Search

PURPOSE Metastasis-free survival (MFS), but not event-free survival, is a validated surrogate end point for overall survival (OS) in men treated for localized prostate cancer. It remains unknown if this holds true in biochemically recurrent disease after radical prostatectomy. Leveraging NRG/RTOG 9601, we aimed to determine the performance of intermediate clinical end points (ICEs) as surrogate end points for OS in recurrent prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS NRG/RTOG 9601 randomly assigned 760 men with recurrence after prostatectomy to salvage radiation therapy with 2 years of placebo versus bicalutamide 150 mg daily. ICEs assessed were biochemical failure (BF) per NRG/RTOG 9601 (prostate-specific antigen nadir + 0.3-0.5 ng/mL or initiation of salvage hormone therapy; [BF1]) and NRG/RTOG 0534 (prostate-specific antigen nadir+2 ng/mL; [BF2]), distant metastasis (DM), and MFS (DM or death). Surrogacy was assessed by the Prentice criteria and a two-stage meta-analytic approach (condition one assessed at the patient level with Kendall's τ and condition two assessed by randomly dividing the entire trial cohort into 10 pseudo trial centers and calculating the average R2 between treatment hazard ratios for ICE and OS). RESULTS BF1, BF2, DM, and MFS satisfied the four Prentice criteria. However, with the two-condition meta-analytic approach, there was strong correlation between MFS and OS (τ = 0.86), moderate correlation between DM and OS (τ = 0.66), and weaker correlation between BF1 (τ = 0.25) or BF2 (τ = 0.40) and OS. Similarly, for condition two, the treatment effect of antiandrogen therapy on MFS and OS were correlated ( R2 = 0.67), but this was not true for BF1 ( R2 = 0.09), BF2 ( R2 = 0.12), or DM ( R2 = 0.18) and OS. CONCLUSION MFS is also a strong surrogate for OS in men receiving salvage radiation therapy for recurrence after prostatectomy. Caution should be used when inferring survival benefit from effects on BF in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. Lack of comorbidity data did not allow us to assess whether BF in men with no/minimal comorbidity could serve as a surrogate for OS.

Background Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with radiotherapy can benefit patients with localized prostate cancer. However, ADT can negatively impact quality of life and there remain no validated predictive models to guide its use. Methods Digital pathology image and clinical data from pre-treatment prostate tissue from 5,727 patients enrolled on five phase III randomized trials treated with radiotherapy +/- ADT were used to develop and validate an artificial intelligence (AI)-derived predictive model to assess ADT benefit with the primary endpoint of distant metastasis. After the model was locked, validation was performed on NRG/RTOG 9408 (n = 1,594) that randomized men to radiotherapy +/- 4 months of ADT. Fine-Gray regression and restricted mean survival times were used to assess the interaction between treatment and predictive model and within predictive model positive and negative subgroup treatment effects. Results In the NRG/RTOG 9408 validation cohort (14.9 years of median follow-up), ADT significantly improved time to distant metastasis (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR] = 0.64, 95%CI [0.45–0.90], p = 0.01). The predictive model-treatment interaction was significant (p-interaction = 0.01). In predictive model positive patients (n = 543, 34%), ADT significantly reduced the risk of distant metastasis compared to radiotherapy alone (sHR = 0.34, 95%CI [0.19–0.63], p

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) dose escalation has been tested in multiple prospective trials. However, the impact on patient reported outcomes (PROs) associated with higher doses of EBRT remain poorly understood. We sought to assess the differences in PROs between men treated with a dose of 70.2 Gy versus 79.2 Gy of EBRT for prostate cancer.The phase 3 clinical trial RTOG 0126 randomized 1532 patients with prostate cancer between March 2002 and August 2008 to 79.2 Gy over 44 fractions versus 70.2 Gy over 39 fractions. Eligible patients participated in the PRO data collection. PROs completed included the International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire (IIEF), Functional Alterations due to Changes in Elimination (FACE), and the Spitzer Quality of Life Index (SQLI). The timepoints for the IIEF were collected pre-entry and at 6, 12, and 24 months. The FACE and SQLI were collected pre-entry and at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. The impact of EBRT dose to normal structures (penile bulb, rectum, and bladder) on PROs was also examined. Mixed effects models were used to analyze trends across time.In total, 1144 patients completed baseline IIEF forms and of these, 56%, 64%, and 61% completed the IIEF at 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively; 1123 patients completed the FACE score at baseline and 50%, 61%, 73%, 61%, and 65% completed all 15 items for the FACE metric at timepoints of 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, respectively. Erectile dysfunction at 12 months based on the single question was not significantly different between arms (38.1% for the standard dose radiation therapy arm vs 49.7% for the dose escalated radiation therapy arm; P = .051). Treatment arm (70.2 vs 79.2) had no significant impact on any PRO metrics measured across all collected domains. Comprehensive dosimetric analyses are presented and reveal multiple significant differences to regional organs at risk.Compliance with PRO data collection was lower than anticipated in this phase 3 trial. Examining the available data, dose escalated EBRT did not appear to be associated with any detriment to PROs across numerous prospectively collected domains. These data, notwithstanding limitations, add to our understanding of the implications of EBRT dose escalation in prostate cancer. Furthermore, these results illustrate challenges associated with PRO data collection.

Background A recent phase III trial (NCT01372774) comparing use of stereotactic radiosurgery [SRS] versus whole-brain radiation therapy [WBRT] after surgical resection of a single brain metastasis revealed that declines in cognitive function were more common with WBRT than with SRS. A secondary endpoint in that trial, and the primary objective in this secondary analysis, was to identify baseline biomarkers associated with cognitive impairment after either form of radiotherapy for brain metastasis. Here we report our findings on APOE genotype and serum levels of associated proteins and their association with radiation-induced neurocognitive decline. Methods In this retrospective analysis of prospectively collected samples from a completed randomized clinical trial, patients provided blood samples every 3 months that were tested by genotyping and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and results were analyzed in association with cognitive impairment. Results The APOE genotype was not associated with neurocognitive impairment at 3 months. However, low serum levels of ApoJ, ApoE, or ApoA protein (all P < .01) and higher amyloid beta (Aβ 1–42) levels (P = .048) at baseline indicated a greater likelihood of neurocognitive decline at 3 months after SRS, whereas lower ApoJ levels were associated with decline after WBRT (P = .014). Conclusions Patients with these pretreatment serum markers should be counseled about radiation-related neurocognitive decline.

