Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Lymphography in Patients with Cancer of the Endometrium

The results of foot lymphography in 161 patients with endometrial carcinoma, observed from 1968 to 1977 at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan are reported. Ninety-three were new cases, 40 were recurrences, and 28 were patients who underwent restaging diagnostic procedures without clinical evidence of disease. The majority of the cases were adenocarcinomas (146/161, or 91%), 10 were mixed adenosquamous carcinomas (6%) and 5 (3%) were adenoacanthomas. The overall incidence of pathologic lymphograms was 30% (46/161 patients). The incidence of the lymphatic spread was related to the clinical stage and to the extent of recurrent disease. In fact, in the 93 new cases, lymphography was positive in 11% of patients at stage I, 39% at stage II, 57% at stage III and 67% at stage IV disease. In the 40 pretreated patients, lymph node involvement was 33% in vaginal recurrences, 52% in pelvic abdominal recurrences and 73% in widespread diffusion. Finally, in 28 pretreated patients with no evidence of disease, the incidence of lymph node involvement was 7%. Metastases were found only in the pelvic nodes in 59% of the patients and only in the para-aortic nodes in 10%; in 31%, both chains were simultaneously involved; bilateral involvement was found in 45% of the patients with radiologically proven metastases. The 5-yr survival rate for patients at stage I-II and III disease with positive lymphography was 47.6% as compared with 83.5% for negative cases. In patients at stage I and II, the difference of survival was equal to 23.4%. The reliability of the results is confirmed by the concordance with the data of the literature on histologic involvement, by the first radiologic-anatomic comparison, and by the clinical course of the positive cases. Lymphography is of unquestionable value for an appropriate staging and for a correct treatment. The prognostic significance of the procedure is evident and such as to justify a major therapeutic aggressiveness in positive cases.

Basal-Cell Tumors of the Lumbar Skin after Radiotherapy for Arthrosis

Twenty-three cases of basal-cell tumor of the skin arising in the lumbar-sacral region after repeated irradiations in anti-inflammatory doses for arthrosis are discussed. The involved cutaneous region had been submitted to a number of roentgenotherapy cycles, varying from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 10. The total dose absorbed at skin level varied between 14.4 and 72.0 Gy, administered over 2 to 6 years. Thirteen to 30 years (median, 19) had elapsed since the end of the irradiations. This observation compels a critical re-evaluation to be made concerning certain radiotheraphy indications. The treatment of these lesions involves some problems: radiotherapy is made difficult by the coexistence of often serious dystrophic lesions on the surrounding skin, and surgery is often unsuccessful. The topic application of a 5-fluorouracil ointment seems to achieve good results.

Results of Radiotherapy in a Series of 250 Carcinomas of the Mucosal Surface of the Cheek

This paper presents the results of a retrospective clinical study of 250 cases of mono-centric carcinoma of the mucosal surface of the cheek, i. e. all the primaries treated by radiotherapy at our Institute between January 1948 and December 1965. Neoplastic lesions found at follow-up were regarded as marginal recurrences if in the proximity of the treated area and as secondary tumors in other cases. From 1948 to 1957 conventional radium therapy was the usual treatment for the primary tumor whereas from 1958 to 1965 cobalt teletherapy was given most frequently. Surgery was reserved for lymph node metastases when present on clinical examination. In our experience radiotherapy is effective in cancers of the mucosal surface of the cheek, for it checked local spread in 50.9 % of cases, however treated and regardless of initial clinical appearance, whereas in the T1-T2 cases the local failure rate dropped to 35.8 %. The higher the T level the greater are the difficulties confronting radiotherapy; for more extensive lesions appropriate combination therapy (radiosurgical) in line with the well-defined rules explained in the text is useful. In our experience radiotherapy yields good long term results regardless of T level and even in the more unfavorable cases. Our study confirms the low rate of lymph spread of these carcinomas: over half of the patients were NO before treatment; only 56.7 % of the patients receiving surgical treatment on the neck had histologically positive lymph nodes; there were very few neck recurrences at follow-up; the presence of suspect or frankly metastatic nodes on clinical examination, being movable and homolateral (N1), did not worsen the prognosis. However, considering the techniques used for irradiation of the primary, some patients received a substantial dose to the neck; hence radiotherapy probably played its part in the low rate of neck metastases.

A Computerized Cancer Patient Information System

The purpose of this study was to realize a computer system for cancer data automatic processing. A clinical research in oncological practice is usually time consuming and often not reliable or deceiving because of a number of various errors. Until now, only a few information systems have been specifically designed for cancer data processing, and these have a limited capacity of autonomous data elaboration. Our system, based on an original computer program, can compile, store and process essential data on cancer diseases, with a high degree of reliability and high speed of elaboration. Input and output of this system are simplified and user oriented, without limitations for the subject at study on clinical research, and no particular training of the physicians involved is necessary.

VBM Chemotherapy before Curietherapy in the Treatment of T2 Oral Carcinomas

According to previous personal experience with conventional 226-Ra sources, in T2 oral carcinomas treated with curietherapy alone the incidence of local failures was 23%. Moreover, 50% of the local relapses were marginal with respect to the treated volume. From May 1980 to November 1981, 29 T2 oral carcinomas suitable for correct curietherapy received 3 weekly courses of VBM chemotherapy: i.e., vincristine, 1 mg i.v.; bleomycin, 15 mg i.m. after 6 and 24 h; and methotrexate, 30 mg p.o. after 48 h. A full dose curietherapy was performed 2 weeks after the completion of VBM. Twenty-seven patients have had a minimum follow-up of 12 months. The overall treatment was well tolerated and immediate results were encouraging. However, the local failure rate does not seem to have decreased by the combined treatment in comparison with curietherapy alone in historical series.

