Disparities in air pollution attributable mortality in the US population by race/ethnicity and sociodemographic factors.

There are large differences in premature mortality in the USA by race/ethnicity, education, rurality and social vulnerability index groups. Using existing concentration-response functions, published particulate matter (PM) air pollution estimates, population estimates at the census tract level and county-level mortality data from the US National Vital Statistics System, we estimated the degree to which these mortality discrepancies can be attributed to differences in exposure and susceptibility to PM. We show that differences in PM-attributable mortality were consistently more pronounced by race/ethnicity than by education, rurality or social vulnerability index, with the Black American population having the highest proportion of deaths attributable to PM in all years from 1990 to 2016.

Sociodemographic and geographic variation in mortality attributable to air pollution in the United States.

There are large differences in premature mortality in the USA by racial/ethnic, education, rurality, and social vulnerability index groups. Using existing concentration-response functions, particulate matter (PM) air pollution, population estimates at the tract level, and county-level mortality data, we estimated the degree to which these mortality discrepancies can be attributed to differences in exposure and susceptibility to PM. We show that differences in mortality attributable to PM were consistently more pronounced between racial/ethnic groups than by education, rurality, or social vulnerability index, with the Black American population having by far the highest proportion of deaths attributable to PM in all years from 1990 to 2016.

A 3D lung lesion variational autoencoder.

In this study, we develop a 3D beta variational autoencoder (beta-VAE) to advance lung cancer imaging analysis, countering the constraints of conventional radiomics methods. The autoencoder extracts information from public lung computed tomography (CT) datasets without additional labels. It reconstructs 3D lung nodule images with high quality (structural similarity: 0.

Impact of radiotherapy protocol adherence in NSCLC patients treated with concurrent chemoradiation: RTQA results of the PET-Plan trial.

Introduction: The success of intensification and personalisation of the curative treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is strongly associated with the precision in radiotherapy. Here, we evaluate the impact of radiotherapy protocol adherence in a prospective multicentre trial.

Methods: In the open-label, randomised, controlled PET-Plan trial, patients with inoperable NSCLC were randomized at a 1:1 ratio regarding the target volume delineation informed by F-FDG PET and CT plus elective nodal irradiation (arm A) or target volumes informed by PET alone (arm B) and received iso-toxically dose-escalated concurrent chemoradiation.

Efficacy and Toxicity of Different Chemotherapy Protocols for Concurrent Chemoradiation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer-A Secondary Analysis of the PET Plan Trial.

(1) Background: The optimal chemotherapy (CHT) regimen for concurrent chemoradiation (cCRT) is not well defined. In this secondary analysis of the international randomized PET-Plan trial, we evaluate the efficacy of different CHT. (2) Methods: Patients with inoperable NSCLC were randomized at a 1:1 ratio regarding the target volume definition and received isotoxically dose-escalated cCRT using cisplatin 80 mg/m (day 1, 22) and vinorelbin 15 mg/m (day 1, 8, 22, 29) (P1) or cisplatin 20 mg/m (day 1-5, 29-33) and vinorelbin 12.

A novel voxel based homogeneity index: Rationale and clinical implications for whole-brain radiation therapy.

Purpose Or Objective: A homogeneity index (HI) measures the uniformity of a dose distribution within a given target volume. Traditional HIs only use a limited number of dose-volume histogram data-points for calculation. A voxel-based homogeneity index (VHI) is proposed which utilizes the entire information of the three-dimensional dose distribution.

Predictive and prognostic value of tumor volume and its changes during radical radiotherapy of stage III non-small cell lung cancer : A systematic review.

Purpose: Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) includes heterogeneous presentation of the disease including lymph node involvement and large tumour volumes with infiltration of the mediastinum, heart or spine. In the treatment of stage III NSCLC an interdisciplinary approach including radiotherapy is considered standard of care with acceptable toxicity and improved clinical outcome concerning local control.

Spinal cord constraints in the era of high-precision radiotherapy : Retrospective analysis of 62 spinal/paraspinal lesions with possible infringements of spinal cord constraints within a minimal volume.

Objective: Current constraints aim to minimize the risk of radiation myelitis by the use of restrictive maximal spinal cord doses, commonly 50 Gy. However, several studies suggested that a dose-volume effect could exist. Based on these observations, we evaluated patients receiving potentially excessive doses to the spinal cord within minimal volumes.

Role of Dose Intensification for Salvage Radiation Therapy after Radical Prostatectomy.

For primary radiation therapy (RT) of prostate cancer, dose intensification is established as standard of care. Less is known on the role of dose intensification in the postprostatectomy setting for salvage RT. Thus, we aimed to identify and summarize the existing literature.

Comparative treatment planning study on sequential vs. simultaneous integrated boost in head and neck cancer patients: Differences in dose distributions and potential implications for clinical practice.

Aim: The purpose of this work was to compare sequential (SeqB) versus simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) radiotherapy plans delivered with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for patients with locally advanced squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (HNSCC).

Patients And Methods: SeqB and SIB plans using VMAT for 10 HNSCC patients given definitive chemoradiation were generated and analysed for differences in dose distribution, coverage, conformity and homogeneity to the planning target volumes (PTV) 1-3 and sparing of organs at risk (OAR).

Results: The mean delineated volumes ± standard deviations were 137.