Search

Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned coprimary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical Trial Updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported. The purpose of this update was to determine differences in patient-reported chronic toxicity and disease outcomes with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) compared with conventional pelvic radiation. Patients with cervical and endometrial cancers who received postoperative pelvic radiation were randomly assigned to conventional radiation therapy (CRT) or IMRT. Toxicity and quality of life were assessed using Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) bowel and urinary domains, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–General. Between 2012 and 2015, 279 eligible patients were enrolled to the study with a median follow-up of 37.8 months. There were no differences in overall survival ( P = .53), disease-free survival ( P = .21), or locoregional failure ( P = .81). One year after RT, patients in the CRT arm experienced more high-level diarrhea frequency (5.8% IMRT v 15.1% CRT, P = .042) and a greater number had to take antidiarrheal medication two or more times a day (1.2% IMRT v 8.6% CRT, P = .036). At 3 years, women in the CRT arm reported a decline in urinary function, whereas the IMRT arm continued to improve (mean change in EPIC urinary score = 0.5, standard deviation = 13.0, IMRT v –6.0, standard deviation = 14.3, CRT, P = .005). In conclusion, IMRT reduces patient-reported chronic GI and urinary toxicity with no difference in treatment efficacy at 3 years.

Objectives Increasing diversity in radiation oncology with respect to sex, under-represented minorities (URMs), and people of color is a major objective of our profession. The purpose of this project is to plot diversity percentages in our residency program over the past 52 years and explain major causes for change when identified. Materials and methods Plots of the percent of residents in our program each year between 1967 and 2020 in the following categories: White male, female, URM, and people of color. Results Between 1967 and 1992 diversity percentage in our program changed little with ∼90% of residents representing White males. Between 1992 and 1995, overall diversity increased by 40 percentage points, a change maintained from 1995 to 2020. Approximate annual percentages over the past 25 years were: female, 35%; URM, 10%; and people of color, 25%.The main reason for increased diversity starting in 1992 was new leadership seeking to promote diversity. Tools that helped promote diversity were measuring our diversity profile and setting target goals. Conclusions Our experience provides a model to measure diversity and track performance over time in residency programs, departments, or practice groups. The priority to place on diversity, and specific performance goals, vary by group. For those seeking to increase diversity, our experience shows it is possible to achieve substantial diversity in all categories, but change requires leadership making diversity a priority.

PURPOSE In oncology trials, the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) is the standard tool for reporting adverse events (AEs), but it may underreport symptoms experienced by patients. This analysis of the NRG Oncology RTOG 1203 compared symptom reporting by patients and clinicians during radiotherapy (RT). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with cervical or endometrial cancer requiring postoperative RT were randomly assigned to standard 4-field RT or intensity-modulated RT (IMRT). Patients completed the 6-item patient-reported outcomes version of the CTCAE (PRO-CTCAE) for GI toxicity assessing abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fecal incontinence at various time points. Patients reported symptoms on a 5-point scale. Clinicians recorded these AEs as CTCAE grades 1 to 5. Clinician- and patient-reported AEs were compared using McNemar’s test for rates > 0%. RESULTS Of 278 eligible patients, 234 consented and completed the PRO-CTCAE. Patients reported high-grade abdominal pain 19.1% ( P < .0001), high-grade diarrhea 38.5% ( P < .0001), and fecal incontinence 6.8% more frequently than clinicians. Similar effects were seen between grade ≥ 1 CTCAE toxicity and any-grade patient-reported toxicity. Between-arm comparison of patient-reported high-grade AEs revealed that at 5 weeks of RT, patients who received IMRT experienced fewer GI AEs than patients who received 4-field pelvic RT with regard to frequency of diarrhea (18.2% difference; P = .01), frequency of fecal incontinence (8.2% difference; P = .01), and interference of fecal incontinence (8.5% difference; P = .04). CONCLUSION Patient-reported AEs showed a reduction in symptoms with IMRT compared with standard RT, whereas clinician-reported AEs revealed no difference. Clinicians also underreported symptomatic GI AEs compared with patients. This suggests that patient-reported symptomatic AEs are important to assess in this disease setting.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is commonly used to treat early-stage, node-negative primary lung cancer, but society guidelines provide limited information regarding several technical aspects of SBRT, leading to potential variation in practice. In this report, we present the technical details used by 3 academic institutions when treating a solitary primary lung tumor up to 5 cm in dimension with curative-intent SBRT. We provide specifications outlined in major active or recently completed clinical trials. Among the participating institutions, we discovered multiple divergences in treatment parameters, including, but not limited to, prescription dose and desired degree of heterogeneity within the target volume. It is unclear to what extent these differences in parameters might affect tumor control or toxicity, but updated consensus guidelines addressing the relevant SBRT prescription details may help standardize practice patterns.

