• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.49-54
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• 2009

Purpose: To report on the clinical outcome of patients with stage I testicular seminoma by postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) or surveillance after radical inguinal orchiectomy. Materials and Methods: This study is a retrospective review of 32 stage I pure seminoma patients treated between 1996 and 2005 at the Samsung Medical Center. Twenty two of the patients were treated by PORT, which was directed at the paraaortic lymphatics with a median dose of 25.2 Gy in 14 fractions for 3 weeks. The 10 remaining patients were managed by surveillance. The median follow-up period was 96 months with a range of 24 to 155 months. Results: Clinically, most patients presented with a testicular mass or discomfort. Two of the patients had a history of undescended testes. Pathologically, 23 of the patients had intratubular germ cell neoplasia with seminoma. Both recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) rates of patients treated by PORT were 100%. In the control group, 1 of the 10 patients suffered a para-aortic lymph node relapse. The RFS and OS rates of the surveillance group were 88.9% and 100%, respectively. Conclusion: No difference in survival was observed between the two groups. Moreover, symptom recurrence was only observed in 1 patient in the control group. The use of PORT may reduce the risk of relapse. With the availability of effective diagnostic and salvage modalities, surveillance monitoring may be considered for patients in good compliance.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2005

Radiation absorption parameters of carbon fiber panel were measured in comparison to acrylic panel. $30{\times}30cm$ sized 2mm thick carbon fiber panel and identical sized 6mm thick acrylic panel were placed in tray holder position and 0cm, 5cm, 10cm from surface of phantom. Radiation field size was $10{\times}10cm$. 50MU of 4MV photon was irradiated to the phantom with dose rate of 300MU/min. Source-to-phantom distance was 120cm. Radiation dose was measured with 0.6cc Farmer-type ionization chamber with 1cm build-up. Measurement was repeated thrice and normalization was done to the dose of the open field. Radiation transmission rate of carbon fiber panel is approximately 1% lower than acrylic panel of equivalent thickness. However, considering the strength of the material, transmission rate is higher for carbon fiber panel. Although carbon fiber panel increases the radiation dose when attached to the surface for about 2%, it normalizes the radiation dose to 97-99% of irradiated dose which could have been lowered to as much as 5-7.5% with acrylic panel. As carbon fiber panel is stronger than acrylic panel, radiation fixation device could be made thinner and thus lighter and furthermore, with increased radiation transmission. This in turn makes carbon fiber more ideal material for radiation fixation device over conventionally used acrylic.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.70-78
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• 2007

[ $\underline{Purpose}$ ]: This study analyzed the tumor response, overall survival, progression free survival and related prognostic factors in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer subjected to bladder preserving treatment. $\underline{Materials\;and\;Methods}$: Between August 1995 and June 2004, 37 patients with muscle invasive (transitional cell carcinoma, clinically stage T2-4) bladder cancer were enrolled for the treatment protocol of bladder preservation. There were 33 males and 4 females, and the median age was 67 years (range $38{\sim}86\;years$). Transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) was performed in 17 patients who underwent complete resection. The median radiation dose administered was 64.8 Gy (range $55.8{\sim}67\;Gy$). The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. $\underline{Results}$: An evaluation of the response rate was determined by abdomen-pelvic CT and cystoscopy at three months after radiotherapy. A complete response was seen in 17 patients (46%). The survival rate at three years was 54.7%, with 54 months of median survival (range $3{\sim}91$ months). During the study, 17 patients died and 13 patients had died from bladder cancer. The progression free survival rate at three years was 37.2%. There were 24 patients (64.9%) who had disease recurrence: 16 patients (43.2%) had local recurrence, 6 patients (16.2%) had a distant recurrence, and 2 patients (5.4%) had both a local and distant recurrence. The survival rate (p=0.0009) and progression free survival rates (p=0.001) were statistically significant when compared to the response rate after radiotherapy. $\underline{Conclusion}$: The availability of complete TURB and appropriate chemoradiotherapy were important predictors for bladder preservation and survival.