A Clinicostatistical Review of 78 Esophageal Cancers Subjected to Telecobalt Therapy

The inoperable esophageal cancers subjected to telecobalt therapy at the National Cancer Institute, Milan, between June 1958 and June 1966 are reviewed. The series consists of 78 patients who received a «curative» dose, that is over 4000 rad to the tumor. The anatomical, clinical and Xray data are shown in the tables. The technicalities and dose-levels are discussed. 23 patients survived for over a year; the average survival for the whole series was a little under 10 months. The useful dose is thought to be about 6000 rad in 2 months, where possible.

Prognostic Value of Lymphography in Cervical Cancer

This work is based on a review of 341 lymphographies carried out as a part of the initial diagnostic work-up performed on the same number of patients referred to our Institute for treatment from January 1961 to December 1976. As regards the distribution by clinical stage of the cases under consideration, there were 152 cases in Stage I (44.6%), 100 in Stage II (29.3%) and 89 in Stages III plus IV (26.1%). The positive lymphography incidence at the 2 extremes (Stage I a and Stages III plus IV) was 3.5 % and 46.0 %, respectively. The histologic type on its own did not seem to influence the incidence of lymph node metastases detectable by lymphography. For the negative cases, with all the stages mixed together, a 68.8 % 5-year survival rate free of disease was recorded, as compared with the 32.0 % found for the positive cases (P < 0.0001). A similar difference was recorded stage by stage. Our observations support the opinion that lymphography is valid in clinical practice to distinguish the minimum or nil lymph node invasion cases (negative) with favorable prognosis, from the cases having lymph node invasion of a certain importance or even at a maximum (positive), with a poor fate, independently of the initial clinical stage. Furthermore they suggest the advisability of reviewing the basic concepts of the clinical classification in cervical cancer, to be cautious in considering clinical reviews that do not report information of this importance, and to put under discussion different therapeutic approaches for cases presenting a lymphographic abnormality.

Arguments in Favor of Precautional Treatment of Cervical Nodes in Clinically N0 Oral Cancer

Our retrospective and unrandomized clinical study covers 317 squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity initially N0 and treated with curietherapy from January 1959 to December 1970. Upon conclusion of the treatment on T, a radical dissection of the neck was performed only on 110 patients (34.7%) and the other 207 were not submitted to surgery. The incidence of N0 N+ cases was 27.3% (30/110). The clinical evolution showed that in the group not submitted to radical dissection 53 of 179 cases (29.6%) with adequate follow-up had lymph nodal relapses; 15/69 of these were initially T1 (21.7%) and 38/110 initially T2,3 (34.5%). The data concerning clinical evolution and analysis of the survival curves for the 2 groups supply arguments in favor of the systematic treatment of the lymphatic areas of the neck in initially N0 oral carcinomas.

The Value of Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Vaginal Carcinoma

Herein we report the retrospective survey of 48 consecutive unselected cases of vaginal carcinoma, mainly treated with radiotherapy in our Institute from 1959 to 1970. In this series irradiation was delivered almost always with a single and continuous application of sources of radium 226. Radiumtherapy treatment varied according to the extension in surface of the neoplasm, the clinical stage and especially the vaginal step involvement, considering the length of the organ. Despite the very good immediate response, failures of treatment locally or in paravaginal and pelvic areas were frequently observed, and success of the treatment after a brief follow-up was poor. The actuarial survival was 41.6% and 33.3% at 3 and 5 years, respectively. Stage I cases showed at the follow-up better therapeutic results (48.6% survival at 5 years) than stage II and III cases (28.3%). The poorest results were observed in neoplasms extended to the whole vagina, and all these patients died within 4 years of the beginning of treatment. This report stresses that radiotherapy of vaginal carcinomas demands individualization and a properly planned therapeutic program that combines external irradiation with renewed techniques of low dose rate and continuous irradiation with radioactive sources.

Radiotherapy as Initial Treatment for Carcinomas of Tonsillar Region

For this study we have reviewed 186 carcinomas of the tonsillar region, i.e., the lateral wall of the oropharynx, treated from January 1959 to December 1973 at this Institute. In 148 patients (79.6%) the primary tumor and the lymphatic areas were treated with 60Co-teletherapy (TCT). In 15 cases (8.1%) the primary lesion was removed by transoral surgery, followed by irradiation of the tonsillar region and lymphatic areas with TCT. In 23 patients (12.3%) the primary tumor was treated with interstitial curietherapy, after which a radical homolateral neck dissection was performed on 10 of them; the neck was not treated in the remaining 13 cases, initially N0. As far as the cases initially treated with TCT alone are concerned, disease-free survival at 5 years was 42.5% for T1 cases and under 30% for T2, T3, whereas it was only 6.5% for T4. The most frequent failure cause of TCT was local relapse, isolated or associated with a nodal relapse. Local failures were nearly always central. On the contrary, if the field extension was adequate, there were very few nodal failures, at least in initially N0 or N1 cases. Our study recommends a revision of the current attitude towards the treatment of carcinomas of the tonsillar region.

