Iridium-192 interstitial implant and external beam radiation therapy in the management of squamous cell carcinomas of the tonsil and soft palate.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the results, techniques, indications and complications of interstitial brachytherapy in the management of squamous cell carcinomas of the tonsil and soft palate, we reviewed the Stanford University Medical School experience with this modality. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between May 1975 and January 1990, 37 patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the Tonsillo-Palatine region were treated with a combination of external beam irradiation and a removable Iridium-192 interstitial implant. The mean age of these patients was 56. Twenty-two were males and 15 were females. The stage distribution included four patients with Stage I, 5 with Stage II, 10 with Stage III, and 18 with Stage IV cancers. Thirty-two percent (12/37) of these patients had T3 or T4 lesions. Forty-nine percent (18/37) had stage N2 or N3 cervical lymphadenopathy. All 37 patients received initial external beam irradiation to the primary, bilateral necks, and supraclavicular region (mean dose: 5400 cGy, range 4000-6600). Eighteen patients (49%) also received neck dissections. All 37 patients received an interstitial Irridium-192 implant using a combination intraoral swage and external looping technique. The mean dose was 2700 cGy (range 2000-4000 cGy) to an average volume of 24 cc (range 5-81). RESULTS: Local control was obtained in 95% (35/37) of the patients. Eighty-seven percent (32/37) of the patients have remained disease-free in the neck. Nine patients have developed second primary lesions, and one developed pulmonary metastasis. Fifteen patients have died (6 succumbed to their cancers, 6 to second primaries, 2 to intercurrent disease, 1 from an unknown cause). The actuarial freedom from relapse is 75%, and overall survival is 64% at 5 years, with a mean follow up of 43 months (range 5-110). Complications were limited to one case of osteoradionecrosis of the mandible and one tonsillar ulcer. Functional and esthetic integrity was preserved in most of these patients. CONCLUSION: Iridium-192 interstitial implant boost combined with external beam radiation therapy is a safe and effective therapy in the management of locally advanced carcinomas of the tonsil and soft palate.

Hodgkin's disease with bulky mediastinal involvement: effective management with combined modality therapy.

PURPOSE: To assess results, complications, treatment techniques, and patterns of failure in patients with bulky mediastinal Hodgkin's disease treated with combined modality therapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between 1980 and 1988, 48 patients with Hodgkin's disease who had large mediastinal masses were treated at Stanford University. All patients were staged with clinical studies which included computed tomographic scans of the chest and bipedal lymphograms. Initially, 10 patients underwent staging laparotomy and splenectomy, subsequently all patients were staged by clinical criteria alone. Mediastinal mass ratios ranged from .35 to .85 (mean .46). The majority of patients had at least one site of extralymphatic extension (E-lesion) within the chest. Combined modality therapy included MOPP (prednisone deleted after mediastinal irradiation) in 15, ABVD in 14, and PAVe in 19 patients. All patients received mantle irradiation (mean dose 44 Gy) but only patients with abdominal disease received subdiaphragmatic irradiation. RESULTS: The actuarial survival and freedom from relapse were 84% and 88% at 9 years. There was an intrathoracic component of failure in all seven patients who either failed to achieve an initial complete response or who experienced a relapse after a complete response. Both patients who experienced a relapse after a complete response achieved durable second responses with subsequent chemotherapy. Two of five patients who failed to achieve an initial complete response were treated successfully with alternative chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Routine combined modality therapy is the treatment of choice for patients with Hodgkin's disease who have large mediastinal masses.

Radiation therapy in the management of bulky mediastinal Hodgkin's disease.

From July 1981 to July 1985, 20 patients with bulky mediastinal Hodgkin's Disease (maximum mediastinal width divided by the maximum intrathoracic diameter for a mediastinal mass ratio (MMR) greater than 0.33 were treated at Stanford University with definitive radiation therapy alone. The majority of these patients were selected to receive radiation therapy because they had the more favorable characteristics of minimal extralymphatic involvement, mediastinal masses that were superior and central in location, and a MMR less than or equal to 0.50. All 20 patients were laparotomy staged, and 17 received some radiation to the mantle before laparotomy. Seventeen patients had pathologic stage (PS) II disease (13 PS IIA, 4 PS IIB), two had PS IIISA, and one had PS IB. Eleven patients (55%) had extralymphatic involvement. All patients were irradiated to the mantle field using a shrinking field technique (mediastinal dose, 4400 to 5500 cGy, mean 4990 cGy). After completion of the mantle, all patients with good clinical responses received infradiaphragmatic radiation. Treatment complications included two cases of mild radiation pneumonitis, five of hypothyroidism, five of localized Herpes zoster, one of amenorrhea, one of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and one of sepsis. Four patients relapsed. All had an intrathoracic component to their failure. All four patients were salvaged with MOP(P) chemotherapy and are currently alive and free of disease. For the entire group, the actuarial freedom from relapse is 80% at 7 years and the survival is 100%. Median follow-up time is 67 months. The authors conclude that radiation therapy alone is effective in the management of selected patients with Hodgkin's disease who have extensive mediastinal involvement, even when the MMR exceeds 1/3.