Benjamin Movsas

..The purpose of this phase II study was to prospectively determine the efficacy of preoperative chemoradiation with a hyperfractionated (Hfx) RT boost to 61.8 Gy in locally advanced rectal cancer...

..To determine the added value of quality of life (QOL) as a prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) in patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated on Radiation Therapy Oncology Group RTOG-9801...

..Our study assessed consolidation with either gemcitabine alone or with docetaxel after identical chemoradiation as used in Southwest Oncology Group 9504...

..To test the ability of the cytoprotectant, amifostine, to reduce chemoradiotherapy-induced esophagitis and evaluate its influence on quality of life (QOL) and swallowing symptoms...

..Ultimately, the goal is to be able to apply such promising agents to improve the quality of life for patients receiving radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy for cancer...

..To determine the feasibility of combining concurrent carboplatin/paclitaxel and thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) for completely resected stage II and IIIA non-small cell lung cancer...

..To determine the national surgical practice patterns of care for operable lung cancer patients treated with radiation...

..66 GHz). Overall, the iPlan MC algorithm is demonstrated to be an accurate and efficient dose algorithm, incorporating robust tools for MC-based SBRT treatment planning in the routine clinical setting...

..To correlate tumor oxygenation status with long-term biochemical outcome after prostate brachytherapy...

..01). These results further demonstrate the safety of this investigational approach and raise the possibility that it may have the potential to improve the outcome of conformal radiotherapy in select patient groups...

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..CONCLUSIONS: Escalation of RT dose reduced the rates of BF, DM, and OM significantly in patients with prostate cancer. The inclusion of YOT had a pronounced effect on these correlations that may confound interpretation...

..A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the influence of gender, race, and marital status on overall survival (OS) in Radiation Therapy Oncology Group nonoperative non-small cell lung cancer trials...

..There is a challenge in designing an efficacy trial for newly-diagnosed prostate cancer given its long natural history. The regulatory agency recommended a Phase II trial for safety before conducting the efficacy trial...

..To develop a three-dimensional (3D) cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) estimation method using a deformation field map, and to evaluate and optimize the efficiency and accuracy of the method for use in the clinical setting...

..The results demonstrate that noninvasive imaging of adenovirus-mediated gene therapy in humans is feasible and safe...

..We discuss the obstacles that must be overcome before adenovirus-mediated hNIS gene transfer and (131)I radioiodine therapy can be used as a definitive treatment for localized prostate cancer...

..The overall uncertainty of the mask system was +/-4 mm, and the reproducibility was +/-2.9 mm in terms of 95% CI. The study demonstrated that the image guidance system provides accurate and precise target positioning...

..In the clinical applications, registrations starting with the mutual information followed by the gradient difference may provide the best accuracy and the most robustness...

..These data suggest that the primary tumor takes precedence over lymph node coverage or the use of STAD. Doses >70 Gy are of paramount importance in such intermediate- and high-risk patients...

..To evaluate the positioning accuracies of two image-guided localization systems, ExacTrac and On-Board Imager (OBI), in a stereotactic treatment unit...

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..In this study, the authors propose a TCP model that can account for the effects of setup uncertainties and tumor cell density decay in the ME region...

..This study evaluates such position uncertainty for spinal radiosurgery patients...

..This study aimed to quantify the incidental dose to the potential CTV under different SBRT techniques...

..Understanding the interaction between gender and performance status could lead to better prognosticators and potentially could tailor interventions for specific groups of patients with lung cancer...

..The purpose of this analysis was to assess the impact of pretreatment factors on quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients...

..These issues are to be addressed in a randomized phase II trial of amifostine given subcutaneously or via intravenous bolus in non-small cell lung cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation treatment...

..The purpose of RTOG 97-12 was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of thoracic radiation therapy (RT) with concurrent chemotherapy for patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer...

..To identify factors significantly influencing accrual to clinical protocols by analyzing radiation Patterns of Care Study (PCS) surveys of 3,047 randomly selected radiotherapy (RT) patients...

..Hence they provide the scientific basis for an ongoing Phase I trial in pancreatic cancer...

