Dose-painting intensity-modulated proton therapy for intermediate- and high-risk meningioma.

BACKGROUND Newly diagnosed WHO grade II-III or any WHO grade recurrent meningioma exhibit an aggressive behavior and thus are considered as high- or intermediate risk tumors. Given the unsatisfactory rates of disease control and survival after primary or adjuvant radiation therapy, optimization of treatment strategies is needed. We investigated the potential of dose-painting intensity-modulated proton beam-therapy (IMPT) for intermediate- and high-risk meningioma. MATERIAL AND METHODS Imaging data from five patients undergoing proton beam-therapy were used. The dose-painting target was defined using [68]Ga-[1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane tetraacetic acid]- d-Phe(1),Tyr(3)-octreotate ([68]Ga-DOTATATE)-positron emission tomography (PET) in target delineation. IMPT and photon intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment plans were generated for each patient using an in-house developed treatment planning system (TPS) supporting spot-scanning technology and a commercial TPS, respectively. Doses of 66 Gy (2.2 Gy/fraction) and 54 Gy (1.8 Gy/fraction) were prescribed to the PET-based planning target volume (PTVPET) and the union of PET- and anatomical imaging-based PTV, respectively, in 30 fractions, using simultaneous integrated boost. RESULTS Dose coverage of the PTVsPET was equally good or slightly better in IMPT plans: dose inhomogeneity was 10 ± 3% in the IMPT plans vs. 13 ± 1% in the IMRT plans (p = 0.33). The brain Dmean and brainstem D50 were small in the IMPT plans: 26.5 ± 1.5 Gy(RBE) and 0.002 ± 0.0 Gy(RBE), respectively, vs. 29.5 ± 1.5 Gy (p = 0.001) and 7.5 ± 11.1 Gy (p = 0.02) for the IMRT plans, respectively. The doses delivered to the optic structures were also decreased with IMPT. CONCLUSIONS Dose-painting IMPT is technically feasible using currently available planning tools and resulted in dose conformity of the dose-painted target comparable to IMRT with a significant reduction of radiation dose delivered to the brain, brainstem and optic apparatus. Dose escalation with IMPT may improve tumor control and decrease radiation-induced toxicity.

FISH mapping of 10 canine BAC clones harbouring genes and microsatellites in the arctic fox and the Chinese raccoon dog genomes

Cytogenetic mapping of the arctic fox and the Chinese raccoon dog were performed using a set of canine probes derived from the Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) library. Altogether, 10 BAC clones containing sequences of selected genes (PAX3, HBB, ATP2A2, TECTA, PIT1, ABCA4, ESR2, TPH1, HTR2A, MAOA) and microsatellites were mapped by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) experiments to chromosomes of the canids studied. At present, the cytogenetic map on the arctic fox and Chinese raccoon dog consists of 45 loci each. Chromosomal localization of the BAC clones was in agreement with data obtained by earlier independent comparative chromosome painting. However, two events of telomere-to-centromere inversions were tentatively identified while compared with assignments in the dog karyotype.

Wenn (Schrift-) Worte sich in Bilder einschreiben. Zum mehrstelligen Verhältnis von Wort und Bild

In den Spuren von Elazar Benyoëtz’ dialektischem Aphorismus «Es heißt / ‹du sollst dir kein Bild machen›; / ich male mir aus, was es heißt» stellt sich der Beitrag der Herausforderung, das Recht des Bildes in der Wahrung des Bilderverbots zu retten. Gegenüber dem vor allem in reformierter Tradition zu findenden Vorrang des Wortes vor dem Bild kommt die eigene Macht der Bilder zu zeigen, was Worte nicht sagen können, die ikonische Logik, in den Blick. An Adam Elsheimers «Die drei Marien am Grab» (1603), das Mk 16,1-7(8) gleich doppelt ins Bild setzt – als Inszenierung und als Wort-Zitat auf der Grabplatte – lässt sich ein hochkomplexes Verhältnis von Wort und Bild entdecken. Der Blickwechsel mit diesem Bild im Gespräch mit Martin Luthers Überzeugung von der bildproduktiven Kraft des Evangeliums, wie sie Lukas Cranach d. Ä. auf der berühmten Predella des Reformationsaltars in Wittenberg ausgemalt hat, eröffnen eine Lektüre des ursprünglichen Markusschlusses, die hinter deren letztes Wort (V. 8) zurückgeht und die Lesenden angesichts des leeren Grabes und der es deutenden Botschaft des angelus interpres vor eigene Entscheidungen stellt.