The clinical application of angiostatic therapy in combination with radiotherapy: past, present, future.

Although monotherapy with angiostatic drugs is still far from effective, there is abundant evidence that angiostatic therapy can improve the efficacy of conventional treatments like radiotherapy. This has instigated numerous efforts to optimize and clinically implement the combination of angiostatic drugs with radiation treatment. The results from past and present clinical trials that explored this combination therapy indeed show encouraging results. However, current findings also show that the combination has variable efficacy and is associated with increased toxicity. This indicates that combining radiotherapy with angiostatic drugs not only holds opportunities but also provides several challenges. In the current review, we provide an update of the most recent insights from clinical trials that evaluated the combination of angiostatic drugs with radiation treatment. In addition, we discuss the outstanding questions for future studies in order to improve the clinical benefit of combining angiostatic therapy with radiation therapy.

[From "Karzinos" to modern urologic oncology : A long way from the first surgical procedures to targeted therapy]. / Von "Karzinos" zur modernen Uroonkologie : Der lange Weg von den ersten Operationen zur "targeted therapy".

Cancer can be traced back to the Iron Age. Both the ancient Egyptians and Hippocrates dealt with the disease. Urological tumor treatment is an integral part of urology and has undergone interesting developments. Today, it comprises all possible forms of treatment-from radical surgery to the most modern radiological therapies, including antihormal therapy, chemotherapy, and modern targeted therapy.

Thirty years of phase I radiochemotherapy trials: Latest development.

Radiochemotherapy is undergoing a complete expansion. Currently, possibilities of treatment combination are skyrocketting, with different anticancer and targeted molecules, different radiotherapy techniques, and dose escalation with each therapy. The development of a modern phase I radiochemotherapy trial becomes more and more complex and should be fully investigated. In the literature, there are no exhaustive reviews describing the necessity of their characteristics. The present article explores historical and current phase I clinical trials involving a combination of radiation therapy and anticancer therapies. Selected trials were identified by searching in PubMed databases. A total of 228 studies were identified in the last three decades, and a portrait of their characteristics is presented. As expected, most frequently studied malignancies were head and neck cancers, followed by non-small cell lung cancer and brain cancer. Toxicity is reported in more than 90% of the studies. Most studies were published since 2010, at the area of targeted therapies, but mainly concerned classical chemotherapies (cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil). The present review highlights some limits. Indeed, methodology seems not optimised and could be based on more accurate methods of dose-escalation. The present portrait of phase I radiochemotherapy trials suggests that radiochemotherapy notion must be reinvented and trials should be adapted to its complexity. Step by step method does not sound like an option anymore. Let us build the future of radiochemotherapy on past evidences.

Radiotherapy in early stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma: past, present and future.

For early stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), extended field irradiation (EFRT) alone has shown excellent results in low relapse rate and high long-term survival rate. With the patients achieving long-term survival, the risk of the RT-related late complications was increased, such as secondary malignancies and heart infarctions. According to a series of studies, the combined modality therapy (CMT) as the first-line therapy has replaced the radiotherapy (RT) alone. The recommended regimens are 2 cycles of ABVD followed by involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) (20-30 Gy) for the favorable patients, and 4 cycles of ABVD followed by IFRT (30 Gy) for unfavorable patients. The involved nodular radiotherapy (INRT) has shown the potential to achieve satisfactory primary tumor control with lower RT-related toxicity than EFRT or IFRT in combined therapy. Some prospective randomized studies are going about chemotherapy (CT) plus INRT under the guidance of PET. It is not certain that whether CT alone has more benefits to cure limited HL. Appropriate application of new RT techniques can improve the radiation dose distribution in target fields and protect normal tissues from excess RT-related damage.

A history of surgery for locally-advanced (T4) cancer of the thoracic esophagus in Japan and a personal perspective.

