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In the last decade, major advances in high precision treatment delivery and multimodal imaging allowed radiotherapy to be more efficient and better tolerated. However, the technology of the accelerators used to generate X-ray beams is outdated and does not allow to explore the tolerance to novel approaches in terms of dose-rate. We have been the first to propose a completely novel modality of irradiation, named Flash radiotherapy, in which the dose per pulse and the instant dose-rate during the pulses is 10 3 to 10 4 higher than those used in conventional facilities. Flash has been shown to spare mouse lung from radio-induced fibrosis, whilst leaving unchanged the antitumor potential. Other teams have shown that the advantage of Flash in terms of reduced complications extends to normal brain and intestinal crypts. The goal of this paper is to review the progress of studies dealing with very high dose-rate "Flash" irradiation, describe the theoretical models proposed to explain the underlying mechanisms, and discuss the prospects for clinical applications of this emerging technique., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Copyright of Pelvi-Perineologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

From a review of literature, the objective of this paper is to define limits for delineation of organs at risk and dose constraints in this latter when radiotherapy is delivered with conventional fractionation or with hypofractionation as for stereotactic body radiation therapy., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier SAS.)

Introduction: Because of the improvement of cancer prognosis, long-term damages of treatments become a medical and public health problem. Among the iatrogenic complications, neurological impairment is crucial to consider since motor disability and pain have a considerable impact on quality of life of long cancer survivors. However, radiation-induced neuropathies have not been the focus of great attention. The objective of this paper is to provide an updated review about the radiation-induced lesions of the peripheral nerve system., State of the Art: Radiation-induced neuropathies are characterized by their heterogeneity in both symptoms and disease course. Signs and symptoms depend on the affected structures of the peripheral nerve system (nerve roots, nerve plexus or nerve trunks). Early-onset complications are often transient and late complications are usually progressive and associated with a poor prognosis. The most frequent and well known is delayed radiation-induced brachial plexopathy, which may follow breast cancer irradiation. Radiation-induced lumbosacral radiculoplexopathy is characterized by pure or predominant lower motor neuron signs. They can be misdiagnosed, confused with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or with leptomeningeal metastases since nodular MRI enhancement of the nerve roots of the cauda equina and increased cerebrospinal fluid protein content can be observed. In the absence of specific markers of the link with radiotherapy, the diagnosis of post-radiation neuropathy may be difficult. Recently, a posteriori conformal radiotherapy with 3D dosimetric reconstitution has been developed to link a precise anatomical site to unexpected excess irradiation., Perspectives and Conclusion: The importance of early diagnosis of radiation-induced neuropathies is underscored by the emergence of new disease-modifying treatments. Although the pathophysiology is not fully understood, it is already possible to target radiation-induced fibrosis but also associated factors such as ischemia, oxidative stress and inflammation. A phase III trial evaluating the association of pentoxifylline, tocopherol and clodronate (PENTOCLO, NCT01291433) in radiation-induced neuropathies is now recruiting., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Up to 50% of cancer patients will receive radiation therapy as a part of their treatment. Radiation may be delivered with curative or palliative intent, according to the extent of disease, the patient's performance status and his wishes. The aim of palliative radiotherapy is to locally control primary tumor or metastasis and, thus, to slow down the disease. Another purpose is to decrease symptoms as part of the supportive care in the end of life. The total dose, the dose per fraction and the technique of irradiation used vary with the treatment aim. Indications of radiotherapy in the end of life are reviewed in this paper

Xerostomia is one of the most a common complication of radiotherapy for head and neck cancers, affecting quality of life. Parotid glands produce approximately 60% of saliva and submandibular glands 20% of saliva while the rest is secreted by sublingual and accessory salivary glands. Methods of measuring the salivary output are collection of unstimulated or stimulated saliva or 99mTc-pertechnate scintigraphy. Several studies demonstrated that late salivary dysfunction after radiotherapy has been correlated to the mean parotid gland dose, with recovery occurring with time. Severe xerostomia could be avoided if at one parotid gland is spared to a mean dose of less than approximately 25-30 Gy. Clinical benefit of submandibular gland sparing is more controversial. A mean dose less than 39 Gy could preserve submandibular gland function. This paper aims to review main studies evaluating tolerance dose of salivary glands., (Copyright (c) 2010 Société française de radiothérapie oncologique (SFRO). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.)

