Integrating radiation therapy into the management of ovarian cancer

Several studies during the last 15 years have elucidated the role of postoperative external beam radiation therapy as curative management of some subsets of patients with ovarian cancer. Despite this, the use of radiation therapy in patients with ovarian cancer has remained a controversial subject. Substantially improved cure rates have not been realized during the past decade despite the early promise of high response rates to cisplatin chemotherapy. Thus, it is important that all currently effective therapies be used for maximum therapeutic gain. This article will review the evidence that radiation therapy is curative in ovarian cancer and highlight the criteria, including stage and grade of disease and tumor residuum, by which patients suitable for such therapy are selected. The rationale for the use of whole abdominopelvic irradiation rather than pelvic or lower abdominal treatment will be discussed, as will the optimal radiation technique and its attendant morbidity. Limited data pertinent to the controversy over the use of radiation therapy versus chemotherapy in early disease, will be reviewed. The possible benefits of consolidation abdominopelvic radiation therapy after chemotherapy in highly selected patients with well-differentiated microscopic residual disease at second-look laparotomy or with no residual disease but high a risk for relapse will be considered.

Analysis of complications in patients treated with abdomino-pelvic radiation therapy for ovarian carcinoma

Between 1971 and 1985, 598 patients with ovarian carcinoma were treated with abdomino-pelvic radiation therapy. Acute complications included nausea and vomiting in 364 patients (61%) which were severe in 36, and diarrhea in 407 patients (68%), severe in 35. Leukopenia (less than 2.0 x 10(9) cells/liter) and thrombocytopenia (less than 100 x 10(9) cells/liter) occurred in 64 patients (11%) each. Treatment interruptions occurred in 136 patients (23%), and 62 patients (10%) did not complete treatment. In both situations the most common cause was myelosuppression. Late complications included chronic diarrhea in 85 patients (14%), transient hepatic enzyme elevation in 224 (44%), and symptomatic basal pneumonitis in 23 (4%). Serious late bowel complications were infrequent: 25 patients (4.2%) developed bowel obstruction and 16 required operation. Multivariate analysis was unable to determine any significant prognostic factors for bowel obstruction; however, the moving-strip technique of radiation therapy was associated with a significantly greater risk of developing chronic diarrhea, pneumonitis, and hepatic enzyme elevation than was the open beam technique. We conclude that abdomino-pelvic radiation therapy as used in these patients is associated with modest acute complications and a low risk of serious late toxicity.

Complications of whole abdominal and pelvic radiotherapy following chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer

We examined the records of 105 patients with advanced ovarian cancer who had been treated with cisplatin combination chemotherapy followed by abdominopelvic radiotherapy. The purpose was to define the morbidity of this approach, and identify those factors predictive of toxicity. Acute toxicity resulting in delay or failure to complete treatment was most commonly due to myelosuppression. Nine of 105 patients (8.6%) required surgery for bowel obstruction that was not due to recurrent disease, 3 had an episode of bowel obstruction that settled conservatively, and a further 5 underwent surgery for obstruction due to recurrent tumor. The presence of both a dose of abdominopelvic radiotherapy over 2250 cGy, as well as a second-look laparotomy prior to radiotherapy, was associated with an increased risk of serious bowel complications. The increased frequency of late bowel morbidity seen in the combined modality group is likely explained by the presence of these two factors, rather than the exposure to chemotherapeutic agents per se. These observations are supported by the published literature.

Borderline epithelial ovarian tumors: a review of 81 cases with an assessment of the impact of treatment