Clinical Results of Lymphography in Cancer of the Uterine Cervix. A Retrospective Study of 542 Consecutive, Unselected Patients

From 1961 to 1976, 542 patients were evaluated with foot lymphography for cancer of the cervix at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan. A group of 341 patients had lymphangiography as part of the initial diagnostic work-up. The overall incidence of positive examinations was 25% (9% stage I, 29% stage II, 46% stage III, 50% stage IV). In the 115 patients who had pelvic surgery the overall diagnostic accuracy of lymphography was 88%, with 2 false positive and 12 false negative reports. A second group of 90 patients was evaluated in the follow-up without clinical evidence of disease, and the incidence of metastases was 17%. Finally, a group of 111 patients was studied for recurrence, and in this group the incidence of metastases was 51%. As regards site of involvement, the external iliac chains were involved in 93 to 96% of the cases, the common iliac in 34 to 79%, and the para-aortic in 17 to 36% in the different clinical conditions. The highest incidence of para-aortic metastases was found in the clinically initial stages (I and II) and in the recurrences. The lymphographic involvement of the retroperitoneal nodes was usually limited to a single region (41%) or two regions (37%). Only in 22% of the positive cases was a diffuse involvement of the retroperitoneal node chains evident.

Present Status of Treatment for Invasive Cervical Carcinoma

The results are presented of a retrospective clinical study carried out on 341 patients affected with cancer of the uterine cervix, with lymphography in the pretreatment diagnostic work-up, treated in our Institute from January 1961 to December 1976. The clinical classification of the patients studied was: 157 cases in Stage I (46.0%), 95 cases in Stage II (27.9%), and 89 cases in Stages III and IV (26.1%). During the period considered, the therapeutic approach for carcinoma of the cervix was practically constant and in line with the therapeutic policy most frequently followed for these neoplasms. For the early stages (9/341 patients or 27.6%) preference was given to a radical surgery and postoperative radiotherapy combination; for borderline cases and « bulky » and « barrel-shaped » lesions, radiotherapy usually preceded surgical treatment to enlarge its indications and improve its results (36/341 patients or 10.5%). The cases that were more developed locally or that presented contraindications to surgery received radiological treatment alone (211/341 patients or 61.9%). Radiotherapy treatment consisted of radium therapy performed with a single application of 226Ra conventional sources, followed by percutaneous irradiation with 60Co-teletherapy in the more developed cases and/or in the presence of lymph node metastases. All the patients were submitted to diagnostic lymphography at the onset of the treatment and 92 (26.9%) had lymph node metastases. In the framework of this clinical review, the 5-year disease-free survival from onset of the treatment varied from 88.2% for the cases at Stage Ib occult, 72.5% for the cases at Stage Ib, 63.8% for the Stage II cases, to 40.5% for the cases at Stages III and IV. The presence of a pathologic report at lymphography makes a considerable difference in terms of disease-free, long-term survival after treatment.

Adjuvant Postoperative Radiotherapy in Locally Advanced Rectal and Rectosigmoidal Cancer

A pelvic recurrence is the cause of death in about 1/3 of radically operated patients for rectal and rectosigmoidal cancer without clinical evidence of distant metastases. Preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy are largely used to reduce the incidence of locoregional relapses and to improve disease-free and overall survival and quality of life. Benefits from radiotherapy have been widely demonstrated, and adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy is at present strongly recommended. Twenty-one patients with locally advanced (stage B2, B3, C) rectal (11 cases) and rectosigmoidal cancer (10 cases) were treated with postoperative radiotherapy at the National Cancer Institute of Milan from 1975 to 1978. The pelvis received a median dose of 4500 rad (range, 4000–5200 rad) in 5 to 7 weeks through AP, PA opposed fields; 6 patients received a boost of 1000 rad on the perineum. Median follow-up after surgery is 83 months (range, 24–63 months). Only 1 case (« 5%) had a pelvic recurrence, at the perineum. The expected recurrence rate after surgery alone is 40 %, and our favorable results after postoperative radiotherapy are comparable with recent data from other institutions. Radiotherapy side effects were moderate and transient; no late damages to small bowel were observed.

Curietherapy of Oral Cancer

This work concerns 406 oral carcinomas treated with curietherapy (interstitial applications and surface molds) from January 1959 to December 1970. There were 65 (16.0%) carcinomas of the mucosal surface of cheeks, 15 of the retromolar areas, alveolus and gingiva, and hard palate (3.7%), 211 of the mobile tongue (51.9%), and 115 of the floor of mouth (28.4%). There were 132 (32.5%) T1 cases, 245 (60.3%) T2 and 29 (7.2%) T3. In 376 cases with adequate follow-up (92.6%) there were 93 (24.7%) local relapses: 83 isolated and 10 associated with a lymph nodal relapse; 49.5% of the local relapses were peripheral with respect to the treated volume (46/93). The incidence of local relapses only slightly differed for initially T1 and T2 cases (respectively 21.8% and 22.7%), whereas it was more than twice as much for initially T3 cases (53.6%). The overall incidence of radionecrotic complications was 22.0% (83/376 cases with adequate follow-up). Altogether the disease-free survival was 41.1% and 31.4% at 5 and 10 years, respectively. We think that local control of practically all treatable oral carcinomas can be obtained with a combined treatment.

