PurposeBrachytherapy (BT), due to rapid dose fall off and minor set-up errors, should be superior to external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for treatment of lesions in difficult locations like nose and earlobe. Evidences in this field are scarce. We describe computed tomography (CT) based surface mould BT for non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC), and compare its conformity, dose coverage, and tissue sparing ability to EBRT.Material and methodsWe describe procedure of preparation of surface mould applicator and dosimetry parameters of BT plans, which were implemented in 10 individuals with NMSC of nose and earlobe. We evaluated dose coverage by minimal dose to 90% of planning target volume (PTV) (D90), volumes of PTV receiving 90-150% of prescribed dose (PD) (VPTV90-150), conformal index for 90 and 100% of PD (COIN90, COIN100), dose homogeneity index (DHI), dose nonuniformity ratio (DNR), exposure of organs. Prospectively, we created CT-based photons and electrons plans. We compared conformity (COIN90, COIN100), dose coverage of PTV (D90, VPTV90, VPTV100), volumes of body receiving 10-90% of PD (V10-V90) of EBRT and BT plans.ResultsWe obtained mean BT-DHI = 0.76, BT-DNR = 0.23, EBRT-DHI = 1.26. We observed no significant differences in VPTV90 and D90 between BT and EBRT. Mean BT-VPTV100 (89.4%) was higher than EBRT-VPTV100 (71.2%). Both COIN90 (BT-COIN90 = 0.46 vs. EBRT-COIN90 = 0.21) and COIN100 (BT-COIN100 = 0.52 vs. EBRT-COIN100 = 0.26) were superior for BT plans. We observed more exposure of normal tissues for small doses in BT plans (V10, V20), for high doses in EBRT plans (V70, V90).ConclusionsComputed tmography-based surface mould brachytherapy for superficial lesions on irregular surfaces is a highly conformal method with good homogeneity. Brachytherapy is superior to EBRT in those locations in terms of conformity and normal tissue sparing ability in high doses.

Objectives: The objective of the study is to determine efficacy of the Primary Prevention Program of Neural Tube Defects in Polish women with higher education in 5-year interval. Material and methods:Survey research was conducted twice (in 2008 and 2013) in 630 female students of universities: 305 female medical students and 325 female non-medical students. The survey was also done among women aged 27--35 who graduated from medical or non-medical universities and have at least one child. Questions concerned knowledge about prophylaxis and periconceptional folic acid intake. Chi square test was used to assess the significance. There was no significant difference in preconceptional folic acid intake among mothers with medical and non-medical education (53.3% vs. 45% p = 0.4). However, the highest folic acid intake was among mothers -medical doctors who treat children with neural tube defect. Conclusions:Difference between medical and non-medical students shows that better educational programs may improve knowledge about prophylaxis. Aside from knowledge, compliance with recommendations of Primary Prevention Program of Neural Tube Defects is unsatisfactory.

Recent advances in the field of immunotherapy have changed the perception of cancer treatment to complex model with host immunity in the spotlight. Potential synergy of immunotherapy drugs [aiming cytotoxic T cell antigen 4 (CTLA-4) or programmed cell death-1/ligand (PD-1/PD-L1)] and radiotherapy (RT) have established basis for ongoing clinical trials testing combined treatment. It was shown that complete blood cell counts (CBC) parameters may correlate with cancer survival, toxicity and outcomes of treatment. Therefore, reduction of hematologic toxicity of cancer treatment may gain in significance. Modern dose delivery techniques compromise dose reduction in critical organs (like bone marrow-BM) with adequate irradiation of target volumes. In addition, usage of modern imaging like positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows to divide the volume of BM to active and inactive one. In this review, we discuss the synergy of RT and immunity and techniques of Bone Marrow Sparing RT (BMS-RT).