The Crisis, Economic Patriotism in Central Europe and EU Law

This contribution examines rising economic patriotism in Central and Eastern Europe, mainly in Hungary and Poland, after the global financial and economic crisis. A closer look at patriotism in these EU Member States seems warranted given the global shift towards more inward-looking national policies and the challenging of neo-liberal ideas of free trade and competition, where these ideas were taken on board by local elites rather keenly. Our overview and analysis do not claim to be exhaustive; we touch upon selected issues to give a fuller picture of the state of the European Union and its Single Market sixty years after the Treaty of Rome was signed, 28 years after the onset of post-communist transition, and more than thirteen years since Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries joined the EU. Space does not permit a complete comparative overview of economic policy developments in the entire CEE region. We focus instead on the two problem countries, which in the past years have been on a collision course with the EU institutions and other Member States

Proton Therapy for Major Salivary Gland Cancer: Clinical Outcomes

Abstract Purpose To report clinical outcomes in terms of disease control and toxicity in patients with major salivary gland cancers (SGCs) treated with proton beam therapy. Materials and Methods Clinical and dosimetric characteristics of patients with SGCs treated from August 2011 to February 2020 on an observational, prospective, single-institution protocol were abstracted. Local control and overall survival were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. During radiation, weekly assessments of toxicity were obtained, and for patients with ≥ 90 days of follow-up, late toxicity was assessed. Results Seventy-two patients were identified. Median age was 54 years (range, 23-87 years). Sixty-three patients (88%) received postoperative therapy, and nine patients (12%) were treated definitively. Twenty-six patients (36%) received concurrent chemotherapy. Nine patients (12%) had received prior radiation. All (99%) but one patient received unilateral treatment with a median dose of 64 GyRBE (relative biological effectiveness) (interquartile range [IQR], 60-66), and 53 patients (74%) received intensity-modulated proton therapy with either single-field or multifield optimization. The median follow-up time was 30 months. Two-year local control and overall survival rates were 96% (95% confidence interval [CI] 85%-99%) and 89% (95% CI 76%-95%], respectively. Radiation dermatitis was the predominant grade-3 toxicity (seen in 21% [n = 15] of the patients), and grade ≥ 2 mucositis was rare (14%; n = 10 patients). No late-grade ≥ 3 toxicities were reported. Conclusion Proton beam therapy for treatment of major SGCs manifests in low rates of acute mucosal toxicity. In addition, the current data suggest a high rate of local control and minimal late toxicity. </jats:sec