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Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) Oct 2022The carcinogenic risk from space radiation has always been a health risk issue of great concern during space exploration. In recent years, a large number of cellular and... (Review)
Review
The carcinogenic risk from space radiation has always been a health risk issue of great concern during space exploration. In recent years, a large number of cellular and animal experiments have demonstrated that space radiation, composed of high-energy protons and heavy ions, has shown obvious carcinogenicity. However, different from radiation on Earth, space radiation has the characteristics of high energy and low dose rate. It is rich in high-atom-number and high-energy particles and, as it is combined with other space environmental factors such as microgravity and a weak magnetic field, the study of its carcinogenic effects and mechanisms of action is difficult, which leads to great uncertainty in its carcinogenic risk assessment. Here, we review the latest progress in understanding the effects and mechanisms of action related to cell transformation and carcinogenesis induced by space radiation in recent years and summarize the prediction models of cancer risk caused by space radiation and the methods to reduce the uncertainty of prediction to provide reference for the research and risk assessment of space radiation.
Topics: Animals; Carcinogenesis; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Cosmic Radiation; Protons; Space Flight
PubMed: 35908380
DOI: 10.1016/j.neo.2022.100828 -
Cancer Metastasis Reviews Dec 2013Radiosensitivity varies to a great extent across tumor types and also between patients bearing the same type of tumor. Radiation oncology pioneered the field of... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Radiosensitivity varies to a great extent across tumor types and also between patients bearing the same type of tumor. Radiation oncology pioneered the field of biomarkers with attempts to correlate tumor response to clonogenic survival, tumor potential doubling time (Tpot), and PaO₂. Biomarkers predicting the clinical outcome after radiotherapy are already available, but their levels of evidence are heterogeneous. In light of these molecular factors, the issue of personalized radiation therapy in combination or as a standalone modality is addressed. Known molecular prognostic and predictive biomarkers and their present or potential respective therapeutic implications are described for six tumor types where radiotherapy is considered to be part of the mainstay: chemoradiation (e.g., gliomas, head and neck, cervical cancer), radiotherapy with or without androgen deprivation (e.g., prostate), neo-adjuvant chemoradiation (e.g., rectum), or adjuvant radiotherapy (e.g., breast).
Topics: Biomarkers, Tumor; Combined Modality Therapy; Humans; Neoplasms; Precision Medicine; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 23595306
DOI: 10.1007/s10555-013-9419-7 -
Radiotherapy and Oncology : Journal of... Jan 2014Treatment options targeting laryngeal preservation include conservative surgery, concurrent chemo-radiotherapy, induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by radiotherapy... (Review)
Review
Treatment options targeting laryngeal preservation include conservative surgery, concurrent chemo-radiotherapy, induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by radiotherapy (RT), and alternating chemo-radiation. The goal of this paper was to perform a systematic review of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on current and emerging approaches in the field of larynx preservation. The search identified 36 papers of which 27 did not fall within the inclusion criteria (i.e. non-RCTs). IC followed by RT has been shown to allow laryngeal preservation in about two-thirds of pts with locally advanced laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer without compromising survival. IC is regarded as the landmark treatment of non-surgical larynx preservation approaches. Concomitant and alternating chemoradiotherapy treatments are also acceptable in larynx preservation.
Topics: Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chemoradiotherapy; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms; Laryngeal Neoplasms; Larynx; Organ Sparing Treatments; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
PubMed: 24139733
DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2013.08.016 -
The Cochrane Database of Systematic... Jul 2020Chest X-ray (CXR) is a longstanding method for the diagnosis of pneumothorax but chest ultrasonography (CUS) may be a safer, more rapid, and more accurate modality in... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Chest X-ray (CXR) is a longstanding method for the diagnosis of pneumothorax but chest ultrasonography (CUS) may be a safer, more rapid, and more accurate modality in trauma patients at the bedside that does not expose the patient to ionizing radiation. This may lead to improved and expedited management of traumatic pneumothorax and improved patient safety and clinical outcomes.
OBJECTIVES
To compare the diagnostic accuracy of chest ultrasonography (CUS) by frontline non-radiologist physicians versus chest X-ray (CXR) for diagnosis of pneumothorax in trauma patients in the emergency department (ED). To investigate the effects of potential sources of heterogeneity such as type of CUS operator (frontline non-radiologist physicians), type of trauma (blunt vs penetrating), and type of US probe on test accuracy.