Radiotherapy Alone and Radiotherapy Followed by Radical Mastectomy in T2 Breast Cancer

Ninety-four patients with T2 NO, N1a, N1b, MO were treated with primary radiotherapy (RT) because of old age or poor general conditions. In 32 patients (34 %), younger in age and in better general conditions, Halsted radical mastectomy could be performed 5–8 months from starting RT; surgery was not done at random, but decided case by case on the basis of a good response to RT and an improvement of general status. Relapse was documented in 42 patients. Relapse rate was 50 % in the group treated with RT alone (high incidence of breast recurrences) and 33 % in the group operated on after RT. Distant metastases had the same incidence in the 2 groups, with a median free interval of 14 months. Overall disease-free survival rates at 5 to 10 years were 46 % and 35 %, respectively; these results are not particularly different from the data of historical series of T2 breast cancer treated with surgery alone. The patients operated on after RT had a significantly better survival, but the results were clearly influenced by the selection of patients. For the future, a safe policy could be a conservative combined treatment consisting of tumorectomy followed by curative RT; adjuvant medical therapy could be scheduled for high-risk patients (N1b).

Failures (Cause and Time) of Radiotherapy in Oral Cancer

The results of a retrospective clinical evaluation concerning 434 cases of oral carcinomas treated with radiotherapy from January 1959 to December 1967 are presented. The analysis of the results obtained shows that radiotherapy alone may offer a reasonable possibility of success in limited lesions (68.3% 5-year survival of Stage I patients). In more advanced local cases, and especially those with regional adenopathies, radiotherapy alone cannot consistently control the disease for a long period of time; 5-year survival from the onset of treatment was respectively 36.5% and 24.5% for Stage II and III cases. Moreover, if controlateral or bilateral metastatic adenopathies or fixed lymph nodes are present, the prognosis becomes dramatic (2.6% 5-year survival of Stage IV patients). Among the irradiation techniques currently available, curietherapy (interstitial applications or surface molds) presumably offers the best possibility of success, since the observed failures, both overall and stage by stage, are inferior. Radiotherapy alone may generally be of proven efficacy if the local or locoregional extension is limited. In more advanced cases a combined surgery-chemotherapy treatment method is recommended. The criteria for a combined therapeutic approach for these tumors are also discussed.

Follow-Up of Pathological Stage I and IIA Supradiaphragmatic Hodgkin's Disease Primarily Treated with Radiotherapy

One hundred and fifty-five consecutive previously untreated adult patients with supradiaphragmatic pathologic stage IA (71) and IIA (84) Hodgkin's disease treated only with radiotherapy (RT) at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milano from 1970 to 1978 were reviewed. Staging procedures included lymphangiography and laparotomy in all cases. Most patients were irradiated with a conventional cobalt machine. Mantle fields were adopted for 36.8% of cases, mainly at stage I, whereas 63.2% received mantle plus paraaortal irradiation. Doses were above 40 Gy for involved sites and 35–40 Gy for prophylactically irradiated nodes. Minimum and median follow-up were 30 months and 6 years, respectively. All patients achieved complete remission at the end of RT. As of June 1981, 89 of 155 patients (57.5%) were alive and free from progression, 60.6% at stage I, and 54.8% at stage II. Relapses occurred in 54 of 155 cases (35%) after a median free interval of 21 months. Marginal recurrences accounted for 5.8%, true recurrences for 9%, nodal extensions for 8.4%, and extranodal extensions for 11.6%. Males older than 40 years and mediastinal involvement were correlated with higher relapse rates. Salvage treatment consisted of RT alone in 8 patients and chemotherapy plus or minus RT in 44, whereas 2 patients died before a new treatment could start. As of June 1981, 38 of 54 relapsed patients (70.4%) were alive and disease free, whereas 2 were alive with evidence of disease. Actuarial overall survival at 6 years was 90.3% for all cases, 97.1% for stage I, and 84.8% for stage II. Treatment toxicity was analyzed, and problems concerning surgical staging procedures, optimal RT and role of chemotherapy as primary or salvage treatment were discussed.

Cobalt Therapy in the Treatment of Carcinoma of the Oropharynx

A clinical retrospective evaluation of 177 cases of carcinoma of the oropharynx treated with Cobalt therapy from 1959 to 1965 has been made. The analysis of long term results has shown that Cobalt therapy alone does not satisfactorily control carcinomas of oropharynx. In fact, less than 30% of the patients is still alive after 3 years. Survival is directly affected by the local extent of disease since, while the 5-year survival of Tl and T2 cases is respectively 26.8% and 21.5%, only 6.5% of patients with T3 carcinomas is still alive after 5 years. Particularly disappointing is the survival rate in cases with mono- or bilateral involvement of neck nodes, since none of these cases are alive 2 years after the initial therapy. In 69.4% of the cases, treatment failure has to be attributed to minimal response or early recurrence of primary tumor, while lymph node relapses have been observed in more than 25% of the cases. To allow a detailed clinical evaluation of the results, the different regions of the oropharynx should be considered separatly, since differences in clinical evolution of various carcinomas would call for a different therapeutic approach. The results of this study in oropharyngeal carcinomas, indicate that improvement of long term results may only be obtained through a multidisciplinary therapeutic approach.

