• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8259-8263
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• 2014

Aims: To determine the clinical characteristics, pathological features, local and distant failure patterns in patients with carcinoma of major salivary glands treated with surgery and postoperative radiotherapy (PORT). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 106 cases of major salivary gland tumor seen at our centre (1998-2008). Sixty five cases of major salivary gland carcinoma were selected for analysis (exclusions: benign, palliative, non-carcinomas). The patient population treated by surgery and PORT was divided into two groups: 1) Patients who underwent surgery and immediate PORT (Primary PORT); 2) Patients with recurrent carcinoma who underwent at least two surgeries and received PORT in the immediate post-operative period of the last performed surgery (Recurrent PORT). Recurrence free survival (RFS) was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Median age was 35 years with a male: female ratio of 1.3:1. The majority of cancers were located in the parotid gland (86.2%) and the most common histology was mucoepidermoid carcinoma (43%). Thirty nine cases (60%) were primary while 26 (40%) were recurrent. Optimal surgery was performed in 59/65 patients (90.8%). 43 patients (66.2%) underwent neck dissection, of which 14 (32.5%) had nodal metastasis. Overall, 61 (93.8%) patients complied with the prescribed radiotherapy. Median dose of PORT was 60 Gy. Median follow-up was 13.1 months (range 2-70). Relapse free survival was 50.4% at 60 months. Some 12 cases (18.5%) recurred with a median time to recurrence of 16.9 months. Conclusions: Surgery and PORT is an effective treatment for major salivary gland carcinoma with over 90% compliance and <20% recurrence. Early treatment with postoperative radiotherapy may increase the survival rate in major salivary gland carcinoma patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6513-6518
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• 2013

Background: To evaluate the treatment outcome and major late complications of all patients with recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT) in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All patients with histologically confirmed recurrent NPC in the absence of distant metastasis treated in the period 1997-2010 were included in this study. These patients were treated with ICBT alone or in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Treatment outcomes measured were local recurrence free survival (LRFS), disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: Thirty three patients were eligible for this study. The median age at recurrence was 56 years with a median time to initial local recurrence of 27 months. Majority of patients were staged as rT1-2 (94%) or rN0 (82%). The proportion of patients categorised as stage III-IV at first local recurrence was only 9%. Twenty one patients received a combination of ICBT and external beam radiotherapy while 12 patients were treated with ICBT alone. Median interval of recurrence post re-irradiation was 32 months (range: 4-110 months). The median LRFS, DFS and OS were 30 months, 29 months and 36 months respectively. The 5 year LRFS, DFS and OS were 44.7%, 38.8% and 28.1% respectively. The N stage at recurrence was found to be a significant prognostic factor for LRFS and DFS after multivariate analysis. Major late complications occurred in 34.9% of our patients. Conclusions: Our study shows ICBT was associated with a reasonable long term outcome in salvaging recurrent NPC although major complications remained a significant problem. The N stage at recurrence was a significant prognostic factor for both LRFS and DFS.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.202-208
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• 2016

Purpose: Our institution has implemented two different adjuvant protocols in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CT-CCRT) and sequential postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) followed by postoperative chemotherapy (POCT). We aimed to compare the clinical outcomes between the two adjuvant protocols. Materials and Methods: From March 1997 to October 2012, 68 patients were treated with CT-CCRT (n = 25) and sequential PORT followed by POCT (RT-CT; n = 43). The CT-CCRT protocol consisted of 2 cycles of cisplatin-based POCT followed by PORT concurrently with 2 cycles of POCT. The RT-CT protocol consisted of PORT followed by 4 cycles of cisplatin-based POCT. PORT was administered using conventional fractionation with a dose of 50.4-60 Gy. We compared the outcomes between the two adjuvant protocols and analyzed the clinical factors affecting survivals. Results: Median follow-up time was 43.9 months (range, 3.2 to 74.0 months), and the 5-year overall survival (OS), locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were 53.9%, 68.2%, and 51.0%, respectively. There were no significant differences in OS (p = 0.074), LRFS (p = 0.094), and DMFS (p = 0.490) between the two protocols. In multivariable analyses, adjuvant protocol remained as a significant prognostic factor for LRFS, favouring CT-CCRT (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.506, p = 0.046) over RT-CT, not for OS (HR = 0.647, p = 0.229). Conclusion: CT-CCRT protocol increased LRFS more than RT-CT protocol in patients with completely resected NSCLC, but not in OS. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the benefit of CCRT strategy compared with sequential strategy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.148-154
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• 2019