OBJECTIVES Increasing the percentage of academic faculty who are female and/or an under-represented minority (URM) is a goal in radiation oncology. When studying diversity changes in our University Radiation Oncology Department, we found that increases in resident diversity preceded changes in faculty diversity in every major category. To illustrate these findings, we plotted resident versus faculty diversity each year over the 52-year history of our program. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plots were generated of the percent of residents versus faculty in our program each year between 1967 and 2020 in the following categories: female, URM, and people of color. RESULTS By 1995, substantial levels of diversity were present among both residents and faculty with approximate median annual values between 1995 and 2020 of 30% female for both residents and faculty, 15% URM for both residents and faculty, and 30% persons of color for residents and 15% for faculty. In all analyses, increase in resident diversity preceded an increase in faculty diversity and, in the great majority of years, resident diversity was greater than faculty diversity. CONCLUSION Our experience suggests that it may be easier to increase resident than faculty diversity and that increases in resident diversity may facilitate increasing faculty diversity.

Purpose: Treatment success in lung cancer is no longer restricted to objective measures of disease-specific outcomes and overall survival alone but now incorporates treatment morbidity and subjective quality of life (QoL). This study reports how lung cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers define treatment success and prioritize treatment decisions. Materials and Methods: An online survey with both ranking and free-response questions was administered among lung cancer survivors and caregivers. Responses were used to evaluate treatment priorities, perceptions of treatment success based on Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status, and troublesomeness of treatment-related toxicities. Results: Among 61 respondents (29 lung cancer survivors, 28 caregivers of survivors, and 4 who were both survivors and caregivers), cancer cure was the highest priority when making treatment decisions for 74.5% of respondents, with QoL during and after treatment ranking second and third. Seventy percent of respondents felt that treatment morbidity resulting in complete dependence on others and spending the entire day confined to bed or chair would represent unsuccessful treatment. Requiring oxygen use was ranked as a very or extremely troublesome treatment toxicity by 64%, followed by shortness of breath (62%), fatigue (49%), chronic cough (34%), and appetite loss (30%). Even with remission, a 3- to 7-day hospital admission for pneumonia during treatment was deemed an unsuccessful outcome by 30%. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of physicians discussing in detail with their lung cancer patients their desires and goals. Accounting for factors like expected performance status following treatment, troublesomeness of treatment toxicities, and hospitalization rates may help guide treatment decisions.

Objective Women with endometrial or cervical cancer at risk for recurrence receive postoperative radiation therapy (RT). A patient reported outcomes (PRO) instrument to assess bowel and urinary toxicities is the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC), which has been validated in men with prostate cancer. As this instrument specifically measures bowel toxicity and the degree to which this is a problem, it was used in NRG Oncology/RTOG 1203 to compare intensity modulated RT (IMRT) to standard RT. This paper reports on the expanded validation of EPIC for use in women receiving pelvic RT. Methods In addition to the EPIC bowel domain, urinary toxicity (EPIC urinary domain), patient reported bowel toxicities (PRO-CTCAE) and quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT)) were completed before, during and after treatment. Sensitivity, reliability and concurrent validity were assessed. Results Mean bowel and urinary scores among 278 women enrolled were significantly worse during treatment and differed between groups. Acceptable to good reliability for bowel and urinary domain scores were obtained at all time points with the exception of one at baseline. Correlations between function and bother scores within the bowel and urinary domains were consistently stronger than those across domains. Correlations between bowel domain scores and PRO-CTCAE during treatment were stronger than those with the FACT. Conclusion Correlations within and among the instruments indicate EPIC bowel and urinary domains are measuring conceptually discrete components of health. These EPIC domains are valid, reliable and sensitive instruments to measure PRO among women undergoing pelvic radiation.

There is no standardized format for presenting and discussing the results of a radiotherapy dosimetry comparison study. The purpose of this report is to describe a format that we have found useful in evaluating plans in our department and in reviewing studies from other groups.