Long-term results of sequential chemotherapy-radiotherapy-chemotherapy in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION

In order to evaluate the impact of sequential chemotherapy-radiotherapy-chemotherapy on local control and survival, a follow-up study was carried out 12 years after the treatment of 22 patients with FIGO stage IIB-III squamous cell cervical cancer.

METHODS

Patients were submitted to three cycles of induction chemotherapy (cisplatin and bleomycin) followed by whole pelvis irradiation and central boost with endocavitary brachytherapy. Ten patients underwent three further cycles of chemotherapy after radiotherapy. All patients were maintained by regular follow-up. Only one patient was lost 48 months after treatment.

RESULTS

At the end of treatment complete response was obtained in 14 patients (63.5%). Four of these recurred locally, and one at also distance. Eight patients failed to obtain a complete response. Twelve patients died from disease and one patient died from other causes. Nine of 22 (41%) patients are alive without evidence of disease with a median follow-up of 134 months. Acute toxicity was mild, while two severe late complications were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The achievement of complete remission at the end of treatment is important in terms of life expectancy. Further chemotherapy appears useful for patients who do not reach complete local remission after radiotherapy.

[Videothoracoscopy in the spreading evaluation of bronchogenic cancers]

Mediastinoscopy is often necessary in management of lung cancer. Progress recently achieved in the field of thoracoscopy has led us to introduce videothoracoscopy as a complement to mediastinoscopy in preoperative management of such tumors. From June 1994 to June 1995, 113 patients presenting with stage I-IIIA lung cancer underwent a videothoracoscopy before surgery. No side-effects were observed. Results obtained in this study lead us to conclude that videothoracoscopy is useful before surgery of lung cancer.

[Computerized tomography with lipiodol in the assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma]

In this paper we report the results obtained with Lipiodol CT in 39 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). All patients had focal or multifocal nodular HCC with FNB confirmation and were all submitted to CT 15-20 days after the injection of Lipiodol in common or proper hepatic arteries during an angiographic maneuver. Lipiodol CT showed all the lesions US had demonstrated and depicted more lesions in 12 patients (30.7%)--67 lesions in all. The lesions demonstrated by Lipiodol CT were always smaller than 2 cm: 9/12 had been missed by US, 6/12 by CT and 7/12 by arteriography. In 34/67 lesions (50.7%) enhancement was homogeneous, in 29/67 (43.2%) inhomogeneous and in 4/67 cases (5.9%) Lipiodol was not retained. Lipiodol uptake depended on lesion size: if the lesion was 1-2 cm, uptake was homogeneous, while bigger lesions exhibited inhomogeneous uptake. Lesions bigger than 4 cm exhibited no Lipiodol uptake and were necrotic. A surgical resection was performed in 21/39 patients (53.8%). To conclude, Lipiodol CT is a valuable technique in the preoperative screening of HCC, particularly in the detection of additional lesions: in our series they were demonstrated in 30.7% of patients.

[Clinical improvement induced by chemotherapy and social rehabilitation in a preterminal case of brain stem neoplasm: the objective and instrumental aspects]

A sixteen-years-old boy with a brain-stem neoplasia inducing coma was treated with chemotherapeutic agents. It resulted in dramatic clinical and instrumental improvement; radiologic findings were evaluated, showing decreasing dimension of intracranial mass. Brain-stem auditory evoked potentials were highly sensitive. We think that chemotherapy can be considered among the options a physician can offer to such a patient explaining informed consensus.

Skin dose measurements for head and neck radiotherapy

The use of immobilization plastic masks in head and neck radiotherapy can partially eliminate skin benefits derived from the utilization of megavoltage photon beams. Filters and blocks between the patient and the accelerator can further increase the skin dose value. In this study, the increase in surface dose due to 2 and 3.2 mm of plastic material utilized for patient immobilization was measured. Then, the effect of blocking trays, wedges, and blocks on skin dose in typical conditions for head and neck irradiation was evaluated. The measurements were obtained with a NE2534 chamber (Markus type) on a perspex phantom for 6 MeV x-rays from an accelerator.

[Dosimetric problems and their solution in the preparation of a 6-dual-field total-skin technique]

The six-field total skin electron irradiation (TSEI) technique needs an accurate preliminary dosimetric study. The American Association Physics in Medicine (AAPM) defined a dosimetric protocol that recommends the careful dosimetry of the horizontal, the dual and the six-dual fields by using both a cubic and a cylindrical phantoms. In our Institute, in a TSEI development program, we carried out the preliminary dosimetry according to AAPM criteria. We also investigated some dosimetric problems--e.g., the so-called "cable effect", which takes place when the detector cable in a TSEI field is not well shielded, polarity effects and photon contamination. As to the "cable effect", it is especially marked with the Markus NE2534 chamber; moreover, this effect, if not considered, can lead to overestimation of X-rays contamination.

