Cancer research
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In the past decade, immunotherapies have been developed that are capable of causing prolonged cancer regressions in selected patients with advanced metastatic disease. In the past year, attempts at the gene therapy of cancer have begun. These experimental cancer treatments deserve vigorous exploration.
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The radiocurability of human melanoma xenografts was studied by treating tumors with multiple fractions of 2.0 Gy and using local tumor control at 180 days as end point. Three melanoma lines (E. F., G. ⋯ Thus, the differences in tumor radiocurability among the lines were mainly a consequence of cellular differences in the capacity to repair radiation damage. Comparisons of measured TCD50s with theoretical TCD50s, calculated from cell-surviving fractions measured in vitro after radiation treatment in vitro or in vivo, suggested that other tumor parameters, e.g., rate of population between radiation fractions, also had a significant impact on the TCD50. However, this study strongly supports the assumptions that the surviving fraction at 2.0 Gy in vitro is a useful parameter for prediction of clinical tumor radiocurability.