Background: This study investigated the clinical outcomes of surgical treatment of primary chest wall soft tissue sarcoma (CW-STS). Methods: Thirty-one patients who underwent surgery for CW-STS between 2000 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. The disease-free and overall survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and prognostic factors were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model. Results: The median follow-up duration was 65.6 months. The most common histologic type of tumor was malignant fibrous histiocytoma (29%). The resection extended to the soft tissue in 14 patients, while it reached full thickness in 17 patients. Complete resection was achieved in 27 patients (87.1%). There were 5 cases of local recurrence, 3 cases of distant metastasis, and 5 cases of combined recurrence. The 5-year disease-free rate was 49%. Univariate analysis indicated that incomplete resection (p<0.001) and stage (p=0.062) were possible risk factors for recurrence. Multivariate analysis determined that incomplete resection (p=0.013) and stage (p=0.05) were significantly associated with recurrence. The overall 5- and 10-year survival rates were 86.8% and 64.3%, respectively. No prognostic factor for survival was identified. Conclusion: Long-term primary CW-STS surgery outcomes were found to be favorable. Incomplete microscopic resection and stage were risk factors for recurrence.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2021

Background/Objectives: To evaluate clinical significance of FDG PET-CT for detection of residual cancer cells after curative radiation therapy or chemoradiotherapy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of Head and Neck Materials & Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with SCC of Head and neck with curative radiotherapy or chemoradiotherpy between June 2011 and Jan. 2019 was performed. Sixty patients were treated with Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). The Metabolic responses were evaluated on the post-treatment FDG PET-CT at 12 weeks after curative radiotherapy completion. Results: Median follow up was 51.5 months (3-102). The overall survival (OS), disease free survival (DFS), local control rate (LCR), and Distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) at 5 years were 80.5%, 80.1%, 87.7% and 89.1%. Metabolic CR was found in 43 (71.7%) and partial metabolic response (PR) was noted in 17 (14.6%). Metabolic CR was significantly correlated with OS, DFS, LCR, and DMFS. On multivariate analysis, Metabolic CR remained significant for DFS and LCR. Conclusion: Metabolic CR on post-radiotherapy FDG PET-CT is highly predictive of increased DFS and LCR in patients with head and neck cancer.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.309-315
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• 2002

Purpose : To evaluate the result of conservative management on recurrence, survival and prognostic factors of patient with operable breast cancer. Materials and Methods : Fifty three patients, treated for localized breast cancer by lumpectomy or quadrantectomy followed by radiotherapy between January 1985 and December 1996, were retrospectively studied. All patients followed up for at least five years. Their median age was 43 years $(range\;24\~72)$. The tumor stages were as follows : T1 in 30 patients, T2 in 21, Tis in 2. Thirty-eight patients had negative and 15 had positive axillary nodes. The histological types were 42 infiltrating ductal, 2 infiltrating lobular, and 2 intraductal carcinomas with 7 other histologies. The tumor locations were the outer quadrant in 38 breasts, the inner quadrant in 13 and central in 2. Radiation doses of $46\~50\;Gy$ were given to the entire breast areas with additional doses of 14-18 Gy delivered to the tumor bed areas. Results : The overall five and 10 yea actuarial and disease free survivals were $94.3\%\;and\;92.4\%,\;91.2\%\;and\;81\%$, respectively. The overall five year survivals were $100\%$ in stage I and IIa, and $66.7\%$ in stage IIb and IIIa tumors. Seven patients failed either locally or distantly. Incidence of local failure and distant metastasis for the first failure were $7.5\%\;and\;5.7\%$, respectively. Local recurrence appeared within 2 years of treatment at the primary site and after more than 8 years outside of primary lesion, whereas distant metastasis appeared between 2 and 6 years following treatment. The overall recurrences were high at a young age (< or = 35 years), with 5 out of 12 (2 local, 3 distant), and in T2 lesions with 5 out of 21 (1 local, 3 distant, and 1 in both). Distant metastasis was high in the positive axillary lymph node group with 4 out of 15 $(26.6\%)$. A high incidence in the axillary node was noted at a young age with 7 out of 12 $(58.3\%)$ and in T2 lesions with 8 out of 21 $(38.4\%)$. A young age, positive axillary node and large tumor size were all related with poor survival. Conclusion : Based on this study, lumpectomy or quadrantectomy, followed by radiation appears to be an adequate therapeutic method in operable breast cancer. A long term follow-up is necessary because a recurrence of breast can occur long time after treatment. The poor prognostic group, especially young patients with an aggressive biological behavior needs more effective treatment modalities to improve their survival.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.51-61
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• 1998