Pain management during radiotherapy helps assess quality of care. By establishing an intervention to address pain during on-treatment visits (OTVs), we aim to lower patient-reported pain scores.A total of 171 patients were included in the analysis: 58 were retrospectively reviewed to provide a control and 113 were prospectively enrolled and evaluated after the intervention. The intervention included (1) a pain management in-service performed with the resident physician and nurses, (2) distribution of pain management educational materials, and (3) nurse consultation for patients with a pain score ≥5 within 2 days of the in-service. Study aims were to reduce the number of pain scores ≥5 by 30% and increase the number of pain scores documented during every OTV to90%.Median patient age was 65 years. Before the intervention, the average DVPRS score at initial consultation was 2 (range, 0 to 9) and 98% of patients had scores documented during OTVs. Overall, 26% (44/171) of OTV scores measured ≥5. Following the intervention, average DVPRS score at initial consultation was 2 (range, 0 to 10) and 99% of scores were documented during OTVs. About 14% (49/341) of patient-reported scores were ≥5, representing an ~50% relative reduction (P=0.023). The number of patients with 2+ pain scores ≥5 was reduced from 21% (12/58) before the intervention to 11% (12/109) after the intervention (P=0.1068).Involving nursing staff in the education and follow-up of patients with uncontrolled pain during radiotherapy led to an ~50% relative reduction in patient-reported DVPRS scores of 5+ during weekly OTVs.

Chemotherapy and targeted therapies are effective palliative options for numerous unresectable or metastatic cancers. However, treatment resistance inevitably develops leading to mortality. In a subset of patients, systemic therapy appears to control the majority of tumors leaving 5 or less to progress, a phenomenon described as oligoprogression. Reasoning that the majority of lesions remain responsive to ongoing systemic chemotherapy, we hypothesized that local treatment of the progressing lesions would confer a benefit. The present study describes the cases of 5 patients whose metastatic disease was largely controlled by chemotherapy. The oligoprogressive lesions (≤5) were treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), justifying continued use of an effective systemic regimen. A total of 5 patients with metastatic disease on chemotherapy, with ≤5 progressing lesions amenable to SBRT, were treated with ablative intent. Primary tumor site and histology were as follows: 2 with metastatic colon adenocarcinoma, 2 with metastatic rectal adenocarcinoma and 1 with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Imaging was performed prior to SBRT and every 3 months after SBRT. In total, 4 out of the 5 patients achieved disease control for >7 months with SBRT, without changing chemotherapy regimen. The median time to chemotherapy change was 9 months, with a median follow-up time of 9 months. The patient who failed to respond developed progressive disease outside of the SBRT field at 3 months. In conclusion, the addition of SBRT to chemotherapy is an option for the overall systemic control of oligoprogressive disease.

Metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with an exceedingly poor prognosis. Recent advances in immunotherapy offer promise in enhancing overall survival (OS) in these patients. Preclinical evidence suggests that radiotherapy (RT), especially when offered in a high-dose per fraction hypofractionated RT (HRT) as in stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR), may augment the efficacy of immunotherapy. We aimed to assess the role of RT in patients with metastatic NSCLC receiving immunotherapy in a national hospital-based database.Using the National Cancer Database (NCDB), we identified 6,383 patients treated with immunotherapy for metastatic NSCLC and 170,479 patients treated with RT but without immunotherapy. Patients receiving fractional doses of at least 5 Gy were designated as having received HRT, doses5 Gy/fraction, were deemed standard fractionation (SFRT). The Kaplan-Meier analysis and proportional hazards modeling were performed, and propensity scores were generated via an inverse weighting method to evaluate the impact of RT on OS in this cohort.The median follow-up of the cohort is 12 months. Patients receiving HRT had numerically improved 1-year OS (59.0%) compared to those not receiving RT (55.7%), however this was not statistically significant (hazard ratio = 0.9, p = 0.22). Patients receiving non-HRT RT did substantially worse than those receiving no RT. Immunotherapy improved OS in patients receiving RT regardless of fraction size.This hypothesis-generating retrospective analysis suggests that patients treated with immunotherapy with or without HRT in the upfront treatment of metastatic NSCLC experience similar survival. Further prospective evaluation of this combination should be undertaken in an attempt to maximize survival in this challenging disease.