SEARCH METHODS
We conducted a comprehensive search of the following electronic databases from database inception to 10 April 2020: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Plus, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Web of Science Core Collection and Clinicaltrials.gov. We handsearched reference lists of included articles and reviews retrieved via electronic searching; and we carried out forward citation searching of relevant articles in Google Scholar and looked at the "Related articles" on PubMed.
SELECTION CRITERIA
We included prospective, paired comparative accuracy studies comparing CUS performed by frontline non-radiologist physicians to supine CXR in trauma patients in the emergency department (ED) suspected of having pneumothorax, and with computed tomography (CT) of the chest or tube thoracostomy as the reference standard.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently extracted data from each included study using a data extraction form. We included studies using patients as the unit of analysis in the main analysis and we included those using lung fields in the secondary analysis. We performed meta-analyses by using a bivariate model to estimate and compare summary sensitivities and specificities.
MAIN RESULTS
We included 13 studies of which nine (410 traumatic pneumothorax patients out of 1271 patients) used patients as the unit of analysis; we thus included them in the primary analysis. The remaining four studies used lung field as the unit of analysis and we included them in the secondary analysis. We judged all studies to be at high or unclear risk of bias in one or more domains, with most studies (11/13, 85%) being judged at high or unclear risk of bias in the patient selection domain. There was substantial heterogeneity in the sensitivity of supine CXR amongst the included studies. In the primary analysis, the summary sensitivity and specificity of CUS were 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85 to 0.94) and 0.99 (95% CI 0.97 to 1.00); and the summary sensitivity and specificity of supine CXR were 0.47 (95% CI 0.31 to 0.63) and 1.00 (95% CI 0.97 to 1.00). There was a significant difference in the sensitivity of CUS compared to CXR with an absolute difference in sensitivity of 0.44 (95% CI 0.27 to 0.61; P < 0.001). In contrast, CUS and CXR had similar specificities: comparing CUS to CXR, the absolute difference in specificity was -0.007 (95% CI -0.018 to 0.005, P = 0.35). The findings imply that in a hypothetical cohort of 100 patients if 30 patients have traumatic pneumothorax (i.e. prevalence of 30%), CUS would miss 3 (95% CI 2 to 4) cases (false negatives) and overdiagnose 1 (95% CI 0 to 2) of those without pneumothorax (false positives); while CXR would miss 16 (95% CI 11 to 21) cases with 0 (95% CI 0 to 2) overdiagnosis of those who do not have pneumothorax.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
The diagnostic accuracy of CUS performed by frontline non-radiologist physicians for the diagnosis of pneumothorax in ED trauma patients is superior to supine CXR, independent of the type of trauma, type of CUS operator, or type of CUS probe used. These findings suggest that CUS for the diagnosis of traumatic pneumothorax should be incorporated into trauma protocols and algorithms in future medical training programmes; and that CUS may beneficially change routine management of trauma.
Topics: Bias; Confidence Intervals; Emergency Service, Hospital; Humans; Pneumothorax; Prospective Studies; Radiography, Thoracic; Sensitivity and Specificity; Supine Position; Thoracic Injuries; Ultrasonography; Wounds, Nonpenetrating; Wounds, Penetrating
PubMed: 32702777
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD013031.pub2 -
The Spine Journal : Official Journal of... Feb 2023An increasing number of medical centers are adopting an intraoperative computed tomography (iCT) navigation system (iCT-Navi) to provide three-dimensional navigation for... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND CONTEXT
An increasing number of medical centers are adopting an intraoperative computed tomography (iCT) navigation system (iCT-Navi) to provide three-dimensional navigation for pediatric scoliosis surgery. While iCT-Navi has been reported to provide higher pedicle screw (PS) insertion accuracy, it may also result in higher radiation exposure to the patient. What innovations and studies have been introduced to reduce radiation exposure and further improve PS insertion?
PURPOSE
Evaluate the level of evidence and quality of papers while categorizing the tips and pitfalls regarding pediatric scoliosis surgery using iCT-Navi. Compare iCT-Navi with other methods, including preoperative CT navigation.
STUDY DESIGN
Systematic review.
PATIENT SAMPLE
Articles on pediatric scoliosis surgery with iCT-Navi published through to June 2022.
OUTCOME MEASURES
PS perforation rate and patient intraoperative radiation dose.