There is considerable interest in very short (ultrahypofractionated) radiation therapy regimens to treat prostate cancer based on potential radiobiological advantages, patient convenience, and resource allocation benefits. Our objective is to demonstrate that detectable changes in health-related quality of life measured by the bowel and urinary domains of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-50) were not substantially worse than baseline scores.xxxx is a nonblinded randomized phase 2 study of National Comprehensive Cancer Network low-risk prostate cancer in which each arm is compared with a historical control. Patients were randomized to 5 fractions (7.25Gy in 2 week and a day - twice a week) or 12 fractions (4.3Gy in 2.5 weeks- five times a week). Secondary objectives assessed patient-reported toxicity at 5 years using the Expanded Prostate cancer Index Composite (EPIC). Chi-square tests were used to assess the proportion of patients with a deterioration from baseline of5 points for bowel,2 points for urinary, and11 points for sexual score, RESULTS: The study enrolled 127 patients to 5 fractions (121 eligible) and 128 patients to 12 fractions (125 eligible). Median follow-up for all patients at the time of analysis was 5.38 years. The 5-year frequency for5 point change in bowel score were 38.4% (P=0.27) and 23.4% (= 0.98) for 5 and 12 fractions, respectively. The 5-year frequencies for2 point change in urinary score were 46.6% (P=0.15) and 36.4% (P=0.70) for 5 and 12 fractions, respectively. For 5 fractions, 49.3% (P=0.007) of patients had a drop in 5-year EPIC-50 sexual score of ≥11 points; for 12 fractions, 54% (P0.001) of patients had a drop in 5-year EPIC-50 sexual score of ≥11 points. Disease-free survival at 5 years is 89.6% (95% confidence interval:84.0-95.2) in the 5-fraction arm and 92.3% (95% confidence interval: 87.4- 97.1) in the 12-fraction arm. There was no late grade 4 or 5 treatment-related urinary or bowel toxicity.This study confirms that, based on long-term changes in bowel and urinary domains and toxicity, the 5- and 12-fraction regimens are well tolerated. These ultrahypofractionated approaches need to be compared with current standard radiation therapy regimens.

Prostate cancer is the most frequent cancer in men and a leading cause of cancer death. Determining a patient’s optimal therapy is a challenge, where oncologists must select a therapy with the highest likelihood of success and the lowest likelihood of toxicity. International standards for prognostication rely on non-specific and semi-quantitative tools, commonly leading to over- and under-treatment. Tissue-based molecular biomarkers have attempted to address this, but most have limited validation in prospective randomized trials and expensive processing costs, posing substantial barriers to widespread adoption. There remains a significant need for accurate and scalable tools to support therapy personalization. Here we demonstrate prostate cancer therapy personalization by predicting long-term, clinically relevant outcomes using a multimodal deep learning architecture and train models using clinical data and digital histopathology from prostate biopsies. We train and validate models using five phase III randomized trials conducted across hundreds of clinical centers. Histopathological data was available for 5654 of 7764 randomized patients (71%) with a median follow-up of 11.4 years. Compared to the most common risk-stratification tool—risk groups developed by the National Cancer Center Network (NCCN)—our models have superior discriminatory performance across all endpoints, ranging from 9.2% to 14.6% relative improvement in a held-out validation set. This artificial intelligence-based tool improves prognostication over standard tools and allows oncologists to computationally predict the likeliest outcomes of specific patients to determine optimal treatment. Outfitted with digital scanners and internet access, any clinic could offer such capabilities, enabling global access to therapy personalization.

PURPOSE: To report the long-term outcomes of the RTOG 0424 study of a high-risk, low-grade glioma population treated with concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) and radiation therapy (RT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: For this single-arm, phase 2 study, patients with low-grade gliomas with ≥3 risk factors (age ≥40 years, astrocytoma, bihemispheric tumor, size ≥6 cm, or preoperative neurologic function status >1) received RT (54 Gy in 30 fractions) with TMZ and up to 12 cycles of post-RT TMZ. The initial primary endpoint P was overall survival (OS) at 3 years after registration. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS) and the association of survival outcomes with methylation status. The initial 3-year report of this study was published in 2015. RESULTS: The study accrued 136 patients, of whom 129 were analyzable. The median follow-up for surviving patients was 9.0 years. The 3-year OS was 73.5% (95% confidence interval, 65.8%−81.1%), numerically superior to the 3-year OS historical control of 54% (P < .001). The median survival time was 8.2 years (95% confidence interval, 5.6–9.1). Five- and 10-year OS rates were 60.9% and 34.6%, respectively, and 5- and 10-year PFS rates were 46.8% and 25.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term results confirmed the findings from the initial report for efficacy, suggesting OS and PFS outcomes with the RT-TMZ regimen exceeded historical control groups treated with radiation alone. Toxicity was acceptable.

Diffuse midline glioma (DMG), H3 K27-altered is a newly defined diagnosis in the 2021 WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System. H3 K27 alterations are associated with a uniformly poor prognosis in children with DMG, but they have been linked to improved survival in adults. Clinical experience in adults with DMG, H3 K27M-altered remains limited. Consequently, there exists a knowledge gap regarding the optimal management and responsiveness to chemoradiation therapy, which translates into the current absence of standard treatment. Here we present the case of an 18-year-old female patient treated for a thalamic DMG, H3 K27-altered at a Canadian tertiary center. The patient first presented with headache, dysarthria, and signs of increased intracranial pressure. Her initial brain magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a right thalamo-mesencephalic lesion with central nodular enhancement and secondary hydrocephalus. She underwent an endoscopic third ventriculostomy followed by a subtotal resection, and pathology confirmed the presence of a DMG, H3 K27-altered, WHO grade 4. She was treated with combined radiotherapy and concomitant plus adjuvant (12 cycles) temozolomide. The Stupp regimen induced a spectacular response with a reduction in tumor dimensions on T2/FLAIR (20 x 18 mm versus 60 x 51 mm), > 50% decrease in size of the enhancing component, complete resolution of mass effect, and return to functional independence (KPS = 100%). Unfortunately, her disease progressed 16 months after diagnosis and she passed away 8 months later, despite having received 3 cycles of ONC201 through a clinical trial. Her progression-free survival (16 months) was superior to that reported in the literature, which could be related to her young age, subtotal resection status, and thalamic location. Although the addition of chemotherapy to adjuvant radiotherapy has not been shown to improve survival in children with DMG, the Stupp regimen may provide a survival benefit in adults.

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary central nervous system tumor in adults and is associated with a poor prognosis. The benefit of adding concomitant followed by adjuvant temozolomide to radiotherapy after maximal safe resection was demonstrated by Stupp and colleagues in 2005 and has since remained the standard of care. This regimen conferred a statistically significant benefit with a 2-year survival rate of 26.5% compared to 10.4% in patients treated with radiotherapy alone. Our primary goal was to retrospectively assess the clinical outcomes of patients with glioblastoma treated at our institution over the past 15 years by comparing the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) from our cohort to data from the pivotal trial. Our secondary objective was to create a comprehensive database with clinical and pathological information in order to identify predictive and prognostic factors. We reviewed the clinical records of patients treated for glioblastoma from January 2005 to November 2019 at our center. We extracted data on survival and calculated OS and PFS using the Kaplan-Meier method. 617 patient charts were reviewed, out of which 17 were excluded because of missing data. The remaining 600 patients were included. Baseline demographic information was similar to that of the Stupp cohort, with the exception of a larger proportion of patients aged 50 or above (76% versus 69%, respectively). The median OS at our center was 14.3 months, 95% confidence interval [12.8-15.2], which was comparable to that of the original trial (14.6 months [13.2-16.8]). PFS was better in our cohort at 6 months (74.2% [70.7-77.7] versus 53.9% [48.1-59.6]) and 12 months (36.3% [32.5-40.2] versus 26.9% [21.8-32.1]), and comparable thereafter. Our study confirms that the data from the Stupp trial are reproducible in a Canadian academic center setting. Our database will allow us to explore potentially new predictive factors.