Purpose While Ir-192 remains the mainstay isotope for gynecologic high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy in the U.S., Co-60 is used abroad. Co-60 has a longer half-life than Ir-192, which may lead to long-term cost savings; however, its higher energy requires greater shielding. This study analyzes Co-60 acceptability based on a one-time expense of additional shielding and reports the financial experience of Co-60 in Peru's National Cancer Institute, which uses both isotopes. Material and methods A nationwide survey was undertaken assessing physician knowledge of Co-60 and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for additional shielding, assuming a source more cost-effective than Ir-192 was available. With 440 respondents, 280 clinicians were decision-makers and provided WTPs, with results previously reported. After completing a shielding report, we estimated costs for shielding expansion, noting acceptability to decision makers' WTP. Using activity-based costing, we note the Peruvian fiscal experience. Results Shielding estimates ranged from $173,000 to $418,000. The percentage of respondents accepting high-density modular or lead shielding (for union and non-union settings) were 17.5%, 11.4%, 3.9%, and 3.2%, respectively. Shielding acceptance was associated with greater number of radiation oncologists in a respondent's department but not time in practice or the American Brachytherapy Society membership. Peru's experience noted cost savings with Co-60 of $52,400 annually. Conclusions By comparing the cost of additional shielding for a sample institution's HDR suite with radiation oncologists' WTP, this multi-institutional collaboration noted < 20% of clinicians would accept additional shielding. Despite low acceptability in the US, Co-60 demonstrates cost-favorability in Peru and may similarly in other locations.

We conducted a retrospective study of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for 94 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer at our institution. The patients were treated with either 50 Gy in five treatments or 48 Gy in four treatments, corresponding to biologically effective doses (BED) of 100 Gy or 105.6 Gy, respectively. The results demonstrate that, with relatively low BEDs, we can achieve excellent local control with minimal toxicity.

Purpose NRG Oncology/RTOG 1203 was designed to compare patient-reported acute toxicity and health-related quality of life during treatment with standard pelvic radiation or intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in women with cervical and endometrial cancer. Methods Patients were randomly assigned to standard four-field radiation therapy (RT) or IMRT radiation treatment. The primary end point was change in patient-reported acute GI toxicity from baseline to the end of RT, measured with the bowel domain of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC). Secondary end points included change in patient-reported urinary toxicity, change in GI toxicity measured with the Patient-Reported Outcome Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, and quality of life measured with the Trial Outcome Index. Results From 2012 to 2015, 289 patients were enrolled, of whom 278 were eligible. Between baseline and end of RT, the mean EPIC bowel score declined 23.6 points in the standard RT group and 18.6 points in the IMRT group ( P = .048), the mean EPIC urinary score declined 10.4 points in the standard RT group and 5.6 points in the IMRT group ( P = .03), and the mean Trial Outcome Index score declined 12.8 points in the standard RT group and 8.8 points in the IMRT group ( P = .06). At the end of RT, 51.9% of women who received standard RT and 33.7% who received IMRT reported frequent or almost constant diarrhea ( P = .01), and more patients who received standard RT were taking antidiarrheal medications four or more times daily (20.4% v 7.8%; P = .04). Conclusion Pelvic IMRT was associated with significantly less GI and urinary toxicity than standard RT from the patient’s perspective.

The aim of this study was to review treatment and outcomes of patients with primary vaginal cancer treated with definitive radiotherapy.We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 71 patients with primary vaginal adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma treated with definitive radiotherapy with at least 2 years of follow-up (median follow-up, 6.24 y).Ninety-three percent of patients were treated with external-beam radiotherapy plus brachytherapy (median dose, 7540 cGy); 4 patients with stage I disease and 1 patient with stage II disease were treated with brachytherapy alone (median dose, 6000 cGy). The cause-specific 5- and 10-year survival rates, respectively, were 96% and 96% for stage I patients, 75% and 68% for stage II patients, 69% and 64% for stage III patients, and 53% and 53% for stage IVA patients. The 5- and 10-year local-regional control rates for all patients were 79% and 75%, respectively. The 5- and 10-year distant metastasis-free survival rates for all patients were 87% and 85%, respectively. Sixteen patients had tumors involving the distal one third of the vagina. Of the 7 who received elective inguinal node irradiation, 0 failed in the inguinal nodes. Of the 9 who did not receive elective inguinal node irradiation, 2 failed in the inguinal nodes. Severe complications (grades 3 to 4) occurred in 16 patients (23%).Radiotherapy provides excellent results as definitive treatment for primary vaginal cancer, although the risk of severe complications is high. Generally, treatment should consist of both external-beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy. Inguinal nodes should be irradiated electively when the primary tumor involves the distal one third of the vagina.

