BACKGROUND Radiotherapy, administered in fractionated as well as ablative settings, is an essential treatment component for breast cancer. Besides the direct tumor cell death inducing effects, there is growing evidence that immune mechanisms contribute - at least in part - to its therapeutic success. The present study was designed to characterize the type and the extent of cell death induced by...

Patients with locally advanced cancer or distant metastasis frequently receive prolonged treatment with chemotherapy and/or fractionated radiotherapy (RT). Despite the initial clinical response, treatment resistance frequently develops and cure in these patients is uncommon. Developments in RT technology allow for the use of high-dose (or ablative) RT to target local tumors, with limited damage...

Indications for use of the Er:YAG laser are continuously expanding. In this paper, the latest Pixel Screen Technology (PST) fractional technique for minimally invasive Er:YAG skin rejuvenation is presented. The fractional technique is based on a concept of producing an array of microscopic wounds on the skin surface that are rapidly reepithelialized by the surrounding, undamaged tissue, thus sp...

Ablative fractional carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers have been widely used for several types of cosmetic dermatosis. A number of previous studies have evaluated this technique in animals or human beings by observing morphologic changes using an invasive modality such as skin biopsy. In this study, we assessed in vivo skin changes after CO2 ablative fractional laser treatment in a mouse model using n...

Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the nail that affects approximately 10-30% of the world’s population. Although systemic antifungal therapy today represents a recognized standard, it is not recommended for all patient groups due to the cause of side effects. Therefore there is a great need to develop less invasive therapeutic options for the treatment of onychomycosis. Recently, Er:YAG wi...

BACKGROUND Ablative fractional carbon dioxide (CO(2)) laser treatments have gained popularity due to their efficacy, shortened downtime, and decreased potential for scarring in comparison to traditional ablative CO(2) resurfacing. To date, scarring with fractional CO(2) lasers has not been reported. OBJECTIVE Five patients treated with the same fractional CO(2) laser technology for photodamag...

BACKGROUND Striae distensae or stretch marks are atrophic linear dermal scars with epidermal atrophy. There are many therapeutic options for management, but no consistently effective modality is available yet. OBJECTIVE We compared the efficacy of 1064 nm long pulse (LP) Nd: YAG laser and 2940 nm variable square pulse (VSP) erbium: YAG laser in the treatment of striae distensae. METHODS Twe...