Tumori
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Histological confirmation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is often required before patients are offered stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) as a treatment option. Many patients, however, are unsuitable to undergo a biopsy procedure because of comorbidity. Our objective is to compare the outcomes of patients with biopsy-proven (BxPr) or clinically/radiographically diagnosed (RadDx) early-stage NSCLC treated with SBRT. ⋯ SBRT is a practical treatment modality for patients with RadDx early-stage NSCLC. Outcomes of patients RadDx with NSCLC mirror the results of patients treated with BxPr disease.
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Comparative Study
Multifraction radiotherapy for palliation of painful bone metastases: 20 Gy versus 30 Gy.
To compare 2 multifraction radiotherapy schedules in the palliation of painful bone metastases. ⋯ In our series, both regimens achieved high rate of pain relief, although the group treated with higher total dose reported better complete response rate. The 30-Gy arm had a significantly higher rate of acute toxicity.
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Clinical guidelines recommend axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in cases of metastatic sentinel lymph node (SNL) in patients with clinically node-negative early breast cancer. However, a relevant number of ALND could be avoided in a subset of patients in whom the risk of non-SNL metastases is low. In order to define this population, several authors have proposed mathematical models, which have been validated in many studies. These studies reached different conclusions regarding which model demonstrated the best statistical discrimination power, mainly due to differences in clinical and pathologic variables used, and particularly differences in the number of dissected SLNs. ⋯ Based on our data, we cannot recommend the clinical use of validated predictive nomograms in order to avoid ALND. We suggest setting up a multicenter Italian study to build a model specific to our setting and based on larger series.