..However, little evidence is available to show that BF is associated with death for patents with prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy. We examined the relationship between BF and death from prostate cancer...

..To determine the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), also known as radiosurgery, in patients with head-and-neck cancers...

..To determine the radiographic and clinical efficacy of stereotactic single dose radiosurgery (SRS) and fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT) as salvage therapy for glioblastoma (GBM) at recurrence...

..To assess how fraction size impacts lung radiation toxicity and therapeutic ratio in treatment of lung cancers...

..To examine the dosimetric impact of margin reduction and quantify residual error after three-dimensional (3D) image registration using daily cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) for prostate cancer patients...

..The dosimetry and acute toxicity are described in the first 100 men enrolled in a randomized trial...

..Patients tolerated the treatment well without major acute toxicities. Image guided spinal radiosurgery can be successfully applied to treat patients with focal spine metastases...

..This experience demonstrates that spinal radiosurgery can achieve rapid and durable pain relief. Single-dose radiosurgery has a potential to be a viable treatment option for single spinal metastasis...

..In summary, advances in radiation oncology have led to significant gains in prostate cancer control. Clinical prognostic factor-based patient selection is central to the optimization of outcome...

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..We investigated the toxicity, response rate, and overall survival (OS) with induction carboplatin and vinorelbine followed by concomitant topotecan and ART in patients with locally advanced/unresectable NSCLC...

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..Therefore, a clinical trial was performed to quantitatively determine the degree of epidural decompression by radiosurgery of metastatic epidural compression...

..It is strongly suggested that severe hypoxia in the prostates of certain patients limits the overall cancer cure rate by conventional radiation therapy...

..We conclude that adenovirus expressing NIS has the potential to be used as a novel boron delivery agent and should be explored for future clinical applications...

..To use probability density function (PDF) to model motion effects and incorporate this information into treatment planning for lung cancers...

..The discrepancies between the isocenter between the ExacTrac and CBCT in four dimensions (three translations and one rotation) were recorded and statistically analyzed using two-tailed t-test...

..6 GHz computer. This study has demonstrated that the FEM can be integrated with intensity-based image registration algorithms to improve their registration accuracy, especially in low-contrast regions...

..The tolerance of partial volume of the spinal cord may determine the extent of clinical application. The study analyzed the partial volume tolerance of the human spinal cord to single fraction radiosurgery...

..In addition the database is web-based and accessible by multiple users, facilitating its convenient application and use...

..Brainstem lesions occurred earlier than temporal lobe RI. The majority of the RI lesions, not mixed with the tumor in this study, showed radiographic and clinical improvement with steroid and symptomatic treatments...

..To evaluate different similarity metrics (SM) using natural calcifications and observation-based measures to determine the most accurate prostate and seminal vesicle localization on daily cone-beam CT (CBCT) images...

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..This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed approach...

..This study evaluated whether males without partners were disadvantaged for survival in Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) head and neck cancer clinical trials...

..We investigated the impact of race, in conjunction with gender and partner status, on locoregional control (LRC) and overall survival (OS) in three head and neck trials conducted by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG)...

..To quantify the three-dimensional intrafractional prostate motion over typical treatment time intervals with cine-magnetic resonance imaging (cine MRI) studies...

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..Biologic therapies such as erlotinib and bevacizumab have been incorporated into every phase of chemotherapy with good results...

..A rigid frame system serves as a reliable alignment reference in terms of repositioning patients into the planning position, while skin-based reference showed larger deviations in repositioning patients...

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..To develop and evaluate a technique and procedure of using gated-CT images in combination with PET image to determine the internal target volume (ITV), which could reduce the planning target volume (PTV) with adequate target coverage...

..The purpose of this analysis was to determine the percentage of cases in which a previously undetected radiographic finding was found on review of CT simulation images by diagnostic radiology...

..Single fraction radiosurgery achieved an excellent clinical and radiographic response of myeloma epidural spinal cord compression. Radiosurgery can be a viable treatment option for myeloma epidural compression...

