ED visits, hospital admissions and treatment breaks in head/neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Objectives: Radiation therapy (RT) is an integral part of treatment of head/neck cancer (HNC) but is associated with many toxicities. We sought to evaluate sociodemographic, pathologic, and clinical factors associated with emergency department (ED) visits, hospital admissions (HA), and RT breaks in HNC patients undergoing curative-intent RT.

Methods: We completed a Level 3 (Oxford criteria for evidence-based medicine) analysis of a cohort of HNC patients who underwent curative-intent RT at our institution from 2013 to 2017.

Opioid use patterns in patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiation therapy: Single-institution retrospective analysis characterizing patients who did not require opioid therapy.

Background: We had previously analyzed the variables that determine the rates of opioid use at 1-year postradiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer. Here we analyze the variables associated with opioid abstinence during and in the 12 months after radiotherapy at our institution.

Methods: We identified a cohort of patients with head and neck cancer who received radiotherapy as part of curative treatment at our institution.

Toxicity reduction required for MRI-guided radiotherapy to be cost-effective in the treatment of localized prostate cancer.

Objective: To determine the toxicity reduction required to justify the added costs of MRI-guided radiotherapy (MR-IGRT) over CT-based image guided radiotherapy (CT-IGRT) for the treatment of localized prostate cancer.

Methods: The costs of delivering prostate cancer radiotherapy with MR-IGRT and CT-IGRT in conventional 39 fractions and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) 5 fractions schedules were determined using literature values and cost accounting from two institutions. Gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicity rates associated with CT-IGRT were summarized from 20 studies.

Long-term opioid use in curative-intent radiotherapy: One-Year outcomes in head/neck cancer patients.

Background: No study has determined the incidence of long-term opioid use, or risk factors for long-term use, ≥1 year after radiotherapy.

Methods: Medical records of 276 head/neck cancer patients were retrospectively assessed for persistent opioid use 1-year after curative-intent radiotherapy. Numerous potential risk factors were assessed and the physicians' documented reasons for continued use were qualitatively categorized as suspected opioid use disorder (OUD) or as medically indicated for control of ongoing pain.