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Y Andejeski

Publications and source records attributed to Y Andejeski.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Enlargement of mediastinal masses on simulation films: a radiotherapeutic problem in the management of patients with Hodgkin's disease.

The size of the mediastinal mass on standard posterior-anterior chest radiograph in stage I and stage II Hodgkin's disease has both prognostic and therapeutic importance. But the actual treatment is based on the anterior-posterior supine simulation film. Problems arise when the prognosis (whether all the disease can be effectively contained in an irradiation port) and toxicity (more lung and heart irradiated or chemotherapy required) are changed when the mass is markedly enlarged on the radiation simulation films. Differences in the direction of the X-ray beam, distance from the subject, and patient position are shown to increase artificially the size of a mediastinal mass on simulation films. The staging and therapeutic implications are discussed.

Adult

Failure of preenucleation radiation to decrease uveal melanoma mortality.

We analyzed uveal melanoma metastases in a group of 41 patients who received 20 Gy of preenucleation radiation in a Northern California Oncology Group preliminary phase I/II study, and compared their survival rates with a retrospective control group of 31 patients with characteristics matching the entrance criteria but treated with enucleation alone. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, we found that increased tumor diameter, mixed or epithelioid cell type, and radiation adversely affected survival. In vivo studies of cell cycling indicated that 20 Gy of preenucleation radiation appeared to diminish the reproductive integrity of the tumor cells. It is most likely that the failure of preenucleation irradiation to prolong patient survival was because of micrometastases that occurred before treatment.

Adult

Comparison of helium-ion radiation therapy and split-course megavoltage irradiation for unresectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Final report of a Northern California Oncology Group randomized prospective clinical trial.

Forty-nine patients with locally advanced carcinoma of the pancreas were treated in a randomized, prospective study comparing definitive helium ion radiation therapy with conventional split-course megavoltage photon irradiation. Patients in each treatment arm underwent exploratory staging laparotomy followed by concurrent radiation therapy and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy. Patients treated with photons received 6,000 cGy over a period of 10 weeks; patients treated with helium irradiation received a 6,000-7,000-cGy-equivalent dose over a period of 8-9 weeks. There was no significant difference in overall survival between patients in the two treatment arms (P = .29). Patients treated with helium ions had a slightly longer median survival (7.8 months) than the photon-treated patients (6.5 months). Local control rates were slightly higher in the helium-treated patients (10% vs 5%). Complications included one chemotherapy-related death. Four of the five helium-treated patients who survived longer than 18 months died of local failure without distant metastases. These results suggest that more aggressive local therapy could result in improved survival in helium-treated patients.

Adenocarcinoma