Risk Factors for Radiotherapy Failure in the Treatment of Spinal Metastases.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To build a predictive model for risk factors for failure of radiation therapy, hypothesizing a higher SINS would correlate with failure.

Methods: Patients with spinal metastasis being treated with radiation at a tertiary care academic center between September 2014 and October 2018 were identified.

Academic patterns of practice regarding CT simulation scans and radiology review.

Objective: Currently, there are no consensus guidelines about handling incidental radiological findings on radiotherapy planning CT simulation scans. Retrospective studies analyzing incidental findings on CT simulations show a small, but not insignificant, rate of both oncologic and non-oncologic findings. These findings may have medico-legal, financial, and clinical implications.

Navigator-assisted hypofractionation (NAVAH) to address radiation therapy access disparities facing African-Americans with breast cancer.

Background: African-Americans have the highest overall cancer death rate and shortest survival time of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. The most common cancer studied in African-American radiation therapy (RT) access disparities research is breast cancer. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of patient navigation on RT access for African-American breast cancer patients.

An interdisciplinary consensus on the management of brain metastases in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Brain metastases are a challenging manifestation of renal cell carcinoma. We have a limited understanding of brain metastasis tumor and immune biology, drivers of resistance to systemic treatment, and their overall poor prognosis. Current data support a multimodal treatment strategy with radiation treatment and/or surgery.

Geriatric patient outcomes in a multidisciplinary central nervous system community hospital clinic for radiation oncology and neurosurgery (RADIANS).

Introduction: Management of older adult patients with central nervous system (CNS) cancers requires a patient-centric, multidisciplinary approach. Assessment of neurosurgical and radiation treatment outcomes can assist in establishing guidelines for this patient population. We previously reported on the RADIANS clinic, a novel community hospital-based multidisciplinary clinic (MDC) for CNS cancer care, providing simultaneous radiation oncology and neurosurgery evaluation in a same-day, single-setting clinic.

Gender-based analysis of pre-residency research productivity among a current United States radiation oncology resident class.

Background: The increasing proportion of women in medicine has not been adequately reflected in the gender distribution of radiation oncology residents. The presence of at least one pre-residency peer-reviewed publication (PRP) has been associated with radiation oncology resident choice of academic over private practice career, with no significant gender difference in the likelihood of having a PRP (McClelland et al., 2017).

Impact of hospital volume on mortality for brain metastases treated with radiation.

Background: The impact of hospital volume on cancer patient survival has been demonstrated in the surgical literature, but sparsely for patients receiving radiation therapy (RT). This analysis addresses the impact of hospital volume on patients receiving RT for the most common central nervous system tumor: brain metastases.

Materials And Methods: Analysis was conducted using the National Cancer Database (NCDB) from 2010-2015 for patients with metastatic brain disease from lung cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer requiring RT.

Relevance of circulating hybrid cells as a non-invasive biomarker for myriad solid tumors.

Metastatic progression defines the final stages of tumor evolution and underlies the majority of cancer-related deaths. The heterogeneity in disseminated tumor cell populations capable of seeding and growing in distant organ sites contributes to the development of treatment resistant disease. We recently reported the identification of a novel tumor-derived cell population, circulating hybrid cells (CHCs), harboring attributes from both macrophages and neoplastic cells, including functional characteristics important to metastatic spread.

Cost-Effectiveness of Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Treating Brain Metastases.

Single-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a highly used tool in managing brain metastases, alongside its multifraction counterpart - stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). These radiation therapy techniques have been associated with excellent clinical outcomes, such as decreased local recurrence, increased survival, and improved palliative effects. However, present literature concerning the cost-effectiveness of these techniques remain scarce.

Pediatric Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma: A National Database Inquiry on Current Treatment Approaches in the United States.

Background: Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas (PXAs) account for <1% of primary brain tumors, occurring predominantly in children and young adults. Surgical resection serves as the primary treatment for PXAs, while radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy protocols remain poorly defined.

Aim: This study aims to determine current care patterns utilized for pediatric patients (≤ 18 years) diagnosed with PXAs and their effect on overall survival.

A Multidisciplinary Central Nervous System Clinic Model for Radiation Oncology and Neurosurgery (RADIANS): three-year experience with brain and skull base lesions in a community hospital setting.

Background: Subspecialty, multidisciplinary care within community hospital settings are limited and remains a challenge. Improving outcomes for central nervous system (CNS) disease rely on integrated subspecialty care between radiation oncology (RadOnc) and neurosurgery (NS). Three-year experience with simultaneous patient evaluation with RadOnc and NS physicians in a community hospital-based CNS clinic model (RADIANS) for brain and skull base lesions (BSBL) are reported.

Disparities in Patterns of Conventional Versus Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Spine Metastasis in the United States.

Introduction: The improved survival of patients even with metastatic cancer has led to an increase in the incidence of spine metastases, suggesting the need for a more aggressive palliative treatment than conventional external beam radiation therapy (cEBRT). Consequently, spinal stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has increased in popularity over the past decade. However, there has been no comparison of patterns of usage of cEBRT versus SBRT in the treatment of spinal metastases in the US.

Evolution of the prevalence of pre-residency peer-reviewed publications among incoming junior residents.

Pre-residency peer-reviewed publications (PRP) have been associated with subsequent resident choice of academic versus private practice career. The evolution of PRP prevalence among radiation oncology resident classes has yet to be examined. A list of radiation oncology residents from the graduating classes of 2016 and 2022 were obtained, and PRP was compiled as the number of publications a resident had listed in PubMed as of the end of the calendar year of residency application.

Patterns of Care and Outcomes for Small Cell Carcinoma of the Cervix: A National Retrospective Analysis of 542 Cases.

Purpose: Small cell carcinoma of the cervix (SCCC) represents 1% to 5% of cervical cancers, with limited data on management and outcomes. We evaluated patterns of care and outcomes for SCCC using the National Cancer Database.

Methods And Materials: This retrospective cohort study of SCCC (2004-2011) included 542 cases.

Distinguishing Extravascular from Intravascular Ferumoxytol Pools within the Brain: Proof of Concept in Patients with Treated Glioblastoma.

Background And Purpose: Glioblastoma-associated macrophages are a major constituent of the immune response to therapy and are known to engulf the iron-based MR imaging contrast agent, ferumoxytol. Current ferumoxytol MR imaging techniques for localizing macrophages are confounded by contaminating intravascular signal. The aim of this study was to assess the utility of a newly developed MR imaging technique, segregation and extravascular localization of ferumoxytol imaging, for differentiating extravascular-from-intravascular ferumoxytol contrast signal at a delayed 24-hour imaging time point.

Elective Nodal Irradiation for Limited-stage Small-cell Lung Cancer: Survey of US Radiation Oncologists on Practice Patterns.

Background: Traditionally, elective nodal irradiation (ENI) has been used in clinical trials that have established thoracic radiotherapy as instrumental in improving survival for patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC). However, several reports have suggested that the omission of ENI might be appropriate. Current US practice patterns are unknown regarding ENI for patients with LS-SCLC.

Predictors of linear accelerator versus Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery use for brain metastases in the United States.

Introduction: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for brain metastases is predominantly delivered via single-fraction Gamma Knife SRS (GKRS) or linear accelerator (LINAC) in up to five fractions. Predictors of SRS modality have been sparsely examined on a nationwide level.

Methods: An observational cohort study was performed on patients receiving SRS for brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer from 2010 to 2016 at Commission on Cancer-accredited hospitals throughout the United States (US).