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Background: The aim of this study was to compare perioperative and long-term oncological outcomes between laparoscopic sphincter-preserving total mesorectal excision in female patients (F-Lap-TME) and robotic sphincter-preserving total mesorectal excision in male patients (M-Rob-TME) with mid-low rectal cancer (RC). Methods: A retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database was performed. 170 cases (F-Lap-TME: 60 patients; M-Rob-TME: 110 patients) were performed by a single surgeon (January 2011 - January 2020). Results: Clinical characteristics did not differ significantly between the two groups. Operating time was longer in M-Rob-TME than in F-Lap-TME group (185.3±28.4 vs 124.5±35.8 minutes, pConclusion: The robotic technique can potentially overcome some technical challenges related to the pelvic anatomical difference between sex compared to laparoscopy. Laparoscopic and robotic approach, respectively in female and male patients provide similar surgical specimen quality, perioperative outcomes, and long-term oncological results.

Background: We aimed to evaluate patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in a nonendemic population. Methods: In a national, retrospective, multicenteric study, 563 patients treated with intensity modulated radiotherapy at 22 centers between 2015 and 2020 were analyzed. Results: Median age was 48 (9–83), age distribution was bimodal, 74.1% were male, and 78.7% were stage III-IVA. Keratinizing and undifferentiated carcinoma rates were 3.9% and 81.2%. Patients were treated with concomitant chemoradiotherapy (48.9%), or radiotherapy combined with induction chemotherapy (25%) or adjuvant chemotherapy (19.5%). After 34 (6–78) months follow-up, 8.2% locoregional and 8% distant relapse were observed. Three-year overall survival was 89.5% and was lower in patients with age ≥50, male sex, keratinizing histology, T4, N3 and advanced stage (III-IVA). Conclusions: Patients with NPC in Turkey have mixed clinical features of both east and west. Survival outcomes are comparable to other reported series; however, the rate of distant metastases seems to be lower.

BackgroundWe aimed to evaluate patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in a nonendemic population. MethodsIn a national, retrospective, multicenteric study, 563 patients treated with intensity modulated radiotherapy at 22 centers between 2015 and 2020 were analyzed. ResultsMedian age was 48 (9-83), age distribution was bimodal, 74.1% were male, and 78.7% were stage III-IVA. Keratinizing and undifferentiated carcinoma rates were 3.9% and 81.2%. Patients were treated with concomitant chemoradiotherapy (48.9%), or radiotherapy combined with induction chemotherapy (25%) or adjuvant chemotherapy (19.5%). After 34 (6-78) months follow-up, 8.2% locoregional and 8% distant relapse were observed. Three-year overall survival was 89.5% and was lower in patients with age >= 50, male sex, keratinizing histology, T4, N3 and advanced stage (III-IVA). ConclusionsPatients with NPC in Turkey have mixed clinical features of both east and west. Survival outcomes are comparable to other reported series; however, the rate of distant metastases seems to be lower.

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a treatment option in the initial management of patients with brain metastases. While its efficacy has been demonstrated in several prior studies, treatment-related complications, particularly symptomatic radiation necrosis (RN), remains as an obstacle for wider implementation of this treatment modality. We thus examined risk factors associated with the development of symptomatic RN in patients treated with SRS for brain metastases.We performed a retrospective review of our institutional database to identify patients with brain metastases treated with SRS. Diagnosis of symptomatic RN was determined by appearance on serial MRIs, MR spectroscopy, requirement of therapy, and the development of new neurological complaints without evidence of disease progression.We identified 323 brain metastases treated with SRS in 170 patients from 2009 to 2018. Thirteen patients (4%) experienced symptomatic RN after treatment of 23 (7%) lesions. After SRS, the median time to symptomatic RN was 8.3 months. Patients with symptomatic RN had a larger mean target volume (p0.0001), and thus larger V100% (p0.0001), V50% (p0.0001), V12Gy (p0.0001), and V10Gy (p=0.0002), compared to the rest of the cohort. Single-fraction treatment (p=0.0025) and diabetes (p=0.019) were also significantly associated with symptomatic RN.SRS is an effective treatment option for patients with brain metastases; however, a subset of patients may develop symptomatic RN. We found that patients with larger tumor size, larger plan V100%, V50%, V12Gy, or V10Gy, who received single-fraction SRS, or who had diabetes were all at higher risk of symptomatic RN.

