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Background: Despite the pivotal role of radiotherapy in oncology, the provision of radiation treatments remains inadequate in many areas of the world. The present report is an assessment conducted among Radiation Oncology centers of Veneto region with the aim to collect information concerning radiotherapy assets and technological equipment availability., Methods: Data concerning Veneto Radiation Oncology departments about radiotherapy activities, number of treatments, techniques used and radiotherapy machines available were collected. The reference time period was 2018. Reimbursement system databases and business intelligence systems were used. Extra-regional attraction and migration were evaluated. When available, data were compared to previous years., Results: Veneto in 2018 was endowed with 1 megavolt unit for about 153,000 inhabitants. The number of megavolt machines per million inhabitants resulted to be 6.72. In 51% of radiotherapy treatments, intensity-modulated techniques were performed. Six percent of treatments were administered to extra-regional patients., Conclusion: Radiotherapy assets and equipment in Veneto seem to be appropriate to standard requests in terms of availability and technology.

Patients undergoing radiotherapy for advanced cervical and endometrial cancer bear a considerable risk of developing vaginal preneoplastic lesions. Radiotherapy itself has been considered to have a role in the pathogenesis of vaginal dysplasia, although human papillomavirus (HPV) involvement has also been suggested. A series of 88 patients who underwent hysterectomy and were irradiated for gynecological cancer, including 43 with postradiation vaginal dysplasia at colposcopy and 45 without vaginal lesions, were included in this study. Detection and genotyping of HPV DNA in vaginal scraping were carried out by a PCR-based method and compared with colposcopic and cytological findings and with other clinical and laboratory data. Forty-two (97.7%) colposcopy-positive subjects and 6 (13.3%) colposcopically-negative patients were PCR-positive for high-risk HPV DNA (P < 0.000001). Twenty-two out of the 43 patients with colposcopic lesions showed an abnormal Papanicolau (PAP) test. Cytologic examination was negative in all colposcopically negative women. Type 16 HPV DNA was more frequent in patients with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and in patients treated with external radiotherapy, whereas other types of high-risk HPV were more common in patients with low-grade lesions and in those treated with brachytherapy. When considering colposcopy as the standard for diagnosing vaginal dysplasia, HPV DNA testing was more sensitive than the PAP test. However, the specificity of the PAP test was higher with no false-positive case. In conclusion, vaginal preneoplastic changes in women post-hysterectomy and receiving radiotherapy for cervical, endometrial, and vaginal cancer represent an HPV-related nosologic entity. Whereas colposcopic examination can detect these preneoplastic lesions, HPV genotyping is a sensitive, inexpensive, and noninvasive method that may complement colposcopy and the PAP test., (Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Introduction: Adverse effects of radiotherapy (RT) significantly affect patient's quality of life (QOL). The possibility to identify patient-related factors that are associated with individual radiosensitivity would optimize adjuvant RT treatment, limiting the severity of normal tissue reactions, and improving patient's QOL. In this study, we analyzed the relationships between genetic features and toxicity grading manifested by RT patients looking for possible biomarkers of individual radiosensitivity. Methods: Early radiation toxicity was evaluated on 143 oncological patients according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). An individual radiosensitivity (IRS) index defining four classes of radiosensitivity (highly radiosensitive, radiosensitive, normal, and radioresistant) was determined by a G2-chromosomal assay on ex vivo irradiated, patient-derived blood samples. The expression level of 15 radioresponsive genes has been measured by quantitative real-time PCR at 24 h after the first RT fraction, in blood samples of a subset of 57 patients, representing the four IRS classes. Results: By applying univariate and multivariate statistical analyses, we found that fatigue was significantly associated with IRS index. Interestingly, associations were detected between clinical radiation toxicity and gene expression (ATM, CDKN1A, FDXR, SESN1, XPC, ZMAT3 , and BCL2/BAX ratio) and between IRS index and gene expression (BBC3, FDXR, GADD45A , and BCL2/BAX). Conclusions: In this prospective cohort study we found that associations exist between normal tissue reactions and genetic features in RT-treated patients. Overall, our findings can contribute to the identification of biological markers to predict RT toxicity in normal tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Post-radiation skin damage is the result of alterations produced in the irradiated zone. There are different studies aimed at verifying the effectiveness of several kinds of molecules in the treatment of radiation-induced skin damage. The purpose of this study is to test a mixture with a formulation containing several natural active ingredients on actinic ulcers in patients receiving radiation therapies. Patients and methods: The authors recruited 13 patients, and randomly divided them into a test group (T1) and a control group (T2). The patients in both groups were undergoing radiotherapy. The T1 group was treated with a mixture called ozolipoile, whereas the T2 group was administered hyaluronic acid gel followed by non-ablative laser therapy. We evaluated the obtained results, the time of clinical healing, the reduction of pain, and each side effect, comparing all data between the T1 and T2 groups. Results: The average Visual Analog Scale results showed decrease in pain in both groups; however, while the T1 group showed a significant decrease in the values, the T2 group reported a more gradual reduction in the values, without ever reaching the minimum values obtained with the treatment with ozolipoile. Conclusion: Treatment of actinic ulcers with ozolipoile mixture leads to faster control of pain and to better healing of small-size ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity and safety of oxaliplatin/5-fluorouracil-based chemo-radiotherapy in patients with not radically resectable locally advanced esophageal cancer. Fifty-nine patients with adeno or squamous-cell carcinoma received oxaliplatin (60 mg/m2), and leucovorin (20 mg/m2 on days 1,8,15,29,36,43,50,57) followed by continuous infusion fluorouracil (200 mg/m2 per day on days 1–22 and 29–64) with radiotherapy (1.8 Gy daily fractions to a total dose of 45 Gy, from days 29 to 64). When feasible, surgery was scheduled 6–8 weeks after chemo-radiotherapy completion. The primary endpoint was 1-year progression-free survival. Forty (68%) patients completed treatment without modifications. An objective clinical response was seen in 35 patients (59%). Esophagectomy was possible in 33 patients and a complete resection (R0) was achieved in 26 (79%) with 6 pathologic complete responses (pCR) and 3 near pCR. At a median follow-up of 39.7 months for the surviving patients, the median progression-free and overall survivals were 11 months (95% CI 6.5–14) and 18.5 months (95% CI 13–29). The 1-year progression-free and overall survivals were 47.5% (95% CI 34–59.5%) and 63% (95% CI 49–74%). Major toxicities were esophagitis (20% G3 and 5% G4) and diarrhea (8.5% G3 and 8.5% G4). Hematological toxicity (7% G3 and 3% G4) was less common; severe neurotoxicity (3% G3) was infrequent. Concurrent oxaliplatin, leucovorin, fluorouracil and radiotherapy followed or not by esophagectomy has a tolerable toxicity and promising activity in locally advanced esophageal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]