Optimal management of borderline epithelial ovarian tumors remains controversial because of the lack of clear, universally accepted pathologic criteria for diagnosis, the lack of complete understanding of the significance of intraperitoneal implants, and the desire to employ more limited surgery in young women. We reviewed the experience with borderline epithelial ovarian tumors at Princess Margaret Hospital in order to assess the natural history of the disease, to determine prognostic factors that would aid in management decisions, and to determine if adjuvant therapy influenced outcome. Eighty-one patients were analyzed. The mean age was 48 years. Seventy-two percent of tumors were of the serous histologic sub-type and 28% were mucinous. Seventy-eight percent were Stage I, 11% Stage II, and 11% Stage III. Peritoneal washings contained malignant cells in 14 of 32 patients (not recorded or obtained in 49), cyst rupture occurred in 25%, surface excrescences in 40%, and adhesions in 46%. None of these factors had a significant effect on recurrence rate or survival. Eleven patients received adjuvant radiation therapy (10 abdomino-pelvic and 1 pelvic alone), four adjuvant chemotherapy, and one both radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The rest (65) received no adjuvant therapy. Due to the small numbers and infrequent events, it was not possible to analyze and thus draw valid conclusions regarding the effect of adjuvant therapy on survival or recurrence. The overall survival (OS) and cause specific survival (CSS) were 85% and 96% at 10 years, respectively. No Stage I patient died of tumor. OS for Stage I patients was 90% at 10 years, the majority of whom (61 of 63) received no adjuvant therapy, and is thus unnecessary in Stage I disease. The adequacy of unilateral oophorectomy or ovarian cystectomy could not be confirmed because of small numbers. The 10 year OS and disease-free survival in Stage II and III were 75% and 50%, respectively, despite the use of adjuvant radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or both. It is necessary to create a multi-center tumor registry in order to acquire a prospective data base from which to develop sound therapeutic decisions.

Analysis of supradiaphragmatic clinical stage I and II Hodgkin's disease treated with radiation alone

Patients with clinical Stage I and II Hodgkin's disease have been managed at the Princess Margaret Hospital for over 20 years, without the use of routine staging laparotomy. Our experience identified as adverse prognostic factors presence of a large mediastinal mass, B symptoms, and advanced age in presence of unfavorable histology (20). We had suggested previously that the use of extended field radiation therapy (XRT) was associated with a lower risk of relapse than involved field XRT or mantle XRT. There has been a trend over the past decade to select those patients with favorable prognostic factors for treatment with XRT alone and to use mantle plus upper abdominal XRT (extended field XRT) to treat them. A retrospective study of patients with clinical Stage I and II Hodgkin's disease treated at the Princess Margaret Hospital between 1978 and 1986 was conducted to determine the impact of patient selection and extended field radiation on outcome. The study involved 250 patients with supradiaphragmatic disease selected for treatment with radiation alone on the absence of adverse prognostic factors. Radiation techniques included involved field radiation in selected patients (those with upper neck involvement), mantle radiation in the earlier years, and mantle plus upper abdominal radiation in the later years of the study. Actuarial survival was 83.3% at 8 years; cause-specific survival was 90.1% and the relapse-free rate 71.6%. Local tumor control was 94.6%; only two patients had true infield failure. Multivariate analysis showed that significant prognostic factors included age, histology, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Extent of the radiation treatment volume was significant and influenced the risk of relapse, particularly out-of-field relapse, independently of other factors. A dose of 35 Gy was found to be sufficient for control of clinical disease. This study validated a previously developed model for the selection of clinically staged patients with Stage I and II Hodgkin's disease for treatment with radiation alone. Careful selection of these patients can yield excellent results without requiring that staging laparotomy be routinely performed or the use of systemic chemotherapy as the initial treatment.

Epithelial ovarian cancer: the role of radiotherapy

Although several studies during the last 10-15 years have served to clarify the role of postoperative external beam radiotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer, the subject remains controversial. This paper will review the following topics: 1. Stage I Ovarian Cancer. 2. The rationale for selecting whole abdominopelvic radiotherapy over other forms of radiotherapy, such as pelvic or lower abdominal radiotherapy. 3. The choice of radiation technique. 4. The evidence that radiotherapy is curative in ovarian cancer. 5. The toxicity of abdominopelvic radiotherapy. 6. The criteria by which patients are selected for abdominopelvic radiotherapy. 7. Radiotherapy versus chemotherapy in early disease. 8. Consolidation radiotherapy after chemotherapy in advanced disease.

Changing concepts in the management of vulvar cancer

Vulvar carcinoma varies widely in its clinical presentations and prognosis. The reviewed literature outlines the achievements of conventional surgery, radiation, or chemoradiation therapy in its management. Currently therapeutic concepts are evolving. New treatment strategies replacing the uniform use of radical vulvectomy and bilateral groin dissection are proposed. These strategies are tailored to the clinical and pathological disease extent and location and integrate the possible therapeutic advantages of both surgery and chemoradiation. The testing and use of the proposed multimodality therapy protocols require the expertise of gynecologic, radiation, and medical oncologists. This approach should lead to improved anatomic and functional preservation in early disease and improved locoregional in advanced disease.

