Publications by authors named "Libin Scaria"
Purpose: To evaluate clinical outcomes of CT-based adaptive intracavitary and interstitial brachytherapy (IC followed by IC-ISBT) in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) in resource-constrained settings.
Methods And Materials: LACC patients treated with adaptive brachytherapy techniques were analyzed to evaluate treatment characteristics and clinical outcomes. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and the log-rank test for univariate analysis.
Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on improving the accuracy of pelvic intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for cervical cancer, which can sometimes miss its target due to variations in patient positioning and organ shapes.
- A phase 2 study involved 50 patients undergoing treated chemoradiotherapy with specific protocols for bladder and rectum filling, while utilizing adaptive image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) to adjust treatment plans based on daily imaging.
- Results showed significant variation in bladder volume between treatment sessions, with findings indicating that certain factors like chemotherapy sessions affect this variation, which underscores the importance of personalized treatment plans.
Purpose: Higher frequency of transcriptional errors in the radiotherapy electronic charts for patients on telecobalt was noted. We describe the impact of the quality improvement (QI) initiative under the department's incident learning program (ILP).
Materials And Methods: The multidisciplinary quality team under ILP was formed to identify the root cause and introduce methods to reduce (smart goal) the current transcription error rate of 40% to <5% over 12 months.
Purpose: The sigmoid is an important organ at risk for gynecological brachytherapy (BT). However, the reliability of localization of high-dose regions during multi-fractionated treatment is limited. This work reports the methodological development of sigmoid points to summate multi-fractionated doses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To report the clinical outcomes in patients treated with Martinez universal perineal interstitial template (MUPIT)-based interstitial brachytherapy boost for primary and recurrent vault and vaginal cancers, and to perform a comparative analysis with our previously published series of similar patients.
Material And Methods: One hundred and seventeen patients treated between January, 2009 and December, 2015 were evaluated. Descriptive statistics for the patterns of relapse, local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and late toxicities were carried out.
Purpose: Brachytherapy (BT) for cervix cancer was listed as a level I priority and reduced number of implants and multiple fractions were recommended during COVID-19 pandemic. We present early clinical outcome of this approach.
Methods And Materials: Patients treated with (chemo)radiotherapy and BT with single implant and multiple fractions BT were included.
Purpose: The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) under NRG Oncology recently published updated contouring guidelines for intensity modulated radiation therapy in postoperative treatment for endometrial and cervical cancer. The present study was designed to evaluate the implications of newly published guidelines.
Methods And Materials: We recruited 300 patients in a phase 3 randomized controlled trial of adjuvant chemoradiation therapy for cervical cancer (NCT01279135) to understand patterns of relapse.
Purpose: Treatment of isolated post-surgical vault recurrence of cervical and endometrial cancers in previously unirradiated patients includes external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) ± concomitant chemotherapy, followed by brachytherapy (BT) boost. Supra-vaginal component of vault disease often requires interstitial BT for optimal dose coverage. We describe technical details and preliminary case series using modified Houdek vault applicator (MHVA) developed at our institution for limited intra-cavitary plus interstitial high-dose-rate (HDR) vault BT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To report real-world compliance to radiation in gynecologic cancers during the complete lockdown phase of COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods And Materials: From March 23, 2020, until June 30, 2020, complete lockdown was imposed in India. During this period there was restructuring of cancer care and radiation oncology department due to operational policies prevalent in the institution, and the care for gynecological cancer was based on the evolving international recommendations.
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to report dosimetric differences for breast brachytherapy plans optimized for clinical target volume (CTV) generated using conventional isotropic expansion of tumor bed volume (TBV) and Groupe Européen de Curiethérapie-European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (GEC-ESTRO) recommendations to expand the TBV anisotropically to achieve a total safety margin of 2 cm (resection margin size + added safety margin).
Methods: Institutional records of 100 patients who underwent accelerated partial breast irradiation using multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy from May 2015 to March 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. Two sets of CT-based plans were made, one with 1-cm isotropic margins around the tumor bed (CTV_ISO) and the other with anisotropic margins (CTV_GEC).