Cancer patients often face malnutrition, which negatively affects their response to cancer treatment. This study aims to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nutritional status and anxiety in cancer patients with different types and stages of cancer. This is a cross-sectional cohort study that includes 1,252 patients with varying cancer types from 17 radiation oncology centers. The nutritional risk scores (NRS-2002) and coronavirus anxiety scale (CAS) scores of all patients were measured. NRS-2002 >= 3 and CAS >= 5 were accepted as values at risk. Of all patients, 15.3% had NRS-2002 >= 3. Breast cancer was the most prevalent cancer type (24.5%) with the lowest risk of nutrition (4.9%, p < 0.001). Nutritional risk was significantly higher in patients with gastrointestinal cancer, head and neck cancer, and lung cancer (p < 0.005) and in patients with stage IV disease (p < 0.001). High anxiety levels (CAS >= 5) were significantly related to voluntary avoidance and clinical postponement of hospital visits due to the pandemic (p < 0.001), while clinical postponement was particularly frequent among patients with NRS-2002 < 3 (p = 0.0021). Fear and anxiety in cancer patients with COVID-19 cause hesitations in visiting hospitals, leading to disrupted primary and nutritional treatments. Thus, nutritional monitoring and treatment monitoring of cancer patients are crucial during and after radiotherapy., Nutricia Turkey, Funding for data analysis and medical writing has been provided by an independent third party and sponsored by Nutricia Turkey.

Purpose We aimed to present our initial clinical experience on the implementation of a stereotactic MR-guided online adaptive radiation therapy (SMART) for the treatment of liver metastases in oligometastatic disease. Materials and methods Twenty-one patients (24 lesions) with liver metastasis treated with SMART were included in this retrospective study. Step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy technique was used with daily plan adaptation. During delivery, real-time imaging was used by acquiring planar magnetic resonance images in sagittal plane for monitoring and gating. Acute and late toxicities were recorded both during treatment and follow-up visits. Results The median follow-up time was 11.6 months (range, 2.2 to 24.6 months). The median delivered total dose was 50 Gy (range, 40 to 60 Gy); with a median fraction number of 5 (range, 3 to 8 fractions) and the median fraction dose was 10 Gy (range, 7.5 to 18 Gy). Ninety-three fractions (83.7%) among 111 fractions were re-optimized. No patients were lost to follow-up and all patients were alive except one at the time of analysis. All of the patients had either complete (80.9%) or partial (19.1%) response at irradiated sites. Estimated 1-year overall survival was 93.3%. Intrahepatic and extrahepatic progression-free survival was 89.7% and 73.5% at 1 year, respectively. There was no grade 3 or higher acute or late toxicities experienced during the treatment and follow-up course. Conclusion SMART represents a new, noninvasive and effective alternative to current ablative radiotherapy methods for treatment of liver metastases in oligometastatic disease with the advantages of better visualization of soft tissue, real-time tumor tracking and potentially reduced toxicity to organs at risk.

Purpose To document time analysis of detailed workflow steps for the online adaptive magnetic resonance–guided radiation therapy treatments (MRgRT) with the ViewRay MRIdian system and to identify the barriers to and solutions for shorter treatment times. Methods and Materials A total of 154 patients were treated with the ViewRay MRIdian system between September 2018 and October 2019. The time process of MRgRT workflow steps of 962 fractions for 166 treatment sites was analyzed in terms of patient and online adaptive treatment (ART) characteristics. Results Overall, 774 of 962 fractions were treated with online ART, and 83.2% of adaptive fractions were completed in less than 60 minutes. Sixty-three percent, 50.3%, and 4.2% of fractions were completed in less than 50 minutes, 45 minutes, and 30 minutes, respectively. Eight-point-three percent and 3% of fractions were completed in more than 70 minutes and 80 minutes, respectively. The median time (tmed) for ART workflow steps were as follows: (1) setup tmed: 5.0 minutes, (2) low-resolution scanning tmed: 1 minute, (3) high-resolution scanning tmed: 3 minutes, (4) online contouring tmed: 9 minutes, (5) reoptimization with online quality assurance tmed: 5 minutes, (6) real targeting tmed: 3 minutes, (7) beam delivery with gating tmed: 17 minutes, and (8) net total treatment time tmed: 45 minutes. The shortest and longest tmean rates of net total treatment time were 41.59 minutes and 64.43 minutes for upper-lung-lobe-located thoracic tumors and ultracentrally located thoracic tumors, respectively. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first broad treatment-time analysis for online ART in the literature. Although treatment times are long due to human- and technology-related limitations, benefits offered by MRgRT might be clinically important. In the future, implementation of artificial intelligence segmentation, an increase in dose rate, and faster multileaf collimator and gantry speeds may lead to achieving shorter MRgRT treatments.