Outcome of patients with unfavorable optimally cytoreduced ovarian cancer treated with chemotherapy and whole abdominal radiation

There is a subgroup of patients with Stage II or III ovarian cancer whose survival is poor despite optimal cytoreduction of tumor and abdominopelvic radiation. This study examined whether the survival of these patients, who have tumor with unfavorable histopathological characteristics and/or small residual disease, could be improved by giving chemotherapy before radiation. Forty-four out of fifty-one eligible patients, seen between 1981 and 1985, with Stage II or III disease were entered into the study. Following six courses of cisplatin-based chemotherapy, 33 (75%) received abdominopelvic radiotherapy. Survival was compared to that of 48 eligible matched control patients, treated with radiation between 1978 and 1981. The median follow-up is 6.6 years. The median survival was extended from 2.4 to 5.7 years (P = 0.13), and 42.6% of patients receiving combined therapy were free of relapse at 5 years, compared to 21.6% (P = 0.03) in the historical control group, treated with abdominopelvic irradiation alone. Only 2 of 44 patients in the combined group required surgery for bowel obstruction, as did 1 of 48 in the control group. Tolerance and toxicity of the combined approach were acceptable. Although we cannot be certain that the entire benefit we observed was not attributable to the chemotherapy alone, there is evidence that the radiotherapy may have been additive. Chemotherapy followed by abdominopelvic radiotherapy seems a reasonable management policy in these patients.

Invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva: defining low and high risk groups for recurrence

One hundred and ten patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva, treated primarily with surgery at Toronto General Hospital between 1970 and 1981, were studied to determine recurrence patterns and factors predictive of relapse and survival. The overall and cause-specific actuarial 5-year survival rates were 63 and 73%, respectively. Eleven factors were studied for their prognostic value. Only Stage and, within Stage II, tumor thickness and nodal status, were independently prognostic. Six relapses occured in 8 Stage II patients who had both positive nodes and tumor thickness > 5 mm (Unfavorable Stage II), compared to 0/17 with neither or just one factor present (favorable Stage II,P= 0.0002). These results were used to define a low-risk group (Stages I and favorable II) and a high-risk group (Stages III, IV and unfavorable II). In the low-risk group, 6/69 relapsed and the 10-year actuarial relapse-free rate was 88%. This was significantly different from the high-risk group, where 24/32 relapsed (P< 10-6) and the 10-year relapse-free rate was only 11% (P< 0.00005). The recognition of these two prognostic groups brings the therapeutic challenges in vulvar cancer into clearer focus. In the low-risk group there is a need to reduce surgical morbidity without compromising cure rates. In the high-risk group, locoregional control rates must be improved in order to improve cure rates. As 27 of the 30 relapses in the high-risk group were confined to the vulva or groin, adjunctive radiotherapy might improve cure rates if used in these patients.

Outcome analysis of localized gastrointestinal lymphoma treated with surgery and postoperative irradiation

One hundred thirteen patients with localized gastrointestinal lymphoma treated by surgery and postoperative irradiation between 1967 and 1985 were reviewed. At 15 years, actuarial survival of this group was 40.6%, with a cause-specific survival of 69.2% and a relapse-free rate of 64%. Two-thirds of relapses occurred at distant sites. In Stage IA and IIA patients with no residuum or with positive resection margins, (N = 90) only site of involvement and stage predicted for relapse. Age, histologic subtype group, and depth of bowel wall invasion did not affect relapse risk. In the very favorable group (Stage IA, IIA, no residuum or microscopic residuum), 8.4% of patients with stomach lymphoma relapsed compared to 25% of patients with small bowel lymphoma. The risk of early relapse was higher in those with Stage IIA small bowel lymphoma than those with Stage IA small bowel lymphoma. We continue to recommend adjuvant abdominal irradiation for patients with Stage IA, IIA completely resected stomach lymphoma and Stage IA completely resected small bowel lymphoma. We recommend combined modality therapy for patients with completely resected Stage IIA small bowel lymphoma and all other localized gastrointestinal lymphoma where visible residual disease is present.

