Simon Kramer

TL;DR: Five schedules of whole brain irradiation ranging from 4000 rad/4 weeks to 2000 rad/ 1 week have been evaluated in two sequential phase III randomized Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG I studies) to determine palliative effectiveness in patients with metastatic brain disease.

TL;DR: Evaluating the efficacy after neurosurgery of three new treatment options as compared with control treatment of radiotherapy alone found that age was the most important prognostic factor and a modified histologic classification of anaplastic astrocytoma versus glioblastoma provided better prognostic information than the astroicytoma grading system of Kernohan.

TL;DR: It is concluded that chemotherapy does not benefit patients with low-stage medulloblastoma, but may benefit those with more advanced stages of disease.

TL;DR: The data strongly suggest that patients treated with 5000 or 6000 rad have a better response, tumor control, and survival rate than those receiving lower doses, however, additional followup of patients at risk in each group will be necessary before a final conclusion is drawn.

TL;DR: Strict quality assurance criteria in radiotherapy are necessary to achieve optimal treatment results and a careful program to evaluate techniques of irradiation and protocol compliance should be maintained in cooperative group studies in order to enhance the validity of clinical trials.