Assessment of performance indicators of a radiotherapy department using an electronic medical record system.

Aim: To retrospectively assess the performance indicators of our radiotherapy department and their temporal trends, using a commercially available electronic-medical-record (EMR) system.

Background: A recent trend in healthcare quality is to define and evaluate performance indicators of the service provided.

Materials And Methods: Patient and external-beam-radiotherapy-treatments data were retrieved using the Mosaiq EMR system from 1-January-2012 till 31-December-2015.

Lung dose analysis in loco-regional hypofractionated radiotherapy of breast cancer.

Objectives: To report the ipsilateral lung dosimetry data of breast cancer (BC) patients treated with loco-regional hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT). 

Methods: Treatment plans of 150 patients treated in the Radiotherapy Unit, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January 2012 and March 2015 by HFRT for BC were retrospectively reviewed. All patients received 42.

Outcomes of Saudi Arabian Patients With Nasopharyngeal Cancer Treated With Primarily Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Followed by Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy.

Purpose: Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is the most common head and neck cancer in Saudi Arabia. This study reports the locoregional disease control and survival outcomes in patients with NPC treated in King Abdulaziz University Hospital.

Methods: Patients treated for NPC between June 2007 and October 2014 were retrospectively reviewed.

Optimization of Craniospinal Irradiation for Pediatric Medulloblastoma Using VMAT and IMRT.

Purpose: Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) provide highly conformal target radiation doses, but also expose large volumes of healthy tissue to low-dose radiation. With improving survival, more children with medulloblastoma (MB) are at risk of late adverse effects of radiotherapy, including secondary cancers. We evaluated the characteristics of IMRT and VMAT craniospinal irradiation treatment plans in children with standard-risk MB to compare radiation dose delivery to target organs and organs at risk (OAR).

Single versus multichannel applicator in high-dose-rate vaginal brachytherapy optimized by inverse treatment planning.

Purpose: To retrospectively compare the potential dosimetric advantages of a multichannel vaginal applicator vs. a single channel one in intracavitary vaginal high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy after hysterectomy, and evaluate the dosimetric advantage of fractional re-planning.

Material And Methods: We randomly selected 12 patients with endometrial carcinoma, who received adjuvant vaginal cuff HDR brachytherapy using a multichannel applicator.

Uterine perforation and its dosimetric implications in cervical cancer high-dose-rate brachytherapy.

Purpose: To retrospectively assess the incidence of sub-serosal and uterine perforation of intra-uterine tandem in intracavitary high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for cervical cancer, and to evaluate its dosimetric implications on computed tomography (CT)-based treatment planning.

Material And Methods: Computed tomography images and brachytherapy plans of cervical cancer patients treated from February 2006 to December 2012 were reviewed for sub-optimal implants (sub-serosal and uterine perforation), and their correlation with cancer FIGO stage and patients' age. For each patient, the plans showing sub-optimal insertion of intra-uterine tandem were analyzed and compared to plans with adequate insertion.

Assessment of air pockets in high-dose-rate vaginal cuff brachytherapy using cylindrical applicators.

Purpose: To retrospectively assess the incidence and magnitude of air pockets around vaginal cylinders and its impact on dose distribution in vaginal cuff image-guided high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy.

Material And Methods: Fifty endometrial carcinoma patients treated by postoperative HDR vaginal cuff brachytherapy were included in the study. The average age of patients was 58.

Phase II study on the use of intraoperative radiotherapy in early breast cancer.

Objective: To report our early experience using the Intrabeam radiotherapy delivery system for intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) in early breast cancer.

Methods: This is a prospective phase 2 study carried out at the Department of Surgery and Radiology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from December 2010 to November 2012. Females eligible for breast-conserving surgery with biopsy-proven invasive duct carcinoma, and with a mass of View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Three-dimension anatomy-based planning optimization for high dose rate vaginal vault brachytherapy.

Objective: To retrospectively compare 3-dimension (3D)-inverse planning optimization with 2 conventional planning methods in vaginal vault high-dose-rate brachytherapy.

Methods: We randomly selected 26 patients with endometrium cancer, treated with external beam radiotherapy followed by intracavitary high-dose-rate brachytherapy. The study was carried out in the Radiotherapy Unit of King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between July 2010 and October 2011.

Tumor bed boost radiotherapy in breast cancer. A review of current techniques.

Various breast boost irradiation techniques were studied and compared. The most commonly used techniques are external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) (photons or electrons) and high dose rate (HDR) interstitial brachytherapy, but recent studies have also revealed the use of advanced radiotherapy techniques, such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), intra-operative radiation therapy (IORT), tomotherapy, and protons. The purpose of this study is to systematically review the literature concerning breast boost radiotherapy techniques, and suggest evidence based guidelines for each.

In vivo diode dosimetry vs. computerized tomography and digitally reconstructed radiographs for critical organ dose calculation in high-dose-rate brachytherapy of cervical cancer.

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between the dose predicted by the treatment planning system using digitally reconstructed radiographs or three-dimensional (3D)-reconstructed CT images and the dose measured by semiconductor detectors, under clinical conditions of high-dose-rate brachytherapy of the cervix uteri.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-two intracavitary brachytherapy applications were performed for 12 patients with cancer of the cervix uteri. The prescribed dose to Point A was 7 Gy.

Treatment planning for high dose rate brachytherapy of cervical cancer based on total dose constraints.

Objective: To compare the inverse planning optimization based on total dose constraints versus conventional treatment plan (point A planning method) for cervical carcinoma, and evaluate the benefit of CT-based image-guided brachytherapy.

Methods: We prospectively analyzed data of 10 consecutive patients with cervical cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy to the whole pelvis (45 Gy in 25 fractions) followed by high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (21 Gy in 3 fractions). For treatment planning of HDR brachytherapy, the basic equations of the linear-quadratic model were used to calculate the physical dose for each brachytherapy fraction needed to achieve a given total iso-effective dose for the whole treatment.

Significant inter-fraction variations during tangential breast irradiation. An indication for image-guided radiotherapy for simultaneously integrated boost.

Objective: To use electronic portal images (EPI) to clinically evaluate inter-fraction variations during tangential breast irradiation, using either a skin marks setup, or a bony anatomy setup, and to determine the required margins for simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) planning target volume (PTV).

Methods: Ten patients undergoing radiotherapy to the entire breast with tangential fields, after breast conservation surgery were considered for this pilot prospective study in the Radiation Therapy Unit of King Abdulaziz University Hospital between February and September 2009. Patient setup was carried out either using skin marks or bony anatomy landmarks.