Locally advanced (Stage III) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately one third of all cases of NSCLC. Few patients with locally advanced NSCLC present with disease amenable to curative surgical resection. Historically, these patients were treated with primary thoracic radiation therapy (RT) and had poor long term survival rates, due to both progression of local disease and development of...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the survival rate, local failure rate and patterns of failure, and analyze the prognostic factors affecting local relapse of ductal carcinoma in situ treated with breast conserving surgery and radiotherapy Materials and Methods: From June 1995 to December 2001, 96 patients with ductal carcinoma in situ treated with breast conserving surgery and radiotherapy were retrospectively analyzed. The...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the treatment outcomes after postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) and chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The PMRT were retrospectively analyzed in 83 patients with stage II-III female breast cancer treated between 1989 and 1995. The median age was 46 years (range, 23-77); Seventy- seven patients had modified radical mastectomies, 5 radical mastectomies and 1 simple mastectomy....

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacies and toxicities of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), with or without intraluminal brachytherapy (ILB), using a retrospective analysis in esophageal carcinomas with respect to survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From April 1995 to July 2001, a total of 65 patients, diagnosed with an esophageal carcinoma, were treated by CCRT, with 21 also treated by ILB after CCRT. External radiotherapy was...

PURPOSE: A tumor registry system for the patients treated by radiotherapy at Samsung Medical Center since the opening of a hospital at 1994 was employed. In this study, the tumor registry system was introduced and the validity of the tumor registration was analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The tumor registry system was composed of three parts: patient demographic, diagnostic, and treatment information....

PURPOSE: Captopril (angiotension converting enzyme inhibitor) is known to have a radioprotective effect in the lungs, intestines and skin, but its effect in the heart is unclear. To investigate the radioprotective effect and mechanism of captopril in the heart, the histopathological changes and immunohistochemical stains were compared with radiation alone, and radiation combined with captopril, in the rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS:...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the reflection of tumor motion according to the planning CT scan time. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A model of N-shape, which moved along the longitudinal axis during the ventilation caused by a mechanical ventilator, was produced. The model was scanned by planning CT, while setting the relative CT scan time (T; CT scan time/ventilatory period) to 0.33, 0.50, 0.67,...

PURPOSE: To study the feasibility of verifying real-time 2-D dose distribution measurement system with the scintillation screen for the quality assurance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The water phantom consisted of a scintillation screen (LANEX fast screen, Kodak, USA) that was axially located in the middle of an acrylic cylinder with a diameter of 25 cm. The charge-coupled device (CCD) camera was attached...

PURPOSE: A new fiduciary plate and orientation marker have been devised to assist the quality assurance (QA) procedures for port films in radiation therapy department. The plate is used in conjunction with the film/cassette combination during weekly QA procedures, at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), in order to verify treatment fields in high energy radiation therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A new...