The planning of radiotherapy has known major developments during the last years. With the emergence of news techniques such as conformational radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy or stereotactic radiation therapy, the definition of target volumes was of great importance. The recommendations for the target volumes definition have been defined in the ICRU 50 and 62 reports, without any guidelines for volume delineation. Among the uncertainties that may influence the outcome after irradiation, the intra- and interobservers variations in delineation are the most important. Many teams have offered guidelines or atlases to homogenize these volumes and reduce these variations related to medical intervention. The aim of this paper is to present the main recommendations.

Pediatric tumors still represent a formidable challenge despite the considerable therapeutical advances that have been reported for the past 30 years. This is largely related with the untowards side-effects of local therapy that are still acknowledged as the "price for cure". In this setting, Proton therapy a sophisticated radiotherapeutical modality seems to represent a real breakthrough due to its unique ability to spare close and distant normal organs compared with modern photons techniques. We summarize in this paper current clinical and dosimetrical evidences including an update of the Orsay series on 108 children.

The MEAH, a French national agency working on health services organization, has led a two-year campaign on safety improvement in radiotherapy centers. The pilot project involved three voluntary French cancer centers in 2005 and 2006. Building on the results of this project, a roll-out campaign has been launched, involving more than 50 additional cancer centers from 2007 and on. This paper presents the results of experiences of these campaigns. Notably, the axes of improvement chosen by professionals, such as risk analysis or use of checklists are discussed.

The management of the documentation is one of the key points regarding the efficacy and the performance of the quality management of health centres. It offers to all professionals the possibility to be informed on the procedures in use, leading to a pool of documents for improvement of organisations and for securing the critical steps of the patient management. In this paper, we will describe the optimal organisation of the documentation according to Haute autorité de santé (HAS) and ISO recommendations, then we will discuss in concrete terms the potential methods usable for the production of a tool well adapted to our routine practice, in order to achieve the objectives for security.

Large modifications are on going in our medical practice in oncology (cancer incidence, ageing, rules, authorizations, billings...). To obtain the best results as possible implies a quality control of the equipments (drugs, machines...), of the professionals (certification) and of the organisations (accreditations). Radiation oncology plays a key role in the multidisciplinary treatment of cancer ant is very sensitive to quality assurances due to its specificities: different tumours, various patients, multiple sequences of treatment with high tech machines and information systems. From 2003, a progress policy has been developed with the MeaH (Mission d'évaluation et d'audit hospitalier). Rapidly, the transfer of security policies from industry to medicine has been considered. This paper will present the first results and their potential implications in the field of oncology.

Hypofractionation (i.e. the use of fewer higher fractional doses than usual) is not a new concept. It had actually been proposed in the early year of Radiotherapy by the German and Austrian specialists. In the seventy's, supported by the - wrong - hypotheses which gave birth to the NSD (Nominal Standard Dose), hypofractionation reappears. The consequential increase of late complications which was observed led the radiation oncologists to give up again using large doses per fraction, except for a few specific situations, such as palliative treatments. We are recently facing a new "come-back" of hypofractionation, in particular for breast and prostate cancers. In the case of breast cancer, the aim is clearly to look for more "convenience" for both the patients and the physicians, proposing shorter irradiation schedules including a lesser number of fractions. Some "modestly" hypofractionated schemes have been proposed and used, without apparently altering the efficacy/toxicity ratio, but these results have been seriously questioned. As for prostate cancer, the situation is different, since in that case new radiobiological data are at the origin of the newly proposed hypofractionation schedules. A number of papers actually strongly suggested that the fractionation sensitivity of prostate cancer could be higher than the one of the tissues responsible for late toxicity (i.e the exact opposite of the classical dogma). Based on those data, several hypofractionated schemes have been proposed, with a few preliminary results looking similar to the ones obtained by the classical schedules. However, no randomised study is available so far, and a few recent radiobiological data are now questioning the new dogma of the high fractionation sensitivity of prostate cancer. For those two - frequent - cancers, it seems therefore that prudence should prevail before altering classical irradiation schedules which have proven their efficacy, while staying open to new concepts and proposing well-designed randomised trials in specific cases.

The objective of this paper is to give some practical landmarks for the delineation of target volumes and organs at risk in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. This delineation, drawn from anatomo-clinical data, natural history of the disease and radiological pre-treatment evaluation, seems to be easier to define than the delineation of other head and neck cancer localisations (oropharynx and oral cavity for example). Experience inside national and international cooperative groups should tend to standardize this initial and fundamental step of Nasopharyngeal Conformal Radiotherapy.