Prognostic factors in patients with stage I epithelial ovarian cancer

We analyzed factors predictive of relapse risk in patients with stage I invasive epithelial ovarian cancer: 252 patients from the Princess Margaret Hospital provided a data base for hypothesis generation, and data on 267 patients from the Norwegian Radium Hospital were used for hypothesis testing. The outcomes in most analyses in the two series were very similar, validating the following conclusions. Differentiation (grade) was the most powerful predictor of relapse, followed by dense adherence (which resulted in outcomes equivalent to those in stage II) and, finally, large-volume ascites. When the effects of these three factors were accounted for, then none of the following were prognostic: bilaterality (stage Ib), cyst rupture (stage Ic), capsular penetration (stage Ic), tumor size, histologic subtype, patient age, year of diagnosis, and postoperative therapy. These results allow simplification of stage I substaging, as only differentiation, dense adherence, and large-volume ascites (? peritoneal cytology) need be considered. The 5-year relapse-free rate was 98% in patients with grade 1 tumors in whom both dense adherence and large-volume ascites were absent. These patients are adequately treated by operation alone. Although the relapse risk was high enough in the remaining patients to warrant postoperative treatment, a significant benefit could be shown only for a small subset of patients, namely those with densely adherent tumors treated with abdominopelvic radiotherapy. In grades 2 and 3, none of the therapies used in either series was superior to pelvic radiotherapy or operation alone.

Advances in radiotherapy in the gynecologic malignancies

We review, for their wider applicability, four advances in the radiotherapeutic management of the gynecologic malignancies. Attempts at improving upon results obtained with radiotherapy by the addition of chemotherapy have usually followed one of two temporal strategies: Sequential chemotherapy-radiotherapy (so-called neo-adjuvant chemotherapy), or chemotherapy given concurrently with radiotherapy. The pros and cons of both models are discussed. Recent work suggests that there is a differential response between the acutely reacting normal tissues, as well as tumor, and the late-reacting normal tissues, which is dependent upon the radiation fraction size. The rationale and some important clinical applications are reviewed. Advances in brachytherapy include the high dose rate treatment and the use of rigid templates to guide the accurate placement of the interstitial implant. The controversies surrounding these approaches require further study before the precise place of these techniques is known. Finally, in vulvar cancer, the addition of radiotherapy to surgery is being studied to permit less radical operations in early disease, and greater local tumor control in advanced disease.

Minimizing drug resistance. The somatic mutation model and gestational trophoblastic neoplasia

Because of its curability, gestational trophoblastic neoplasia provides a valuable framework within which models of tumor chemotherapy can be examined. The Goldie-Coldman hypothesis, one such model, holds that resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs can be acquired in human tumors as a result of spontaneous mutation. This paper examines in depth some implications of this hypothesis in gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. Several observed treatment phenomena in this disease are in accord with the predictions of the somatic mutation model, and the model may be used to guide future clinical investigation. In particular, there is a need to elaborate cross-resistance profiles between drugs commonly used to treat trophoblastic neoplasia. This information could be used to develop new combination chemotherapy regimens as well as strategies for alternating non-cross-resistant combination chemotherapy regimens.

Current therapy for dysgerminoma of the ovary

It is important that therapy of ovarian dysgerminoma be optimized because of the young age of women affected and the threat that therapy may pose to fertility. Our understanding of dysgerminoma has improved, so that treatment schemes with better therapeutic ratio may now be used. Approximately 65% of patients present with stage IA disease. For those wishing to preserve fertility, conservative surgery with close clinical, radiologic, and serologic follow-up is the treatment of choice, with chemotherapy for relapse. Cure rates should approach 100%, and fertility is usually preserved. Intra-abdominal relapse in those not wishing to preserve fertility should be treated with modest-dose pelvic and abdominal irradiation. For those patients with disease presenting in stages IB, II, and III who wish to maintain fertility, unilateral oophorectomy followed by combination chemotherapy may be curative and spare ovarian function. Otherwise, complete surgery, followed by abdominopelvic radiation therapy, is recommended. This treatment produces less morbidity than chemotherapy and will cure approximately two-thirds of patients. Chemotherapy should be used for salvage of subsequent relapse. Both radiation and chemotherapy are highly effective treatment modalities for dysgerminoma. This information, coupled with better understanding of the patterns of disease spread and improved ability to identify nondysgerminomatous elements using serum tumor markers, means that a more conservative approach can be taken to management without compromising the chance of cure. Cure rates for dysgerminoma should now approach the role of 97% achieved in the comparable tumor, testicular seminoma.

