Roberta Piccinno

Radiotherapy of cutaneous B cell lymphomas: Our experience in 31 cases

PURPOSEnSince cutaneous B cell lymphomas belong mostly to low or intermediate histologic grade of malignancy and have low tendency to spreading, a local treatment such as radiotherapy appears to be a suitable choice in the management of the disease. The authors have reviewed their cases to verify this statement.nnnMETHODS AND MATERIALSn31 patients affected by cutaneous B cell lymphomas classified as IE stage according to Ann Arbor received radiotherapy with orthovoltage techniques with total doses per field ranging from 10 to 40 Gy (median dose 30 Gy). All the patients had a minimum follow-up of 2 years.nnnRESULTSnAll the target skin lesions underwent complete remission. In 10 patients (32.2%) the clinical remission is still lasting. In 21 cases (67.8%) a disease relapse was observed: only at skin in other sites than those previously treated in 17 (81%), at skin and lymph nodes in two cases (9.5%), at skin, bone, and lymph node in one case (4.7%), at skin and bowel in one case (4.7%). The extracutaneous involvement occurred in cases with lesions of intermediate grade malignancy. After a new course of radiotherapy for skin lesions only, and chemotherapy, surgery or megavoltage radiotherapy for the other involvements, on the whole 21 patients (67.8%) got a complete remission.nnnCONCLUSIONnOn the basis of their results and of a review of the literature, the authors propose radiotherapy as the choice treatment of primary cutaneous B cell lymphomas.

Photoprotective activity of oral polypodium leucotomos extract in 25 patients with idiopathic photodermatoses

Background: The incidences of idiopathic photodermatoses (IP) are increasing and the available therapeutic methods are often inadequate.

Radiotherapy of skin carcinomas of the pinna: a study of 115 lesions in 108 patients

Backgroundu2002 The possibility of treating skin carcinomas of the pinna with radiotherapy is somewhat under discussion and scarcely known. Therefore the aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of dermatologic radiotherapy in a series of patients affected by basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the pinna.

Results and side effects of dermatologic radiotherapy: A retrospective study of irradiated cutaneous epithelial neoplasms

BACKGROUNDnIonizing radiation therapy has a well-defined role among several therapeutic options available for the management of cutaneous neoplasms. However, many dermatologists today are not aware of its potential.nnnOBJECTIVEnOur purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of radiotherapy in a large series of patients with primary malignant epithelial neoplasms (PMENs), who had been subjected to radiotherapy between 1982 and 1995.nnnMETHODSnA retrospective study was performed on 1188 patients with a total of 2002 PMENs that had been treated by contact, superficial, and intermediate x-ray therapy.nnnRESULTSnComplete remission was obtained in 98.7% of the irradiated lesions. The 5-year cure rate was 90.73%. Cosmetic results were evaluated as good or acceptable in 84.01% of the treated lesions. Acute complications occurred in 1.94% and chronic complications in 0.34%. To date, neither radio-induced skin neoplasms nor late stochastic effects have been observed.nnnCONCLUSIONnThis study confirms that dermatologic radiotherapy is an effective and reliable form of treatment of PMENs and has a favorable cure rate/toxicity ratio.

Role of radiotherapy in the treatment of epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma: Experience with sixty-five cases

BACKGROUNDnTreatment of Kaposis sarcoma (KS) associated with HIV infection should improve often disfiguring lesions, with an acceptable cosmetic outcome; relieve associated signs and symptoms (pain and edema); and have no adverse effects on the patients already impaired immune status.nnnOBJECTIVEnOur purpose was to determine the role of x-ray therapy in the treatment of KS.nnnMETHODSnContact x-ray therapy and half-deep x-ray therapy were used to treat 594 lesions in 65 patients with KS, who were observed for 1 to 43 months (mean, 9 months).nnnRESULTSnComplete remission was achieved with pigmentation in 405 lesions (68.3%), with good cosmetic results in 105 (17.7%), and with hypopigmentation in three (0.5%). In 80 lesions (13.5%) only size reduction or pain palliation were achieved. Fourteen lesions (2.4%) relapsed 2 to 9 months after treatment.nnnCONCLUSIONnX-ray therapy is well tolerated and meets the specified requirements for the treatment of KS.

Concurrence of vitiligo and psoriasis : a simple coincidence?

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Minimal stage IA mycosis fungoides. Results of radiotherapy in 15 patients

Background: Mycosis fungoides (MF) minimal disease stage IA, characterized by one or few close lesions (up to four), has been considered a distinct entity with a favourable prognosis, where local treatment such as radiotherapy could afford long-lasting remissions. Objective: To review our experience in radiologic treatment of this subset of the disease and compare our results with those reported in the literature. Methods: Fifteen patients presenting with MF minimal disease were treated with localized superficial X-ray therapy, with a total median dose of 22 Gy. Results: At 1 month from the end of radiotherapy, complete remission was observed in 95.45% of irradiation fields and partial remission in 4.54%. The 5-year local progression-free rate was 93.75%, while the overall relapse-free rate at 5 and 10 years was 51%. Conclusions: After an excellent response to radiotherapy, MF minimal disease may experience local or distant failures, even after years. The identification of an optimal dose of radiation and the collection of more cases would be useful in giving new guidelines in the treatment of this subset of the disease.

Intracavitary contact X-ray therapy of oral HIV-associated Kaposi's sarcoma:

A retrospective study was performed to assess the efficacy and low mucosal toxicity of intracavitary contact X-ray therapy (ICRT), a proposed treatment of small/medium sized lesions of oral HIV-associated Kaposis sarcoma (HIV-KS). Twenty-six patients with histologically confirmed oral HIV-KS underwent ICRT in the period 1986-1995. No patient received antiblastic or interferon therapy during the radiotherapy or follow-up periods. ICRT was performed according to the usual technical modalities of contact X-ray therapy, but the end of the source of ionizing radiations was introduced into the oral cavity. The total doses administered ranged from 10 to 50 Gy per field, in one or two weekly fractions of 5 Gy each. The follow-up ranged from 1 to 44 months (mean 7.5 months). Complete remission was obtained in 20 cases (76.92%), partial remission in 6 (23.08%) and relapse in one case (3.84%). Pain was relieved in all cases. Mucosal reaction was mild and did not result in any interruption of treatment. Our data suggest that ICRT is an effective and well tolerated treatment. It can be used in the management of oral HIV-KS instead of external radiotherapy, provided that the size and the location of the lesions and the conformation of the palate are suitable to this technique.

Radiotherapy of primary cutaneous CD30+ large cell lymphoma. A preliminary study of eight patients

Cutaneous CD30+ lymphomas are a group of lymphoproliferative disorders classified recently. Within this group the form of primary cutaneous CD30+ large cell lymphomas, characterized by the onset of solitary or localized nodules, seems to have a favourable course, sometimes with spontaneous regression. Thus, a nonaggressive treatment is a first-choice therapeutic approach. Dermatological radiotherapy using contact, soft or half-deep X-rays was performed on eight patients in the period 1991–1995, with a median total dose of 20 Gy per field of irradiation. The mean follow-up was of 24.75 months. All the lesions treated healed completely and up to now no relapse has been observed in the irradiated areas. Radiotherapy was always well tolerated and the cosmetic results were good in six patients (75%) and acceptable in two (25%). The preliminary results in this small series of patients support the choice of dermatological radiotherapy in the treatment of primary cutaneous CD30+ large cell lymphomas with solitary...

Relapsing meningiomas and multiple basal cell carcinomas after x-ray epilation for tinea capitis

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