Purpose : Treatment of choice for uterine cervix cancer stage IIB is radiotherapy. We analyzed survivals, Prognostic factors, patterns of failure and complications. Materials and Methods : This is a retrospective analysis of 167 patients with stage IIB carcinoma of uterine cervix treated with curative external pelvic and high dose rate intracavitary radiotherapy at the Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Soonchunhyang University Hospital from August 1985 to August 1994. All the patients followed up from 3 to 141 months(mean 60 months) and age of patients ranged from 31 to 78 years at presentation(mean : 55 years). Results : Overall complete response rate was $84\%$. The response rate for squamous cell carcimoma and adenocarcinoma were $86\%$ and $60\%$, respectively. Overall 5-years survival rate and disease free survival rate was 62 and $59\%$, respectively Mass size and treatment response were significant Prognostic factors for survival Pathologic type and parametrial involvement were marginally significants Prognostic factors. Local failure was 43 cases, distant metastasis was 14 cases and local failure plus distant metastasis was 3 cases, and most of local failures occurred within 24 months, distant metastasis within 12 months after treatment Twenty eight($16.8\%$) patients developed late rectal and urinary complications There were tendency to increasing severity and frequency according to increased fractional dose and total(rectal and bladder) dose. Conclusions : Survival rate was significantly related to tumor size and radiotherapy response. Tumor size should be considered in the clinical s1aging. To increased survival and local control, clinical trials such as decreasing duration of radiotherapy or addition of chemotherapy is needed. To detect early recurrence, regular follow up after RT is important. Because total rectal and bladder dose affected late complications. meticulous vaginal packing is needed to optimize dose of normal tissues and to decrease late complications.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.485-495
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• 1998

