Blood biomarkers for cardiac damage during and after radiotherapy for esophageal cancer: A prospective cohort study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the levels of High Sensitive Troponin T (HS-TNT) and N-terminal Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-ProBNP) increase after radiation therapy in a dose dependent way and are predictive for clinical cardiac events.

Materials And Methods: Blood samples during and after radiotherapy of 87 esophageal cancer patients were analysed regarding the course of HS-TNT and NT-ProBNP levels and their relationship with clinical toxicity endpoints and radiation dose volume parameters.

Results: HS-TNT values at the end of treatment correlated with the mean heart dose (p = 0.

Optimal timing of re-planning for head and neck adaptive radiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: Adaptive radiotherapy (ART) relies on re-planning to correct treatment variations, but the optimal timing of re-planning to account for dose changes in head and neck organs at risk (OARs) is still under investigation. We aimed to find out the optimal timing of re-planning in head and neck ART.

Materials And Methods: A total of 110 head and neck cancer patients were retrospectively enrolled.

Assessment of residual geometrical errors of clinical target volumes and their impact on dose accumulation for head and neck radiotherapy.

Purpose: To assess the residual geometrical errors (dr) and their impact on the clinical target volumes (CTV) dose coverage for head and neck cancer (HNC) proton therapy patients.

Methods: We analysed 28 HNC patients treated with 70 Gy (RBE) and 54.25 Gy (RBE) to the therapeutic CTV and prophylactic CTV, respectively.

Challenges and opportunities for proton therapy during pregnancy.

During pregnancy, the use of radiation therapy for cancer treatment is often considered impossible due to the assumed associated fetal risks. However, suboptimal treatment of pregnant cancer patients and unjustifiable delay in radiation therapy until after delivery can be harmful for both patient and child. In non-pregnant patients, proton-radiation therapy is increasingly administered because of its favorable dosimetric properties compared with photon-radiation therapy.

An efficient strategy to select head and neck cancer patients for adaptive radiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: Adaptive radiotherapy (ART) is workload intensive but only benefits a subgroup of patients. We aimed to develop an efficient strategy to select candidates for ART in the first two weeks of head and neck cancer (HNC) radiotherapy.

Materials And Methods: This study retrospectively enrolled 110 HNC patients who underwent modern photon radiotherapy with at least 5 weekly in-treatment re-scan CTs.

Proton therapy of a pregnant patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background And Purpose: Radiotherapy during pregnancy is rarely administered due to lack of data and practical challenges. This is the first detailed report of proton therapy as cancer treatment for a pregnant patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: Pencil beam scanning proton therapy was prescribed to a pregnant patient to a total dose of 70 Gy (RBE) to the therapeutic CTV and 54.

Impact of sarcopenia on acute radiation-induced toxicity in head and neck cancer patients.

Background And Purpose: Sarcopenia is related to late radiation-induced toxicities and worse survival in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. This study tested the hypothesis that sarcopenia improves the performance of current normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models of radiation-induced acute toxicity in HNC patients.

Material/methods: This was a retrospective analysis in a prospective cohort of HNC patients treated from January 2007 to December 2018 with (chemo)radiotherapy.

Evaluation of robustly optimised intensity modulated proton therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background And Purpose: To evaluate the dosimetric changes occurring over the treatment course for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated with robustly optimised intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT).

Materials And Methods: 25 NPC patients were treated to two dose levels (CTV1: 70 Gy, CTV2: 54.25 Gy) with robustly optimised IMPT plans.

A novel semi auto-segmentation method for accurate dose and NTCP evaluation in adaptive head and neck radiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: Accurate segmentation of organs-at-risk (OARs) is crucial but tedious and time-consuming in adaptive radiotherapy (ART). The purpose of this work was to automate head and neck OAR-segmentation on repeat CT (rCT) by an optimal combination of human and auto-segmentation for accurate prediction of Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP).

Materials And Methods: Human segmentation (HS) of 3 observers, deformable image registration (DIR) based contour propagation and deep learning contouring (DLC) were carried out to segment 15 OARs on 15 rCTs.

Patient-Reported Toxicity and Quality-of-Life Profiles in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer Treated With Definitive Radiation Therapy or Chemoradiation.

Purpose: Radiation therapy is an effective but burdensome treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC). We aimed to characterize the severity and time pattern of patient-reported symptoms and quality of life in a large cohort of patients with HNC treated with definitive radiation therapy, with or without systemic treatment.

Methods And Materials: A total of 859 patients with HNC treated between 2007 and 2017 prospectively completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire-Head and Neck Cancer module (QLQ-HN35) and Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) at regular intervals during and after treatment for up to 5 years.

First experience with model-based selection of head and neck cancer patients for proton therapy.

Purpose: In the Netherlands, head and neck cancer (HNC) patients qualify for intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) based on model-based selection (MBS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the first experience in MBS of HNC patients.

Methods: Patients who were subjected to MBS (Jan 2018-Sep 2019) were evaluated.