This paper reports the patient care experience during the course of the radiotherapy. Plights are multiple. Patients are confronted with a complex and unknown distressing space, an irrelavant information, a banalization of side effects, an isolation with a frequent inadequate support of their family or the caregivers team, with the fear of a definitive abandonment at the end of the treatment without comforting follow-up. It is imperative to state a real policy in order to improve the patient support. Sensibilization and training of the caregivers, in spite of a frequent overbooking technical work, is required in a pluridisciplinary approach to provide a relevant reception with the collaboration of psychologists, social workers and self care groups and associations. The personal implication of the physicians and technologists is also essential. The simple smile is the intangible proof of the reliable emotional support.

Since January 2001, radiotherapy treatments with modulated intensity beams (IMRT) have started at the Centre Oscar-Lambret. This paper presents the tests and measurements made before the clinical implementation as well the quality control performed before each routine treatment. We use the treatment planning system Helax-TMS (MDS-Nordion) and the Primus accelerator (Siemens) linked to the Lantis network with Primeview and Simtec modules (Siemens) allowing to deliver intensity modulated beams with Step-and-Shoot technique. A prostate case and a head and neck case have been studied and have permitted to evaluate the benefit of IMRT compared to a "classical" conformal radiotherapy. In a second time, we have tested the accelerator's capabilities to deliver these intensity modulated beams, id-est, the accuracy of the leaf positions and the linearity of the monitor chamber. The third step has been the verification of the dose distributions calculated by Helax-TMS, id-est, the dose for different segment sizes, the dose profiles for an intensity modulated beam and the dose distribution for all the traitment beams. The used phantom has been especially developed at the Centre Oscar-Lambret for IMRT. The results have allowed to start clinical treatments and to establish a quality control set for this technique. The next step is the real time dosimetry with a portal imager.

Prescribing and achieving radiotherapy require accurate definitions of the target volumes and of the dose to be delivered in them. The need for the availability of a coherent vocabulary, recognized from local to international levels, has justified the publication, by the ICRU, of two reports related to external radiotherapy, the Report 50 (1993) and the Report 62 (1999). This paper presents the main propositions of the ICRU for the definition of the volumes, as well as comments and recommendations for their use.

A contour acquisition system has been designed in radiotherapy at the Sagamie Hospital complex (Chicoutimi, Québec) to measure the external contours of the patients who do not need a CT exam. This measuring system can produce transversal, sagittal or coronal patient contours in the treatment position. The absolute accuracy of the system is +/- 1 mm. The contours produced by this equipment can be transferred electronically or on paper to the planning system.

Copyright of Oncologie (Tech Science Press) is the property of Tech Science Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Oncologie (Tech Science Press) is the property of Tech Science Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Oncologie (Tech Science Press) is the property of Tech Science Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: These last years, the new irradiation techniques as the conformal 3D radiotherapy and the IMRT are strongly correlated with the technological developments in radiotherapy. The rigorous definition of the target volume and the organs at risk required by these irradiation techniques, imposed the development of various image guided patient positioning and target tracking techniques. The availability of these imaging systems inside the treatment room has lead to the exploration of performing real-time adaptive radiation therapy. In this paper we present the different image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) techniques and the adaptive radiotherapy (ART) approaches. IGRT developments are focused in the following areas: 1) biological imaging for better definition of tumor volume; 2) 4D imaging for modeling the intra-fraction organ motion; 3) on-board imaging system or imaging devices registered to the treatment machines for inter-fraction patient localization; and 4) treatment planning and delivery schemes incorporating the information derived from the new imaging techniques. As this paper is included in the “Cancer–Radiotherapie” special volume dedicated to the lung cancers, in the description of the different IGRT techniques we try to present the lung tumors applications when this is possible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Oncologie (Tech Science Press) is the property of Tech Science Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revue Francophone de Psycho-Oncologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The potential tailoring of radiotherapy modalities to the biological characteristics of individual tumours and normal tissues appears to be an exciting way to improve the therapeutic, ratio in radiation therapy patients. Numerous assays have been proposed to provide the clinician with the biological information necessary to predict the outcome after irradiation and to guide the treatment prescription, but none of them has made its way to daily practice. Major difficulties are due to the technical burden of the procedures, the poor characterization of the assayed cells, and, moreover, the high complexity of tumour and normal tissues biology. The present paper reviews the present status of the assessment of tumour cells radiosensitivity, proliferation and oxygenation. Research remains extremely active in the field of biological predictors of response to irradiation. Future steps forwards are expected from progress in the available technologies, (re-)discovery of apoptosis and investigation of normal tissue tolerance.

