D. Gangloff

Role of radiation therapy in the conservative management of sarcoma within an irradiated field.

PURPOSE To report on clinical outcome and toxicity profile after combined treatment that included radiation therapy (RT) in patients with localized sarcoma within an irradiated field. PATIENTS AND METHODS Individual clinical data from all consecutive patients diagnosed and treated for a localized SIF between January 2000 and October 2011 at the Institut Claudius Regaud, Toulouse, France, were retrospectively reviewed. Outcomes of patients with SIF who underwent adjuvant or definitive radiotherapy were compared with patients who did not receive further RT. RESULTS Of the 27 patients eligible for this study: surgery alone (S), surgery followed by RT (S + RT) or definitive RT (RT) was performed in 16, 8 and 2 cases respectively. The rate of unresectable, gross or microscopically positive margin disease among the 10 re-irradiated patients was significantly higher than the non re-irradiated group (90% vs. 12% p < 0.001). After a median follow-up of 3.8 years, there was a trend toward longer survival and better local control in the subgroup of patients who received adjuvant or definitive RT compared to the rest of the cohort with an acceptable toxicity profile. The 4-year relapse free survival rates of patients treated with and without RT were 53% and 27% respectively (p = 0.09). CONCLUSION SIF complete surgical resection is often difficult to achieve, enhancing the risk of relapse. RT should be discussed in case of unresectable tumor or after suboptimal surgery as part of intensified local management that has a curative intent.

Vaginal reconstruction with pedicled vertical deep inferior epigastric perforator flap (diep) after pelvic exenteration. A consecutive case series

Vaginal reconstruction after pelvic exenteration (PE) represents a challenge for the oncologic surgeon. Since the introduction of perforator flaps, using pedicled vertical DIEP (deep inferior epigastric perforator) flap allows to reduce the donor site complication rate. From November 2012 to December 2014, 27 PEs were performed in our institution. 13 patients who underwent PE with vaginal reconstruction and programmed DIEP procedure for gynecologic malignancies were registered. Nine patients underwent PE for recurrent disease and four for primary treatment. Six of the 13 patients have a preoperative fistula. Anterior PE was performed in 10 patients, and total PE in 3 patients. A vertical DIEP flap was performed in 10 patients using one or two medial perforators. The reasons for abortion of vertical DIEP flap procedure were: failure to localizing perforator vessels in two cases, and unavailability of plastic surgeon in one case. A vertical fascia-sparring rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap was then harvested. Median length of surgery was 335min, and 60min for DIEP harvesting and vaginal reconstruction. No flap necrosis occurred. One patient in the VRAM (vertical rectus abdominis myocutaneous) group experienced a late incisional hernia and one patient in the DIEP flap group required revision for vaginal stenosis. In our experience, DIEP flap represents our preferred choice of flap for circumferential vaginal reconstruction after PE. To achieve a high reproducibility, the technically demanding pedicled vertical DIEP flap has to be harvested by a trained surgeon, after strict evaluation of the preoperative imaging with identification and localization of perforator vessels.

Reconstructions mammaires immédiates ou différées : critères de choix et de faisabilité

Breast reconstruction’s objective is to improve patients’ quality of life without affecting oncological prognosis. Recent advances in radiotherapy and multidisciplinary management enable more immediate breast reconstructions to be performed, thanks to new therapeutic sequences that are immediate–delayed reconstruction and reverse sequence. In this article, breast reconstruction choice, type (implants versus flap), and moment (immediate or delayed) are discussed with regard to oncological risk and characteristics of patients in current scientific, technical, and economical context.RésuméL’objectif de la reconstruction est d’améliorer la qualité de vie des patientes sans impacter le pronostic carcinologique. Les progrès récents en radiothérapie et les échanges pluridisciplinaires de plus en plus riches permettent aujourd’hui de proposer plus souvent la reconstruction mammaire immédiate (RMI) grâce à de nouvelles séquences thérapeutiques: l’initiation immédiate de reconstruction et la séquence inversée. Nous discutons dans cet article des choix d’une reconstruction mammaire, en immédiat ou en différé au vu des risques carcinologiques, des caractéristiques spécifiques des patientes dans le contexte scientifique, technique et économique actuel.AbstractBreast reconstruction’s objective is to improve patients’ quality of life without affecting oncological prognosis. Recent advances in radiotherapy and multidisciplinary management enable more immediate breast reconstructions to be performed, thanks to new therapeutic sequences that are immediate–delayed reconstruction and reverse sequence. In this article, breast reconstruction choice, type (implants versus flap), and moment (immediate or delayed) are discussed with regard to oncological risk and characteristics of patients in current scientific, technical, and economical context.

Place de la radiothérapie dans le traitement conservateur des sarcomes en territoire irradié

PURPOSE To describe long-term outcome after combined-modality treatment including radiation therapy in patients with localized sarcoma within irradiated field. PATIENTS AND METHODS Individual clinical data from all consecutive patients diagnosed and treated for a localized sarcoma within irradiated field between January 2000 and October 2011 at the Institut Claudius-Regaud, Toulouse, France, were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS Twenty-seven patients were eligible for this study. Ten patients were re-irradiated with a rate of unresectable, gross or microscopically positive margins disease significantly higher than the rest of the cohort (90% vs. 12%; P<0.001). After a median follow-up of 3.8 years, there is a non-significant trend toward longer 4-year relapse free survival in the subgroup of patients who received adjuvant or definitive radiation therapy compared to the rest of the cohort (53% vs. 27%; P=0.09) with an acceptable toxicity profile allowing conservative management. CONCLUSION The complete surgical resection sarcoma within irradiated field is often difficult to achieve enhancing the risk of relapse. Radiation therapy should be discussed when faced with an unresectable tumour or after suboptimal surgery as part of intensified local management with a curative intent.