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In spite of the high mortality in pancreatic cancer, significant progress is being made. This review discusses multimodality therapy for patients with pancreatic cancer. Surgical therapy currently offers the only potential monomodal cure for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. However, only 10-20% of patients present with tumors that are amenable to resection, and even after resection of localized cancers, long-term survival is rare. The addition of chemoradiation therapy significantly increases median survival. To achieve long-term success in treating this disease it is therefore increasingly important to identify effective neoadjuvant/adjuvant multimodality therapies. Preoperative chemoradiation for potentially resectable pancreatic cancer has the following advantages: (1) neoadjuvant treatment would eliminate the delay of adjuvant treatment due to postoperative complications; (2) neoadjuvant treatment could avoid unnecessary surgery for patients with metastatic disease evident on restaging after neoadjuvant therapy; (3) down-staging after neoadjuvant therapy may increase the likelihood of negative surgical margins; and (4) neoadjuvant treatment could prevent peritoneal tumor cell implantation and dissemination caused during surgery. This review systematically summarizes the current status, controversies, and prospects of neoadjuvant treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Environmental radiation monitoring networks have been established in Europe and world-wide for the purpose of protecting population and environment against ionizing radiation. Some of these networks had been established during the cold war period and were improved after the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Today, the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) operates an early warning network with roughly 1800 ambient dose equivalent rate (ADER) stations equally distributed over the German territory. The hardware and software of all network components are developed in-house allowing the continuous optimization of all relevant components. A probe characterization and quality assurance and control program are in place. Operational and technical aspects of the network and data harmonization techniques are described. The latter allows for calculating of the terrestrial and net ADER combined with uncertainties mainly from site specific effects. Harmonized data are finally used as input to the German emergency management system and the European radiological data exchange platform.

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Local therapy of pancreatic cancer with microencapsulated CYP2B1-producing cells and ifosfamide showed an effect both on the primary tumor and on distant metastatases. This possibly represents a consequence of the activation of immune response. Other studies have demonstrated that local tumor irradiation leads to the activation of the intratumoral lymphocyte infiltration. The aim of our study was to investigate the efficacy of the combined therapy with low-dose irradiation, ifosfamide and CYP2B1-producing cells. Syngenic pancreatic cancer was induced in 38 Lewis-rats by subcutaneous inoculation of 1 ؋ 10 6 (DSL6A) tumor cells. Microencapsulated CYP2B1-producing cells were injected peritumorally 10 --12 weeks after tumor implantation. Animals were randomized to the following groups: 1) control (NaCl, 1 ml i.p.), 2) ifosfamide (50 mg/kg, i.p., (3؋/week), 3) local irradiation with 5 Gy and 4) ifosfamide plus irradiation. The tumor growth was monitored for 3 weeks. The tumor infiltration with CD4؉, CD8؉, NK-cells, microvessel density and proliferation rates were investigated by immunohistochemistry. Cytokine plasma level for TNF-␣ were measured by ELISA. Seven of 9 animals in the group of combined therapy showed an objective response to the therapy. The therapy with ifosfamide or radiation alone showed 5 and 3 responders, respectively. The mean tumor volume was significantly reduced after combined ifosfamide plus radiation therapy in the first week, whereas monotherapy with ifosfamide or radiation significantly decreased tumor growth earliest after 2 and 3 weeks, respectively. The high plasma level of TNF-␣ in the control group was significantly reduced after combined ifosfamide/irradiation treatment. The lymphocyte infiltration and tumor proliferation were not significantly different between the groups. Microvascular density was significantly increased after ifosfamide and ifosfamide plus irradiation therapy. The combination of ifosfamide/CYP2B1-producing cells and irradiation showed an earlier therapeutical effect on the growth of rat pancreatic cancer than the irradiation or ifosfamide alone. There was no evidence of late activation of lymphocyte infiltration and PCNA-positive tumor cells.