Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a common cause of pain and disability in the United States. Many patients experience pain that is refractory or unable to be treated by traditional treatments such as exercise, physical therapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and/or cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors. For patients with medically refractory disease, intra-articular corticosteroid therapy, hyaluronic acid, or surgery can be considered.

American Society of Clinical Oncology 2022 Annual Meeting Highlights for Radiation Oncologists.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting is the largest multidisciplinary oncology-focused conference in the world. With almost 5000 total abstracts in 2022, it is difficult for individuals to evaluate all the results. Here we present a review of 28 selected abstracts, across all disease sites, focusing on those of greatest relevance to radiation oncologists.

Unsealed Source: Scope of Practice for Radiopharmaceuticals Among United States Radiation Oncologists.

Purpose: Our purpose was to determine the utilization of and barriers to implementation of radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) among U.S. radiation oncologists.

The Use of Low-Dose Radiation Therapy in Osteoarthritis: A Review.

Despite its clinical use and investigation in other countries, low dose radiation therapy (LDRT) in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) is minimally used in the United States (US). Numerous recent studies published outside the US have shown moderate to long-term pain relief and improvement of mobility after treatment with LDRT for joints affected by OA. Here, we review the most recent literature published on the use of LDRT in OA.

Correction to 'Tumor-selective, antigen-independent delivery of a pH sensitive peptide-topoisomerase inhibitor conjugate suppresses tumor growth without systemic toxicity'.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/narcan/zcab021.].

Tumor-selective, antigen-independent delivery of a pH sensitive peptide-topoisomerase inhibitor conjugate suppresses tumor growth without systemic toxicity.

Topoisomerase inhibitors are potent DNA damaging agents which are widely used in oncology, and they demonstrate robust synergistic tumor cell killing in combination with DNA repair inhibitors, including poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. However, their use has been severely limited by the inability to achieve a favorable therapeutic index due to severe systemic toxicities. Antibody-drug conjugates address this issue via antigen-dependent targeting and delivery of their payloads, but this approach requires specific antigens and yet still suffers from off-target toxicities.

An Evaluation of Health Numeracy among Radiation Therapists and Dosimetrists.

Purpose: Medical errors in radiation oncology sometimes involve tasks reliant on practitioners' grasp of numeracy. Numeracy has been shown to be suboptimal across various health care professionals. Herein, we assess health numeracy among American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) members.

Genetic characterization of a case of sellar metastasis from bronchial carcinoid neuroendocrine tumor.

Background: Metastasis to the pituitary gland from neuroendocrine tumors is a rare occurrence that may originate from primary tumors the lung, gastrointestinal tract, thyroid, and pancreas, among others. Patients may present with signs of endocrine dysfunction secondary to pituitary involvement, as well as mass effect-related symptoms including headaches and visual deficits. Despite a small but accumulating body of literature describing the clinical and histopathological correlates for pituitary metastases from neuroendocrine tumors, the genetic basis underlying this presentation remains poorly characterized.

Laser interstitial thermal therapy for treatment of cerebral radiation necrosis.

Radiation necrosis is a well described complication after radiosurgical treatment of intracranial pathologies - best recognized after the treatment of patients with arteriovenous malformations and brain metastases but possibly also affecting patients treated with radiosurgery for meningioma. The pathophysiology of radiation necrosis is still not well understood but is most likely a secondary local tissue inflammatory response to brain tissue injured by radiation. Radiation necrosis in brain metastases patients may present radiographically and behave clinically like recurrent tumor.

Persistent mutation despite multimodal therapy in recurrent pediatric glioblastoma.

Similar to their adult counterparts, the prognosis for pediatric patients with high-grade gliomas remains poor. At time of recurrence, treatment options are limited and remain without consensus. This report describes the genetic findings, obtained from whole-exome sequencing of a pediatric patient with glioblastoma who underwent multiple surgical resections and treatment with standard chemoradiation, as well as a novel recombinant poliovirus vaccine therapy.

Laser Interstitial Thermotherapy for Treatment of Symptomatic Peritumoral Edema After Radiosurgery for Meningioma.

Background: Symptomatic peritumoral edema (PTE) is a known complication after radiosurgical treatment of meningiomas. Although the edema in most patients can be successfully managed conservatively with corticosteroid therapy or bevacizumab, some medically refractory cases may require surgical resection of the underlying lesion when feasible. Laser interstitial thermotherapy (LITT) continues to gain traction as an effective therapeutic modality for the treatment of radiation necrosis where its biggest impact is through the control of peritumoral edema.

Targeting DNA repair in gliomas.

Purpose Of Review: Gliomas represent a disparate group of malignancies with varying clinical outcomes despite a tremendous amount of time, effort, and resources dedicated to their management and understanding. The most aggressive entity, glioblastoma, has a dismal prognosis with poor local control despite intense local and systemic treatment, including radiation therapy.

Recent Findings: Given the heterogeneity in genotype, phenotype, and patient outcomes, researchers and clinicians have turned their attention toward attacking DNA damage response and repair mechanisms in gliomas in an effort to develop novel chemo and radiosensitizers.

Defining an Intermediate-risk Group for Low-grade Glioma: A National Cancer Database Analysis.

Background: RTOG 9802 identified a cohort of patients with age less than 40 years and undergoing gross total resection as having low-risk, low-grade glioma (LR-LGG). European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer studies have demonstrated additional prognostic features in this group. The aim of this study was to analyze clinical factors associated with overall survival (OS), identify a potentially higher risk group within LR-LGG, and investigate patterns of care for adjuvant therapy.

Moderate hypofractionation and stereotactic body radiation therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer.

For prostate cancer radiation therapy, daily sessions spanning approximately 2 months has been considered the standard of care for patients managed with curative intent. In recent years, data has emerged which supports the use of higher dose per fraction schemes leading to a reduced duration of treatment. This form of radiation-generally termed moderate hypofractionation or stereotactic body radiation therapy-increasingly appears to be a safe and effective alternative to the conventional course.

Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma: Trends in Radiation Doses and Patterns of Care 2004-2015.

Background And Aim: Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Since 2009, studies have advocated for low-dose radiotherapy (<30 Gy) given it results in similar response rates and less toxicity compared to higher doses (≥30 Gy). We aimed to see if low-dose radiotherapy has been adopted on a national scale in the USA.

Orally Bioavailable and Blood-Brain Barrier-Penetrating ATM Inhibitor (AZ32) Radiosensitizes Intracranial Gliomas in Mice.

Inhibition of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) during radiotherapy of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) may improve tumor control by short-circuiting the response to radiation-induced DNA damage. A major impediment for clinical implementation is that current inhibitors have limited central nervous system (CNS) bioavailability; thus, the goal was to identify ATM inhibitors (ATMi) with improved CNS penetration. Drug screens and refinement of lead compounds identified AZ31 and AZ32.

DNA Damage Response in Human Stem Cells and Neural Descendants.

Glial cells are crucial for the normal function of neurons and are intricately involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases as well as neurologic malignancies. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which glial cells influence the development of such pathologies will undoubtedly lead to new and improved therapeutic approaches. Commercially available human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), both of which can be differentiated into neural progenitors (NPs) and various neural cell lineages, have become widely used as sources for producing normal human central nervous system (CNS) cells.