Daniel H. Clarke

Fat necrosis of the breast simulating recurrent carcinoma after primary radiotherapy in the management of early stage breast carcinoma

Between March 1973 and December 1980, 76 patients with Stage I or II breast carcinoma were treated by biopsy and definitive radiation therapy at Stanford University Medical Center. There were 78 treated breasts since two patients had bilateral carcinomas at presentation. During a median follow‐up period of 29 months, eight patients developed discrete masses in the treated breast. In four of these patients biopsied tissue revealed recurrent carcinoma yielding a local control rate of 95%. Four additional patients had lesions which were clinically indistinguishable from recurrent cancer. Biopsy specimens, however, revealed fat necrosis of the breast. The clinical and pathologic features of this entity are described. It is imperative that clinicians be aware of this treatment sequelae so that conservative diagnostic procedures may be used and breast deformity minimized. If postirradiation fat necrosis is considered, mastectomy for suspected persistent or recurrent disease may be avoided.

Excellent functional outcome in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the base of tongue treated with external irradiation and interstitial iodine 125 boost

Local control, functional outcome, and complications in patients with carcinoma of the base of tongue (BOT) were analyzed to assess the impact of interstitial implant boost with I‐125 seeds.

LONG-TERM OUTCOME WITH INTERSTITIAL BRACHYTHERAPY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH EARLY-STAGE BREAST CANCER TREATED WITH BREAST-CONSERVING THERAPY

PURPOSE We reviewed our institutions experience with interstitial implant boosts to determine their long-term impact on local control and cosmetic results. METHODS AND MATERIALS Between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1987, 390 women with 400 cases of Stage I and II breast cancer were managed with breast-conserving therapy (BCT) at William Beaumont Hospital. All patients were treated with an excisional biopsy and 253 (63%) underwent reexcision. Radiation consisted of 45-50 Gy external beam irradiation to the whole breast followed by a boost to the tumor bed to at least 60 Gy using either electrons [108], photons [15], or an interstitial implant [277] with either 192Ir [190] or 125I [87]. Long-term local control and cosmetic outcome were assessed and contrasted between patients boosted with either interstitial implants, electrons, or photons. RESULTS With a median follow-up of 81 months, 25 patients have recurred in the treated breast for a 5- and 8-year actuarial rate of local recurrence of 4 and 8%, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in the 5- or 8-year actuarial rates of local recurrence using either electrons, photons, or an interstitial implant. Greater than 90% of patients obtained a good or excellent cosmetic result, and no statistically significant differences in cosmetic outcome were seen whether electrons, photons, or implants were used. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that patients with Stage I and II breast cancer undergoing BCT and judged to be candidates for boosts can be effectively managed with LDR interstitial brachytherapy. Long-term local control and cosmetic outcome are excellent and similar to patients boosted with either electrons or photons.

The role of endorectal coil MRI in patient selection and treatment planning for prostate seed implants

Abstract Purpose: To assess the role of endorectal coil magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) staging for patients undergoing seed implantation (SI) with or without external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Methods and Materials: Between October 1994 and December 1998, 390 patients underwent prostate SI (98% Pd-103, 2% I-125). Seventy-six percent of patients had a prostate serum antigen (PSA) 20. Ten percent of patients had a Gleason score (GS) of 4–5, 54% had GS 6, 29% had GS 7, and 7% had GS ≥ 8. Monotherapy was employed in 46% of patients, and the remaining 54% received combined EBRT and SI. Three hundred twenty-seven were staged by high-resolution phased array pelvic coil, or in most cases, an endorectal coil MRI. The MRI findings were used to guide stage-appropriate treatment recommendations, and to assist in the preplanning and optimization of seed distributions. The criteria utilized to determine MRI-based stage were founded on the reported literature from the University of Pennsylvania. All MRI studies were reviewed by C.A., D.B., or W.H., who were unaware of clinical stage at the time of their review. The biopsy report was available to them as the only clinical correlate. Results: Of the 327 patients staged by MRI, 70% were upstaged from the digital rectal examination-based clinical stage; 26% of T 1 , T 2 patients were upstaged to T 3 . Perineural invasion and the percentage of positive cores predicted for T 3 MRI stage ( p p = 0.001) and failure to have MRI staging ( p = 0.0008) predicted for failure. Pretreatment PSA level, Gleason score, perineural invasion, and external beam radiotherapy did not significantly predict for PSA failure. We compared our MRI T 3 intermediate-risk group patients treated by combined therapy with a previous study of T 3 intermediate-risk group treated by radical prostatectomy (RP) at the University of Pennsylvania. Our 36-month PSA FFP was 94% compared with 21% for the previous studys RP patients. Conclusion: MRI is a valuable staging procedure for prostate cancer patients treated by SI. PSA FFP results appear to be improved by MRI staging. MRI T 3 disease can be treated more effectively by SI + EBRT than by RP.

The impact of temporary iodine-125 interstitial implant boost in the primary management of squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx

To define the impact of interstitial boost of the oropharynx on local control and complications using iodine‐125 (I‐125) brachytherapy.

67 The role of endorectal coil MRI in patient selection and treatment planning for prostate seed implants

PURPOSE To assess the role of endorectal coil magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) staging for patients undergoing seed implantation (SI) with or without external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS Between October 1994 and December 1998, 390 patients underwent prostate SI (98% Pd-103, 2% I-125). Seventy-six percent of patients had a prostate serum antigen (PSA) < 10, 17% had PSA of 10-20, and 7% of patients had PSA of > 20. Ten percent of patients had a Gleason score (GS) of 4-5, 54% had GS 6, 29% had GS 7, and 7% had GS >/= 8. Monotherapy was employed in 46% of patients, and the remaining 54% received combined EBRT and SI. Three hundred twenty-seven were staged by high-resolution phased array pelvic coil, or in most cases, an endorectal coil MRI. The MRI findings were used to guide stage-appropriate treatment recommendations, and to assist in the preplanning and optimization of seed distributions. The criteria utilized to determine MRI-based stage were founded on the reported literature from the University of Pennsylvania. All MRI studies were reviewed by C.A., D.B., or W.H., who were unaware of clinical stage at the time of their review. The biopsy report was available to them as the only clinical correlate. RESULTS Of the 327 patients staged by MRI, 70% were upstaged from the digital rectal examination-based clinical stage; 26% of T(1), T(2) patients were upstaged to T(3). Perineural invasion and the percentage of positive cores predicted for T(3) MRI stage (p < 0.0001 for both variables). MRI findings changed the overall treatment recommendation in 60/327 (18%) patients. The majority of these patients were advised to receive combined therapy instead of monotherapy after the MRI documented more extensive disease. The seed distribution was modified in 183/327 (56%) patients, mostly related to preplanned extracapsular coverage of bulky or extraprostatic disease seen on MRI. With a mean follow-up of 38 months (range 3-72), PSA freedom from progression (FFP) was 94% at 5 years. Cox regression analysis showed that only the percentage of positive cores (p = 0.001) and failure to have MRI staging (p = 0.0008) predicted for failure. Pretreatment PSA level, Gleason score, perineural invasion, and external beam radiotherapy did not significantly predict for PSA failure. We compared our MRI T(3) intermediate-risk group patients treated by combined therapy with a previous study of T(3) intermediate-risk group treated by radical prostatectomy (RP) at the University of Pennsylvania. Our 36-month PSA FFP was 94% compared with 21% for the previous studys RP patients. CONCLUSION MRI is a valuable staging procedure for prostate cancer patients treated by SI. PSA FFP results appear to be improved by MRI staging. MRI T(3) disease can be treated more effectively by SI + EBRT than by RP.