At the present time, the current improvement of technical and dosimetric aspects of radiation oncology has to be evaluated in terms of potential benefit for the patient and the society. For this last point of view, specially designed economic analyses must be performed in order to justify the number of resources involved by these technical improvements. If the question is how the current technical procedures could reduce the risk of undesirable side-effects, the response cannot be immediately drawn from the literature. This paper emphasizes the possibility to evaluate the role of side-effects as endpoints of economic analyses when using special models in medical decision making such as Markov's. Only few oncologic situations are reliable to properly analyze the relationship between sophisticated radiation techniques and the incidence of post-radiation complications. These situations should be selected when prospective economic analyses are planned in the field of radiation therapy.

Late ocular effects after irradiation of the eyes and ocular adnexa are reviewed. Ocular and orbital injuries occur more often after irradiation of central nervous system neoplasms or treatment of paranasal sinus malignancies. The complete loss of vision is the major complication which is multifactorial. This paper describes the radiation effects and grading of ocular adnexa, lens, retina, optic nerves and orbit. The tolerance doses and treatment are described.

Reporting and scoring complications after radiotherapy of gynaecological cancers is difficult because of the variety of treatment techniques involved. Use of an international classification is necessary to compare results obtained in series of patients treated in different institutions. An international group of experts designed in the early nineties the so-called French-Italian glossary. This classification of late effects is now completed with the new LENT SOMA scales. This paper contains details of these late changes, including their pathophysiology, clinical syndromes, potential treatment, and prevention.

The aim of the paper consists to select criterias of the therapeutic effect of superoxide-dismutase (PEG-SOD) administrated as an ointment twice a day for 3 months. An original scoring method including qualitative and quantitative data was set up in order to appreciate the importance of the fibrosis and its variations when under local administration of PEG-SOD. Clinical and paraclinical controls were made as T0, T1 (6 weeks), T2 (3 months), T3 (6 months). After 6 months, results enabled us to show PEG-SOD in its galenic form was efficient on radiofibrosis with a 41% score reduction compared to pretreatment score T0, thus an improvement of nearly half of the potential theoretical recovery. The therapeutic efficiency was greater on the most recent fibrosis and there was a chronological order to the different recovery stages. After 6 weeks of administration pains were reduced or stopped; then after 3 months of treatment fibrous texture broke up and softened. An effective reduction of the surface as well as lightened of the pigmentation would not usually start until the 4th month after the start of treatment. PEG-SOD is thus an enzyme the therapeutic interest of which offers interesting prospects. The score which was set up enable a fair evaluation of the intensity and the variations of the treated fibrosis. A prospective study is currently on going in order to research the biological conditions in which the enzyme reacts.

In recent years, chemotherapy and radiations for cancer patients has become increasingly successful, and sustained remissions have been achieved. However, in young men, most of the current therapies still presently induce temporary or permanent sterility without any means of prediction. The present paper largely based on data accumulated over two decades at CECOS Paris-Bicêtre reassess the clinical role of semen cryopreservation from young men with cancer before chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Recent use of assisted reproduction technologies with pretherapy cryopreserved specimens (including semen of poor quality) has provided a growing number of pregnancies. These new data strongly reaffirm that semen cryopreservation should be offered to all men diagnosed with cancer since it presently provides the only reasonable chance of establishing a pregnancy after therapy.