Introduction: This study aimed to report the outcomes of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for adrenal metastasis in a retrospective multi-institutional cohort. Methods: The outcomes of 124 patients with 146 adrenal metastases who underwent SBRT within 11 years (2008–2019) were retrospectively evaluated. Survival outcomes were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics and their effects on survival, local control (LC), and toxicity outcomes were analyzed by log-rank and multivariate Cox regression methods. Results: The median age was 60 years. The most frequent primary tumor site was the lung, followed by the gastrointestinal system and breast. The adrenal gland was the only metastatic site in 49 (40%) patients. Median biologically effective dose (BED)10 was 61 Gy. The overall LC rate was 83%, and it was positively correlated with the BED10 and fraction dose. The 1- and 2-year local recurrence-free survival, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 79% and 69%, 83% and 60%, and 31% and 12%, respectively. OS significantly improved with non-lung cancer and 65 Gy, and an isolated adrenal metastasis. Fourteen patients reported an acute toxicity, and late toxicity was observed in 3 patients, including one grade 5. Conclusion: A satisfactory LC rate was achieved for adrenal metastasis via SBRT. A higher BED10 and fraction dose were positive prognostic factors for tumor control. However, the main problem is DM in these patients, and systemic treatment options are needed to be improved.

Purpose Approximately 10% of patients who received brain stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) develop symptomatic radiation necrosis (RN). We sought to determine the effectiveness of treatment options for symptomatic RN, based on patient-reported outcomes. Materials and methods We conducted a retrospective review of 217 patients with 414 brain metastases treated with SRS from 2009 to 2018 at our institution. Symptomatic RN was determined by appearance on serial magnetic resonance images (MRIs), MR spectroscopy, requirement of therapy, and development of new neurological complaints without evidence of disease progression. Therapeutic interventions for symptomatic RN included corticosteroids, bevacizumab and/or surgical resection. Patient-reported therapeutic outcomes were graded as complete response (CR), partial response (PR), and no response. Results Twenty-six patients experienced symptomatic RN after treatment of 50 separate lesions. The mean prescription dose was 22 Gy (range, 15 to 30 Gy) in 1 to 5 fractions (median, 1 fraction). Of the 12 patients managed with corticosteroids, 6 patients (50%) reported CR and 4 patients (33%) PR. Of the 6 patients managed with bevacizumab, 3 patients (50%) reported CR and 1 patient (18%) PR. Of the 8 patients treated with surgical resection, all reported CR (100%). Other than surgical resection, age ≥54 years (median, 54 years; range, 35 to 81 years) was associated with CR (odds ratio = 8.40; 95% confidence interval, 1.27-15.39; p = 0.027). Conclusion Corticosteroids and bevacizumab are commonly utilized treatment modalities with excellent response rate. Our results suggest that patient's age is associated with response rate and could help guide treatment decisions for unresectable symptomatic RN.