Concurrent radiation and chemotherapy for carcinoma of the cervix recurrent after radical surgery

Results of salvage therapy in patients with carcinoma of the cervix, recurrent after primary surgery, have been dismal even when disease was apparently confined to the pelvis. Further surgery or radiation therapy cured only some with central pelvic disease alone who had recurred at intervals longer than 6 months after primary therapy. To try to improve the results of salvage therapy, we used a combination of concurrent chemotherapy, 5-Fluorouracil with or without Mitomycin-C, and radiation therapy. Seventeen patients were treated. Recurrent disease was present in the pelvis or pelvis and paraaortic nodes after radical surgery for Stage IB carcinoma of the cervix. Eight of seventeen (47%) are alive, disease-free, 21 to 58 months after therapy. Seven of the eight had biopsy proven recurrence. Five of eight had recurred within 9 months of primary surgery and 7/8 had a component of pelvic side wall disease. Thus the survivors had unfavorable prognostic features. Nevertheless, the use of concurrent radiation and chemotherapy produced an exceptionally high proportion of sustained complete remissions and possible cures.

Poor prognosis metastatic gestational trophoblastic disease: experience with moderate dose methotrexate plus folinic acid rescue as initial therapy

From 1971 to 1981, twenty patients with poor-prognosis metastatic gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) were treated with moderate-dose methotrexate (1 g) and folinic-acid rescue (MD-MTX-FAR) as initial therapy. Seven (35%) were cured with MD-MTX-FAR, and salvage chemotherapy was successful in an additional seven, for a total cure rate of 70%. The ultimate outcome is similar to that reported for MAC triple therapy during this era. Hematologic and mucosal toxicity were negligible and no serious complications were encountered. We now use combination chemotherapy in patients with poor-prognosis GTN as first-line treatment. However, these results suggest that there may be advantages to the incorporation of MD-MTX-FAR in combination regimens in place of low-dose methotrexate, because of reduced toxicity and potential benefits for the prophylaxis and treatment of cerebral metastases.

Melphalan may be a more potent leukemogen than cyclophosphamide

We have evaluated the relation between alkylating agents and leukemic disorders in 3363 1-year survivors of ovarian cancer who were treated in five randomized clinical trials and at two large medical centers. Overall, 28 patients developed acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (expected, 1.2) and 7 developed preleukemia. A 93-fold increased risk for acute nonlymphocytic leukemia was seen in 1794 women treated with chemotherapy; the incidence of leukemic disorders was 7.7/1000 women per year. Risk was highest 5 to 6 years after the first treatment and appeared to decrease thereafter. The use of radiation therapy did not affect risk. The 10-year cumulative risk (mean +/- SE) of acquiring a leukemic disorder was 8.5% +/- 1.6% after treatment with any alkylating agent, 11.2% +/- 2.6% after treatment with melphalan, and 5.4% +/- 3.2% after cyclophosphamide treatment. A dose-response relationship was apparent in 605 women receiving melphalan and suggested in 333 women receiving cyclophosphamide. Women receiving melphalan were two to three times as likely to develop leukemic disorders than were women receiving cyclophosphamide. These data indicate that choice of chemotherapeutic agent and drug dosage may influence significantly the risk for long-term adverse effects of cancer therapy.

Abdominopelvic radiotherapy in ovarian cancer. A 10-year experience

A 10-year experience is presented of the use of postoperative abdominopelvic radiotherapy in 415 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, Stages I, II, and III. Five- and 10-year survival and relapse-free data are reported by stage and residuum. Risk of relapse was analyzed in detail according to histologic features, residuum, and stage. The main emphasis of the analysis was defining criteria for selecting the patients who should be treated with abdominopelvic irradiation. This was accomplished when patients treated between 1971 and 1978 were grouped according to histologic findings as well as stage and residuum and the criteria were validated with a high degree of reproducibility in patients treated 1979 to 1981. The group of patients in whom abdominopelvic irradiation was indicated as definitive postoperative treatment comprised approximately one third of the overall patient population and their 5-year survival rate exceeded 70%. Serious bowel or liver toxicity occurred in 4% of patients.