300 Background: To determine the rate and time of testosterone (T) recovery to normal level in patients (pts) with prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy plus 6, 18 or 36 months of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and considered cured from their disease. Methods: We randomized 1230 pts with prostate cancer, into two phase III trials: 600 with intermediate risk and 630 with high-risk. We selected those considered cured to avoid subsequent T variations due to reintroduction of ADT for recurrence. We excluded the following pts: no ADT at all (126) or not receiving exactly 6, 18 or 36 months of ADT (69), survival less than one year (21), no T measured at baseline or during follow-up (75), biochemical failure (195) or evidence of metastatic/recurrent disease (137).T recovery rate was compared between baseline normal/abnormal T (values below biochemical normal range) and by ADT duration with Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. A multivariable logistic regression model to predict the probability of recovering normal T was performed by including normal/abnormal T at baseline, age, Zubrod, comorbidities and ADT duration. A second model was performed by replacing ADT duration with baseline PSA, Gleason score and stage. The median time to T recovery was calculated only on pts who recovered normal T. Results: Results are reported with a median follow-up of 14 years. 607 pts fit the criteria and are available for analysis: 309 pts in the 6 months ADT schedule, 185 in the 18 and 113 in the 36. Overall, 76.7%, 54.6% and 45.1% pts recovered normal T on the 6, 18 or 36 months schedule, respectively (p

ImportanceLong-term outcomes of radiotherapy are important in understanding the risks and benefits of therapies for patients with brain metastases.ObjectiveTo determine how the use of postoperative whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is associated with quality of life (QOL), cognitive function, and intracranial tumor control in long-term survivors with 1 to 4 brain metastases.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis secondary analysis of a randomized phase 3 clinical trial included 48 institutions in the US and Canada. Adult patients with 1 resected brain metastases but limited to those with 1 to 4 brain metastasis were eligible. Unresected metastases were treated with SRS. Long-term survivors were defined as evaluable patients who lived longer than 1 year from randomization. Patients were recruited between July 2011 and December 2015, and data were first analyzed in February 2017. For the present study, intracranial tumor control, cognitive deterioration, QOL, and cognitive outcomes were measured in evaluable patients who were alive at 12 months from randomization and reanalyzed in June 2017.InterventionsStereotactic radiosurgery or WBRT.Main Outcomes and MeasuresIntracranial tumor control, toxic effects, cognitive deterioration, and QOL.ResultsFifty-four patients (27 SRS arm, 27 WBRT arm; female to male ratio, 65% vs 35%) were included for analysis with a median follow-up of 23.8 months. Cognitive deterioration was less frequent with SRS (37%-60%) compared with WBRT (75%-91%) at all time points. More patients declined by 2 or more standard deviations (SDs) in 1 or more cognitive tests for WBRT compared with SRS at 3, 6, and 9 months (70% vs 22%, 46% vs 19%, and 50% vs 20%, respectively). A 2 SD decline in at least 2 cognitive tests was associated with worse 12-month QOL in emotional well-being, functional well-being, general, additional concerns, and total scores. Overall QOL and functional independence favored SRS alone for categorical change at all time points. Total intracranial control for SRS alone vs WBRT at 12 months was 40.7% vs 81.5% (difference, −40.7; 95% CI, −68.1% to −13.4%), respectively. Data were first analyzed in February 2017.Conclusions and RelevanceThe use of SRS alone compared with WBRT resulted in less cognitive deterioration among long-term survivors. The association of late cognitive deterioration with WBRT was clinically meaningful. A significant decline in cognition (2 SD) was associated with overall QOL. However, intracranial tumor control was improved with WBRT. This study provides detailed insight into cognitive function over time in this patient population.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01372774; ALLIANCE/CCTG: N107C/CEC.3 (Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology/Canadian Cancer Trials Group)

PURPOSE This study sought to determine the prognostic significance of the WHO-defined glioma molecular subgroups along with additional alterations, including MGMT promoter methylation and mutations in ATRX, CIC, FUBP1, TERT, and TP53, in NRG/RTOG 0424 using long-term follow-up data. METHODS Mutations were determined using an Ion Torrent sequencing panel. 1p/19q co-deletion and MGMT promoter methylation were determined by Affymetrix OncoScan and Illumina 450K arrays. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and tested using the log-rank test. Hazard ratios were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model. Multivariable analyses (MVAs) included patient pretreatment characteristics. RESULTS We obtained complete molecular data to categorize 80/129 eligible patients within the WHO subgroups. Of these, 26 (32.5%) were IDHmutant/co-deleted, 28 (35%) were IDHmutant/non-co-deleted, and 26 (32.5%) were IDHwild-type. Upon single-marker MVA, both IDHmutant subgroups were associated with significantly better OS and PFS ( P values < .001), compared with the IDHwild-type subgroup. MGMT promoter methylation was obtained on 76 patients, where 58 (76%) were methylated and 18 (24%) were unmethylated. Single-marker MVAs demonstrated that MGMT promoter methylation was statistically significant for OS ( P value < .001) and PFS ( P value = .003). In a multimarker MVA, one WHO subgroup comparison ( IDHmutant/co-deleted v IDHwild-type) was significant for OS ( P value = .045), whereas MGMT methylation did not retain significance. CONCLUSION This study reports the long-term prognostic effect of the WHO molecular subgroups, MGMT promoter methylation, and other mutations in NRG/RTOG 0424. These results demonstrate that the WHO molecular classification and MGMT both serve as strong prognostic indicators, but that MGMT does not appear to add statistically significant prognostic value to the WHO subgrouping, above and beyond IDH and 1p/19q status.

Medulloblastoma is an aggressive primary brain tumor that is extremely rare in adults, therefore, prospective studies are limited. We reviewed the information of all MB patients treated at the CHUM between 2006 and 2017. We divided our cohort by age and further divided adult patients (53%) in two groups, those diagnosed between 2006–2012 and 2013–2017. In our adult population, median follow up was 26 months and SHH-activated MB comprised 39% of tumors. Adult 5yOS was 80% and first-line therapy led to a 5yPFS of 77%. The absence of radiosensitizing chemotherapy (100% vs. 50%, p = 0.033) negatively influenced 5yPFS. 96% of adult patients received radiotherapy and 48% of them received concomitant radiosensitizing chemotherapy. Complete surgical resection was performed on 85% of adults, but the extent of resection did not have a discernable impact on survival and did not change with time. Adjuvant chemotherapy did not clearly affect prognosis (5yOS 80% vs. 67%, p = 0.155, 5yPFS 78% vs. 67%, p = 0.114). From 2006–2012, the most common chemotherapy regimen (69%) was Cisplatinum, Lomustine and Vincristine, which was replaced in 2013 by Cisplatinum, Etoposide and Cyclophosphamide (77%) with a trend for worse survival. Nine patients recurred and seven of these (78%) were treated with palliative chemotherapy. In conclusion, we did not identify prognostic demographic or tumor factors in our adult MB population. The presence of radiosensitizing chemotherapy was associated with a more favorable PFS. Cisplatinum, Lomustine and Vincristine regimen might be a better adjuvant chemotherapy regimen.