Purpose: The efficacy of image-guided high-dose rate brachytherapy for cervical cancer is limited by the ineffective rectal sparing devices available commercially and the potential applicator movement. We developed a novel device using a balloon catheter and a belt immobilization system, serving for rectal dose reduction and applicator immobilization purposes, respectively. Methods: The balloon catheter is constructed by gluing a short inflatable tube to a long regular open-end catheter. Contrast agent (10) cm3 is injected into the inflatable end, which is affixed to the tandem and ring applicator, to displace the posterior vaginal wall. The belt immobilization system consists of a specially designed bracket that can hold and fix itself to the applicator, a diaper-like Velcro fastener package used for connecting the patient’s pelvis to the bracket, and a buckle that holds the fasteners to stabilize the whole system. The treatment data for 21 patients with cervical cancer using both balloon catheter and belt immobilization system were retrospectively analyzed. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance images, acquired about 30 minutes apart, were registered to evaluate the effectiveness of the immobilization system. Results: In comparison with a virtual rectal blade, the balloon decreased the rectal point dose by 34% ± 4.2% (from 276 ± 57 to 182 ± 38 cGy), corresponding to an extra sparing distance of 7.9 ± 1.1 mm. The maximum sparing distance variation per patient is 1.4 ± 0.6 mm, indicating the high interfractional reproducibility for rectum sparing. With the immobilization system, the mean translational and rotational displacements of the applicator set are Conclusions: The rectal balloon provides significant dose reduction to the rectum and it may potentially minimize patient discomfort. The immobilization system permits almost no movement of the applicator during treatment. This work has the potential to be promoted as a standardized solution for high-dose rate treatment of cervical cancer.

Purpose This study reports the outcomes of adults with soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of the head and neck following resection and postoperative radiotherapy (RT), and provides a framework for explaining the issues that radiation oncologists must understand to manage patients with this diverse group of tumors. Methods and Materials Twenty-four patients met the following inclusion criteria of this study: age ≥19 years, head or neck primary site, STS, with the exception of rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing, or angiosarcoma variants, and curative-attempt treatment with gross total tumor resection followed by RT. Results All patients underwent gross total tumor resection followed by adjuvant RT at our institution during the 28-year period between June 1, 1981, and December 31, 2009. This is a mature study with a median follow-up of 11 years (range, 0.6-27 years). No patient was lost to follow-up. All recurrences were at the primary site. No patient developed an isolated regional or distant recurrence. No patient developed synchronous nodal or distant recurrences at the time of local recurrence. Half of the recurrences presented within 1 year of completing RT, but there were 2 cases where we did not detect recurrence until years 6 and 8 after RT. No recurrence was successfully salvaged. The actuarial rate of local control and relapse-free survival was 83% (95% CI [confidence interval], 63%-94%) at 5 years and 73% (95% CI, 51%-87%) at 10 years. The incidence of moderate to severe treatment complications was 4%. Conclusions Our series documents that gross total resection followed by RT cures most patients (75%) with the most common types of STS of the head and neck. All recurrences were local, meaning near the primary site in tissue that received the full RT prescription dose. For this reason, modifying the approach to treatment of the primary tumor site is the only strategy that will meaningfully improve outcomes for this group of patients.

Purpose To determine if whole-neck intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) spares the larynx as well as techniques that match a conventional anterior-neck field to an IMRT plan superior to the larynx. Methods and Materials This is a dosimetric study using the treatment planning image sets from 5 consecutively treated patients with node-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, all with gross disease above the larynx. We compared 3 techniques for irradiating the mid- and low-neck lymphatics: whole-neck IMRT, conventional anterior-neck field with split-beam matching, and conventional anterior-neck field with gradient matching. Prescription doses for the high-, intermediate-, and standard-risk planning target volumes were 70 Gy, 60 Gy, and 50 Gy, respectively. Results The mean larynx dose was similar with all techniques with median values: whole-neck IMRT, 28 Gy (range, 17-30 Gy); conventional field with split-beam matching, 26 Gy (range, 21-33 Gy); conventional field with gradient matching, 30 Gy (range, 25-31 Gy). Conclusions With meticulous attention to the details of contouring and treatment planning, it is possible to use whole-neck IMRT without increasing the risk of larynx dysfunction compared to techniques that block the larynx in a conventional anterior-neck field. We discuss the potential advantages of each technique in this article.

Anxiety and depression are disabling, underdiagnosed issues that affect the management of oncology patients. Until recently, there has been no standard protocol for screening and treating these ailments at our cancer centre. The purpose of this institutional review board-approved study was to analyse the implementation of a screening tool in our clinical workflow with the aim of screening over 90% of patients and increasing referrals to mental health services by 50%.