Clinical correlations of ovarian cancer antigen NB/70K: a preliminary report

NB/70K is a glycoprotein extracted from human ovarian cancer tissue. It was measurable postoperatively in the plasma of 89% of 127 women with epithelial cancer of the ovary; 60% of these women had levels in excess of 11 kU/mL compared with 5% of control subjects. The level of NB/70K correlated with FIGO stage and amount of residual tumor, but not with pathology subtype or tumor differentiation. Elevated NB/70K plasma levels also were found in patients with benign gynecologic neoplasms and a variety of systemic carcinomas, and modest elevation was observed in association with hepatic and renal decompensation. The highest levels, found preoperatively in women with ovarian cancer, decreased after tumor resection. These preliminary data indicate that the NB/70K assay has high sensitivity in epithelial ovarian cancer, and plasma levels appear to correlate with tumor volume.

Radiation therapy in the management of ovarian cancer

The present review of selected clinical trials of the use of radiotherapy in ovarian cancer indicates that this modality has a curative role in postoperative treatment. Techniques which encompass the entire peritoneal cavity produce superior survival rates and better control of occult upper abdominal metastasis than the techniques which treat only part of the peritoneum. The volume of residual tumour, its pathology subtype and grade, and the presenting stage each independently influence the outcome of therapy. An approach to planning treatment which considers all of these variables is presented. No long-term survival data exist to permit a comparison of the relative efficacies of abdominopelvic irradiation and cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy regimes, but a rational strategy for choice of treatment can be devised. Combined modality therapy is an important area for future study.

Acute nonlymphocytic leukemia after therapy with alkylating agents for ovarian cancer: a study of five randomized clinical trials

We evaluated the occurrence of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANL) among 1399 women with ovarian cancer who were treated in five randomized clinical trials. Of the 1399 women, 998 had been treated with alkylating agents, and among these, 12 cases of ANL were observed; the expected number was 0.11. Ten patients with ANL had received melphalan, and two chlorambucil. ANL was not observed in 401 women who had been treated with surgery or radiation or both, without alkylating agents. The excess risk of ANL that was associated with alkylating-agent therapy was 5.8 cases per 1000 women per year, and the cumulative seven-year risk of ANL among patients who were treated with chemotherapy alone was indistinguishable from that observed in patients receiving both radiation and chemotherapy. A positive correlation between initial drug dose and the risk of ANL was suggested. These data underscore the need to assess other cytotoxic agents and regimens of drug administration to identify those that do not have harmful late effects.

Internal mammary lymphoscintigraphy in the assessment of patients with ovarian carcinoma

Radiocolloid internal mammary lymphoscintigraphy (IML) was evaluated in 364 patients with ovarian carcinoma to determine the frequency of abnormalities in post-operative patients, the association between the results of the lymphoscintigram and known clinical prognostic variables, and to establish whether IML yielded predictive information independent of these variables. Results of IML showed a correlation with established clinical prognostic features and yielded independent prognostic information. The sensitivity and specificity of IML in predicting relapse are 51% and 71% respectively, indicating that a single post-operative IML does not predict relapse or freedom from relapse with sufficient accuracy to make it a clinically useful test even though it provides an independent prediction of relapse.

Seminoma of the testis: results of treatment and patterns of failure after radiation therapy