Résumé Les principales indications de curiethérapie des cancers de la tête et du cou localisées sont les tumeurs des lèvres et la pyramide nasale, de la cavité buccale et de l’oropharynx. Les tumeurs du cavum sont aujourd’hui plus accessibles à la radiothérapie conformationnelle avec modulation d’intensité. La curiethérapie peut être réalisée seule ou après une radiothérapie externe ou une chirurgie. Elle fait partie des traitements de recours pour les secondes localisations en territoire irradié et les situations périopératoires à risque. La curiethérapie de débit pulsé permet de reproduire les connaissances acquises de bas débit de dose et l’optimisation de la distribution de la dose. Les résultats de séries de patients traités avec le haut débit font leur apparition dans plusieurs localisations. Cet article fait état des données issues des recommandations du Groupe européen de curiethérapie–European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (Gec-ESTRO) publiées en 2017, tenant compte des connaissances issues des séries en bas débit de dose, et actualisées pour les techniques de débit pulsé et de haut débit de dose. The main indications of the brachytherapy of head and neck cancers are the limited tumours of the lip, the nose, the oral cavity and the oropharynx. Nasopharynx tumours are nowadays treated by intensity-modulated radiotherapy. This technique can be exclusive, associated with external radiotherapy or postoperative. It can also be a salvage treatment for the second primaries in previously irradiated areas. If the low dose rate brachytherapy rules remain the reference, the pulse dose rate technique allows the prescription of the dose rate and the optimisation of the dose distribution. Results of high dose rate brachytherapy are now published. This paper reports the recommendations of the Gec-ESTRO, published in 2017, and takes into account the data of the historical low dose rate series, and is upgraded with the pulsed-dose rate and high dose rate series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé Objectifs de l’étude L’esthésioneuroblastome ou neuroblastome olfactif représente une entité rare. Nous rapportons dans cet article notre expérience et une synthèse des principales données de la littérature. Patients et méthodes Nous avons analysé rétrospectivement les données cliniques et thérapeutiques des patients pris en charge au centre hospitalier Lyon Sud pour des esthésioneuroblastomes olfactifs histologiquement confirmés. Résultats Les dossiers de dix patients pris en charge entre 1993 et 2015 ont été analysés. Le stade initial, selon la classification de Kadish, était C dans 90 % des cas. Le suivi médian était de 136 mois. La probabilité de survie globale à 10 ans était de 90 %. Celle de survie sans progression était de 70 % et 50 % respectivement à 5 et 10 ans. Neuf patients (90 %) ont bénéficié d’une résection chirurgicale de première intention. Sept des neuf patients opérés (77 %) ont reçu une radiothérapie adjuvante conformationnelle tridimensionnelle, un une radiothérapie avec modulation d’intensité statique, un une arcthérapie volumétrique modulée ( n = 1). La dose moyenne délivrée au site tumoral était de 61 Gy. Aucun patient n’a reçu d’irradiation ganglionnaire prophylactique. Deux patients ont bénéficié d’une chimiothérapie concomitante. Cinq tumeurs (50 %) ont récidivé, une localement, deux dans les ganglions et deux dans le cerveau. Conclusion Ces données semblent comparables à celles de la littérature. En l’absence d’étude prospective, et devant le faible nombre de cas rapportés dans la littérature, il est important de poursuivre l’étude de ces tumeurs et de publier l’expérience de chaque centre afin d’améliorer leur prise en charge. Purpose Olfactory neuroblastoma or esthesioneuroblastoma is a rare entity among head and neck neoplasms. In this paper, we report the experience of our institution and compare it with a comprehensive review of the literature. Patients and methods We retrospectively analysed clinical and treatment data of patients referred to the Lyon Sud University Hospital (France) for histologically proven olfactive esthesioneuroblastoma. Results Ten patients treated between 1993 and 2015 have been analysed. Disease stage at diagnosis, according to the Kadish staging system, was C in 90% of cases. Median follow-up was 136 months. Ten-year overall survival was 90%. Five- and ten-year progression-free survival were 70% and 50%. Nine patients (90%) underwent surgical resection first. Seven of the nine patients who underwent resection (77%) received adjuvant three-dimensional (3D)-conformal radiotherapy ( n = 7), intensity-modulated radiotherapy ( n = 1), or volumetric arctherapy ( n = 1). The mean dose to the tumour volume was 61 Gy. None of the patients received elective nodal irradiation. Two patients received concurrent chemotherapy. Five patients (50%) presented with disease recurrence, which was local ( n = 1), nodal ( n = 2) and cerebral ( n = 2). Conclusion Our results are consistent with the literature. Because of the lack of prospective study and the low number of cases in the literature, each institution's experience is of the utmost important to improve standardised management of these tumours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé Depuis une vingtaine d’années, le développement de nanoparticules comprenant des éléments de haut numéro atomique comme agents radiosensibilisants est en plein essor. Le design de ces nano-objets doit respecter les contraintes « classiques » liées au développement de nanoparticules pour une application en oncologie, tout en permettant d’augmenter l’effet de la dose locale dans la zone tumorale en épargnant les tissus sains environnants. Dans ce cadre, l’injection intraveineuse de tel nanomédicament devient possible. Les