A concomitant chemoradiotherapy followed by brachytherapy is considered to be standard care in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. Management of the disease becomes a major therapeutic challenge when brachytherapy is not available and the patient declines referral to an expert center. In this case study, we report the case of a 66-year-old female with a large bilobular cervical stump cancer after supracervical hysterectomy for a benign disease, treated with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) to pelvis with concomitant chemotherapy followed by magnetic resonance guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) boost. We discuss the advantages of MRgRT in this setting, particularly the clear visualization of the anatomy on daily set up and during treatments.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a relatively rare, but highly lethal cancer of the pleural mesothelial cells. Its pathoge-nesis is integrally linked to asbestos exposure. In spite of recent developments providing a more detailed understanding of the pathogenesis, the outcomes continue to be poor. To date, trimodality therapy involving surgery coupled with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy remains the standard of therapy. The development of resistance of the tumor cells to radiation and several che-motherapeutic agents poses even greater challenges in the management of this cancer. Ionizing radiation damages cancer cell DNA and aids in therapeutic response, but it also activates cell survival signaling pathways that helps the tumor cells to overcome radiation-induced cytotoxicity. A careful evaluation of the biology involved in mesothelioma with an emphasis on the workings of pro-survival signaling pathways might offer some guidance for treatment options. This review focuses on the existing treatment options for MPM, novel treatment approaches based on recent studies combining the use of inhibitors which target different pro-survival pathways, and radiotherapy to optimize treatment.

Background Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is effective for thoracic cancer and metastases; however, adverse effects are greater for central tumors. We evaluated factors affecting outcomes and toxicities after SABR for patients with primary lung and oligometastatic tumors. Patients and methods We retrospectively identified consecutive patients with centrally located lung tumors that were treated at our hospital from 2009-2016. The effects of patient, disease, and treatment-related parameters on local control (LC), overall survival (OS), and toxicity-free survival (TFS) were evaluated with multivariate analyses. Results Among 65 consecutive patients identified with 70 centrally located tumors, 20 tumors (28%) were reirradiated. Median (range) total dose for all tumors was 55 (30–60) Gy in 5 (3–10) fractions. Radiographic complete response was obtained in 43 lesions (61%). None of the analyzed factors were correlated with complete response. After a median follow-up of 57 (95% CI, 48–65) months, 10 tumors (14%) relapsed and 37 patients (57%) died; the actuarial 2- and 5-year OS rates were 52% and 28%, respectively. Median OS was significantly lower in patients with grade 3 or higher toxicity vs. lower toxicity (5 vs. 39 months; P < 0.001). Among 17 severe toxicities, 5 were grade 5, and 3 of them were reirradiated to the same field. Grade 3 to 5 TFS was lower with vs. without reirradiation (2-year TFS, 63% vs. 96%; P = 0.02). Conclusions Our study showed that modern SABR is effective for central lung tumors, and toxicities are acceptable. SABR for reirradiated central lung lesions and possibly for lesions abutting the tracheobronchial tree may result in higher risk of serious toxicities.

The objective of this study was to determine how long to wait in locally advanced rectal tumor (LARC) patients who receive total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) and achieve a clinical complete response (cCR), and to identify the clinical parameters that affect the waiting period for the watch-and-wait strategy (WW).The data of patients who achieved cCR between February 2015 and June 2020 were examined retrospectively. The week in which patients with cCR at the end of TNT achieved clearance was determined by reanalyzing recorded endoscopy video images. In the assessment at the time of the initial diagnosis, tumor characteristics, such as digital rectal examination findings, MRI stage, location with respect to the puborectalis muscle, annularity, and tumor size, were recorded prospectively.A total of 54 patients were included in this study. According to the MRI-T stage, 14 cases were cT3a, 22 were cT3b, and 18 were cT3c-T4. Forty-four percent of the cases achieved cCR at 8-10 weeks, 19% at 12-16 weeks, 20% at 16-22 weeks, and 17% at 20-26 weeks. Patients with tumors that were early MRI-T stage (cT3a), negative clinical circumferential resection margin, mobile, small (≤4 cm), located above the puborectalis muscle and showed180 degrees annularity achieved cCR significantly earlier than those with other tumors (p0.05).In this study, cCR was achieved in less than half (44%) of the cases during the 8-10 week waiting period. In the WW strategy, the initial assessment for cCR seems insufficient, and we may need to wait up to 26-30 weeks, especially in patients with advanced-stage tumors.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) presenting with tumor thrombus and inferior vena cave (IVC)/right atrium (RA) infringement point to an advanced-stage disease that is deemed inoperable. Stereotactic body radiotherapy is an emerging treatment option for this group of patients with promising outcomes in recent studies that are comparable to conventional treatment methods, namely, transarterial chemoembolization and transarterial radioembolization. Here, we report a case of HCC with RA extension through the IVC. The patient was referred to our clinic for treatment options, and he was found suitable for magnetic resonance imaging-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT). We treated the patient with MRgRT in five fractions to a total dose of 40 Gray. The tumor was tracked during the treatment sessions, and adaptive treatment planning was performed before each fraction. The patient tolerated the treatment well with no acute grade 3-4 toxicities. The last follow-up showed that the patient had a complete biochemical response and is now a candidate for an orthotopic liver transplant. To our knowledge, this report is the first to document the MRgRT treatment of an HCC with TT and RA extension. MRgRT is safe and feasible for this patient group and can be an effective bridging therapy for liver transplants.