108 Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can display racial bias as a result of existing systemic health inequities and biased datasets. We have previously developed multi-modal AI (MMAI) prognostic models based on digital pathology images from five phase III randomized radiotherapy prostate cancer trials that outperform NCCN risk groups for prediction of distant metastasis (DM), biochemical failure (BF), prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) and all-cause mortality (OS). In this study, we assessed the algorithmic fairness of the locked MMAI models between African American (AA) and non-AA populations in the five randomized trials. Methods: Patients enrolled in NRG/RTOG 9202, 9408, 9413, 9910, and 0126 with digitized biopsy histopathology slides were included in this study. The locked MMAI models were applied, and subgroup analyses were conducted by comparing distributions of clinical variables and MMAI scores (medians for continuous variables and proportions for categorical variables reported), and evaluating MMAI models’ prognostic ability among AA and non-AA men. The performance of the models were compared using DM as the primary endpoint and secondary endpoints of BF, PCSM, OS (death without an event as a competing risk) with Fine-Gray or Cox Proportional Hazards models. Either Kaplan Meier or cumulative incidence estimates were computed and compared using log-rank or Gray’s test. Results: This study included 5,624 men: 932 (17%) AA, 4503 (80%) white, and 189 (3%) other races. AA had younger median age (69 vs 71 year [yr]), higher median baseline PSA (12 vs 10 ng/mL), more T1-T2a (62% vs 57%), more Gleason < 7 (42% vs 36%) and 8-10 (15% vs 12%), and more NCCN low and high risk (12% vs 10% and 41% vs 33%). AA and non-AA had estimated 5-yr BF rates 27% and 27%, 5-yr DM rates 5% and 5%, 10-yr PCSM 5% and 7%, and 10-yr OS 58% and 60%, respectively. The median (interquartile range) score of the model optimizing for 5-yr DM (5-yr DM MMAI) was 0.044 (0.037–0.059) in AA and 0.043 (0.036–0.057) in non-AA. Similarly, all other MMAI models had differences in the medians between AA and non-AA ranging from 0.001 to 0.02. For all endpoints, the 5-yr DM MMAI model showed strong prognostic signal (hazard ratio [HR] per one standard deviation increase: 1.6 for DM, 1.4 for BF, 1.6 for PCSM and 1.3 for OS, all p-values < 0.001) and had comparable trends within AA vs. non-AA in the entire cohort (e.g., HR for DM 1.4 vs 1.6). Similar results were observed for the MMAI model optimizing for 10-yr PCSM. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this represents the first comparative analyses of a digital pathology AI prognostic model in AA vs. non-AA prostate cancer patients. The prognostic performance of the AI models was found to be comparable between subgroups. Our data supports the use of these models across racial groups, though further validation in AA cohorts is ongoing.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) To validate the association between body composition and all-cause mortality in men treated with radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer (PCa). Secondarily, to integrate body composition as a factor to help classify patients by risk of all-cause mortality. MATERIALS/METHODS All participants of NRG/RTOG 9406 and NRG/RTOG 0126 with archived computed tomography that extended cranially to include the L4-L5 interface were included. Muscle mass and muscle density were estimated by measuring the cross-sectional area and average attenuation of the paired psoas muscles on a single slice at the level of L4-L5. Bone density was estimated by measuring the average attenuation of the vertebral body cancellous bone on a single slice at mid-L5. Adipose tissue density was estimated by measuring the average attenuation of the subcutaneous adipose tissue on a single slice at L4-L5. Survival analyses, including Cox proportional hazards models, were performed to assess the relationship between body composition variables and all-cause mortality. Recursive partitioning (RPA) was utilized to create a classification tree to classify NRG/RTOG 0126 participants by risk of death, and the discriminant ability of the classification model was validated using the NRG/RTOG 9406 data set. RESULTS Data from 2,066 men was included in this study (864 from NRG/RTOG 9406 and 1,202 from NRG/RTOG 0126). A total of 648 men died in the follow-up period and 51 (7.9%) were due to PCa. Psoas area, psoas density, and vertebral body density were individually associated with overall survival. In the final multivariable model, psoas area, comorbidity score, and age were associated with overall survival (Table). The RPA yielded a classification tree with 4 prognostic groups determined by age, comorbidity, and psoas cross-sectional area. When the RPA classification was applied to the NRG/RTOG 9406 validation set the discriminant ability was preserved (P < 0.001 groupwise log-rank). CONCLUSION The results of this study strongly support that body composition is related to all-cause mortality in men with localized PCa, with most deaths due to causes other than PCa. The inclusion of psoas cross-sectional area in the RPA classification tree suggests that body composition provides additive information to age and comorbidity status for mortality prediction. This study also confirms the feasibility of performing body composition analysis using archived CT scans using NRG Oncology clinical trial data sets. These methods can be applied to other NRG Oncology data sets to further explore how body composition is related to patient outcomes.

Introduction: We aimed to investigate whether patients on active surveillance (AS) had worse outcomes than patients who received immediate treatment with radiotherapy and whether a Gleason grade progression on repeat biopsy influenced outcome. Methods: From our institutional database, we identified 2001 patients treated between 2005 and 2019 with primary external beam radiation therapy or brachytherapy. Biochemical recurrence (BCR) was analyzed in relation to clinical factors such as a Gleason grade progression or having multiple biopsies vs. only one biopsy. Patients on AS were identified as those who had undergone ≥2 biopsies. We used log-rank tests for univariate analysis (UVA) and Cox regression analysis for multivariable analysis (MVA). Results: Of 2001 patients, 374 (19%) patients had ≥2 biopsies before treatment, of which 48% presented with a Gleason grade progression of mostly to Gleason 3+4 (36%); 32% had a cancer volume increase on biopsy and 16% had no significant change on biopsy. For patients with ≥2 biopsies, median time from first biopsy to treatment was 22.0 months (interquartile range [IQR] 14.7–36.1). By UVA, patients with Gleason grade progression (n=105) had a worse BCR-free rate (p=0.02) than patients who had no grade progression on repeat biopsy or only one biopsy. On MVA, this effect was lost. Having ≥2 biopsies was not a significant negative prognostic factor on UVA (p=0.2) or MVA. Conclusions: In our experience, radiotherapy after a period of AS, even with Gleason grade progression, did not lead to worse outcomes compared to patients who had radiotherapy after only one biopsy.