[Analysis of the results of 264 cases of small breast carcinoma treated with conservative surgery and radiotherapy]

From January 1981 to December 1987, 264 patients affected with small breast cancers were treated with quadrantectomy plus axillary dissection and radiation therapy on the breast remnant (QUART). Mean age of the patients was 53 years; 124 of them were less than or equal to 50 years old (46.9%); 85 had axillary nodal metastases (32.2%), and 58 presented a primary tumor with pathologic size (greater than 2 cm) (22.9%). Overall actuarial survival at 3 and 7 years, according to the Kaplan and Meyer method, was 95.5% and 85.3%, respectively; NED survival was 85.9% and 77.4%. Twenty patients died (19 of cancer). Local relapses were 6 (2.3% on the whole and 13.3% on the whole of recurrences observed at follow-up). Local relapses were central in the quadrantectomy scar in 4/6 patients. Histology and site of the primary lesion were not correlated with a major risk of local failure. Isolated recurrences in the breast did not worsen survival. Nodal failures were 5 (1.9% on the whole of cases; 11.1% on the whole of failures). Our study confirms the role of QUART as an effective and reliable method in the treatment of small breast carcinomas.

[Postoperative radiotherapy in the treatment of adenocarcinoma of the endometrium in pathological stage I]

We report on 49 patients with pathologic stage I endometrial adenocarcinoma who underwent postoperative whole-pelvis irradiation (RT) (45-50 Gy in 5-6 weeks) from November 1981 to December 1988. RT was performed when one or more of the following unfavorable prognostic factors were discovered: myometrial infiltration greater than 1/3 (42 cases, or 85.7%), poorly-differentiated tumor (10, or 20.4%), tubaric angles involvement (4; or 8.2%), pelvic nodal metastases (1, or 2.0%). Five-year actuarial disease-free survival was 91.4%. After an average follow-up of 58 months, we observed recurrent disease in 4 patients (8.2%) (3 cases with distant metastases, 6.1%; 1 case with vaginal relapse, 2.0%). All recurrences were observed within 18 months from treatment and occurred only in patients with both myometrial infiltration greater than 1/3 and poorly or moderately differentiated tumor. The patient with vaginal relapse had a complete response after endocavitary curietherapy, but died later on from lung metastases. None of the treated patients experienced severe complications related to the treatment. Our results are comparable with those of the most recent literature, and confirm the good tolerance and efficacy of postoperative RT to prevent loco-regional relapses in early stage endometrial cancer with unfavorable prognostic factors.

[Description and results of a simplified procedure for intraoperative electron radiotherapy]

In San Raffaele Institute a simplified procedure for intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) was developed. An applicator system of "guide-containers" was used to facilitate the use of IORT (with electron beam) with different treatment fields. Application of this technique was studied; no IORT related complications was observed in phase I and clinical good results are reported.

[Technical-dosimetric aspects of a simplified procedure for intraoperative radiotherapy with electrons. Experience at the San Raffaele Hospital of Milan]

A modified IORT procedure with electron beams, used at HSR-Mi, has been illustrated. The design and the technical innovations of our IORT applicator system are presented. The dosimetric properties of this system for a variety of energies and applicator sizes are documented.

Quadrantectomy versus lumpectomy for small size breast cancer

Between 1985 and 1987 quadrantectomy plus external radiotherapy and lumpectomy plus external and interstitial radiotherapy were compared in a randomized trial of patients with small carcinomas of the breast. Quadrantectomy involves excision of 2-3 cm of normal tissue around the tumour plus the removal of a sufficiently large portion of overlying skin and underlying fascia whilst lumpectomy removes only the tumour mass with a narrow margin of normal tissue. Patients in both groups also received total axillary dissection. 705 cases were evaluable, 360 quadrantectomies and 345 lumpectomies. No differences in distant metastases and survival were observed in the two groups. However, lumpectomy patients had a much higher frequency of local recurrences (7.0 vs. 2.2%). Since a local recurrence needs a second operation and creates severe psychological distress to the patient, conservative surgical procedures should include generous excision of normal tissue around the primary carcinoma plus intensive postoperative radiotherapy.

[3-dimensional automatic dosimetry in curietherapy]

Isodose curves can be viewed on multiple planes along with the radioactive implant and anatomical structures by projecting them on a video-display. The main options offered are the parallel projection of the implant selecting all the possible rotations, zooming and shifting, calculation of distance between two points of a selected plane, stereoscopic display.

Short-term variation in labeling index as a predictor of radiotherapy response in human oral cavity carcinoma

In vitro determination of [3H]thymidine labeling index (LI) was carried out on squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity from 52 patients before and during radiotherapy. Pretreatment LI values ranged from 0.01% to 50%. After administration of the first 10 Gy in five consecutive daily fractions, a decrease in LI was observed in 39 cases and an enhancement in 13 cases, with an overall median 70% decrease in the initial value. The type of variation induced by radiotherapy was not related to pretreatment LI except for tumors with a very low proliferative activity (LI less than or equal to 1.9%), which all showed a marked increase in LI. Pretreatment LI was not indicative of short- or long-term response to radiotherapy, whereas the variation induced on LI after 10 Gy was related to the clinical outcome. A variation in LI of more or less than 70% was not significantly associated (p = 0.077) with clinical objective response (respectively, 85 and 53%). However, all 8 patients who reached a complete regression, notwithstanding an enhancement or a slight decrease in LI, had a local recurrence within 19 months. Conversely, the probability of disease-free survival was 82% for the 11 patients whose tumors had a significant decrease in LI (greater than or equal to 70%) after the first 10 Gy.

