Radiation therapy in the treatment of XXXX .

@entity1 @entity816 @entity5 @entity75
With the advent of more sensitive diagnostic techniques, we are encountering an increasing number of young @entity1 harboring @entity816 . The great danger in such @entity1 is that the @entity816 cells will undergo dedifferentiation to a higher state of malignancy. An essential question is whether the use of postoperative adjuvant radiation therapy can decrease the incidence of this event. Because a prospective, randomized study has never been carried out, it is extremely difficult to ascertain whether radiation therapy should be given to these @entity1 . This article reviews the main retrospective clinical studies in an attempt to determine whether the addition of radiation therapy increases the length or quality of survival in @entity1 with @entity816 . Based on this literature review, the following tentative conclusions have been reached: All reported studies are inconclusive; therefore, dogmatic statements as to whether radiation therapy should be used are not warranted. One should try to obtain pathological confirmation of the precise nature of all @entity5 -like @entity75 that have been detected on neuroradiological studies. Consistent with sound neurosurgical judgment, every attempt should be made to carry out a gross total removal of the hemispheric @entity816 . In the case of such a gross total surgical removal and even in its absence in the case of a juvenile @entity816 , radiation therapy may be withheld and the @entity1 carefully followed for @entity5 recurrence. In those cases where total removal cannot be accomplished, postoperative radiation therapy seems warranted. Such radiation therapy should be given in a conventional fractionated schedule to a maximum of 5500 rads.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
