gy and potentially irreversible xerostomia. No association was found between site of primary and parotid dose, but node-positive (N+) patients received significantly higher dose compared to N0 patients (34.5 Gy vs. 29.5 Gy; P = 0.001). N + patients persisted to receive higher dose even when T stage was accounted for (32.5 Gy vs. 28.9 Gy for T2; P = 0.003). On the last follow-up, 35 patients (52%) had >/=Grade II xerostomia. Average mean dose to combined PV was higher in patients with > grade I xerostomia compared to patients with