METHODS
Following PRISMA guidelines, the Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases were searched for articles satisfying the criteria of iCT-Navi use and pediatric scoliosis surgery. The level of evidence and quality of the articles meeting the criteria were evaluated according to the guidelines of the North American Spine Society and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, respectively. The articles were also categorized by theme and summarized in terms of PS insertion accuracy and intraoperative radiation dose. The origins and characteristics of five major classification methods of PS perforation grade were summarized as well.
RESULTS
The literature search identified 811 studies, of which 20 papers were included in this review. Overall, 513 pediatric scoliosis patients (381 idiopathic, 44 neuromuscular, 39 neurofibromatosis type 1, 28 congenital, 14 syndromic, seven other) were evaluated for PS perforations among 6,209 iCT-Navi insertions. We found that 232 (3.7%) screws were judged as major perforations (G2 or G3), 55 (0.9%) screws were judged as dangerous deviations (G3), and seven (0.1%) screws were removed. There were no reports of neurovascular injury caused by PSs. The risk factors for PS perforation included more than six vertebrae distance from the reference frame, more than nine consecutive insertions, upper thoracic level, thinner pedicle, upper instrumented vertebra proximity, short stature, and female. The accuracy of PS insertion did not remarkably decrease when the radiation dose was reduced to 1/5 or 1/10 by altering the iCT-Navi protocol.
CONCLUSIONS
iCT-Navi has the potential to reduce PS perforation rates compared with other methods. The use of low-dose radiation protocols may not significantly affect PS perforation rates. Although several risk factors for PS perforation and measures to reduce radiation dose have been reported, the current evidence is limited by a lack of consistency in classifying PS perforation and evaluating patient radiation dose among studies. The standardization of several outcome definitions is recommended in this rapidly developing field.
Topics: Humans; Child; Female; Scoliosis; Retrospective Studies; Spine; Pedicle Screws; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Radiation Exposure; Surgery, Computer-Assisted; Spinal Fusion
PubMed: 36174926
DOI: 10.1016/j.spinee.2022.09.004 -
Cancers May 2022The management of patients with oligometastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) represents an evolving field in uro-oncology, and the role of metastasis-directed therapies,... (Review)
Review
The management of patients with oligometastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) represents an evolving field in uro-oncology, and the role of metastasis-directed therapies, including metastasectomy and metastasis-directed radiation therapy (MDRT), is gaining increasing attention. Herein, we summarize available evidence about the role of MDRT with consolidative intent in oligometastatic UC patients. A systematic review was performed in December 2021. Six studies involving 158 patients were identified. Most patients ( = 120, 90.2%) had a history of bladder cancer and the most frequent sites of metastases were lymph nodes ( = 61, 52.1%) followed by the lungs ( = 34, 29%). Overall, 144 metastases were treated with MDRT. Median follow-up ranged from 17.2 to 25 months. Local control rates ranged from 57% to 100%. Median Overall Survival (OS) ranged from 14.9 to 51.0 months and median progression-free survival ranged from 2.9 to 10.1 months. Rates of OS at one and two years ranged from 78.9% to 96% and from 26% to 63%, respectively. Treatment-related toxicity was recorded in few patients and in most cases a low-grade toxicity was evident. MDRT with consolidative intent represents a potential treatment option for selected patients with oligometastatic UC.
PubMed: 35625979
DOI: 10.3390/cancers14102373 -
Journal of Medical Imaging and... Oct 2012Inter- and intra-fraction motion during radiation therapy for breast cancer has been a widely researched topic. Recently, however, with the emergence of new technologies... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Inter- and intra-fraction motion during radiation therapy for breast cancer has been a widely researched topic. Recently, however, with the emergence of new technologies and techniques such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), field in field, volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), tomotherapy and partial breast irradiation (PBI), the magnitude of this movement has become more important. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive summary of the literature relating to the magnitude of motion during radiation therapy for a breast cancer patient. A systematic review of the literature was conducted using Medline, Cinhal, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science. Studies included were limited to women having radical radiation therapy to the whole breast in the supine position. Studies needed to report quantitatively on the magnitude of inter- and intra-fraction motion using electronic portal imaging, port films or kilovoltage imaging techniques. Eighteen articles fitted the selection criteria. The averages of random and systematic error for inter- and intra-fraction movement were reported using central lung distance, central irradiated width, central beam edge to skin distance and cranio-caudal distance measurements, or isocentric matching techniques. Inter-fraction motion was consistently larger than intra-fraction motion but, on average, within a 5 mm tolerance. There were, though, large maximum inter- and intra-fraction variations observed in the measurements of individual patients, which indicate the need for daily inter- and intra- fraction motion management before implementing IMRT, VMAT, tomotherapy or PBI techniques.