Four hundred and forty-four patients with the histological diagnosis of pure seminoma were treated at The Princess Margaret Hospital between 1958 and 1976. Using the Walter Reed Hospital staging classification, 338 patients (76.1%) were Stage I, 86 (19.4%) were Stage II, and 20 (4.7%) were Stage III. The 5 year actuarial survival rate (5 yr Sa) for all stages was 87%, and for Stages I, II and III: 94%, 74% and 32% respectively. In Stage II the 5-year Sa was significantly worse when palpable abdominal disease was present (62%, vs 87% when it was absent, p less than .02). Prophylactic mediastinal irradiation was not used for patients with Stage II disease. None of 40 Stage II patients without palpable abdominal disease recurred in the non-irradiated mediastinum. Ten of 46 Stage II patients with palpable abdominal disease recurred in the mediastinum; 7 of the 10 were cured with mediastinal irradiation at the time of relapse. Prophylactic mediastinal irradiation appears unnecessary in Stage II patients. The Stage III category includes a subgroup of patients who were curable with radiation therapy:L 5/6 with supradiaphragmatic nodal disease without palpable abdominal or visceral disease were cured. Exploration of new treatment methods appears indicated for the salvage of patients recurring in sites other than the mediastinum or supraclavicular fossa and for patients presenting with visceral disease.

Ovarian carcinoma: improved survival following abdominopelvic irradiation in patients with a completed pelvic operation

A prospective, stratified, randomized study of 190 postoperative ovarian patients with Stages IB, II, and III (asymptomatic) presentations is reported. The median time of follow-up was 52 months. Patients in whom bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy (BSOH) could not be completed because of extensive pelvic tumor had a poor prognosis which did not differ for any of the therapied tested. When BSOH was completed, pelvic plus abdominopelvic irradiation (P + AB) with no diaphragmatic shielding significnatly improved patient survival rate and long-term control of occult upper abdominal disease in approximately 25% more patients than pelvic irradiation alone or followed by adjuvant daily chlorambucil therapy. The effectiveness of P + AB in BSOH-completed patients was independent of stage or tumor grade and was most clearly appreciated in patients with all gross tumor removed. Chlorambucil added to pelvic irradiation delayed the time to treatment failure without reducing the number of treatment failures.

The Princess Margaret Hospital study of ovarian cancer: stages I, II, and asymptomatic III presentations

An analysis of 231 patients with stages I, II, and asymptomatic III ovarian cancer, studied in a prospective randomized-stratified trial, is presented. None of the stage IA patients with well-differentiated tumors have had disease relapses; one fourth of the patients with poorly differentiated tumors have had disease relapses throughout the peritoneal cavity. There is therefore little justification for pelvic radiation alone as postoperative therapy for stage IA ovarian carcinoma. For stage IB, II, and asymptomatic III presentations, patients with an incomplete initial pelvic operation had poor survival characteristics with all tested therapies. For patients in whom the operation was completed, abdominopelvic radiation was superior to pelvic radiation alone or followed by chlorambucil, with respect to long-term survival and control of abdominal disease. The effectiveness of abdominopelvic radiation was independent of stage or histology. The value of abdominopelvic radiation was most strikingly seen in patients with no visible residual tumor.

Definitive evidence for hypoxic cells influencing cure in cancer therapy

From an analysis of 2803 patients with carcinoma of the cervix treated by radiation therapy, a 62% cure rate can be shown. In those patients with Stage IIb and III disease, a haemoglobin level during treatment of below 12 g% was associated with a significantly higher pelvic recurrence rate, and also lower cure rate, than for those with a haemoglobin level 12g% or more. A prospective study shows that the correction of anaemia is associated with a decreased pelvic recurrence rate and an increased cure rate consistent with tumour hypoxia being greater in anaemic patients than in those with a normal haemoglobin level. It is also consistent with the thesis that hypoxia controls the radiation local control rate in patients with advanced carcinoma of the cervix.

Insulin therapy in phenformin-associated lactic acidosis; a case report, biochemical considerations and review of the literature

A patient with phenformin-associated lactic acidosis was treated with insulin and showed marked improvement coincident with the expected onset of action of the insulin administered. Relative insulin deficiency was demonstrated although several phenomena characteristic of phenformin-associated lactic acidosis obscured its reflection in the usual indices. From data presented and a review of the literature the following pathogenesis is proposed for the observed metabolic derangement. A background of relative insulin deficiency would permit enhanced pyruvate (and hence lactate) formation from protein sources. Insulin deficiency would also lead to inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase which slows pyruvate removal. Phenformin accumulation (cf impaired renal function) further reduces pyruvate removal by decreasing its conversion to glucose, but in addition alters the redox state. For the lactic acidosis which results, insulin administration may thus constitute specific therapy. Diabetes 24:28-35, January, 1975.