Purpose : The major goal of the therapy in the soft tissue sarcoma is to control both local and distant tumor. However, the technique of obtaining local control has changed significantly over the past few decades from more aggressive surgery to combined therapy including conservative surgery and radiation and/or chemotherapy. We retrospectively analyzed the treatment results of the postoperative radiation therapy of soft tissue sarcoma and its prognostic factor. Materials and Methods : Between March 1983 and June 1994, 50 patients with soft tissue sarcoma were treated with surgery and postoperative radiation therapy at Kang-Nam St. Mary's hospital. Complete follow up was possible for all patients with median follow up duration 50 months (range 6-162 months). There were 28 male and 32 female patients. Their age ranged from 6 to 83 with a median of 44 years. Extremity (58$\%$) was the most frequent site of occurrence followed by trunk (20$\%$) and head and neck (12$\%$). Histologically malignant fibrous histiocytoma (23$\%$), liposarcoma (17$\%$), malignant schwannoma (12$\%$) constitute 52$\%$ of the patients. Daily radiation therapy designed to treat all areas at a risk for tumor spread upto dose of 4500-5000 cGy. A shrinking field technique was then used and total 55-65 Gy was delivered to tumor bed. Twenty-five patients (42$\%$) received chemotherapy with various regimen in the postoperative period. Results : Total 41 patients failed either with local recurrence or with distant metastasis. There were 29 patients (48$\%$) of local recurrence. Four patients (7$\%$) developed simultaneous local recurrence and distant metastasis and 8 patients (13$\%$) developed only distant metastasis. Local recurrence rate was rather higher than of other reported series. This study included patients of gross residual, recurrent cases after previous operation, trunk and head and neck Primary This feature is likely explanation for the decreased local control rate. Five of 29 Patients who failed only locally were salvaged by re-excision and/or re-irradiation and remained free of disease. Factors affecting local control include histologic type, grade, stage, extent of operation and surgical margin involvement, lymph node metastasis (p<0.05). All 21 patients who failed distantly are dead with progressive disease at the time of this report. Our overall survival results are similar to those of larger series. Actuarial 5 year overall survival and disease free survival were 60.4 $\%$, 30.6$\%$ respectively. Grade, stage (being close association with grade), residual disease (negative margin, microscopic, gross) were significant as a predictor of survival in our series (p<0.05). Conclusion : Combined surgery and postoperative radiation therapy obtained 5 year survival rate comparable to that of radical surgery.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.126-133
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• 2015

Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) and to analyze prognostic factors of survival in the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) IB-IIA uterine cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 148 patients with FIGO IB-IIA uterine cervical cancer who underwent surgery followed by adjuvant RT at the Yonsei Cancer Center between June 1997 and December 2011. Adjuvant radiotherapy was delivered to the whole pelvis or an extended field with or without brachytherapy. Among all patients, 57 (38.5%) received adjuvant chemotherapy either concurrently or sequentially. To analyze prognostic factors, we assessed clinicopathologic variables and metabolic parameters measured on preoperative 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). To evaluate the predictive performance of metabolic parameters, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: The median follow-up period was 63.2 months (range, 2.7 to 206.8 months). Locoregional recurrence alone occurred in 6 patients, while distant metastasis was present in 16 patients, including 2 patients with simultaneous regional failure. The 5-year and 10-year OSs were 87.0% and 85.4%, respectively. The 5-year and 10-year DFSs were 83.8% and 82.5%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, pathologic type and tumor size were shown to be significant prognostic factors associated with both DFS and OS. In subset analysis of 40 patients who underwent preoperative PET/CT, total lesion glycolysis was shown to be the most significant prognostic factor among the clinicopathologic variables and metabolic parameters for DFS. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that adjuvant RT following hysterectomy effectively improves local control. From the subset analysis of preoperative PET/CT, we can consider that metabolic parameters may hold prognostic significance in early uterine cervical cancer patients. More effective systemic treatments might be needed to reduce distant metastasis in these patients.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.132-137
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• 2014

Purpose: To evaluate non-sentinel lymph node (LN) status after sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) in patients with breast cancer and to identify the predictive factors for disease failure. Materials and Methods: From January 2006 to December 2007, axillary lymph node (ALN) dissection after SNB was performed for patients with primary invasive breast cancer who had no clinical evidence of LN metastasis. A total of 320 patients were treated with breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy. Results: The median age of patients was 48 years, and the median follow-up time was 72.8 months. Close resection margin (RM) was observed in 13 patients. The median number of dissected SNB was two, and that of total retrieved ALNs was 11. Sentinel node accuracy was 94.7%, and the overall false negative rate (FNR) was 5.3%. Eleven patients experienced treatment failure. Local recurrence, regional LN recurrence, and distant metastasis were identified in 0.9%, 1.9%, and 2.8% of these patients, respectively. Sentinel LN status were not associated with locoregional recurrence (p > 0.05). Close RM was the only significant factor for disease-free survival (DFS) in univariate and multivariate analysis. The 5-year overall survival, DFS, and locoregional DFS were 100%, 96.8%, and 98.1%, respectively. Conclusion: In this study, SNB was performed with high accuracy and low FNR and high locoregional control was achieved.