..The focus of this work is to develop a practical planning method that results in increased dose conformity and reduced treatment time for segmental multileaf collimation (sMLC) based intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) delivery...

..To determine if physician prediction of survival duration (PSD) is accurate for patients with metastatic breast or prostate cancer...

..Much work lies ahead. Nevertheless, for the time being, these studies provide hope that gene therapy may someday earn a place in the management of prostate cancer...

..To quantify the dosimetric consequences of external patient contour distortions produced on low-field and high-field MRIs for external beam radiation of prostate cancer...

..The P/M PO2 ratio was the strongest predictor for biochemical control on stepwise multivariate analysis. Longer follow up with more patients is planned to confirm this result...

..This article provides an overview of the importance, methodology, analysis and presentation of health-related quality of life in lung cancer trials, and also discusses some of the limitations and challenges of such studies...

..Amifostine is a cytoprotector that can reduce toxicity and potentially improve the therapeutic ratio of radiotherapy...

..This technique can potentially be used to control the nonrespiratory motion during SBRT. However, further validation is required for its clinical use...

..The purpose of this study is to present a 4DCT-based method to measure the regional ventilation capability, namely, regional compliance, for the evaluation of radiation-induced lung damage...

..To determine the effects of the prescription depth, cylinder size, treatment length, tip space, and curved end on high-dose-rate vaginal brachytherapy (HDR-VBT) of endometrial cancer...

..The surface and in vivo doses were also measured for phantoms at the central-axis setup. The difference was less than approximately 12% to the table-drop setup...

..Future studies should focus on incorporating QOL into phase III studies with clear hypotheses that can ultimately lead to clinically meaningful interventions...

..Future strategies include novel chemotherapy, methods to reduce toxicity, the emerging role of neoadjuvant therapy, and the promise of new biologic agents...

..This study compared patients treated with hyperfractionated radiation and 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) to standard fractionation and BCNU...

..Given the high morbidity associated with AST, we believe this approach could provide an attractive treatment option for selection of patients experiencing PSA relapse following definitive therapy...

..Preventive strategies to minimize this toxicity also are explored. Overall, this article reviews the current understanding of radiation toxicity for the esophagus...

..ASCO 2000;19:484a; Furuse. JCO 1999;17:2692-9; Zatloukal. ASCO 2002;A-1159]. Data are less secure regarding the role of chemotherapy in stage I and II NSCLC...

..Based on these data, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) initiated a Phase III trial to test the efficacy of beta-interferon in poor-risk patients with Stages IIIA and IIIB non-small-cell lung carcinoma...

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..We investigated whether 8 Gy delivered in a single treatment fraction provides pain and narcotic relief that is equivalent to that of the standard treatment course of 30 Gy delivered in 10 treatment fractions over 2 weeks...

..Radiation Therapy Oncology Group protocol 85-31 was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of adjuvant androgen suppression, using goserelin, in unfavorable prognosis carcinoma of the prostate treated with definitive radiotherapy (RT)...

..6 months in advanced NSCLC (Jagasia et al.; Clinical Cancer Research 7: 68, 2001). A weekly schedule for each agent (versus less frequent doses) limits toxicity and increases the opportunity for radiosensitization...

..Studies with sufficient statistical power to address this question are lacking...

..We examined reasons patients provide for declining smoking treatment and compared treatment decliners to enrollees...

..To compare whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) with WBRT combined with thalidomide for patients with brain metastases not amenable to resection or radiosurgery...

..This secondary analysis of 156 patients examined neurocognitive and quality of life (QOL) outcomes...

..The future challenge will be to translate QOL results into clinically meaningful interventions...

..The objective of the current study was to examine whether emotional well-being predicted survival in a large sample of patients with head and neck cancer who were participating in multicenter clinical trials...

..Adjuvant therapy (both chemotherapy and radiation therapy) and the use of larger fractions of radiotherapy delivered to a smaller area for nonoperative treatment of early stage NSCLC have shown promising results...

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..This article reviews current recommendations regarding the staging of patients with NSCLC and addresses the role of PET/CT...

..Superior sulcus tumors are discussed elsewhere in these guidelines...