Survival in Patients With Spinal Metastatic Disease Treated Nonoperatively With Radiotherapy: Are the SORG-ML Algorithms Relevant?

Summary Of Background Data: The SORG-ML algorithms for survival in spinal metastatic disease were developed in patients who underwent surgery and were externally validated for patients managed operatively.

Objective: To externally validate the SORG-ML algorithms for survival in spinal metastatic disease in patients managed nonoperatively with radiation.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.

NRG Oncology/RTOG1205: A Randomized Phase II Trial of Concurrent Bevacizumab and Reirradiation Versus Bevacizumab Alone as Treatment for Recurrent Glioblastoma.

Purpose: To assess whether reirradiation (re-RT) and concurrent bevacizumab (BEV) improve overall survival (OS) and/or progression-free survival (PFS), compared with BEV alone in recurrent glioblastoma (GBM). The primary objective was OS, and secondary objectives included PFS, response rate, and treatment adverse events (AEs) including delayed CNS toxicities.

Methods: NRG Oncology/RTOG1205 is a prospective, phase II, randomized trial of re-RT and BEV versus BEV alone.

Long-term outcomes and late toxicity of adult medulloblastoma treated with combined modality therapy: A contemporary single-institution experience.

Background: Medulloblastoma (MB) is a rare central nervous system malignancy of adults, with limited contemporary studies to define treatment guidelines and expected late toxicity.

Methods: A single-center, retrospective study was conducted of patients age ≥18 years from 1997-2019 with MB and who were treated with postoperative radiotherapy. Late toxicity was defined as a minimum of 18 months from diagnosis.

Adjuvant Radiation Therapy Versus Surveillance After Surgical Resection of Atypical Meningiomas.

Purpose: The optimal timing of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) in the management of atypical meningiomas remains controversial. We compared the outcomes of atypical meningiomas managed with upfront adjuvant RT versus postoperative surveillance.

Methods And Materials: Patients with intracranial atypical meningiomas who underwent resection between 2000 and 2015 at a single institution were identified.

Early experience with hippocampal avoidance whole brain radiation therapy and simultaneous integrated boost for brain metastases.

Purpose: Cranial irradiation results in cognitive decline, which is hypothesized to be partially attributable to hippocampal injury and stem cell loss. Recent advances allow for targeted reduction of radiation dose to the hippocampi while maintaining adequate dose coverage to the brain parenchyma and additional increasing dose to brain metastases, a approach called hippocampal avoidance whole brain radiation therapy with a simultaneous integrated boost (HA-WBRT + SIB.) We review our early clinical experience with HA-WBRT + SIB.

Post-operative radiation therapy to the surgical cavity with standard fractionation in patients with brain metastases.

The paradigm for post-operative cavity radiation therapy has shifted to more targeted, less morbid approaches. Single-fraction or hypofractionated radiation therapy is a common approach to treating the postoperative cavity but is associated with a local failure rate 20-40%. We employed an alternative treatment strategy involving fractionated partial brain radiation therapy to the surgical cavity.

Radiation and chemotherapy for high-risk lower grade gliomas: Choosing between temozolomide and PCV.

Purpose: The majority of patients with high-risk lower grade gliomas (LGG) are treated with single-agent temozolomide (TMZ) and radiotherapy despite three randomized trials showing a striking overall survival benefit with adjuvant procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine (PCV) chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This article aims to evaluate the evidence and rationale for the widespread use of TMZ instead of PCV for high-risk LGG.

Methods And Materials: We conducted a literature search utilizing PubMed for articles investigating the combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for high-risk LGG and analyzed the results of these studies.

Atypical Histopathological Features and the Risk of Treatment Failure in Nonmalignant Meningiomas: A Multi-Institutional Analysis.

Background: Histopathological grading of meningiomas is insufficient for optimal risk stratification. The purpose of the present study was to determine the prognostic value of atypical histopathological features across all nonmalignant meningiomas (World Health Organization [WHO] grade I-II).

Methods: The data from 334 patients with WHO grade I (n = 275) and grade II (n = 59) meningiomas who had undergone surgical resection from 2001 to 2015 at 2 academic centers were pooled.

