Improving Communication of Peer-Review Conference Outcomes: A Practical Experience.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to describe the design and implementation of a more robust workflow for communicating outcomes from a peer-review chart rounds conference. We also provide information regarding cycle times, plan revisions, and other key metrics that we have observed since initial implementation.

Methods And Materials: A multidisciplinary team of stakeholders including physicians, physicists, and dosimetrists developed a revised peer-review workflow that addressed key needs to improve the prior process.

Predictors of In-Hospital Death in Patients with Lung Cancer Admitted for Acute Radiation Pneumonitis: A Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Analysis.

Background: Radiation pneumonitis (RP) is a dose-limiting and potentially fatal toxicity of thoracic radiotherapy most often seen in patients treated for primary lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of in-hospital death among lung cancer patients admitted for acute RP in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) database.

Materials And Methods: The HCUP National Inpatient Sample database was queried from 2012 through 2016 to capture adult lung cancer patients admitted to the hospital with a principal diagnosis of acute RP.

Longitudinal assessment of anchored transponder migration following lung stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Purpose: To assess the long-term stability of the anchored radiofrequency transponders and compare displacement rates with other commercially available lung fiducial markers. We also sought to describe late toxicity attributable to fiducial implantation or migration.

Materials And Methods: The transponder cohort was comprised of 17 patients at our institution who enrolled in a multisite prospective clinical trial and underwent bronchoscopic implantation of three anchored transponders into small (2-2.

Hospice care, cancer-directed therapy, and Medicare expenditures among older patients dying with malignant brain tumors.

Background: End-of-life care for older adults with malignant brain tumors is poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to quantify end-of-life utilization of hospice care, cancer-directed therapy, and associated Medicare expenditures among older adults with malignant brain tumors.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included deceased Medicare beneficiaries age ≥65 with primary malignant brain tumor (PMBT) or secondary MBT (SMBT) receiving care within a southeastern cancer community network including academic and community hospitals from 2012-2015.

What predicts early volumetric edema increase following stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases?

A volumetric analysis of pre- and post-radiosurgery (PreSRS and PostSRS) edema in patients with cerebral metastases was performed to determine factors of a predictive model assessing the risk of developing increased edema relatively early after SRS. One-hundred-fourteen metastases in 55 patients were analyzed. Selection for this analysis required an MRI ≤ 30 days before SRS and an MRI ≤ 100 days after SRS.

Comparison of stereotactic body radiation therapy for biopsy-proven versus radiographically diagnosed early-stage non-small lung cancer: a single-institution experience.

Introduction: Histological confirmation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is often required before patients are offered stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) as a treatment option. Many patients, however, are unsuitable to undergo a biopsy procedure because of comorbidity. Our objective is to compare the outcomes of patients with biopsy-proven (BxPr) or clinically/radiographically diagnosed (RadDx) early-stage NSCLC treated with SBRT.

Strategies to prevent brain metastasis in high-risk non-small-cell lung cancer: lessons learned from a randomized study of maintenance temozolomide versus observation.

Background: This study investigated whether maintenance temozolomide (TMZ) after definitive therapy for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) could decrease the incidence of brain metastasis (BM).

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients included those with stage IIIA, IIIB, or IV (for stage IV, only with malignant pleural/pericardial effusion) NSCLC with no BM at diagnosis and stable disease, partial response, or complete response after first-line chemotherapy using at least 2 agents. Patients were randomized to observation or TMZ (75 mg/m(2) for 21 consecutive days followed by a 7-day rest for up to 6 cycles or progression).