A systematic review and meta-analysis on oncological radiotherapy in patients with a cardiac implantable electronic device: Prevalence and predictors of device malfunction in 3121 patients.

Background: The number of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) undergoing radiotherapy (RT) for cancer treatment is growing. At present, prevalence and predictors of RT-induced CIEDs malfunctions are not defined.

Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis conducted following the PRISMA recommendations.

Stereotactic or conventional radiotherapy for macroscopic prostate bed recurrence: a propensity score analysis.

Purpose: To assess outcomes between salvage radiation therapy (SRT) with curative intent and stereotactic radiotherapy for macroscopic prostate recurrence (SSRT) after radical prostatectomy (RP). In order to compare these two different options, we compared their outcomes with a propensity score-based matched analysis.

Methods: Data from 185 patients in seven Italian centres treated for macroscopic prostate bed recurrence after RP were retrospectively collected.

How Has Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy Changed in Italy between 2004 and 2011? An Analysis of the National Patterns-Of-Practice (POP) Database by the Uro-Oncology Study Group of the Italian Society of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (AIRO).

Background And Purpose: Two previous "Patterns Of Practice" surveys (POP I and POP II), including more than 4000 patients affected by prostate cancer treated with radical external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) between 1980 and 2003, established a "benchmark" Italian data source for prostate cancer radiotherapy. This report (POP III) updates the previous studies.

Methods: Data on clinical management and outcome of 2525 prostate cancer patients treated by EBRT from 2004 to 2011 were collected and compared with POP II and, when feasible, also with POP I.

Unexpected tumor response to palliative pelvic radiotherapy in mismatch repair-deficient advanced prostate cancer: a case report.

Background: Mismatch-repair-deficiency resulting in microsatellite instability (MSI) may confer increased radiosensitivity in locally advanced/metastatic tumors and thus radiotherapy (RT) potentially might have a changing role in treating this subset of patients, alone or in combination with checkpoint inhibitors.

Case Presentation: We report a 76 year-old Italian male patient presenting with locally advanced undifferentiated prostate cancer (LAPC), infiltrating bladder and rectum. Molecular analysis revealed high-MSI with an altered expression of MSH2 and MSH6 at immunohistochemistry.

Simultaneous Integrated Radiotherapy Boost to the Dominant Intraprostatic Lesion: Final Results of a Phase I/II Trial.

Background/aim: Late toxicity and long-term outcomes of a phase I-II trial on patients with prostate cancer treated with an integrated boost to the dominant intraprostatic lesion (DIL) are reported.

Patients And Methods: Patients were treated using intensity-modulated radiotherapy, with a simultaneous integrated boost to the DIL, defined on staging magnetic resonance imaging, delivering 72 Gy in 1.8 Gy/fraction to prostate/seminal vesicles and 80 Gy in 2 Gy/fraction to the DIL.

Radiotherapy-induced malfunctions of cardiac implantable electronic devices in cancer patients.

The number of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) requiring radiation therapy (RT) for cancer treatment is increasing. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence, possible predictors, and clinical impact of RT-related CIEDs malfunctions. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all pacemaker (PM)/implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) patients who underwent RT in the last 14 years.

Treatment paths for localised prostate cancer in Italy: The results of a multidisciplinary, observational, prospective study (Pros-IT CNR).

Background: There are several treatments available to newly diagnosed prostate cancer (PCA) patients. Although surgery and radiotherapy (RT) with or without androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) are widely adopted treatment options for localized PCA together with active surveillance (AS), there is no consensus nor randomised trials on treatment selection, prospective quality of life (QOL), along with toxicity outcomes and according to treatment modality in the Italian population. The current study aimed to describe clinical-therapeutic features and QOL at PCA diagnosis, according to different treatment patterns in a large prospective, Italian population, enrolled in the Pros-IT CNR study.

Consensus statements on ablative radiotherapy for oligometastatic prostate cancer: A position paper of Italian Association of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (AIRO).

Oligometastatic prostate cancer comprises a wide spectrum of conditions, ranging from de novo oligometastatic cancer at diagnosis to oligometastatic castration-resistant disease, which are distinct entities in terms of biology and prognosis. In order to clarify and standardize the clinical role of ablative radiotherapy in oligometastatic prostate cancer, the Italian Association of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (AIRO) formed an expert panel to review the current literature and develop a formal consensus. Oligometastatic prostate cancer was defined as the presence of up to three metastatic lesions involving bones or nodes outside pelvis.

Metastasis-directed stereotactic radiotherapy for oligoprogressive castration-resistant prostate cancer: a multicenter study.

