Prognostic Effect of Mismatch Repair Status in Early-Stage Endometrial Cancer Treated With Adjuvant Radiation: A Multi-institutional Analysis.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to report the effect of mismatch repair (MMR) status on outcomes of patients with stage I-II endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma (EEC) who receive adjuvant radiation therapy.

Methods And Materials: This is a multi-institutional retrospective cohort study across 11 institutions in North America. Patients with known MMR status and stage I-II EEC status postsurgical staging were included.

Gender-Affirming Surgery and Cancer: Considerations for Radiation Oncologists for Pelvic Radiation in Transfeminine Patients.

Access to gender-affirming surgery is increasing for many transgender and nonbinary people in the United States, and radiation oncologists must be equipped to care for patients who have undergone such surgery in the region of their planned radiation treatment field. There are no guidelines for radiation treatment planning after gender-affirming surgery, and most oncologists do not receive training in the unique needs of transgender people with cancer. We review common gender-affirming genitopelvic surgeries for transfeminine people, including vaginoplasty, labiaplasty, and orchiectomy, and summarize the existing literature on the treatment of cancers of the neovagina, anus, rectum, prostate, and bladder in these patients.

Effect of COVID-19 on Gynecologic Oncology Care: A Survey of Practicing Gynecologic Radiation Oncologists in the United States.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed demands and limitations on the delivery of health care. We sought to assess the effect of COVID-19 on the delivery of gynecologic oncologic care from the perspective of practicing radiation oncologists in the United States.

Methods And Materials: An anonymous online survey was created and distributed to preidentified radiation oncologists in the United States with clinical expertise in the management of gynecologic patients.

The Impact of Racial Disparities on Outcome in Patients With Stage IIIC Endometrial Carcinoma: A Pooled Data Analysis.

Objective: To report the impact of race on clinical outcomes in patients with stage IIIC endometrial carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective multi-institutional study included 90 black and 568 non-black patients with stage IIIC endometrial carcinoma who received adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method.

Does Prophylactic Paraortic Lymph Node Irradiation Improve Outcomes in Women With Stage IIIC1 Endometrial Carcinoma?

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of prophylactic paraortic lymph node (PALN) radiation therapy (RT) on clinical outcomes in patients with International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2018 stage IIIC1 endometrial cancer (EC).

Methods And Materials: A multi-institutional retrospective study included patients with International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2018 stage IIIC1 EC lymph node assessment, status postsurgical staging, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and RT using various sequencing regimens. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method.

Effect of Mismatch Repair Status on Outcome of Early-Stage Grade 1 to 2 Endometrial Cancer Treated With Vaginal Brachytherapy.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine if deficiency of mismatch repair (dMMR) proteins in patients with early-stage favorable endometrial cancer treated with vaginal brachytherapy (VB) is associated with increased recurrence.

Materials And Methods: A multi-institutional retrospective cohort study of 141 patients with stage I to II grade 1 and 2 endometrioid adenocarcinoma treated with surgery and adjuvant VB was performed to compare recurrence risk in dMMR (n=41) versus MMR-preserved (pMMR) (n=100). Additional clinical and pathologic risk factors were also collected.

Adjuvant Radiation Field Extent and Sites of Failure in Node Positive Endometrioid Endometrial Cancer.

Purpose: In patients with node-positive endometrial cancer, adjuvant radiation therapy with chemotherapy decreases local-regional recurrence compared with chemotherapy alone. However, the optimal radiation field borders and extent of nodal coverage have not been well studied. In a multi-institutional cohort, survival outcomes and sites of failure were analyzed for patients with International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIIC endometrioid endometrial cancer treated with pelvic radiation therapy (PRT) versus extended-field radiation therapy (EFRT), which encompassed high para-aortic lymph nodes.

A Multi-Institutional Analysis of Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Radiation Sequence in Women With Stage IIIC Endometrial Cancer.

Purpose: Our purpose was to evaluate the effect of sequence and type of adjuvant therapy for patients with stage IIIC endometrial carcinoma (EC) on outcomes.

Methods And Materials: In a multi-institutional retrospective cohort study, patients with stage IIIC EC who had surgical staging and received both adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy (RT) were included. Adjuvant treatment regimens were classified as adjuvant chemotherapy followed by sequential RT (upfront chemo), which was predominant sequence; RT with concurrent chemotherapy followed by chemotherapy (concurrent); systemic chemotherapy before and after RT (sandwich); adjuvant RT followed by chemotherapy (upfront RT); or chemotherapy concurrent with vaginal cuff brachytherapy alone (chemo-brachy).

A phase 2 study of combined chemo-immunotherapy with cisplatin-pembrolizumab and radiation for unresectable vulvar squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Unresectable or metastatic vulvar cancer has relatively poor outcomes despite chemotherapy-sensitized radiation therapy and combination cytotoxic therapy. Despite the virus-associated and immunogenic nature of this disease, novel immunotherapy options that exploit this advantage are currently lacking. Platinum agents such as cisplatin have been shown to prime dendritic cells for T-cell costimulation, promote downregulation of inhibitory checkpoint molecules, and sensitize tumor cells to cytotoxic T-cell killing.

Revisiting MET: Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes of Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic, MET-Amplified Esophagogastric Cancers.

Background: Metastatic esophagogastric cancers (EGCs) have a poor prognosis with an approximately 5% 5-year survival. Additional treatment approaches are needed. c-MET gene-amplified tumors are an uncommon but potentially targetable subset of EGC.