Purpose We implemented an electronic event-reporting system to investigate its effect on quality improvement in our department. Methods We developed an event-reporting program that launched in October 2012; data analysis was performed in January 2014. Events were logged by the radiation oncology staff and reviewed by our quality and safety committee on a biweekly basis. To measure the efficacy of the new program, and change in safety culture, a Likert-scale survey was administered before, and three months after, implementation of the event-reporting system. Results A total of 194 events were logged into the new system during a 15-month period (approximately 13 events per month), compared with 93 events in an 18-month period (approximately five events per month) before the program was launched. The average number of events reported by radiation therapists increased from 0.9 per month to 8.6 per month. The survey results showed a shift toward stronger agreement by staff members, in postimplementation versus preimplementation responses, when they were asked if they knew how to report an event in the department ( P = .042), and if the current event-reporting system would reduce the incidence of future events ( P = .032). Results showed a trend toward stronger agreement by staff members when they were asked if they felt more comfortable reporting events that they had observed ( P = .093). Multiple safety action plans were implemented as a result of analysis of these events. Conclusions An electronic event-reporting system streamlines quality and safety in a radiation oncology department by increasing reported events and promoting a safety culture. A program that is widely accessible, easy to use, and can analyze data meaningfully will be the most successful.

73 Background: It is unclear how frequently patients with metastatic cancer treated with radiation therapy have unmet physical, psychological, spiritual, and practical needs of patients. This study aims to determine the level of support needed to meet this burden. Methods: We performed a telephone survey to evaluate the unmet needs of living patients with stage IV metastatic cancer treated with radiation therapy at a single institution in the priot six months. Data were collected using the Palliative care Outcome Scale, a validated 12-question survey about unmet patient needs, and its associated symptom scale. We examined patient treatment history by reviewing medical records. Among 87 eligible patients treated, 45 had died, 19 could not be reached, and two declined participation. Thus, 21 patients were included in the analysis. Results: Most frequent diagnoses were lung (24%; 5/21) or colorectal cancer (19%; 4/21). Most patients’ recent radiation course had palliative intent (62%; 13/21), but eight had received ablative radiation. No patients were undergoing radiation treatment when the survey was administered, and 57% (12/21) were receiving chemotherapy. Despite most patients seeing a physician within 2 weeks of the survey (median 1.7 weeks; range 0-11.4 weeks), most patients reported pain (67%) and anxiety (57%), and about 50% reported these issues as moderate or worse. At least one-third of patients reported having each need unmet. Patients complained of a median of five symptoms, with 57% of patients reporting any symptom severe. Patients on chemotherapy (n = 12) reported more symptoms and increased symptom severity, but 44% of patients reported moderate pain even among those not undergoing any therapy. Conclusions: Patients with metastatic cancer recently treated with radiation therapy continue to have substantial needs that are often not being met by standard oncologic care, despite recent visits with physicians. Although many of these patients are receiving chemotherapy and may be identified for palliative care programs through the medical oncology service, radiation oncology clinics should also routinely integrate quality palliative care for patients with metastatic cancer.

172 Background: Thirty-day mortality is a well-established metric for surgical specialties, but there are limited data available for 30-day mortality after radiation therapy. Our aim was to specifically identify the 30-day mortality of patients treated with palliative radiotherapy for the purposes of establishing a baseline to improve upon. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients treated with external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2012, who died within 30 days of their last delivered radiation fraction. Patient age, sex, primary disease site, treatment site, fractions planned, and fractions delivered were recorded. Among all patients treated with palliative intent, age (> 70 and < 70 years) and sex were assessed for increased risk of 30-day mortality using a Fisher’s Exact test. Results: Of the 877 patients who received EBRT, 262 were treated palliatively and 615 were treated with curative intent. Of the 262 patients treated palliatively, 33 died within 30 days of the last delivered fraction, resulting in a palliative 30-day mortality rate of 12.6%. Of these 33 patients, the most common primary disease sites were lung (15%), pancreas (12%), and head/neck (12%), and the most common treatment sites were metastases to bone (37%) and brain (24%). In cases of palliative 30-day mortality, 10 or fewer fractions were prescribed 90% of the time and 83% of patients received more than half of their prescribed fractions. Among all patients treated with palliative intent, age (p = 0.0576) and sex (p = 0.5572) were not significantly associated with higher rates of 30-day mortality. Conclusions: We have established a baseline palliative radiation 30-day mortality rate at 12.6%, with the majority of patients receiving less than or equal to 10 radiation fractions and completing most if not all of their intended fractions. This analysis suggests institutional practices that are in line with other published patterns of care, and illustrates how clinical characteristics and 30-day mortality rate can be used to better understand palliative radiotherapy outcomes at a single treatment center.

