|
|
 |
|
|
Salivary gland damage in head and neck cancer may be avoided bystem cell sparing radiotherapy by wwy yrj
|
|
|
Salivary gland damage in head and neck cancer may be avoided bystem cell sparing radiotherapy by WWY YRJ
|
|
| Article Posted: 07/08/2012 |
| Article Views: 89 |
| Articles Written: 1412 - MORE ARTICLES FROM THIS AUTHOR |
| Word Count: 633 |
| Article Votes: 0 |
|
Salivary gland damage in head and neck cancer may be avoided bystem cell sparing radiotherapy |
|
|
|
|
|
Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
|
|
Dissection of the rat parotid gland and culturing of the differentparts of the gland in Petri dishes showed that a greaterconcentration of stem cells capable of regenerating the gland werelocated in the centre, where the largest ducts are located. Theresearchers then directed high-precision irradiation at this centrepart in living rats and found that it resulted in excessivereduction of saliva production, in contrast to the minimal effectsobserved after irradiating other parts of the gland. Dr van Luijk explained: "The position of the stem cells in ratscorresponds to the cranio-ventral extension of the gland in humans,where the excretory duct leaves the gland on the ventral, oroutward-facing side. So even though the glands have differentshapes in rats and humans, the stem cells are in the exact sameanatomical structure." The researchers then tested their hypothesis by creating amathematical model based on the treatment of 36 patients, whichenabled them to estimate the expected parotid gland functiondepending on the dose to the stem cells. "Excitingly, dose to the cranio-ventral extension of the glandcontaining the major ducts was most predictive of damage to salivaproduction.
In addition, we found that it was possible to reducethe dose by approximately 50% to this part of the gland, withoutincreasing the average dose to the whole gland or the dose to othercritical structures in the head and neck region, and withoutcompromising adequate target coverage," said Dr Van Luijk. "Usingthe mathematical model, we estimated that with such dose reductionnone of the patients would have developed parotid glanddysfunction. This is, however, a hypothesis that needs to be testedprospectively in a randomised clinical trial by comparing parotidgland function in a group of patients treated with current standardto a group in which, additionally, the dose to the stem cells isminimised using our proposed stem cell sparing technique. Thistechnique should only be implemented in radiotherapy clinics whensuch a trial proves there is a benefit as predicted by ourresearch." He continued: "Our findings can be seen as a proof-of-principlethat elucidation of biological mechanisms in complications may leadto the identification of critical sub-structures of organs,possibly leading to new opportunities to reduce harm to normaltissue.
Though we only show this for the parotid gland, suchapproach may apply to other organs as well." The researchers say that it is easy to spare the parotid glandduring radiotherapy. "The stem cell region is on the side of thegland that is normally furthest away from the target areacontaining the tumour cells. Since only this area needs a highradiation dose, this distance makes avoiding the stem cell areaeasier than avoiding other parts of the gland," said Dr van Luijk. "Based on our results we hypothesise that sparing the parotid glandstem cell region, costing around €100 in extra man-hours, mayeffectively prevent salivary gland dysfunction. This will allowpatients to more readily lead their normal lives without having torely upon medical care and welfare.
Maybe even more importantly,cancer patients will remain productive members of society,realising a cost reduction far beyond the cost of medication.Finally, it will improve quality of life of 500,000 patientstreated with radiotherapy for head and neck cancer worldwide everyyear," he concluded. Professor Bradly G. Wouters (PhD), a radiobiologist at the OntarioCancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada, andchair of the conference radiobiology track, commented: "This is anexciting clinical study that has identified a critical region ofthe salivary gland that contains stem cells that can regenerate thegland and preserve function in patients with head and neck cancer.Using advanced radiation techniques the investigators show it ispossible to spare this region and thus deliver higher therapeuticdoses without causing more toxicity to patients." Additional References Citations. I am a professional writer from Rubber & Products, which contains a great deal of information about butyl tape sealant , optically clear adhesive, welcome to visit!
Related Articles -
butyl tape sealant, optically clear adhesive,
|
Rate This Article  |
|
|
|
|
|
Do you Agree or Disagree? Have a Comment? POST IT!
| Reader Opinions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Author Login |
|
|
 |
Advertiser Login
ADVERTISE HERE NOW!
Limited Time $60 Offer!
90 Days-1.5 Million Views
|
|
TIM FAY
After 60-plus years of living, I am just trying to pass down some of the information that I have lea...more
|
|
|
|
|
LAURA JEEVES
At LeadGenerators, we specialise in content-led Online Marketing Strategies for our clients in the t...more
|
|
|
|
|
ALEX BELSEY
I am the editor of QUAY Magazine, a B2B publication based in the South West of the UK. I am also the...more
|
|
|
|
|
STEPHEN BYE
Stephen Bye is a fiction writer. His most recent novels are a 5-book “The Developer” series which be...more
|
|
|
|
|
PAUL PHILIPS
For more articles, blog messages & videos and a free e-book download go to www.NewParadigm.ws your p...more
|
|
|
|
|
LEVAL AINAH
I am an internet marketer and also an educator. My goal is to help others who are looking to improve...more
|
|
|
|
|
GENE MYERS
Author of four books and two screenplays; frequent magazine contributor. I have four other books "in...more
|
|
|
|
|
ADRIAN JOELE
I have been involved in nutrition and weight management for over 12 years and I like to share my kn...more
|
|
|
|
|
MICHAEL BRESCIANI
Rev Bresciani is the author of two Christian books. One book is an important and concisely written b...more
|
|
|
|
