Soft Tissue Sarcoma — Radiation Therapy to Treat Musculoskeletal Tumors
Citation(s)
Hua C, Gray JM, Merchant TE, Kun LE, Krasin MJ Treatment planning and delivery of external beam radiotherapy for pediatric sarcoma: the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital experience. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2008 Apr 1;70(5):1598-606. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2007.12.013. Epub 2008 Jan 30.
Hua C, Shukla HI, Merchant TE, Krasin MJ Estimating differences in volumetric flat bone growth in pediatric patients by radiation treatment method. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2007 Feb 1;67(2):552-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2006.08.069. Epub 2006 Nov 9.
Krasin, M J; T E. Merchant; S.L. Spunt; A.M. Davidoff; F. Navid; S. Wu; X. Xiong; C. Hua; L.E. Kun Early Results of a Prospective Study Delivering Limited Margin Radiotherapy for Pediatric Non-Rhabdo-Soft Tissue Sarcomas (NRSTS) and Aggressive Fibromatoses (AF) International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics(volume 66 issue 3 Page S112), 2006
M J. Krasin; X. Xiong; L. Zhang; W.E. Reddick; T.E. Merchant. A Prospective Study of Quantitative Changes in the Musculature of Children Treated with Radiation Therapy for Sarcomas International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics(volume 63 issue Pages S443-S444), 2005
Image Guided Radiotherapy for the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Tumors: A Phase II Prospective Evaluation of Radiation-related Treatment Effects
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.