Lymphoid neoplasia derived from mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT

Purpose/objective(s) Randomized data show an overall survival (OS) benefit of stereotactic ablative body radiation therapy (SABR) in addition to chemotherapy (CT) in selected patients with oligometastasis (OM). While ablative dose can be safely delivered to some lesions, others in proximity to some organs at risk (OARs) such as bowel may be treated with non-ablative dose to limit toxicity. Stereotactic magnetic resonance image-guided adaptive radiation therapy (SMART) may facilitate the delivery of ablative dose for OM lesions, especially those adjacent to historically dose-limiting OARs, which may improve long-term disease control. Materials/methods The RSSearch Registry was queried for OM patients (1-5 metastatic lesions) treated with SMART. Patients with Results 101 patients with 114 OM lesions were treated on a 0.35T-MR Linac at 2 institutions between 2018-2020. Median age was 62 years (range 23-89), and 99% were ECOG 0-1 performance status. The primary tumor was definitively managed in 34.7%, most commonly in the lung (30.7%), colon/rectum (22.8%), cervix/uterus/ovary (13.9%), or breast (5.9%). About 50% received CT for OM prior to SMART. SMART was delivered to 1 (87.7%) or 2 (10.5%) lesions, mostly involving abdominal/pelvic lymph nodes (40.4%), liver (17.5%), lung (17.5%), or adrenal gland (11.4%). All were treated without fiducial markers and with real-time tissue tracking and automated beam gating, typically in breath hold. The median prescribed RT dose was 45 Gy (range 24-60Gy) in a median 5 fractions (range 3-15). The median biologically effective dose (BED10) was 100 Gy10 (range 41.4-180). The median PTV was 14.5 cm3 (range 1.5-567.8). Median follow-up was 10 months (range 3-25) from SMART. One-year LC, FFDP, PFS, and OS were 88%, 38.2%, 36.1%, and 90.6%, respectively. Median PFS and OS were 9 months and not reached, respectively. No acute/late grade 3+ toxicities were recorded. Conclusion To our knowledge, this represents the largest analysis of SMART for OM. A median prescribed BED10 of 100 Gy10 resulted in excellent early LC and no significant toxicity, likely facilitated by continuous intrafraction MR visualization, breath hold delivery, and online adaptive replanning. These outcomes are noteworthy given the predominance of OM, especially LNs, treated with dose escalation in proximity to gastrointestinal OARs; such lesions are notably underrepresented in SABR OM trials. Prospective evaluation of dose-escalated SMART for OM is warranted.

Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is a rare condition in pediatric population. Its management poses major challenges to pediatric oncologists due to the significant difference in terms of disease and patient characteristics between pediatric and adult patients diagnosed with NPC. Pediatric NPC (PNCP) almost always have the undifferentiated variant, which is associated with advanced locoregional spread and distant metastases. Although radiotherapy remains the mainstay treatment for patients with nonmetastatic PNPC, radiation dose and volume reduction should be considered for PNPC with an aim to reduce radiation-induced adverse effects including second primary malignancy (SPM) while maintaining the efficacy. Photon-based intensity-modulated radiation therapy might improve dose profile in terms of reducing radiation to critical organs at risk (OARs); the increased volume encompassed by the collateral dose may induce more dismal long-term adverse effects especially the radiation-induced SPM in long-term survivors. Proton radiation therapy significantly reduces both volumes encompassing collateral dose and organs at risk (OARs) while maintains the dose coverage to target volumes and should be considered for PNPC when such technology is available. Clinical evidence of chemotherapy for PNPC is limited, and no comparative studies in randomized fashion have been published to support a favorable and effective chemotherapy regimen or schedule. Due to the lack of well-designed prospective clinical trials, it is not feasible to form a standard treatment guideline for PNPC. Currently, radiation therapy alone is the treatment of choice for patients with early-stage PNPC, and induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiation therapy is suggested in patients present with locally advanced PNPC.