Purpose: Herein, we report the clinical outcomes of a multicenter study evaluating the role of SBRT in a cohort of patients affected by oligoprogressive castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective multicenter observational study including eleven centers. Inclusion criteria of the current study were: (a) Karnofsky performance status > 80, (b) histologically proven diagnosis of PC, (c) 1-5 oligoprogressive metastases, defined as progressive disease at bone or nodes levels (detected by means of choline PET/CT or CT plus bone scan) during ADT, (d) serum testosterone level under 50 ng/ml during ADT, (e) controlled primary tumor, (f) patients treated with SBRT with a dose of at least 5 Gy per fraction to a biologically effective dose (BED) of at least 80 Gy using an alpha-to-beta ratio of 3 Gy, (g) at least 6 months of follow-up post-SBRT.

Expert system classifier for adaptive radiation therapy in prostate cancer.

A classifier-based expert system was developed to compare delivered and planned radiation therapy in prostate cancer patients. Its aim is to automatically identify patients that can benefit from an adaptive treatment strategy. The study predominantly addresses dosimetric uncertainties and critical issues caused by motion of hollow organs.

SIS epidemiological model for adaptive RT: Forecasting the parotid glands shrinkage during tomotherapy treatment.

Purpose: A susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) epidemic model was applied to radiation therapy (RT) treatments to predict morphological variations in head and neck (H&N) anatomy.

Methods: 360 daily MVCT images of 12 H&N patients treated by tomotherapy were analyzed in this retrospective study. Deformable image registration (DIR) algorithms, mesh grids, and structure recontouring, implemented in the RayStation treatment planning system (TPS), were applied to assess the daily organ warping.

Radiosurgery Using Tomotherapy for Patients with Brain Oligo-metastasis: A Retrospective Analysis on Feasibility and Tolerance.

Aim: Aim of the study was to evaluate feasibility and toxicities of exclusive radiosurgery using tomotherapy in patients with brain oligo-metastases.

Patients And Methods: Between 2008 and 2013 68 patients underwent stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Mean patient age was 63 years.

Reirradiation in head and neck recurrent or second primary tumor: efficacy, safety, and prognostic factors.

Aims And Background: We investigated efficacy, safety, and prognostic factors of reirradiation in patients with recurrent or second primary head and neck cancer.

Methods: Records of 75 consecutive patients treated with reirradiation between August 2005 and December 2013 were reviewed.

Results: Median overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were 29.

IMRT-SIB with concurrent and neo-adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancer: analysis of clinical outcomes in a retrospective series of a single institution.

Aims And Background: To evaluate results of an intensity-modulated radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost schedule with concurrent and neo-adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy for the definitive treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer in a retrospective series.

Methods And Study Design: Between May 2007 and February 2010, 28 consecutive patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer (stage II, 11%; III, 18%; IV, 71%) received intensity-modulated radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost with concurrent and neoadjuvant (20/28 patients) chemotherapy, at 1.8 G/die to 54 Gy to the elective volume and 66 Gy (2.

Simultaneous β1 integrin-EGFR targeting and radiosensitization of human head and neck cancer.

Background: Signaling from integrins and receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) contributes substantially to therapy resistance of malignant tumors. We investigated simultaneous β1 integrin-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeting plus radiotherapy in human head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs).

Methods: Ten HNSCC cell lines were grown in three-dimensional laminin-rich extracellular matrix cell cultures and two of them as tumor xenografts in nude mice (n = 12-16 per group).

The current management of mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome and the role of radiotherapy: Principles and indications.

Aim: To evaluate the current treatment of mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS) focusing on the role of radiotherapy (RT), its principles and indications, and the perspectives of the novel irradiation technologies.

Background: MF and SS are rare lymphoproliferative diseases whose incidence is increasing. For a long time RT has been used as a single modality or in integrated treatment programs for these diseases.

The impact of cell-cell contact, E-cadherin and EGF receptor on the cellular radiosensitivity of A431 cancer cells.

Cell-cell contact is thought to be critically involved in mechanisms leading to radioresistance. Here, we assessed the influence of confluent compared to subconfluent cell culture conditions and the radiosensitizing ability of E-cadherin inhibition alone or in combination with C225-mediated EGFR inhibition in human squamous cell carcinoma cells. Our results show higher radioresistance under subconfluent growth conditions than under confluency.

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost to dominant intraprostatic lesion: preliminary report on toxicity.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of intensity-modulated radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost to the dominant intraprostatic lesion for definitive treatment of prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: Patients were deemed eligible for the study if they had histologically proven stage cT2-T3 N0M0 prostate adenocarcinoma. In addition <20% risk of lymph nodal involvement according to Roach formula, was required for enrollment.