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Objective To compare in a multicenter randomized controlled trial the benefits in terms of anxiety regulation of a 15-session single-component group intervention (SGI) based on support with those of a 15-session multiple-component structured manualized group intervention (MGI) combining support with cognitive-behavioral and hypnosis components. Methods Patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer were randomly assigned at the beginning of the survivorship period to the SGI (n = 83) or MGI (n = 87). Anxiety regulation was assessed, before and after group interventions, through an anxiety regulation task designed to assess their ability to regulate anxiety psychologically (anxiety levels) and physiologically (heart rates). Questionnaires were used to assess psychological distress, everyday anxiety regulation, and fear of recurrence. Group allocation was computer generated and concealed till baseline completion. Results Compared with patients in the SGI group (n = 77), patients attending the MGI group (n = 82) showed significantly reduced anxiety after a self-relaxation exercise (P = .006) and after exposure to anxiety triggers (P = .013) and reduced heart rates at different time points throughout the task (P = .001 to P = .047). The MGI participants also reported better everyday anxiety regulation (P = .005), greater use of fear of recurrence–related coping strategies (P = .022), and greater reduction in fear of recurrence–related psychological distress (P = .017) compared with the SGI group. Conclusions This study shows that an MGI combining support with cognitive-behavioral techniques and hypnosis is more effective than an SGI based only on support in improving anxiety regulation in patients with breast cancer.

A multi-camera stereo digital image correlation (MC-DIC) set-up is presented to obtain full displacement and strain fields of a sheet-metal specimen subjected to an Erichsen test. The set-up is composed of several conventional stereo DIC systems (two camera set-up), each of which tracks the deformation of an aspect of the specimen. The individual measurements, including the geometries and the displacements, are then converted to the same reference frame to integrate into a global view. Afterwards, the strain is calculated based on the composed displacement field. It is found that the geometry and the displacement fields of the bulged specimen are ideally stitched, and smooth strain fields are obtained. The influences of the reference frame transformation and the stitching procedure on the MC-DIC measurement are investigated. A rigid motion test is performed to validate the displacement measurement. It is discussed that the global field is more reliable than the individual measurements for this test set-up.

Thirty‐one patients with superior sulcus tumor (Pancoasťs syndrome) treated with radiation between 1967 and 1980 were reviewed. Doses ranged from 2000 to 7000 cGy delivered with a continuous schedule (23 patients) and a split course regimen (8 patients). The overall survival at 5 years was 18% (median, 17 months). Patients without bone erosion or scalene lymph node involvement (13 patients) had the best 5‐year survival rate of 40%. Local control tended to correlate with the total dose and tumor extent; doses below 5000 cGy or bone invasion were associated with a higher rate of local failure. Primary external radiation is not only useful for palliation but can also cure some patients with superior sulcus tumor. Copyright © 1984 American Cancer Society

Forty-nine patients with very advanced locoregional lung cancer, metastatic in 41% of the instances, were treated with 5 Gy once weekly to a total dose of 50 to 60 Gy (1826–2050 ret). The overall tumor response rate was 68% (27% complete response and 41% partial response). The largest number of responders and the majority of complete responses were seen with the higher doses (60 Gy). The response rates of the major histologic variants were 100%, 100%, 75%, and 47% for small cell, large cell, squamous, and adenocarcinomas. The time to achieve more than 50% reduction in tumor size was 2, 2, 6, and 9 weeks for these histologic variants, respectively. The overall incidence of local failures was 22%, with only 10% of the patients demonstrating exclusive in-field local failures. There are 13 long-term survivors and the main cause of patient deaths was metastatic disease. The technique was extremely well tolerated, and, in fact, practically no acute radiation-induced complications were observed during the 10 to 12 weeks' treatment duration. Only one patient developed a symptomatic but transient radiation pneumonitis. Radiation fibrosis of various degrees has occurred, but it has been mostly asymptomatic and analogous to what is normally seen using conventional continuous schedules delivering similar doses. Once-a-week irradiation emerges as a practical and convenient alternative for the treatment of lung cancer, and appears to achieve similar results to conventional continuous schedules.