Purpose To explain the concepts that radiation oncologists need to understand to manage patients with juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA). To accomplish this goal we first describe our institution's experience with radiotherapy for JNA and then use this data set as a framework for explaining the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of this uncommon tumor. Methods and Materials We studied the outcomes of all 24 patients treated with radiotherapy for JNA at our institution. All patients had at least 4 years of follow-up (median follow-up, 18 years). The standard dose in the first half of the series was 30 Gy in 22 treatments (1.43 Gy/treatment). After observing recurrences with this schedule, the prescription was changed to 35 to 36 Gy at 1.8 Gy/treatment. In all cases, the target volume was the primary site without an attempt to cover the regional nodes. Results All recurrences were at the primary site and presented within 5 years of completing radiotherapy. There appeared to be a dose response for tumor control: 77% with 30 to 32 Gy versus 91% with 35 to 36 Gy. All recurrences following radiotherapy were successfully salvaged with surgery. The only complications from radiotherapy were cataracts in 2 patients. No patient had a significant growth abnormality or second tumor. Conclusions Surgery is the best treatment for JNA when cure is likely with low morbidity, but the threshold for using radiotherapy should be low because moderate-dose radiotherapy cures about 90% of patients with a low risk of serious complications. We recommend 36 Gy at 1.8 Gy per treatment in most cases. Elective nodal irradiation is not necessary. Radiographic response should be almost complete within a year of radiotherapy. Patients should be followed with cross-sectional imaging every 6 months for at least 5 years.

Purpose To determine the residual setup errors of several image guidance scenarios, using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in conventionally fractionated radiotherapy for lung tumors. Methods Thirteen lung cancer patients were treated with conventionally fractionated radiotherapy, using daily image guidance with CBCT, resulting in 389 CBCT scans which were registered to the planning scan using automated soft-tissue registration. Using the resulting daily alignment data, 4 imaging frequency scenarios were analyzed: (A) no imaging; (B) weekly imaging with a 3-mm threshold; (C) first 5 fractions imaged, then weekly imaging with a patient-specific threshold; and (D) imaging every other day. Results The systematic setup error (Sigma) was reduced with increasing frequency of imaging from 3.4 mm for no imaging to 1.0 mm for imaging every other day. Random setup error (sigma), however, varied little regardless of the frequency of imaging: 2.9, 3.0, 3.4, and 3.2 mm for scenarios A, B, C, and D, respectively. The setup margins required to account for the residual error of each imaging scenario were 1 to 1.6 cm for scenario A, 4 to 6 mm for scenarios B and C, and 4 to 5 mm for scenario D. As the residual error of daily CBCT was not included in this analysis, these margins compare with a margin of zero for daily CBCT. Conclusions Daily image guidance is ideal as the setup margin can be reduced by about 5 mm versus a nondaily imaging scenario. However, if daily image guidance is not possible, there is little benefit in imaging more often than once a week.

Objective: Report the long-term outcome of patients who received postoperative radiotherapy for incidentally discovered cervix cancer following simple hysterectomy. Methods: We recorded tumor status, treatment complications, and survival of 25 patients treated at our institution from 1961 to 2004 with postoperative RT for invasive cervix cancer discovered following simple hysterectomy (median follow-up, 17 years). All patients had stage IA2-II squamous cell carcinoma (76%) or adenocarcinoma (24%) of the cervix. Results: One patient had an isolated vaginal-cuff recurrence and was cured long-term with salvage surgery. No patient died of cervix cancer. The actuarial rate of tumor control and relapse-free survival at 5, 10, and 20 years was 96%. One patient died of a treatment-related complication. Cause-specific survival was 100% at 5 and 10 years, but 92% at 20 years. Overall survival was 100% at 5 years, 95% at 10 years, and 62% at 20 years. The complications rate from therapy was surprising. The overall grade 2 to 5 complications rate was 36% (9 of 25). Twenty percent (5 of 25) of patients experienced grade 4 or 5 complications. Conclusions: This series demonstrates the price we pay for adding comprehensive radiotherapy to simple hysterectomy for early-stage cervix cancer. The findings support 2 recommendations: (1) Avoid postoperative radiotherapy by aggressively screening patients for invasive disease before performing simple hysterectomy. (2) Raise the threshold for delivering pelvic radiotherapy following simple hysterectomy with an incidental diagnosis of invasive cervix cancer. We recommend vaginal brachytherapy alone in patients with negative postoperative imaging, negative surgical margins, and < 10 mm tumor invasion.

