RadOncCalc: A Mobile-Friendly Tool to Enhance Radiation Oncology Practice.

This study introduces RadOncCalc, a mobile and web-based platform designed to consolidate oncology research and guidelines into one accessible tool for radiation oncologists. By providing up-to-date dose constraints and contouring guidelines, RadOncCalc enhances clinical decision-making and patient care quality in radiation oncology.

Open RT Structures: A Solution for TG-263 Accessibility.

Purpose: Consistency of nomenclature within radiation oncology is increasingly important as big data efforts and data sharing become more feasible. Automation of radiation oncology workflows depends on standardized contour nomenclature that enables toxicity and outcomes research, while also reducing medical errors and facilitating quality improvement activities. Recommendations for standardized nomenclature have been published in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) report from Task Group 263 (TG-263).

Safety of Radiation Therapy in Patients With Prostate Cancer and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has historically been considered a relative contraindication for pelvic radiation therapy (RT). To date, no systematic review has summarized the toxicity profile of RT for patients with prostate cancer and comorbid IBD.

Methods And Materials: A PRISMA-guided systematic search was conducted on PubMed/Embase for original investigations that reported gastrointestinal (GI; rectal/bowel) toxicity in patients with IBD undergoing RT for prostate cancer.

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.

Local Treatment of the Primary Tumor for Patients With Metastatic Cancer (PRIME-TX): A Meta-Analysis.

Purpose: Local treatment of the primary tumor for patients with metastases is controversial, and prospective data across many disease sites have conflicting conclusions regarding benefits.

Methods And Materials: A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the past 50 years. Inclusion criteria were multi-institutional RCTs of patients with metastatic disease receiving systemic therapy randomized to addition of local treatment to the primary tumor.

The timing and design of stereotactic radiotherapy approaches as a part of neoadjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer: Is it time for change?

Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT) over 5-15 days can be interdigitated without delaying chemotherapy. Bridging chemotherapy may allow for extended intervals to surgery, potentially improving sterilization of surgical margins and overall survival. SRT for pancreatic adenocarcinoma should not be limited to the tumor, and should consider hypofractionated approaches to regional nodes.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy mitigates radiation induced lymphopenia in early stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Radiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL) occurs during treatment with conventional radiation in multiple organ sites. Development of RIL portends poor prognosis. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) spares RIL in pancreatic cancer, but has not been examined in other sites commonly treated with SBRT.

Correlation of dosimetric factors with the development of symptomatic radiation pneumonitis in stereotactic body radiotherapy.

Background: The development of radiation pneumonitis (RP) after Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) is known to be associated with many different factors, although historical analyses of RP have commonly utilized heterogeneous fractionation schemes and methods of reporting. This study aims to correlate dosimetric values and their association with the development of Symptomatic RP according to recent reporting standards as recommended by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Methods: We performed a single-institution retrospective review for patients who received SBRT to the lung from 2010 to 2017.

Radiomic feature stability across 4D respiratory phases and its impact on lung tumor prognosis prediction.

Radiomic analysis has recently demonstrated versatile uses in improving diagnostic and prognostic prediction accuracy for lung cancer. However, since lung tumors are subject to substantial motion due to respiration, the stability of radiomic features over the respiratory cycle of the patient needs to be investigated to better evaluate the robustness of the inter-patient feature variability for clinical applications, and its impact in such applications needs to be assessed. A full panel of 841 radiomic features, including tumor intensity, shape, texture, and wavelet features, were extracted from individual phases of a four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography on 20 early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Concurrent Versus Sequential Chemoradiation for Low-grade Gliomas Meeting RTOG 9802 Criteria.

Purpose: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9802 has established postoperative radiation therapy (RT) and chemotherapy sequentially as the new standard of care for patients with high-risk low-grade glioma (LGG) meeting trial criteria. Although this trial investigated sequential chemoradiation therapy (sCRT) with RT followed by chemotherapy, it is unknown whether concurrent chemoradiation therapy (cCRT) may offer advantages over sCRT.

Materials And Methods: The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for newly diagnosed World Health Organization (WHO) grade II glioma.

Sequencing of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy for Newly Diagnosed Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma and Oligoastrocytoma.

Introduction: Adjuvant management of anaplastic oligodendrogliomas (AOs) and anaplastic oligoastrocytomas (AOAs) is guided by 2 seminal phase III trials, one of which utilized radiotherapy (RT) followed by chemotherapy (CT) (RT-CT), and the other in which CT was followed by RT (CT-RT). Both paradigms are endorsed by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network because no direct comparison in the first-line (nonprogressive) setting has been performed to date. This study of a contemporary national database sought to evaluate practice patterns and outcomes between both approaches.

National Cancer Database report of nonmetastatic esophageal small cell carcinoma.

Background: Esophageal small cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a rare malignancy for which there is no consensus management approach. This is the largest known analysis of nonmetastatic ESCC patients to date, evaluating national practice patterns and outcomes of surgical-based therapy vs chemoradiotherapy (CRT) vs chemotherapy alone.

Methods: The National Cancer Data Base was queried for esophageal cancer patients with histologically confirmed nonmetastatic ESCC.

National practice patterns of proton versus photon therapy in the treatment of adult patients with primary brain tumors in the United States.

Objectives: To examine patterns of care associated with the administration of proton versus photon therapy for adult patients with primary brain tumors in a large national cohort from the United States.

Methods: The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for newly diagnosed primary brain tumors (2004-2014) in adult patients aged 18 and older receiving proton or photon radiotherapy. Clinical features, patient demographics and treatment parameters were extracted.

Patterns of Care for Stage IA Cervical Cancer: Use of Definitive Radiation Therapy Versus Hysterectomy.

Objective: The standard of care for clinical IA cervical cancer is surgery, but nonoperative cases may receive definitive radiation therapy (RT). Herein, we investigated national practice patterns associated with the administration of definitive RT as compared with hysterectomy-based surgery (HYS) as well as delivery of adjuvant RT after HYS.

Methods/materials: The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for clinical IA primary cervical cancer cases (2004-2013) receiving definitive RT or HYS with or without adjuvant RT.

Patterns of care and outcomes with the addition of chemotherapy to radiation therapy for stage I nasopharyngeal cancer.

Purpose: The standard of care for stage I (T1N0) nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is definitive radiotherapy (RT). Given the phase III evidence supporting combined chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for stage II NPC, we investigated practice patterns and outcomes associated with administration of chemotherapy to RT alone for stage I NPC.

Methods: The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for clinical T1N0 primary NPC cases (2004-2013) receiving curative-intent RT.

Anatomic structure-based deformable image registration of brachytherapy implants in the treatment of locally advanced cervix cancer.

Purpose: To examine the impact of anatomic structure-based image sets in deformable image registration (DIR) for cervical cancer patients.

Methods And Materials: CT examinations of 7 patients previously treated for locally advanced cervical cancer with external beam radiation therapy and from three to five fractions of high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) were used. Structure-based image sets were created from "free" structures already made for planning purposes, with each structure of interest assigned a unique, homogeneous Hounsfield number.