[Results and indications of radiotherapy in the treatment of carcinoma of the mouth floor]

175 carcinomas of the floor of the mouth were treated by radiotherapy in the years 1971-81: 47 T1 (26.9%) 87 T2 (49.7%) 19 T3 (10.8%) 22 T4 (12.6%). According to local extension the primary was treated by curietherapy in 92 patients (52.6%), external radiotherapy plus curietherapy boost in 8 (4.6%), radiosurgical combinations in 25 (14.3%) and external radiotherapy alone in 50 (28.5%). 131 patients were initially N0 (74.9%) 23 N1 (13.1%) 21 N2-3 (12.0%). The treatment on the nodal areas was: wait and see in 84 patients (48.0%) surgery in 39 (22.3%) radiosurgical combinations in 21 (12.0%) external radiotherapy alone in 31 (17.7%). Relapses free survival at 2 and 5 years was respectively 52.5% and 44.1%. Local control was obtained for 37/41 T1 cases (90.2%) 58/71 T2 (81.7%) 9/25 T3-T4 (36.0%). 37/137 patients with adequate follow-up (greater than or equal to 1 year) experienced some radionecrotic complications (27.0%). The overall incidence of the second tumors was 7.3% (10 cases).

[Radiotherapy of cervix cancer in an advanced stage]

Fifty nine stage II-distal (i.e. with involvement of medium third of parametrium and/or vagina), 220 stage III and 5 stage IV cervical carcinomas were treated with radiotherapy alone (combination of intracavitary radium therapy and megavoltage external irradiation on the pelvis) in the years 1971-79. The 5-year relapse free survival by actuarial method was 52.0% for stage II-distal and 40.6% for stage III, while all stage IV patients relapsed within the third year from the start of the treatment. Failures were pelvic recurrence in 98/227 patients with follow-up greater than or equal to 1 year (43.2%), distant metastases in 15 (6.7%), pelvic plus distant relapse in 10 (4.4%) and 2nd tumor in 2 (0.9%). In stage III patients the renal exclusion and positivity at lymphography were the major adverse prognostic factors and 5-year relapse free survival was respectively 28.5% and 19.6%. Improvement of the results can probably derive from a combined therapeutic approach with chemotherapy and radiotherapy in a sequential scheme.

[Computerized dosimetry in curie therapy]

Automatic treatment planning for calculation of absorbed dose in curietherapy has been performed at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milano on a routine for some years. The radioactive implant is reconstructed from orthogonal or stereo-roentgenograms, a tabular listing of doses or dose rates can be obtained on the grid of points and the isodose curves are automatically drawn with the projection of sources onto the selected planes of calculation by an interactive plotter.

Radiotherapy versus surgery in the treatment of cervix stage Ib cancer

In the years 1971-77 we have treated 250 Stage Ib patients with cancers of the cervix. One hundred twenty-three (49.2%) underwent a radical surgery, 37 had a classical Wertheim-Meigs operation, and 86 had a lymphadenectomy that was extended to the lumbar-aortic region. When feasible, all patients received postoperative radium therapy on the vaginal vault. The remaining 127 patients received a complete course of radiotherapy. This was not a randomized clinical trial. In fact surgery was preferred for patients who were younger (mean age: 49.6 years) and more physically fit, while radiotherapy was the treatment chosen for those who were older (mean age: 57.7) and generally less fit or obese. The 5 year NED survival was 89.3% in the surgical group and 90.9% in the radiotherapy group (P less than .05). Four fatal complications were observed in the surgical group (3.2%). Rate and causes of failures or complications are analyzed in detail.

[Comparison of radiotherapy and surgery in the management of cervical cancer in stages Ib and II]

In the years 1971-76 we have treated 243 stage Ib cancers of the cervix. 104 (45.9%) were submitted to a radical surgery in the form of a classical Wertheim-Meigs operation in 32 of them, whilst in the other 72 lymphadenectomy was extended to the lumbar-aortic chains. When feasible, all the operated cases were submitted to a postoperative radiumtherapy on the vaginal vault and to external irradiation if N+ at histological examination. 114 cases (46.9%) were submitted to a complete course of radiotherapy. The remaining 25 cases (10.3%) were submitted to a preoperative radiumtherapy plus radical surgery. The 5-year NED survival was 89.5% in the surgical group, 93.0% in the radiotherapy group and 91.1% for the patients submitted to a preoperative radiumtherapy. In the time interval considered the stage II cases were 89. 14 (15.7%) were operated upon, 66 (74.2%) were treated with a complete course of radiotherapy and 9 (10.1%) were submitted to a preoperative radiumtherapy plus radical surgery. The 5-year NED survival was respectively 83.8%, 67.1% (only for proximal-stage II cases) and 100.0%. Radiotherapy is equivalent to surgery for the treatment of the stage Ib cervical cancers. On the contrary several arguments claim a combined therapeutic approach in the treatment of the stage II cases.

[Modern technics of intracavitary curietherapy of cervical carcinoma]

The authors set out the technical innovations which are being used to comply with the three classical aims of endocavitary curietherapy for cervical cancer: the personalization of the irradiation device, protection of staff against exposure risks due to ionizing radiations, planning and control of the irradiation conditions. The personalization of the irradiation device is achieved by preparing a specially shaped vaginal applicator for each patient, and staff protection is ensured by the use of remote-loading techniques and closed circuit television control for in-patients. The planning of the treatments answers to the logic of reproducing the usual curie therapy method with conventional radium-226 sources. In order to control the irradiation conditions, at least the essential part of the treatments must be recognized and expressed: equivalent radium milligrams per hour (MRA h), dose rate (Gy h-1), dimensions of the treated volume and space distribution of the dose.