Purpose To determine whether setup margins can be reduced using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) to localize tumor in conventionally fractionated radiotherapy for lung tumors. Methods and Materials A total of 22 lung cancer patients were treated with curative intent with conventionally fractionated radiotherapy using daily image guidance with CBCT. Of these, 13 lung cancer patients had sufficient CBCT scans for analysis (389 CBCT scans). The patients underwent treatment simulation in the BodyFix immobilization system using four-dimensional CT to account for respiratory motion. Daily alignment was first done according to skin tattoos, followed by CBCT. All 389 CBCT scans were retrospectively registered to the planning CT scans using automated soft-tissue and bony registration; the resulting couch shifts in three dimensions were recorded. Results The daily alignment to skin tattoos with no image guidance resulted in systematic (Σ) and random (σ) errors of 3.2–5.6 mm and 2.0–3.5 mm, respectively. The margin required to account for the setup error introduced by aligning to skin tattoos with no image guidance was approximately 1–1.6 cm. The difference in the couch shifts obtained from the bone and soft-tissue registration resulted in systematic (Σ) and random (σ) errors of 1.5–4.1 mm and 1.8–5.3 mm, respectively. The margin required to account for the setup error introduced using bony anatomy as a surrogate for the target, instead of localizing the target itself, was 0.5–1.4 cm. Conclusion Using daily CBCT soft-tissue registration to localize the tumor in conventionally fractionated radiotherapy reduced the required setup margin by up to approximately 1.5 cm compared with both no image guidance and image guidance using bony anatomy as a surrogate for the target.

BACKGROUND The purpose was to determine if postradiotherapy (RT) neck dissection can be limited to the neck levels of residual adenopathy on post-RT computed tomography (CT). METHODS In all, 274 patients with lymph node-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were treated with definitive RT. All patients had a contrast-enhanced CT performed 4 weeks after completing RT to evaluate tumor response. Two hundred eleven heminecks were dissected, either planned pre-RT or because of residual adenopathy on post-RT CT. CT images were reviewed to determine the presence and location of residual adenopathy. Radiographic complete response (rCR) was defined as lymph node size ≤1.5 cm and normal radiographic morphology (no filling defects or calcifications). For each neck level the CT findings were correlated with neck dissection pathology. RESULTS Correlation of CT nodal response with neck dissection pathology revealed the following negative predictive values of rCR: level I, 100%; level II, 95%; level III, 98%; level IV, 96%; and level V, 96%. A subset analysis was performed on 61 neck levels with initially positive lymph nodes that completely responded to RT that were in a hemineck with residual lymphadenopathy elsewhere in the neck. Correlation of nodal response on CT to pathology indicated a negative predictive value of an rCR of 95% for this high-risk scenario. In 71 heminecks that underwent a selective neck dissection (defined as dissection of less than levels I-V) the 5-year neck control rate was 100%. CONCLUSIONS rCR on post-RT CT has a negative predictive value of ≥95% for each neck level. This suggests that limiting neck dissection based on post-RT CT is safe. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society.

Purpose: To determine the influence of magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI)-vs. computed-tomography (CT)-based prostate and normal structure delineation on the dose to the target and organs at risk during proton therapy. Methods and Materials: Fourteen patients were simulated in the supine position using both CT and T2 MRI. The prostate, rectum, and bladder were delineated on both imaging modalities. The planning target volume (PTV) was generated from the delineated prostates with a 5-mm axial and 8-mm superior and inferior margin. Two plans were generated and analyzed for each patient: an MRI plan based on the MRI-delineated PTV, and a CT plan based on the CT-delineated PTV. Doses of 78 Gy equivalents (GE) were prescribed to the PTV. Results: Doses to normal structures were lower when MRI was used to delineate the rectum and bladder compared with CT: bladder V50 was 15.3% lower (p = 0.04), and rectum V50 was 23.9% lower (p = 0.003). Poor agreement on the definition of the prostate apex was seen between CT and MRI (p = 0.007). The CT-defined prostate apex was within 2 mm of the apex on MRI only 35.7% of the time. Coverage of the MRI-delineated PTV was significantly decreased with the CT-based plan: themore » minimum dose to the PTV was reduced by 43% (p < 0.001), and the PTV V99% was reduced by 11% (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Using MRI to delineate the prostate results in more accurate target definition and a smaller target volume compared with CT, allowing for improved target coverage and decreased doses to critical normal structures.« less