Clinical needs assessment for sexual health among cancer patients receiving pelvic radiation: Implications for development of a radiation oncology sexual health clinic.

Background: Cancer patients treated with pelvic radiation therapy (RT) often experience sexual health-related side effects during and following treatment. A clinical needs assessment was used to evaluate sexual health needs and to determine how needs differed between patients receiving and who had completed RT.

Methods And Materials: A questionnaire was used to evaluate sexual health needs among patients treated with pelvic RT.

Invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: local recurrence after breast-conserving therapy by subtype approximation and surgical margin.

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) typically presents at a later stage than invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and poses unique radiographic and surgical challenges. However, current principles of breast-conserving therapy (BCT) do not distinguish between histologic subtypes, raising uncertainty about the optimal approach for patients with ILC. We studied 998 BCT patients from 1998-2007, comprised 74 % IDC, 8 % ILC, and 18 % with mixed ILC/IDC.

Dosimetric consequences of interobserver variability in delineating the organs at risk in gynecologic interstitial brachytherapy.

Purpose: To investigate the dosimetric variability associated with interobserver organ-at-risk delineation differences on computed tomography in patients undergoing gynecologic interstitial brachytherapy.

Methods And Materials: The rectum, bladder, and sigmoid of 14 patients treated with gynecologic interstitial brachytherapy were retrospectively contoured by 13 physicians. Geometric variability was calculated using κ statistics, conformity index (CIgen), and coefficient of variation (CV) of volumes contoured across physicians.

Genetic mechanisms in interval colon cancers.

Background And Aim: The factors underlying the development of interval colon cancers are not well defined and are likely heterogeneous. We sought to determine whether there are distinct molecular properties associated with interval colon cancers.

Methods: Colon cancers diagnosed within 5 years of a complete and well-prepped colonoscopic examination were identified over a 7-year period at a single institution.

Mutational analysis and clinical correlation of metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: Early identification of mutations may guide patients with metastatic colorectal cancer toward targeted therapies that may be life prolonging. The authors assessed tumor genotype correlations with clinical characteristics to determine whether mutational profiling can account for clinical similarities, differences, and outcomes.

Methods: Under Institutional Review Board approval, 222 patients with metastatic colon adenocarcinoma (n = 158) and rectal adenocarcinoma (n = 64) who underwent clinical tumor genotyping were reviewed.

Mutational and clinical predictors of pathologic complete response in the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer.

Purpose: Preoperative chemoradiation (CRT) for locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma achieves pathologic complete response (pCR) in 8-20% of patients. Mutations in critical cancer genes may contribute to lack of pCR. We retrospectively evaluated our institutional experience to determine potential mutational and clinical predictors of pCR in patients treated with CRT.

Margin status and the risk of local recurrence in patients with early-stage breast cancer treated with breast-conserving therapy.

We sought to assess whether a close surgical margin (>0 and <2 mm) after breast-conserving therapy (BCT) confers an increased risk of local recurrence (LR) compared with a widely negative margin (≥2 mm). We studied 906 women with early-stage invasive breast cancer treated with BCT between January 1998 and October 2006; 91 % received adjuvant systemic therapy. Margins were coded as: (1) widely negative (n = 729), (2) close (n = 85), or (3) close (n = 84)/positive (n = 8) but having no additional tissue to remove according to the surgeon.

Fat necrosis of the breast in the accelerated partial breast irradiation era: the need for a universal grading system.

Fat necrosis of the breast is increasingly reported and used as a trial endpoint in the treatment of breast cancer with accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). Yet, there is no universal toxicity scoring system within the latest version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v4.0).

Low-dose involved-field radiation in the treatment of non-hodgkin lymphoma: predictors of response and treatment failure.

Purpose: To investigate clinical and pathologic factors significant in predicting local response and time to further treatment after low-dose involved-field radiation therapy (LD-IFRT) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

Methods And Materials: Records of NHL patients treated at a single institution between April 2004 and September 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. Low-dose involved-field radiation therapy was given as 4 Gy in 2 fractions over 2 consecutive days.

Advancing age within established Gleason score categories and the risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM).

Unlabelled: Study Type - Prognosis (case series) Level of Evidence 4. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? There is limited data that suggests that men aged >70 years have a higher proportion of Gleason 8-10 prostate cancer than men aged <70 years, as well as a higher risk of PSA recurrence, distant metastases, and disease-specific death on univariate analysis. The present study shows that older as compared with younger men with Gleason score 6 and 7 prostate cancer have an increased risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality.

Adverse events in the long-term follow-up of patients treated with samarium Sm 153 lexidronam for osseous metastases.

Purpose: To investigate adverse events after samarium Sm 153 lexidronam and the effect of pre- and post-samarium Sm 153 lexidronam external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and/or chemotherapy on myelosuppression in patients who received samarium Sm 153 lexidronam for osseous metastases.

Methods And Materials: We performed a single-institution retrospective review of 139 patients treated with samarium Sm 153 lexidronam between November 1997 and February 2008. New-onset adverse events after samarium Sm 153 lexidronam were reported.

Urine analysis and protein networking identify met as a marker of metastatic prostate cancer.

Purpose: Metastatic prostate cancer is a major cause of death of men in the United States. Expression of met, a receptor tyrosine kinase, has been associated with progression of prostate cancer.

Experimental Design: To investigate met as a biomarker of disease progression, urinary met was evaluated via ELISA in men with localized (n = 75) and metastatic (n = 81) prostate cancer.