Pattern of relapse and outcome of non-metastatic germinoma patients treated with chemotherapy and limited field radiation: the SFOP experience.

Over the last two decades, chemotherapy has been introduced in protocols for patients with intracranial germinoma with the objective of reducing the volume and the dose of irradiation without compromising survival rates. The aim of this work is to critically analyze the pattern of relapse in a cohort of patients with nonmetastatic germinoma prospectively treated with chemotherapy followed by focal field radiation. Data of all germinoma patients registered in the French protocol for intracranial germ cell tumors between 1990 and 1999 were reviewed. The pattern of relapse, management, and outcome were analyzed in 10 of 60 patients who developed a recurrence after initial treatment. In 9 patients, the site of recurrence was local or loco-regional, notably in the periventricular area for 8. One patient only had isolated distant leptomeningeal relapse. The review of the sites of relapse suggests that most recurrences could have been avoided with a larger ventricular field of radiation. Treatment at first relapse included chemotherapy (10 patients), high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant (8 patients), and/or radiation therapy (4 patients). Five patients experienced a second relapse. At a median follow-up of 72 months since the first relapse, 8 patients are alive in second or third remission. This review identified an excess of periventricular relapses when the focal field of radiation is used in the combined management of germinoma. These relapses are predominantly marginal or outside radiation fields. Ventricular field radiation appears a logical alternative to decrease the incidence of such relapses. Future trials should aim at better identifying patients who may benefit from local and ventricular radiation, respectively.

[Future perspectives. From basic research to the development of new therapies aimed at the inhibition of the different stages of signal transduction: applications in breast cancer]. / Perspective d'avenir. De la recherche fondamentale au développement de nouvelles thérapeutiques visant à inhiber les différentes étapes de la transduction du signal: application au cancer du sein.

The mechanism implicated in the carcinogenesis are better understood and the transduction of signal is a potential target for new agents. In this review, we describe the different pathways implicated in the transduction of signal and the potential target for new agents in breast cancer.

Preliminary results for prone-position breast irradiation.

PURPOSE: To evaluate an alternative prone-position technique for breast irradiation after conservative surgery. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A plexiglas platform with a circular opening for the breast and a double 30 degrees craniocaudal and 10 degrees transverse (left-right for the right breast and right-left for the left breast) slope was evaluated for positioning, the possible use of CT, and dosimetric study in 35 patients with large pendulous breasts who were likely to benefit from irradiation of the breast alone after conservative surgery. RESULTS: The positioning was excellent for all but 3 obese patients who could not achieve adequate prolonged immobilization. The platform height and position made it possible to obtain CT in the other 32 patients. Three-dimensional dosimetry revealed that 85 degrees and 265 degrees angles of the tangential fields for the right breast and 275 degrees and 95 degrees angles for the left breast were adequate for all patients. The use of 4 or 6 MV photon energy and a variety of wedges made it possible to treat the whole breast and the chest wall. The high-dose regions of the base and the top of the breast did not exceed 105%. No interruption was necessary during treatment, and only grade I-II acute skin reactions were observed. CONCLUSION: The results of this study have demonstrated the feasibility of the technique, which has the great advantage of using a similar position for CT scanning and treatment.