WOS: 000458309000003 PubMed ID: 30632271 Purpose The electron energy characteristics of mobile intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) accelerator LIAC((R)) differ from commonly used linear accelerators, thus some of the frequently used detectors can give less accurate results. The aim of this study is to evaluate the output factors (OFs) of several ionization chambers (IC) and solid state detectors (SS) for electron beam energies generated by LIAC((R)) and compare with the output factor of Monte Carlo model (MC) in order to determine the adequate detectors for LIAC((R)). Methods The OFs were measured for 6, 8, 10, and 12 MeV electron energies with PTW 23343 Markus, PTW 34045 Advanced Markus, PTW 34001 Roos, IBA PPC05, IBA PPC40, IBA NACP-02, PTW 31010 Semiflex, PTW 31021 Semiflex 3D, PTW 31014 Pinpoint, PTW 60017 Diode E, PTW 60018 Diode SRS, SNC Diode EDGE, and PTW 60019 micro Diamond detectors. Ion recombination factors (k(sat)) of IC were measured for all applicator sizes and OFs were corrected according to k(sat). The measured OFs were compared with Monte Carlo output factors (OFMC). Results The measured OFs of IBA PPC05, PTW Advanced Markus, PTW Pinpoint, PTW microDiamond, and PTW Diode E detectors are in good agreement with OFMC. The maximum deviations of IBA PPC05 OFs to OFMC are -1.6%, +1.5%, +1.5%, and +2.0%; for PTW Advanced Markus +1.0%, +1.5%, +2.0%, and +2.0%; for PTW Pinpoint +2.0%, +1.6%, +4.0%, and +2.0%; for PTW microDiamond -1.6%, +2%, +1.1%, and +1.0%; and for PTW Diode E -+1.7%, +1.7%, +1.3%, and +2.5% for 6, 8, 10, and 12 MeV, respectively. PTW Roos, PTW Markus, IBA PPC40, PTW Semiflex, PTW Semiflex 3D, SNC Diode Edge measured OFs with a maximum deviation of +5.6%, +4.5%, +5.6%, +8.1%, +4.8%, and +9.6% with respect to OFMC, while PTW Diode SRS and IBA NACP-02 were the least accurate (with highest deviations -37.1% and -18.0%, respectively). Conclusion The OFs results of solid state detectors PTW microDiamond and PTW Diode E as well as the ICs with small electrode spacing distance such as IBA PPC05, PTW Advanced Markus and PTW Pinpoint are in excellent agreement with OFMC. The measurements of the other detectors evaluated in this study are less accurate, thus they should be used with caution. Particularly, PTW Diode SRS and IBA NACP-02 are not suitable and their use should be avoided in relative dosimetry measurements under high dose per pulsed (DPP) electron beams.

Purpose Magnetic resonance-guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) has been incorporated into a growing number of clinical practices world-wide, however, there is limited data on patient experiences with MRgRT. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate patient tolerance of MRgRT using patient reported outcome questionnaires (PRO-Q). Methods Ninety patients were enrolled in this prospective observational study and treated with MRgRT (MRIdian Linac System, ViewRay Inc. Oakwood Village, OH, United States) between September 2018 and September 2019. Breath-hold-gated dose delivery with audiovisual feedback was completed as needed. Patients completed an in-house developed PRO-Q after the first and last fraction of MRgRT. Results The most commonly treated anatomic sites were the abdomen (47%) and pelvis (33%). Respiratory gating was utilized in 62% of the patients. Patients rated their experience as positive or at least tolerable with mean scores of 1.0-2.8. The most common complaint was the temperature in the room (61%) followed by paresthesias (57%). The degree of anxiety reported by 45% of the patients significantly decreased at the completion of treatment (mean score 1.54 vs. 1.36, p = 0.01). Forty-three percent of the patients reported some degree of disturbing noise which was improved considerably by use of music. All patients appreciated their active role during the treatment. Conclusion This evaluation of PROs indicates that MRgRT was well-tolerated by our patients. Patients' experience may further improve with adjustment of room temperature and noise reduction.

