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The records of 32 patients with trabecular carcinomas of the thyroid gland were critically reviewed from a previously published serie of 138 thyroid cancers referred to the Centre Claudius Regaud, between 1952 and 1973. On the basis of clinico-pathological considerations, it seems possible to divide trabecular carcinomas into two groups. Pure trabecular carcinomas (moderately differenciated follicular carcinomas--WOH) which have a poor prognosis (5 years actuarial survival: 13%) related to high rate of local recurrences, fast metastatic spread to the lung, bad response to suppressive hormonotherapy and lack of 131 iode uptake by malignant tissue. Mixed trabeculo-vesicular carcinomas which have in comparison a fairly good prognosis (5 years actuarial survival: 63%) in keeping with a lower tendency to local recurrences and a useful concentration of radioactive iodine by metastases (most of them located in the skeleton) although dependent on the pourcentage of vesicles in the tumor process. Among differentiated thyroid carcinomas, distinction between pure trabecular and mixed trabeculo-vesicular carcinomas with quantitative determination of vesicules seems of great interest in relation to the therapeutic approach.

Radiation therapy prescribed as an adjuvant to surgery is an effective treatment of many cancers but has not been universally accepted for treatment of rectal cancer. Since 1969, preoperative radiation therapy of rectal carcinoma has been proposed in a curative intent, both at Centre Paul Lamarque in Montpellier and at Centre Claudius Regaud in Toulouse, France. Megavoltage radiotherapy was used in all patients and doses ranges from 35 to 40 Gy during 2.5 to 3 weeks. Among the 344 patients treated between 1969 and 1981, the ratio of abdominoperineal excision to anterior resection was 239/105, the percentage of pelvic recurrence was 7,8 per cent, and the 5-year survival rate, including postoperative mortality (5.2%) was 78 per cent in the Centre Claudius Regaud series and 64 per cent in the Centre Paul Lamarque series. The 10-year survival rate was 50 per cent. There was no evidence of an increased morbidity following irradiation. Pathologic staging showed no residual tumour in the excised specimen in 5.2 per cent of the cases. The number of Dukes'C cases was smaller than according to the clinical pre-treatment assessment of the tumours (16%). Ultrasonography of the liver and plasmatic CEA determination avoid irradiation of metastatic patients. Further development of this curative approach should include a postoperative boost of 25 Gy for patients who are at high risk for local failure in the pelvis, and an adjuvant chemotherapy for Dukes'C patients.

Fifty four cases of stage IVa carcinoma of the cervix and treated with radiotherapy were collected between 1971 and 1977. Overall actuarial survival was 16 per cent at 3 years and almost all the deaths occurred before that time. Amongst the factors studied, the initial size of the pelvis tumour and lumbo-aortic lymphography findings were the determing factors in the prognosis. To a lesser extent, the age of the patient, tumour differentiation and the amount of irradiation modified the prognosis. It was thus possible to define, within the stage IVa category, several prognostic groups, the determination of which has therapeutic consequences.

Thirteen cases of primary ovarian seminoma have been referred to the Claudius Regaud Cancer Center during the last 2 decades, patients' ages ranging form 10 to 41 years with a peak in the 20's. Two patients were treated by surgery as definitive therapy, the others underwent combined radiation therapy (dose range 25 to 45 Gy) following surgical excision. The 2 patients treated by surgery alone had pelvic recurrences, whereas only 2 local failures appeared in the group treated by surgery and radiotherapy. Ten patients are asymptomatic and clinically free of disease after a mean follow-up of 3.5 years, the mean survival time of the series being 6 years. Because of the generally improved prognosis, surgical oophoropexy is recommended before radiotherapy.

Authors present results of an inquiry dealing with familial and socio-professional reinsertion of 130 patients who have been treated for Hodgkin disease. On a family point of view, after treatment, the rate of single people is higher than in general population. Even though one can observe marriages, and feminine sterility is rare, the number of children by married couple remains low. There is no change in rate of house moving. Most of cured patients return to work. This fact is related to duration of treatment, but variations depend essentially of familial situation, kind to work and quality of previous social insurance. For two groups of people risk of unemployement is higher: agricultural labourers who are often dismissed and contractual civil servants who meet with difficulties to be established. Definitive invalidity is rarely conceded by wearied social organisms. Finally cured patients appear most of the time comparable with healthy population. However they meet with important difficulties to get a loan or to contract a life insurance. Premiums are frequently raised and policies restricted. Difficulties are not related to organic sequelae. Cured patients still remain suspicious for their entourage and employer, that bring them about to hide the pathologic episode.

The authors present a critical review of 14 cases of malignant thymomas. They point out that the development of the tumours is similar to Hodgkin disease's (13 relapses in contiguous areas), that surgery is never sufficient for cure and that radiosensitivity is high (in 8 patients radiotherapy alone results in a total and early regression of the tumour). Therefore the authors propose a complementary post-operative treatment by limited irradiation and MOPP type polychemotherapy. This temporary choice of treatment can be reevaluated after further case studies. To facilitate this they wish that a cooperative project could gather the rare and dispersed observations of different centers.