Volumetric and actuarial analysis of brain necrosis in proton therapy using a novel mixture cure model.

Background And Purpose: High-dose fractionated radiotherapy is often necessary to achieve long-term tumor control in several types of tumors involving or within close proximity to the brain. There is limited data to guide on optimal constraints to the adjacent nontarget brain. This investigation explored the significance of the three-dimensional (3D) dose distribution of passive scattering proton therapy to the brain with other clinicopathological factors on the development of symptomatic radiation necrosis.

Long-term outcomes and late adverse effects of a prospective study on proton radiotherapy for patients with low-grade glioma.

Background: Patients with low-grade gliomas (LGG) can survive years with their illness. Proton radiotherapy (PRT) can reduce off-target dose and decrease the risk of treatment-related morbidity. We examined long-term morbidity following proton therapy in this updated prospective cohort of patients with LGG.

Predicting 90-Day and 1-Year Mortality in Spinal Metastatic Disease: Development and Internal Validation.

Background: Increasing prevalence of metastatic disease has been accompanied by increasing rates of surgical intervention. Current tools have poor to fair predictive performance for intermediate (90-d) and long-term (1-yr) mortality.

Objective: To develop predictive algorithms for spinal metastatic disease at these time points and to provide patient-specific explanations of the predictions generated by these algorithms.

Patterns of Failure Among Patients With Low-grade Glioma Treated With Proton Radiation Therapy.

Purpose: Proton treatment may be a useful radiation therapy modality for long-term surviving patients with glioma to reduce normal tissue toxicities. Photon studies demonstrate that most low-grade glioma (LGG) failures occur within the radiation field, supporting the use of more conformal treatment plans, yet it is unclear whether this can be translated to proton radiation therapy (PRT). Our objective is to examine our institutional experience to determine patterns of failure in patients with LGG with respect to the volume irradiated with PRT.

Hypopituitarism After Cranial Irradiation for Meningiomas: A Single-Institution Experience.

Purpose: Patients undergoing cranial irradiation are at high risk for development of subsequent pituitary deficiencies. Patients with meningiomas can expect to live many years after treatment and are therefore particularly vulnerable to long-term sequalae of radiation therapy (RT). The purpose of this study was to determine the rates and timing of onset of pituitary dysfunction across each hypothalamic-pituitary axis in patients with meningiomas in the sellar region.

Increase of pseudoprogression and other treatment related effects in low-grade glioma patients treated with proton radiation and temozolomide.

Introduction: Concurrent radiotherapy and temozolomide (TMZ) is associated with radiographic pseudoprogression (PsP) in glioblastoma. The occurrence of PsP and other treatment effects is less well understood in low-grade gliomas (LGG). The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the addition of TMZ to radiotherapy increases the incidence of PsP in adults with LGG treated with proton radiotherapy (PRT).

Development of Machine Learning Algorithms for Prediction of 30-Day Mortality After Surgery for Spinal Metastasis.

Background: Preoperative prognostication of short-term postoperative mortality in patients with spinal metastatic disease can improve shared decision making around end-of-life care.

Objective: To (1) develop machine learning algorithms for prediction of short-term mortality and (2) deploy these models in an open access web application.

Methods: The American College of Surgeons, National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was used to identify patients that underwent operative intervention for metastatic disease.

Enrichment of Amplification in Brain Metastases from Primary Gastrointestinal Malignancies.

Background: In nongastric gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, HER2-positive (HER2+) disease is not common. In breast cancer, HER2 status is associated with increased risk of brain metastases and response to HER2-targeted therapy. The purpose of this project was to compare HER2 status in GI cancer brain metastases versus matched prior sites of disease in order to determine if HER2+ disease is more common intracranially.

Spinal Growth Patterns After Craniospinal Irradiation in Children With Medulloblastoma.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the impact on spine growth in children with medulloblastoma using either photon or electron craniospinal irradiation (CSI).

Methods And Materials: This was a single institution retrospective review of children who were treated with CSI for medulloblastoma. Spine growth was measured on magnetic resonance imaging scans at defined locations on the basis of a published predictive model of spine growth after CSI.