In this study, 683 patients with endometrial cancer (EC) after comprehensive surgical staging were classified into four risk groups as low (LR), intermediate (IR), high-intermediate (HIR) and high-risk (HR), according to the recent consensus risk grouping. Patients with disease confined to the uterus, ≥50% myometrial invasion (MI) and/or grade 3 histology were treated with vaginal brachytherapy (VBT). Patients with stage II disease, positive/close surgical margins or extra-uterine extension were treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT)±VBT. The median follow-up was 56 months. The overall survival (OS) was significantly different between LR and HR groups, and there was a trend between LR and HIR groups. Relapse-free survival (RFS) was significantly different between LR and HIR, LR and HR and IR and HR groups. There was no significant difference in OS and RFS rates between the HIR and HR groups. In HR patients, the OS and RFS rates were significantly higher in stage IB - grade 3 and stage II compared to stage III and non-endometrioid histology without any difference between the two uterine-confined stages and between stage III and non-endometrioid histology. The current risk grouping does not clearly discriminate the HIR and IR groups. In patients with comprehensive surgical staging, a further risk grouping is needed to distinguish the real HR group.Impact statement

Purpose To evaluate the intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) quality assurance (OA) results of the multichannel film dosimetry analysis with single scan method by using Gafchromic (TM) EBT3 (Ashland Inc., Covington, KY, USA) film under 0.35 T magnetic field. Methods Between September 2018 and June 2019, 70 patients were treated with ViewRay MRldian (R) (ViewRay Inc., Mountain View, CA) linear accelerator (Linac). Film dosimetry OA plans were generated for all IMRT treatments. Multichannel film dosimetry for red, green and blue (RGB) channels were compared with treatment planning system (TPS) dose maps by gamma evaluation analysis. Results The mean gamma passing rates of RGB channels are 97.3\% +/- 2.26\%, 96.0\% +/- 3.27\% and 96.2\% +/- 3.14\% for gamma evaluation with 2\% DD/2 mm distance to agreement (DTA), respectively. Moreover, the mean gamma passing rates of RGB channels are 99.7\% +/- 0.41\%, 99.6\% +/- 0.59\% and 99.5\% +/- 0.67\% for gamma evaluation with 3\% DD/3 mm DTA, respectively. Conclusion The patient specific QA using Gafchromic (TM) EBT3 film with multichannel film dosimetry seems to he a suitable tool to implement for MR-guided IMRT treatments under 0.35 T magnetic field. Multichannel film dosimetry with Gafchromic (TM) EBT3 is a consistent QA tool for gamma evaluation of the treatment plans even with 2\% DD/2 mm DTA under 0.35 T magnetic field presence.

Thorax is site of tumors arising from structures residing in it (lung cancer, esophageal cancer, lymphoma) and metastasis from many malignancies. Lung cancer, being one of the most frequent and deadliest malignancies worldwide, requires high doses of radiotherapy when given in conventional fractionation or hypofraction in the definitive-curative setting, thus leading to sometimes severe, debilitating, and fatal toxicities. Similarly, radiotherapy for breast and esophageal cancers, lymphoma, thymoma, or any other cancer located in thorax can have similar detrimental effect on thoracic structures, if dose constraints are violated. Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) has gained popularity due to its effectiveness in both primary early stage lung cancer and metastatic disease. Due to its novelty, new data regarding risk factors and constraints, previously unnoticed toxicity has been encountered in this setting. In this chapter we aim to define patient, treatment, and dosimetric related risk factors leading to toxicities in thoracic organs at risk (OAR) such as lungs, heart, esophagus, chest wall, major airways and vessels, as well as review the body of knowledge regarding mitigation of acute and chronic radiation therapy toxicities in these organs. We will focus on non-stochastic effects and prevention of stochastic events such as secondary cancers are not the scope of the chapter.