We investigated whether there is an association between testosterone levels and prostate cancer aggressiveness in patients treated with radiation therapy who underwent a prostatectomy or prostate radiotherapy (EBRT). A total of 380 patients who received primary or post-operative radiotherapy were identified. At the time of radiotherapy, baseline testosterone levels and body mass index (BMI) measurements were available. On multivariate analysis (MVA), higher prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were predictive of testosterone ≥10.4 (OR = 1.3, p = .04) and testosterone ≥12.0 nmol/L (OR = 1.3, p = .04). Patients with a Gleason score ≥8 were more likely to have testosterone

Background Long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) combined with radiotherapy (RT) is a standard treatment for patients with localized high-risk prostate cancer (HRPC). However, the optimal duration of ADT is not yet defined. Objective The aim of this superiority randomized trial was to compare outcomes of RT combined with either 36 or 18 mo of ADT. Design, setting and participants From October 2000 to January 2008, 630 patients with HRPC were randomized, 310 to pelvic and prostate RT combined with 36 mo (long arm) and 320 to the same RT with 18 mo (short arm) of ADT. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Overall survival (OS) and quality of life (QoL) were primary end points. OS rates were compared with Cox Regression model and QoL data were analyzed through mixed linear model. Results and limitations With a median follow-up of 9.4 yr, 290 patients had died (147 long arm vs 143 short arm). The 5-yr OS rates (95% confidence interval) were 91% for long arm (88–95%) and 86% for short arm (83–90%), p=0.07. QoL analysis showed a significant difference (p Conclusions In localized HRPC, our results support that 36 mo is not superior to 18 mo of ADT. ADT combined with RT can potentially be reduced to 18 mo in selected men without compromising survival or QoL. Thus, 18 mo of ADT appears to represent a valid option in HRPC. Patient summary In this study, we report outcomes from high-risk prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy and either 36 or 18 mo of androgen deprivation therapy. There was no difference in survival between the two groups, with the 18-mo group experiencing a better quality of life.

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare early prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decline patterns and PSA nadirs between low-dose-rate seed prostate brachytherapy (LDR-PB) and different fractionations of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and their predictive importance for biochemical failure (bF). Methods and Materials Patients with D'Amico low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer who underwent a single-modality treatment without androgen deprivation were included in this study. Three different treatment groups were compared: (1) normofractionation EBRT up to 70.2–79.2 Gy/1.8–2.0 Gy, (2) LDR-PB, and (3) EBRT with hypofractionation 60 Gy/3 Gy daily or 5–7.25 Gy once a week over 9–5 weeks, to a total dose of 45–36.25 Gy, respectively. The log-rank test, Cox regression analysis, and nonparametric tests were used. Results We analyzed 892 patients: the median followup for patients without bF was 84 months (interquartile range 60–102 months), with 12% of patients experiencing bF. The PSA decline within the first 15 months was generally exponential. LDR-PB showed a faster early exponential decline compared with EBRT treatments, but whether decline was fast or slow had no influence on recurrence. The only factors that were positive predictive factors in univariate and multivariate analyses were the time to nadir >48 months (median), PSA nadir Conclusions Although there are significant differences in early exponential PSA decline between different treatments, only the PSA nadir and longer time to nadir were predictive factors for bF.

222 Background: Prognostication in localized prostate cancer is reliant on non-specific tools, an issue that leads to the over- and under-treatment of patients. Various tissue-based molecular biomarkers have attempted to fill this unmet need, but most lack prospective randomized trial validation. Herein, we train and validate prognostic biomarkers in localized prostate cancer using five phase III randomized trials, by leveraging multi-modal deep learning on digital histopathology. Methods: Histopathology image data was generated from pre-treatment biopsy slides in five NRG Oncology phase III randomized radiotherapy prostate cancer trials (RTOG 9202, 9408, 9413, 9910, and 0126). The trials were randomly split into training (80%) and validation (20%) cohorts. A multi-modal artificial intelligence (MMAI) architecture was developed to take clinicopathologic and image-based (histopathology) data as input and predict binary outcomes. Using this architecture, various models were trained to predict relevant clinical endpoints: biochemical recurrence (BCR), distant metastasis (DM), prostate cancer-specific survival (PCaSS), and overall survival (OS). These models were then validated for measures of prognostic discrimination using the time-based area under the curve (AUC) method. Results: Clinicopathologic and histopathology image data was available for 5,654 of 7,957 eligible patients (71.1%), yielding 16.1 TB of data from 16,204 histopathology slides of pretreatment biopsy samples. After training the models, locking them, and evaluating them on the validation cohort, we found that the MMAI prognostic model had superior discrimination compared to the NCCN model (PSA, T-stage, and Gleason score) for 5-year DM (AUC of 0.84 vs 0.73), 5-year BCR (AUC of 0.69 vs 0.58), 10-year PCaSS (AUC of 0.79 vs 0.66), and 10-year OS (AUC of 0.65 vs 0.58). Within each of the individual trials in the validation cohort, the MMAI-model had superior performance compared to NCCN risk groups for all clinical endpoints. Conclusions: This represents the first ever development and validation of prognostic biomarkers in localized prostate cancer using multiple large phase III clinical trials. We have successfully validated that our MMAI-prognostic biomarkers are superior to standard clinical and pathologic variables in identifying future BCR, DM, PCaSS, and OS. This massively scalable technology is feasible and can help personalize the management of prostate cancer patients. Funding: This project was supported by grants U10CA180868 (NRG Oncology Operations), U10CA180822 (NRG Oncology SDMC), UG1CA189867 (NCORP), U24CA196067 (NRG Specimen Bank) from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

265 Background: A recent study ( Fossati et al, 2018) found that higher lymph node count at radical prostatectomy was associated with improved outcomes in patients treated with salvage radiation for elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) after surgery. We sought to validate these results in NRG/RTOG 9601, a randomized controlled trial of men with pT2/T3 disease who underwent either radiation (RT) alone or RT+antiandrogen (bicalutamide) therapy for PSA elevation following radical prostatectomy from 1998-2003. Methods: We reviewed available pathology reports for all patients in NRG/RTOG 9601 to determine the nodal count at radical prostatectomy. Clinical data was as of 11/5/2015, same as the primary endpoint for the trial. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the effect of number of positive lymph nodes, treatment arm (RT alone or RT+bicalutamide), Gleason score, positive margins, and seminal vesicle invasion on the following endpoints: times to local and distant failure and overall and disease specific survival. Results: Out of the 760 patients originally eligible in the trial, 552 (73%, 276 in each arm) had complete data available. Median node count in the entire cohort was 6 (range 0-33, Q1-Q3 3-9). There were no significant differences between treatment arms in terms of patient demographic or clinical characteristics, including total lymph nodes removed in either arm (RT alone vs RT+bicalutamide median 5 vs 6, p = 0.11). There was no significant association between total lymph nodes and overall survival with both arms combined (HR = 1.00, 95% CI:0.97-1.03, p = 0.87) or in the individual arms alone (RT+Casodex: HR = 1.01, 95% CI:0.97-1.05, p = 0.65; RT+Placebo: HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.94-1.03, p = 0.45). There was also no significant association between total lymph nodes and disease-specific survival with both arms combined (HR = 1.00, 95% CI:0.95-1.04, p = 0.84) and in the arms alone (RT+Casodex: HR = 1.00, 95% CI:0.95-1.05, p = 0.92; RT+Placebo: HR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.92-1.07, p = 0.86). In multivariable analysis performed on the two arms, Gleason score was the only feature associated with worse overall and disease-specific survival, seen only in the RT alone arm. Similar findings were seen when evaluating times to local and distant failure. Conclusions: Lymph node yield in NRG/RTOG 9601 did not show any association with adverse outcomes in the entire cohort, or in either treatment arm alone. The therapeutic benefit of an extensive lymph node dissection in this population remains uncertain. Clinical trial information: NCT00002874.