Results of 60CO-Teletherapy in Oral Cancer

Our study reports 282 oral cancer cases treated with 60Co-teletherapy (TCT), taken from 736 oral carcinomas treated with radiotherapy on the primary tumor from January 1959 to December 1970. They were mainly locally advanced cases which often had regional node involvement. In fact, during that period, the more advanced cases were submitted to TCT. There were only 9 (3.2 %) patients with T1 lesions, while there were 134 (47.5 %) T2 and 139 (49.3 %) T3, X4 cases; there were respectively 106 (37.6 %) and 44 (15.6 %) N1 or N2 and N3 cases. Almost half of the patients were ≥ 66 years old at onset of the treatment (138/282 cases, or 47.2 %); the women were a small minority (18/282, or 6.4 %). There were 58 (20.6 %) carcinomas of the mucosal surface of the cheeks, 60 cases arising from the retromolar areas, the upper-lower alveolar processes and the hard palate (21.3 %), 72 carcinomas of the mobile portion of the tongue (25.5 %) and 92 arising from the floor of the mouth (32.6 %). All the patients considered in the study were treated with conventional techniques by doses, field dimensions and fractionation.

The overall results were objectively disappointing, even though they should be evaluated keepping in mind the nature and the gravity of oral carcinomas submitted to TCT. Actuarial survival at 5 and 10 years from the onset of treatment was respectively 11.6 % and 6.4 %. None of the N1, N3 cases survived beyond the fourth year from onset of the treatment. Long-term survival differs very little in relation to the site of origin in the oral cavity.

Nowadays, TCT alone may have only a palliative role in the treatment of oral cancer, reserving it for those cases which, due to their extreme gravity or the various contraindications, do not permit more aggressive treatments. In a combined therapeutic approach the aim of TCT today is to control the minimum disease foci. Its association with surgery appears to be most effective.

[Evolution of the N0 patients with primary carcinoma of the oral tongue treated by interstitial radiumtherapy (author's transl)]

In a retrospective and not randomized clinical study we have selected 175 cases of squamous carcinoma of the anterior 2/3 of the tongue treated by interstitial radium therapy on the primary from January 1959 to December 1970. At the end of the treatment 64 patients (36.6%) were operated by radical neck dissection in homolateral lymphatic areas and 111 underwent no operation on the neck. The incidence of false negative is 25% (16/64 cases operated) and 3 patients showed lymph nodal and perilymph nodal metastasis (4.7% of the whole number of operated cases). In the following evolution the homolateral lymph nodal relapse are 2 among the 64 operated patients (3.1%) (both were N+) and 36 among the 101 non operated ones of whom a sufficient follow-up is available (greater than or equal to 3 years) (35.6%); in this last group 9 patients initially were T1, 24 were T2, 3 were T3. The data about the clinical evolution and the analysis of survival curves, in the two groups that underwent or not the neck dissection, permit to draw useful parameters for therapeutic planning.

[Clinical value of lymphography in cervical cancer (author's transl)]

From January 1961 to June 1978, 417 patients with cervical cancer were submitted to lymphangiography as part of the initial diagnostic work-up. As regards the distribution by clinical stage of the cases under consideration, there were 187 cases in Stage Ib (44.8%) 99 in Stage II (23.7%) and 131 in Stage III plus IV (31.5%). For the early stages preference was given to a radical surgery plus pre- or postoperative radiotherapy combination (154/417 patients, or 36.9%). On the contrary, the cases which were more developed locally or which presented contra-indications to surgery received radiological treatment alone (263/417 cases, or 63.1%). The overall incidence of positive examinations was 29.9% (10.7% in Stage Ib; 28.3% in Stage II; 58.7% in Stage III and 60.0% in Stage IV). The histologic type on its own did not seem to influence the incidence of lymph node metastases detectable by lymphography. In the 145 patients who had surgical exploration, the overall diagnostic accuracy of lymphography was 82.8% with 3 false positive and 22 false negative reports. The para-aortic chains were involved in 28/417 patients (6.7%). For the negative cases, with all the stages mixed together, a 74.7% 5-year survival rate free of disease was recorded, as compared with the 34.5% found for the positive cases (P less than 0.0001). Similar differences was recorded stage by stage.

[Radiotherapy of inoperable endometrial adenocarcinoma (author's transl)]

In this paper we analyze overall patients affected by inoperable adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, observed and treated with radiotherapy alone at the Milan Cancer Institute from January 1959 to December 1973. A total of 82 cases were collected for this study. Only the Stage IV cases have been excluded, as well as those treated for relapse. Inoperability were derived from various medical contra-indications in 70 patients (F85.4%) and from extrauterine spreading of the tumor in 12 (14.6%). The results achieved by the radiotherapy alone are not to be disregarded. The overall 5-years survival was 38.8% for the total number treated and 40.6% for Stage I and II cases. The most useful irradiation technique for the treatment of the primary tumor proved to be the uterine packing with cobalt-60 radioactive pearls and a 5-years survival of 45.7% was observed in 41 Stage I patients treated in this way. The most disappointing results were registered in Stage III cases (28.6% of 5-years survival). This paper confirms the interest of radiotherapy for the treatment of inoperable endometrial adenocarcinoma.