The impact of timing of immunotherapy with cranial irradiation in melanoma patients with brain metastases: intracranial progression, survival and toxicity.

Immunotherapy (IT) is increasingly incorporated in the management of metastatic melanoma patients with brain metastases, but the impact of timing of IT with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the temporal significance of IT in melanoma patients treated with cranial radiation therapy (RT) with respect to patterns of intracranial progression, overall survival (OS), and toxicity. We retrospectively reviewed consecutive melanoma patients with brain metastases undergoing cranial RT and IT between 2008 and 2015.

Safety of Combined PD-1 Pathway Inhibition and Intracranial Radiation Therapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Introduction: Intracranial metastases are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with advanced NSCLC, and are frequently managed with radiation therapy (RT). The safety of cranial RT in the setting of treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has not been established.

Methods: We identified patients with advanced NSCLC with brain metastases who received cranial RT and were treated with or without programmed cell death 1/programmed death ligand 1 inhibitors between August 2013 and September 2016.

Consensus Contouring Guidelines for Postoperative Completely Resected Cavity Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases.

Purpose: To propose contouring guidelines based on consensus contours generated by 10 international experts for cavity stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), an emerging treatment option after surgical resection of brain metastases. No guidelines for contouring the surgical cavity volume have been previously reported.

Methods And Materials: Ten postoperative completely resected cases with varying clinical scenarios and locations within the brain were selected.

The impact of different stereotactic radiation therapy regimens for brain metastases on local control and toxicity.

Purpose: Stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) enables focused, short course, high dose per fraction radiation delivery to brain tumors that are less ideal for single fraction treatment because of size, shape, or close proximity to sensitive structures. We sought to identify optimal SRT treatment regimens for maximizing local control while minimizing morbidity.

Methods And Materials: We performed a retrospective review of patients treated with SRT for solid brain metastases using variable dose schedules between 2001 and 2011 at 3 academic hospitals.

Histopathological prognostic factors of recurrence following definitive therapy for atypical and malignant meningiomas.

OBJECTIVE Patients with atypical and malignant (WHO Grade II and III) meningiomas have a worse prognosis than patients with benign (WHO Grade I) meningiomas. However, there is limited understanding of the pathological risk factors that affect long-term tumor control following combined treatment with surgery and radiation therapy. Here, the authors identify clinical and histopathological risk factors for the progression and/or recurrence (P/R) of high-grade meningiomas based on the largest series of patients with atypical and malignant meningiomas, as defined by the 2007 WHO classification.

Alectinib Dose Escalation Reinduces Central Nervous System Responses in Patients with Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Relapsing on Standard Dose Alectinib.

The central nervous system (CNS) is an important and increasingly recognized site of treatment failure in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving ALK inhibitors. In this report, we describe two ALK-positive patients who experienced initial improvements in CNS metastases on standard dose alectinib (600 mg twice daily), but who subsequently experienced recurrences with symptomatic leptomeningeal metastases. Both patients were dose-escalated to alectinib 900 mg twice daily, resulting in repeat clinical and radiographic responses.

Imaging and extent of surgical resection predict risk of meningioma recurrence better than WHO histopathological grade.

Background: Risk stratification of meningiomas by histopathological grade alone does not reliably predict which patients will progress/recur after treatment. We sought to determine whether preoperative imaging and clinical characteristics could predict histopathological grade and/or improve prognostication of progression/recurrence (P/R).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed preoperative MR and CT imaging features of 144 patients divided into low-grade (2007 WHO grade I; n = 118) and high-grade (2007 WHO grades II/III; n = 26) groups that underwent surgery between 2002 and 2013 (median follow-up of 49 months).

Neurocognitive effects of proton radiation therapy in adults with low-grade glioma.

To understand neurocognitive effects of proton radiation therapy (PRT) in patients with low-grade glioma, we evaluated 20 patients who received this therapy prospectively and over 5 years with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. 20 patients were evaluated at baseline and at yearly intervals for up to 5 years with a battery of neuropsychological measures that assessed intellectual, attention, executive, visuospatial and memory functions as well as mood and functional status. We evaluated change in cognitive functioning over time.