223 Background: The current standard of care for men with intermediate- and high-risk localized prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy (RT) is the addition of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Presently, there are no validated predictive biomarkers to guide ADT use or duration in such men. Herein, we train and validate the first predictive biomarker for ADT use in prostate cancer using multiple phase III NRG Oncology randomized trials. Methods: Pre-treatment biopsy slides were digitized from five phase III NRG Oncology randomized trials of men receiving RT with or without ADT. The training set to develop the artificial intelligence (AI)-derived predictive biomarker included NRG/RTOG 9202, 9413, 9910, and 0126, and was trained to predict distant metastasis (DM). A multimodal deep learning architecture was developed to learn from both clinicopathologic and digital imaging histopathology data and identify differential outcomes by treatment type. After the model was locked, an independent biostatistician performed validation on NRG/RTOG 9408, a phase III randomized trial of RT +/- 4 months of ADT. The DM rates were calculated using cumulative incidence functions in biomarker positive and negative groups, and biomarker-treatment interaction was assessed using Fine-Gray regression such that death without DM was treated as a competing event. Results: Clinical and histopathological data was available for 5,654 of 7,957 eligible patients (71.1%). The training cohort included 3,935 patients and had a median follow-up of 13.6 years (IQR [10.2, 17.7]). After the AI-derived predictive ADT classifier was trained, it was validated in NRG/RTOG 9408 (n = 1719, median follow-up 17.6 years, IQR [15.0, 19.7]). In the NRG/RTOG 9408 validation cohort that had digital histopathology data, ADT significantly improved DM (HR 0.62, 95% CI [0.44, 0.87], p = 0.006), consistent with the published trial results. The biomarker-treatment interaction was significant (p-value = 0.0021). In patients with AI-biomarker positive disease (n = 673, 39%), ADT had a greater benefit compared to RT alone (HR 0.33, 95% CI [0.19, 0.57], p < 0.001). In the biomarker negative subgroup (n = 1046, 61%), the addition of ADT did not improve outcomes over RT alone (HR 1.00, 95% CI [0.64, 1.57], p = 0.99). The 15-year DM rate difference between RT versus RT+ADT in the biomarker negative group was 0.3%, vs biomarker positive group 9.4%. Conclusions: We have successfully validated in a phase III randomized trial the first predictive biomarker of ADT benefit with RT in localized intermediate risk prostate cancer using a novel AI-derived digital pathology-based platform. This AI-derived predictive biomarker demonstrates that a majority of patients treated with RT on NRG/RTOG 9408 did not require ADT and could have avoided the associated costs and side effects of this treatment.

Procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine (pcv) significantly improve survival outcomes in lgg (low-grade gliomas). Administration of pcv to lgg patients increased tremendously over the past years as it went from 2 patients per year between 2005 and 2012 to 23 patients in 2015 only in our centre. However, serious hematological and non-hematological adverse events may occur. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of pcv and its clinical relevance in our practice. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 57 patients with lgg who received pcv at the Centre hospitalier de l&rsquo, Universit&eacute, de Montr&eacute, al between 1 January 2005 and 27 July 2016. Procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine were associated with severe hematological toxicity as clinically significant grade 3 anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia occurred in 7%, 10%, and 28% of patients, respectively. Other frequent adverse events such as the increase of liver enzymes, cutaneous rash, neurotoxicity, and vomiting occurred in 65%, 26%, 60%, and 40% of patients, respectively. Patients with prophylactic trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole had more grade 3 hematological toxicity with pcv, especially anemia (p = 0.040) and thrombocytopenia (p = 0.003) but we found no increase in pcv toxicity in patients on concurrent anticonvulsants. Patients with grade 3 neutropenia had a significantly lower survival (median survival 44.0 months vs. 114.0 months, p = 0.001). Patients who were given pcv at diagnosis had more grade 3 anemia than those who received it at subsequent lines of treatment (p = 0.042). Procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine increase survival in lgg but were also associated with major hematologic, hepatic, neurologic, and cutaneous toxicity. Anti-Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (pjp) prophylaxis, but not anticonvulsants, enhances hematologic toxicity.

BACKGROUND PCV+RT substantially prolongs survival in AO patients, but long-term CF and QOL implications are unclear. We compared CF and QOL by treatment arm in RTOG 9402 participants and evaluated the impact that baseline characteristics had on CF, QOL, and survival. METHODS CF and QOL were evaluated using the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) and Brain-Quality of Life (B-QOL) scale at baseline and annually. Scores were analyzed between treatment arms at each time point for patients with ≥ 10 years of follow-up data. Shared parameter models evaluated MMSE and B-QOL scores and survival for all patients. RESULTS 42/148 (28.4%) participants in PCV+RT and 20/143 (14%) in RT alone arms survived ≥ 10 years. 35/42 and 39/42 (PCV+RT) and 18/20 and 17/20 (RT) participants completed baseline B-QOL and MMSE assessments, respectively. B-QOL scores did not differ between treatment groups at any time-point. Among 16 patients (10 PCV+RT, 6 RT) who completed year 10 MMSE evaluations, mean MMSE score at 10 years was higher in the RT arm (29.83 [95% CI 22.1, 30.0] vs. 26.50 [95% CI 29.4, 30.0], P= 0.04). Change in MMSE and B-QOL scores from baseline did not differ significantly between treatment groups at any time. In shared parameter models including all patients with baseline assessments, MMSE and B-QOL scores decreased over time (MMSE P= 0.0189, B-QOL P= 0.0005), but this did not differ by treatment group (MMSE P= 0.5727, B-QOL P= 0.3592). Younger age and higher KPS predicted better scores (MMSE P < 0.0001, P = 0.0002; B-QOL P = 0.0043, P = 0.0007). PCV+RT predicted better survival in both models. CONCLUSIONS PCV+RT improves survival in AO. Shared parameter models show decrease in MMSE and B-QOL over time. However, relative to RT alone, the addition of PCV did not impact change in CF and QOL over time.

Objectives: We reviewed testosterone changes for patients who were treated with radiation therapy (RT) alone on NRG oncology RTOG 9408. Methods and materials: Patients (T1b-T2b, prostate-specific antigen

// Matthias Holdhoff 1 , Gregory J. Cairncross 2 , Thomas M. Kollmeyer 3 , Ming Zhang 1 , Peixin Zhang 4 , Minesh P. Mehta 5 , Maria Werner-Wasik 6 , Luis Souhami 7 , Jean-Paul Bahary 8 , Young Kwok 5 , Alan C. Hartford 9 , Arnab Chakravarti 10 , Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian 1 , Bert Vogelstein 1 , Nickolas Papadopoulos 1 , Kenneth Kinzler 1 , Robert B. Jenkins 3 and Chetan Bettegowda 1 1 The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, USA 2 Charbonneau Cancer Institute at the University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, USA 3 Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA 4 NRG Oncology Statistics and Data Management Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA 5 University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA 6 Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA 7 McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada 8 Centre Hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada 9 Darthmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA 10 The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA Correspondence to: Matthias Holdhoff, email: // Chetan Bettegowda, email: // Keywords : oligodendroglioma, chemotherapy, survival, genomics, co-deletion 1p/19q Received : October 01, 2016 Accepted : March 21, 2017 Published : March 31, 2017 Abstract Background: The NRG Oncology RTOG 9402 trial showed significant survival benefit in patients with 1p/19q co-deleted anaplastic oligodendrogliomas (AO) who received both radiation (RT) and chemotherapy (PCV regimen) versus RT alone. Substantial separation of the survival curves was only seen after 7.3 years. We aimed to determine whether there are specific genetic alterations that distinguish co-deleted AO patients who benefit from the addition of PCV from those who do not. Methods: We performed whole exome sequencing on matched tumor and normal DNA from all available short-term (STS) and long-term survivors (LTS) who received RT+PCV. hTERT status and rs55705857 genotypes (G-allele) were analyzed in both cohorts. Results: Six STS (survival of