différents points à prendre en considération pour la mise au point d’une nanoparticule administrable par voie systémique et possédant une activité radiosensibilisante seront discutés à partir de l’exemple de la nanoparticule AGuIX. Cette nanoparticule de quelques nanomètres de diamètre hydrodynamique, composée de polysiloxane et de chélates de gadolinium, a démontré son intérêt lors de nombreuses études précliniques et est en cours d’évaluation pour un essai clinique de phase I chez l’homme. En plus d’augmenter l’efficacité de la radiothérapie, elle peut être utilisée comme agent de contraste pour l’IRM et constitue donc un nanomédicament théranostique pour la médecine personnalisée. Since twenty years, many nanoparticles based on high atomic number elements have been developed as radiosensitizers. The design of these nanoparticles is limited by the classical rules associated with the development of nanoparticles for oncology and by the specific ones associated to radiosensitizers, which aim to increase the effect of the dose in the tumor area and to spare the health tissues. For this application, systemic administration of nanodrugs is possible. This paper will discuss the development of AGuIX nanoparticles and will emphasize on this example the critical points for the development of a nanodrug for this application. AGuIX nanoparticles display hydrodynamic diameters of a few nanometers and are composed of polysiloxane and gadolinium chelates. This particle has been used in many preclinical studies and is evaluated for a further phase I clinical trial. Finally, in addition to its high radiosensitizing potential, AGuIX display MRI functionality and can be used as theranostic nanodrug for personalized medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé Certaines tumeurs rares et de l’enfant sont de bonnes indications de protonthérapie, qui permet une forte probabilité de contrôle tumoral sans toxicité sévère ; la multiplication des centres de traitement s’est accompagnée d’une accumulation de données dosimétriques et cliniques pour d’autres cancers. L’objectif de cette étude est de faire une mise au point sur les indications potentielles de protonthérapie. Une recherche a été faite sur Medline avec les mots clés suivants : proton beam radiotherapy , cancer , heavy particle , charged particle . Aucun essai de phase III comparant la protonthérapie avec la meilleure photonthérapie n’a pour l’instant été publié, mais de nombreuses études rétrospectives ont montré des avantages dosimétriques et cliniques potentiels importants, laissant présager d’un avantage en termes de toxicité pour la protonthérapie, en particulier lorsque la contrainte de dose implique des organes en parallèle (tumeurs thoraciques et abdominales) ; de nombreux essais de phase 0, I, II, III et IV sont en cours pour déterminer la place de la protonthérapie dans les cancers les plus fréquents. L’utilisation de cette technique dans les cancers les plus fréquents est en expansion dans le cadre d’essais, mais certaines indications pourraient être envisagées devant des avantages dosimétriques majeurs in silico avec la protonthérapie. Proton beam therapy is indicated as a treatment for some rare tumours and paediatric tumours because the technique allows a good local control with minimal toxicity; the growing number of centres that use proton beam therapy is associated with an increase of dosimetric and clinical data for other malignant tumours as well. This paper reviews potential indications of proton beam therapy. A systematic review on Medline was performed with the following keywords proton beam therapy, cancer, heavy particle, charged particle. No phase III trial has been published using proton beam therapy in comparison with the best photon therapy, but numerous retrospective and dosimetric studies have revealed an advantage of proton beam therapy compared to photons, above all in tumours next to parallel organs at risk (thoracic and abdominal tumours). This could be accompanied with a better safety profile and/or a better tumoural control; numerous phase 0, I, II, III and IV studies are ongoing to examine these hypotheses in more common cancers. Use of proton beam therapy is growing for common cancers within clinical trials but some indications could be applied sooner since in silico analysis showed major advantages with this technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Breast reconstructions are plastic surgeries that female patients, who have undergone mastectomies, are increasingly using. While the morphological results are appreciated by patients themselves as being more and more satisfactory, results in terms of sensitivity remain uncertain and depend on type of reconstruction used. The chest wall skin already desensitized by mastectomy and exposed to radiotherapy presents disturbance of blood supply and innervation, likely responsible for impaired local thermoregulation that can easily lead to thermal burn injuries. Our paper presents a rare ethiopathological burn entity on the reconstructed breast: the association between short sun exposure and wearing black clothes. This aetiology of burns must be known by patients and by plastic surgeons in order to prevent dramatic clinical situations leading up to the loss of the reconstruction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Although the same simple laws govern cancer outcome (cell division repeated again and again), each tumour has a different outcome before as well as after irradiation therapy. The linear-quadratic radiosensitivity model allows an assessment of tumor sensitivity to radiotherapy. This model presents some limitations in clinical practice because it does not take into account the interactions between tumour cells and non-tumoral bystander cells (such as endothelial