Topics: Artifacts; Breast Neoplasms; Dose Fractionation, Radiation; Female; Humans; Motion; Patient Positioning; Radiography; Radiotherapy, Conformal; Radiotherapy, Image-Guided; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Supine Position
PubMed: 23043567
DOI: 10.1111/j.1754-9485.2012.02434.x -
Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2021Morphological and functional skin alterations secondary to the action of ionizing radiation are well documented. In addition to its application in the medical field,... (Review)
Review
Morphological and functional skin alterations secondary to the action of ionizing radiation are well documented. In addition to its application in the medical field, ionizing radiation represents a public health problem for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes due to the potential risk of exposure to unexpected events, such as nuclear accidents or malicious acts. With regard to the use of ionizing radiations in the medical field, today, they constitute a fundamental therapeutic method for various neoplastic pathologies. Therefore, the onset of adverse skin events induced by radiation represents a widespread and not negligible problem, affecting 95% of patients undergoing radiotherapy. A systematic literature search was performed from July 2021 up to August 2021 using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Articles were screened by title, abstract and full text as needed. A manual search among the references of the included papers was also performed. This systematic review describes the various skin reactions that can arise following exposure to ionizing radiation and which significantly impact the quality of life, especially in cancer patients.
PubMed: 34821719
DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering8110153 -
The Science of the Total Environment Jul 2010Childhood exposure to physical contamination, including non-ionizing radiation, has been implicated in numerous diseases, raising concerns about the widespread and... (Review)
Review
Childhood exposure to physical contamination, including non-ionizing radiation, has been implicated in numerous diseases, raising concerns about the widespread and increasing sources of exposure to this type of radiation. The primary objective of this review was to analyze the current state of knowledge on the association between environmental exposure to non-ionizing radiation and the risk of childhood leukemia. Scientific publications between 1979 and 2008 that include examination of this association have been reviewed using the MEDLINE/PubMed database. Studies to date have not convincingly confirmed or ruled out an association between non-ionizing radiation and the risk of childhood leukemia. Discrepancies among the conclusions of the studies may also be influenced by confounding factors, selection bias, and misclassification. Childhood defects can result from genetic or epigenetic damage and from effects on the embryo or fetus, which may both be related to environmental exposure of the parent before conception or during the pregnancy. It is therefore critical for researchers to define a priori the type and "window" of exposure to be assessed. Methodological problems to be solved include the proper diagnostic classification of individuals and the estimated exposure to non-ionizing radiation, which may act through various mechanisms of action. There appears to be an urgent need to reconsider exposure limits for low frequency and static magnetic fields, based on combined experimental and epidemiological research into the relationship between exposure to non-ionizing radiation and adverse human health effects.
Topics: Child; Electromagnetic Fields; Humans; Leukemia
PubMed: 20451240
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.03.039 -
The British Journal of Oral &... May 2022For patients with head and neck cancer, the effects of treatment with adjuvant radiotherapy can be devastating. Frequently there is loss of function due to tooth loss,... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
For patients with head and neck cancer, the effects of treatment with adjuvant radiotherapy can be devastating. Frequently there is loss of function due to tooth loss, pain and discomfort from xerostomia and mucositis, and a significant psychosocial impact. Dental implants provide an effective means of rehabilitation for many, but irradiation poses a unique set of challenges that can affect the outcome of treatment. The aims of this review were to find out whether radiotherapy in these patients affects the survival of dental implants, and to discuss details of pertinent influencing factors. An electronic search of the Medline, Web of Science, and CENTRAL databases was done to identify studies on the survival of implants in irradiated patients within specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. No restriction was placed on the year of publication. The primary outcome measure was implant survival. Seven studies involving 441 participants and 1502 implants placed into irradiated bone were included. Meta-analysis indicated that survival was significantly higher in the mandible compared with the maxilla (p = 0.04), and in non-irradiated cases compared with irradiated cases (p < 0.001). Other factors that showed a strong association with survival were radiation dose and timing of surgery. Implant-based rehabilitation is a viable option for head and neck cancer patients who have undergone radiotherapy. Whilst the short to medium-term implant survival in these cases is high, multiple factors require careful consideration for a favourable outcome. Further high-quality research and randomised controlled trials are required in this field.
Topics: Dental Implantation, Endosseous; Dental Implants; Dental Restoration Failure; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; Mandible; Maxilla
PubMed: 34903387
DOI: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2021.09.006