PURPOSE We investigated the long term impact of SRS and WBRT in two large prospective phase III trials. METHODS Patients with 1–4 BMs +/- resection were randomized to SRS or WBRT. Cognitive deterioration was a drop of >1 standard deviation from baseline in >2/6 cognitive measures (CM). Quality of life (QOL) scores were scored 0–100 point scale. CM and QOL scores were modeled using baseline adjusted Linear Mixed Models (LMM) with uncorrelated random intercept for subject and random slopes for time. Differences over time between groups and the effect of >2 cognitive scores with >2 SD change from baseline were assessed. RESULTS 88 patients were included with median follow up of 24 months. We observed decreasing CM over time (SRS: 4/6; WBRT: 5/6). Mean CM was significantly higher in SRS for Total recall and Delayed Recall at 3, 6, 9, 12 months. More patients in WBRT arm declined 1 SD in >1 and >2 CM at the 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. A 1 SD decline in >3 CM at 1 year was 21% SRS vs 47% WBRT (p=0.02). SRS had fewer patients with a 2 SD decline in >1 CM at every time point. SRS had fewer patients with a 2 SD decline at >2 and >3 CM. WBRT had lower QOL at 3 months, but switched to SRS having lower QOL at 24 months for PWB, EWB, FWB, FactG, BR, and FactBR (p< 0.05). A 2 SD decline in cognition decreased mean FWB by 6.4 units (95% CI: -11, -1.75; p=0.007) and decreased QOL by 5.1 units (95% CI: -7.7, -2.5; p< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS We report the first pooled prospective study demonstrating the long term outcomes of patients with BMs after cranial radiation. WBRT was associated with worse cognitive outcomes. Impaired cognition is associated with worse QOL.

Purpose Whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) remains a commonly used cancer treatment, although controversy exists regarding the optimal dose/fractionation to optimize intracranial tumor control and minimize resultant cognitive deficits. Methods and Materials NCCTG N107C [Alliance]/CEC.3 randomized 194 patients with brain metastases to either stereotactic radiosurgery alone or WBRT after surgical resection. Among the 92 patients receiving WBRT, sites predetermined the dose/fractionation that would be used for all patients treated at that site (either 30 Gy in 10 fractions or 37.5 Gy in 15 fractions). Analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier estimates, log rank tests, and Fisher’s exact tests. Results Among 92 patients treated with surgical resection and adjuvant WBRT, 49 were treated with 30 Gy in 10 fractions (53%), and 43 were treated with 37.5 Gy in 15 fractions (47%). Baseline characteristics, including cognitive testing, were well balanced between groups with the exception of primary tumor type (lung cancer histology was more frequent with protracted WBRT: 72% vs 45%, P = .01), and 93% of patients completed the full course of WBRT. A more protracted WBRT dose regimen (37.5 Gy in 15 fractions) did not significantly affect time to cognitive failure (hazard ratio [HR], 0.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.6-1.39; P = .66), surgical bed control (HR, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.22-1.25], P = .14), intracranial tumor control (HR, 0.56 [95% CI, 0.28-1.12], P = .09), or overall survival (HR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.45-1.16], P = .18). Although there was no reported radionecrosis, there is a statistically significant increase in the risk of at least 1 grade ≥3 adverse event with 37.5 Gy in 15 fractions versus 30 Gy in 10 fractions (54% vs 31%, respectively, P = .03). Conclusions This post hoc analysis does not demonstrate that protracted WBRT courses reduce the risk of cognitive deficit, improve tumor control in the hypoxic surgical cavity, or otherwise improve the therapeutic ratio. Adverse events were significantly higher with the lengthened course of WBRT. For patients with brain metastases where WBRT is recommended, shorter course hypofractionated regimens remain the current standard of care.

Purpose The progress of women in academic medicine appears to be curtailed. We evaluated gender differences in academia for residents in radiation oncology compared with 2 of its related specialties, radiology and medical oncology, across Canada. Methods and Materials We analyzed abstracts presented between 2013 and 2016 at the annual meetings of the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncologists and compared it to the corresponding data for the meetings of the Canadian Association of Radiologists and Canadian Association of Medical Oncology. We further evaluated gender composition of abstracts, presentations, and publications available on PubMed. Conversion rates according to gender and to medical specialties were assessed. Proportions were compared using Fisher exact test or the chi-squared test. Results Among the 198 presented abstracts, 103 (52%) were published. Radiation oncology had the highest publishing rate with 90% (oncology 56%, radiology 40%). The publication rate between the medical specialties was significantly different (P Fifty-seven percent of abstracts presented by women were published versus 48% of abstracts presented by men. Overall, there was no significant difference between genders in terms of subsequent conversions into a scientific publication within each specialty (P = .25-1.0). In radiation oncology, women presented 67% of abstracts and published 95% of their presented abstracts, and in medical oncology, 66% of abstracts were from women and 57% of the presented abstracts were published. Among the published abstracts, 83% had the same first author in the abstract and the publication. Among those who lost their first-authorship status, 59% were women. However, there was no statistically significant difference between specialties for loss of first-author status. Conclusions We observed that from 2013 to 2016, women had the highest presentation and publication rate in radiation oncology. More prospective data are needed to monitor the progress of women in all specialties and their specific needs.

BackgroundGrade 2 gliomas occur most commonly in young adults and cause progressive neurologic deterioration and premature death. Early results of this trial showed that treatment with procarbazine, lomustine (also called CCNU), and vincristine after radiation therapy at the time of initial diagnosis resulted in longer progression-free survival, but not overall survival, than radiation therapy alone. We now report the long-term results. MethodsWe included patients with grade 2 astrocytoma, oligoastrocytoma, or oligodendroglioma who were younger than 40 years of age and had undergone subtotal resection or biopsy or who were 40 years of age or older and had undergone biopsy or resection of any of the tumor. Patients were stratified according to age, histologic findings, Karnofsky performance-status score, and presence or absence of contrast enhancement on preoperative images. Patients were randomly assigned to radiation therapy alone or to radiation therapy followed by six cycles of combination chemotherapy...