The history of esophageal surgery in Japan can be divided into three periods, an era of safety from 1930 to 1980, an era of radicality from 1980 to 2000, and the era of quality of life (QOL) from 2000 to the present. The treatment for T4 cancers of the thoracic esophagus has also changed over time from preoperative radiotherapy, combined resection of the neighboring organs with esophagectomy, and to definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) with salvage surgery. At present, almost all patients with an unresectable T4 esophageal cancer receives dCRT. However, there are many patients with a residual or recurrent tumor after dCRT. Salvage surgery for such patients often results in incomplete resection of the tumor because the tumor involves the trachea and/or aorta. New techniques to enable the resection of such neighboring organs even during salvage surgery are needed. In the future, the mainstay of treatment for esophageal cancer will be CRT with the foreseeable progress in new drugs and new techniques of radiotherapy. Surgery will be indicated for a local failure after CRT, while combined resection of the neighboring organs will be necessary to treat a local failure after CRT for T4 cancers. New surgical techniques have to be developed through some application of new devices and equipment.

President's address of the 65th annual scientific meeting of the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery: challenges for advanced esophageal cancer.

Advanced esophageal tumors have been a challenge for surgery since the very beginning, and these challenges continue still today. In the early period of three-field lymphadenectomy (late 1980s), there was no special attention paid to tracheal necrosis after such an extended operation. In 1988, we reported functional mediastinal dissection preserving the right bronchial artery to prevent such complications. In 1993, we reported that the survival after three-field lymphadenectomy was better than that after en-bloc esophagectomy, and then the lymph node compartment classification based on the metastatic rate and the survival rate. This concept was introduced into the 9th edition of the Guidelines for Clinical and Pathologic Studies on Carcinoma of the Esophagus published in 1999. In early 1980s, combined resection of the neighboring organs was initiated for a locally advanced esophageal cancer. Almost all patients who underwent such an operation, however, died of metastasis in the short-term after surgery without any additional treatment. In 1987, we reported several types of tracheal repair using the latissimus dorsi muscle flap, as a less-invasive surgery that enabled adjuvant or additive therapy, after resection of the trachea involved by cancer. Then in 2004, we demonstrated that the canine aorta could be resected even immediately after aortic stenting. This suggests that an esophageal cancer involving the aorta can be resected using a new technique. To meet the challenges posed by advanced esophageal cancer, the help of other specialized fields besides esophageal surgery is needed: "The specialist must know everything of something, something of everything."

Reduced-intensity conditioning in allogeneic stem cell transplantation for hematological malignancies: a historical perspective.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation represents a curative treatment approach for a large range of hematologic malignancies. Traditionally, high-dose radiochemotherapy as preparative regimen has been thought to be necessary for successful allogeneic stem cell transplantation. However, high-dose conditioning often results in considerable medullary and extramedullary toxicity, contributing to high rates of treatment-related mortality. This limits the use of this procedure to patients below 60 years of age without significant comorbidities. Since the peak incidence of most hematological malignancies is beyond the 5th decade of life, the majority of patients are not eligible for high-dose treatment. During the last 15 years, several dose-reduced or even non-myeloablative conditioning regimens have been developed, offering a curative treatment option for these patients. This review summarizes the history of reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) transplantations, depicts the differences among regimens, highlights significant patient factors, and describes the impact on selected hematological malignancies.

Cancer nursing: the modern era.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To identify critical elements of the major shift in cancer nursing practice, education, and the expectations of professional nursing immediately following World War II that were precursors of contemporary oncology nursing preparation and practice. DATA SOURCES: General healthcare, medical, and nursing literature, particularly in the American Journal of Nursing, published after World War II and before the inception of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS); archival materials in the collection of ONS; nursing history literature; and personal communications. DATA SYNTHESIS: Nurses in a wide variety of practice settings with varied levels of experience, including staff nurses, homecare nurses, and high-level leaders and decision makers of the time, were responsible for bringing attention to and addressing the challenges and joys of cancer nursing. CONCLUSIONS: Professional nursing in general and cancer nursing in particular underwent significant changes and a distinct paradigm shift in cancer nursing education and practice in the period of time surrounding World War II, which promoted the advancement of cancer nursing. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: This historical review provides lessons for contemporary cancer nursing clinicians, executives, researchers, and educators with regard to imagining ways to approach issues, the necessity of collaboration and public-private partnerships, and maintaining the passion for this increasingly complex nursing specialty.