Search Results (6)

Targeted axillary dissection (TAD), employing marked lymph node biopsy (MLNB) alongside sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), is increasingly recognised for its efficacy in reducing false negative rates (FNRs) in node-positive early breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST). One such method, ¹²⁵I radioactive seed localisation (RSL), involves implanting a seed into a biopsy-proven lymph node either pre- or post-NST. This systematic review and pooled analysis aimed to assess the performance of RSL in TAD among node-positive patients undergoing NST. Six studies, encompassing 574 TAD procedures, met the inclusion criteria. Results showed a 100% successful deployment rate, with a 97.6% successful localisation rate and a 99.8% retrieval rate. Additionally, there was a 60.0% concordance rate between SLNB and MLNB. The FNR of SLNB alone was significantly higher than it was for MLNB (18.8% versus 5.3%, respectively; p = 0.001). Pathological complete response (pCR) was observed in 44% of cases (248/564). On average, the interval from ¹²⁵I seed deployment to surgery was 75.8 days (range: 0–272). These findings underscore the efficacy of RSL in TAD for node-positive patients undergoing NST, enabling precise axillary pCR identification and facilitating the safe omission of axillary lymph node dissection. Full article

As the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by late detection, difficult diagnosis and treatment, rapid progression, and poor prognosis. Current treatments for liver cancer include surgical resection, radiofrequency ablation, liver transplantation, chemotherapy, external radiation therapy, and internal radionuclide therapy. Radionuclide therapy is the use of high-energy radiation emitted by radionuclides to eradicate tumor cells, thus achieving the therapeutic effect. Recently, with the continuous development of biomedical technology, the application of radionuclides in treatment of HCC has progressed steadily. This review focuses on three types of radionuclide-based treatment regimens, including transarterial radioembolization (TARE), radioactive seed implantation, and radioimmunotherapy. Their research progress and clinical applications are summarized. The advantages, limitations, and clinical potential of radionuclide treatment of HCC are discussed. Full article

The recurrence rate of cervical cancer after primary treatment can reach 60%, and a poor prognosis is reported in most cases. Treatment options for the recurrence of cervical cancer mainly depend on the prior treatment regimen and the location of recurrent lesions. Re-irradiation is still considered as a clinical challenge, owing to a high incidence of toxicity, especially in in-field recurrence within a short period of time. Recent advances in radiotherapy have preliminarily revealed encouraging outcomes of re-irradiation. Several centers have concentrasted on stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the treatment of well-selected cases. Meanwhile, as the image-guiding techniques become more precise, a better dose profile can also be achieved in brachytherapy, including high-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy (HDR-ISBT) and permanent radioactive seed implantation (PRSI). These treatment modalities have shown promising efficacy with a tolerable toxicity, providing further treatment options for recurrent cervical cancer. However, it is highly unlikely to draw a definite conclusion from all of those studies due to the large heterogeneity among them and the lack of large-scale prospective studies. This study mainly reviews and summarizes the progress of re-irradiation for recurrent cervical cancer in recent years, in order to provide potential treatment regimens for the management of re-irradiation. Full article

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in females worldwide. Patients with stage III and IV cervical cancer based on the Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) classification have higher recurrence rates. Because of organs at risk (OAR) protection and the low indication rate of salvage surgery, the choice of treatment is always challenging. Systemic chemotherapy is palliative and can be performed in conjunction with surgery or radiotherapy; however, it has no significant benefit to survival. Brachytherapy and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) are characterized by extremely high radiation doses applied to tumor cells while sparing the normal tissues. Several studies have investigated the efficacy of these technologies in recurrent cervical cancer and showed promising results. The immune checkpoint inhibitors approach was also investigated and showed promising results too. Herein, we report a case of a patient with cervical cancer that recurred five months after adjuvant chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The disease prognosis after interstitial implantation brachytherapy (IIB) was determined. Then, the patient underwent radioactive 125I-seed implantation combined with PD-1 inhibitor treatment. The patient exhibited a partial response after seed implantation, and up to now, the duration of this partial response was 24 months. Full article

The fight against cancer is an old challenge for mankind. Apart from surgery and chemotherapy, which are the most common treatments, use of radiation represents a promising, less invasive strategy that can be performed both from the outside or inside the body. The latter approach, also known as brachytherapy, relies on the use of implantable beta-emitting seeds or microspheres for killing cancer cells. A set of radioactive glasses have been developed for this purpose but their clinical use is still mainly limited to liver cancer. This review paper provides a picture of the biomedical glasses developed and experimented for brachytherapy so far, focusing the discussion on the production methods and current limitations of the available options to their diffusion in clinical practice. Highly-durable neutron-activatable glasses in the yttria-alumina-silica oxide system are typically preferred in order to avoid the potentially-dangerous release of radioisotopes, while the compositional design of degradable glass systems suitable for use in radiotherapy still remains a challenge and would deserve further investigation in the near future. Full article

Prostate cancer has one of the highest incidences of male malignant tumors worldwide. Its treatment involves the robotic implantation of radioactive seeds in the perineum, a safe and effective procedure for early, low-risk prostate cancer. In order to ensure precise positioning, the seed implantation needle is set at low terminal velocity. In this paper, the motion output position instability caused by the friction torque of the robot’s motor and rotating joint during low velocity motion was analyzed and studied. This paper also presents a compensation control method based on the LuGre friction model, which offers piecewise parameter identification with GA-PSO. First, based on an analysis of its structure and working principle, the friction torque model of the robotic system and the torque model of the driving motor are established, and the influence of friction torque on motion stability analyzed. Then, based on experimental data of the relationship between velocity and friction torque for no-friction compensation, the velocity point of the minimum torque of the rotating joint and the critical Stribeck velocity point were used for segmental parameter identification; cubic spline interpolation was used for segmental fitting. Furthermore, on the basis of the LuGre model identification method, parameter identification of the genetic algorithm-particle swarm optimization, and compensation control of the LuGre friction model, a control method is analysed and set forth. Malab2017a/Simulink simulation software was used to simulate and analyze the control method, and verify its feasibility. Finally, the cantilever prostate seed implantation robot system was tested to verify the effectiveness of the segmented identification method and the compensation control strategy. The results reveal that motion output position stability at low velocity meets the requirements of the cantilever prostate seed implantation robot, thus providing a vital reference for further research. Full article