PURPOSE We investigated the long term impact of SRS and WBRT in two large prospective phase III trials. METHODS Patients with 1–4 BMs +/- resection were randomized to SRS or WBRT. Cognitive deterioration was a drop of >1 standard deviation from baseline in >2/6 cognitive measures (CM). Quality of life (QOL) scores were scored 0–100 point scale. CM and QOL scores were modeled using baseline adjusted Linear Mixed Models (LMM) with uncorrelated random intercept for subject and random slopes for time. Differences in trend over time between groups and the effect of >2 cognitive scores with >2 SD change from baseline were assessed. RESULTS 88 patients were included with median follow up of 24 months. We observed decreasing CM over time (SRS: 4/6; WBRT: 5/6). Mean CM was significantly higher in SRS for Total recall and Delayed Recall at 3, 6, 9, 12 months. More patients in WBRT arm declined 1 SD in >1 and >2 CM at the 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. A 1 SD decline in >3 CM at 1 year was 21% SRS vs 47% WBRT (p=0.02). SRS had fewer patients with a 2 SD decline in >1 CM at every time point. SRS had fewer patients with a 2 SD decline at >2 and >3 CM. WBRT had lower QOL at 3 months, but switched to SRS having lower QOL at 24 months for PWB, EWB, FWB, FactG, BR, and FactBR (p CONCLUSIONS We report the first pooled prospective study demonstrating the long term outcomes of patients with BMs after cranial radiation. WBRT was associated with worse cognitive outcomes. Impaired cognition is associated with worse QOL.

2518 Background: This study sought to evaluate the prognostic significance of the three WHO-defined molecular glioma subgroups ( IDHwt, IDHmt/non-codel, and IDHmt/codel) in NRG Oncology/RTOG 0424, a phase II trial of high-risk low-grade gliomas treated with radiation (RT) and concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) after biopsy/surgical resection. Notably, this is the first clinical study to evaluate the prognostic value of the WHO subgroups in RT + TMZ-treated high-risk grade II (G2) gliomas using prospectively-collected long-term survival data. Methods: IDH1/2 mutation status was determined by next-generation sequencing. 1p/19q co-deletion status was determined by Oncoscan and/or 450K methylation data. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) by marker status were determined by the Cox proportional hazard model and tested using the log-rank test in a post-hoc analysis. Patient pre-treatment characteristics were included as covariates in multivariate analyses. Results: Of all the eligible patients (N=129), 80 (62%) had sufficient quality DNA for both IDH and 1p/19q analyses. Of these 80, 54 (67.5%) were IDHmt, and 26 (32.5%) were IDHwt. Of the 54 IDHmt patients, 26 (32.5% of total, 48% of IDHmt) were IDHmt/codel, and 28 (35% of total, 52% of IDHmt) were IDHmt/non-codel. Both IDHmt subgroups were significantly correlated with longer PFS ( IDHmt/co-del = 8.1yrs (5.2-not reached (NR)); IDHmt/non-codel = 7.5yrs (3.9-11.8); IDHwt = 1.0yr (0.6-1.7), p

PURPOSE: To report the long-term outcomes and MGMT analysis of temozolomide (TMZ) and radiotherapy (RT) in a high-risk low-grade gliomas (LGG) population. PATIENTS/ METHODS: For this single-arm phase II study, LGG patients with ≥3 risk factors (age ≥40, astrocytoma, bi-hemispheric tumor, size ≥6 cm or preoperative neurologic function status >1) received RT (54 Gy/30 fractions) with TMZ and up to 12 cycles of post-RT TMZ. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS) at 3 years after registration. A one-sided Z-test was used to test the hazard rate based on the observed 3-year OS rate versus a prespecified historical control from the EORTC high-risk LGG population. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), and the association of survival outcomes with MGMT methylation status, for which the MGMT-STP27 prediction model was used based on 450k data. The initial report of this study was published in 2015, when the results of the MGMT analysis were unavailable. RESULTS: The study accrued 129 analyzable patients. The median follow-up for surviving patients was 9 years (range: 0.4–11.8), 4 years longer than previously reported. The 3-year OS rate was 73.5% (95% CI: 65.8–81.1%), superior to the historical control of 54% (p

Conflicting data exists on the influence of metformin on prostate cancer. We investigated the importance of metformin in patients treated with radiotherapy or brachytherapy.All patients from a large institutionalized database, treated for primary localized prostate cancer with either brachytherapy or external-beam radiotherapy ± androgen deprivation therapy were identified. Groups were compared by Kaplan-Meier analyses and Cox regression models. Multivariate analysis was adjusted for CAPRA-Score, type of treatment and age.A total of 2441 patients with complete data was identified. Among the 382 patients (16% of total) were diabetic. Two-hundred and eighty-one of the 382 diabetics (74%) were treated with metformin and 101 were treated with other anti-diabetic medication. Median follow up was 48 months (interquartile range [IQR] 24-84). Two-hundred eighteen patients (9%) died and 150 (6%) experienced biochemical recurrence (BCR). On unadjusted univariate analysis for BCR-free survival, metformin users showed a 50% reduction in BCR compared to non-metformin users. The results remained significant on multivariate analysis comparing diabetic metformin users to non-metformin users (diabetics and non-diabetics combined) (hazard ratio [HR] 0.5-0.6, p = 0.03-0.04) but lost its significance when adjusting for cancer aggressiveness. On multivariate analysis, diabetics had worse overall survival (OS) than non-diabetics (HR 1.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08-2.06, p = 0.01), but diabetics on metformin fared better than diabetics not taking metformin (HR 0.5, 95% CI 0.26-0.86, p = 0.01).Metformin use in this analysis appears to be associated with better BCR and OS. Larger datasets and prospective trials are warranted to validate these results.

PurposeThere is considerable interest in very short (ultrahypofractionated) radiation therapy regimens to treat prostate cancer based on potential radiobiological advantages, patient convenience, and resource allocation benefits. Our objective is to demonstrate that detectable changes in health-related quality of life measured by the bowel and urinary domains of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-50) were not substantially worse than baseline scores.Methods and materialsNRG Oncology's RTOG 0938 is a nonblinded randomized phase 2 study of National Comprehensive Cancer Network low-risk prostate cancer in which each arm is compared with a historical control. Patients were randomized to 5 fractions (7.25 Gy in 2 weeks) or 12 fractions (4.3 Gy in 2.5 weeks). The co-primary endpoints were the proportion of patients with a change in EPIC-50 bowel score at 1 year (baseline to 1 year) >5 points and in EPIC-50 urinary score >2 points tested with a 1-sample binomial test.ResultsThe study enrolled 127 patients to 5 fractions (121 analyzed) and 128 patients to 12 fractions (125 analyzed). Median follow-up for all patients at the time of analysis was 3.8 years. The 1-year frequency for >5 point change in bowel score were 29.8% (P < .001) and 28.4% (P < .001) for 5 and 12 fractions, respectively. The 1-year frequencies for >2 point change in urinary score were 45.7% (P < .001) and 42.2% (P < .001) for 5 and 12 fractions, respectively. For 5 fractions, 32.9% of patients had a drop in 1-year EPIC-50 sexual score of ≥11 points (P = .34); for 12 fractions, 30.9% of patients had a drop in 1-year EPIC-50 sexual score of ≥ 11 points (P = .20). Disease-free survival at 2 years is 99.2% (95% confidence interval: 97.5-100) in the 5-fraction arm and 97.5% (95% confidence interval: 94.6-100) in the 12-fraction arm. There was no late grade 4 or 5 treatment-related urinary or bowel toxicity.ConclusionsThis study confirms that, based on changes in bowel and urinary domains and toxicity (acute and late), the 5- and 12-fraction regimens are well tolerated. These ultrahypofractionated approaches need to be compared with current standard radiation therapy regimens.