cells, fibroblasts, immune cells…) that modulate radiosensitivity and tumor growth dynamics. These interactions can lead to non-linear and complex tumor growth which appears to be random but that is not since there is not so many tumors spontaneously regressing. In this paper we propose to develop a deterministic approach for tumour growth dynamics using chaos theory. Various characteristics of cancer dynamics and tumor radiosensitivity can be explained using mathematical models of competing cell species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: PET imaging is now considered a gold standard tool in clinical oncology, especially for diagnosis purposes. More recent applications such as therapy follow-up or tumor targeting in radiotherapy require a fast, accurate and robust metabolically active tumor volumes delineation on emission images, which cannot be obtained through manual contouring. This clinical need has sprung a large number of methodological developments regarding automatic methods to define tumor volumes on PET images. This paper reviews most of the methodologies that have been recently proposed and discusses their framework and methodological and/or clinical validation. Perspectives regarding the future work to be done are also suggested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Purpose: A way to improve the accuracy of lung radiotherapy for a patient is to get a better understanding of its lung motion. Indeed, thanks to this knowledge it becomes possible to follow the displacements of the clinical target volume (CTV) induced by the lung breathing. This paper presents a feasibility study of an original method to simulate the positions of points in patient''s lung at all breathing phases. Patients and methods: This method, based on an artificial neural network, allowed learning the lung motion on real cases and then to simulate it for new patients for which only the beginning and the end breathing data are known. The neural network learning set is made up of more than 600 points. These points, shared out on three patients and gathered on a specific lung area, were plotted by a MD. Results: The first results are promising: an average accuracy of 1mm is obtained for a spatial resolution of 1×1×2.5mm3. Conclusion: We have demonstrated that it is possible to simulate lung motion with accuracy using an artificial neural network. As future work we plan to improve the accuracy of our method with the addition of new patient data and a coverage of the whole lungs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Xerostomia is one of the most a common complication of radiotherapy for head and neck cancers, affecting quality of life. Parotid glands produce approximately 60% of saliva and submandibular glands 20% of saliva while the rest is secreted by sublingual and accessory salivary glands. Methods of measuring the salivary output are collection of unstimulated or stimulated saliva or 99mTc-pertechnate scintigraphy. Several studies demonstrated that late salivary dysfunction after radiotherapy has been correlated to the mean parotid gland dose, with recovery occurring with time. Severe xerostomia could be avoided if at one parotid gland is spared to a mean dose of less than approximately 25–30Gy. Clinical benefit of submandibular gland sparing is more controversial. A mean dose less than 39Gy could preserve submandibular gland function. This paper aims to review main studies evaluating tolerance dose of salivary glands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ionizing radiations induce cell death, causing deterministic or stochastic side-effects. This paper briefly summarizes the biological mechanisms of early and late side-effects of ionizing radiations on healthy tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas are frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage. Their treatment remains controversial, and has to be multidisciplinary. External beam radiotherapy is a recognized treatment option after radical curative surgery in order to improve local control. Different adjuvant treatment options have been studied in order to improve the outcome of these patients. We review in this paper the different prognostic factors indicating an adjuvant treatment and the interest of treatment intensification in bad prognostic patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The planning of radiotherapy has known major developments during the last years. With the emergence of news techniques such as conformational radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy or stereotactic radiation therapy, the definition of target volumes was of great importance. The recommendations for the target volumes definition have been defined in the ICRU 50 and 62 reports, without any guidelines for volume delineation. Among the incertainties that may influence the outcome after irradiation, the intra- and interobservers variations in delineation are the most important. Many teams have offered guidelines or atlases to homogenize these volumes and reduce these variations related to medical intervention. The aim of this paper is to present the main recommendations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The MEAH, a French national agency working on health services organization, has led a two-year campaign on safety improvement in radiotherapy centers. The pilot project involved three voluntary French cancer centers in 2005 and 2006. Building on the results of this project, a roll-out campaign has been launched, involving more than 50 additional cancer centers from 2007 and on. This paper presents the results of experiences of these campaigns. Notably, the axes of improvement chosen by professionals, such as risk analysis or use of checklists are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]