Volumetric analysis: Rethinking brain metastases response assessment.

Background: The Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology for Brain Metastases (RANO-BM) criteria are the gold standard for assessing brain metastases (BMs) treatment response. However, they are limited by their reliance on 1D, despite the routine use of high-resolution T1-weighted MRI scans for BMs, which allows for 3D measurements. Our study aimed to investigate whether volumetric measurements could improve the response assessment in patients with BMs.

The Management of Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression in Routine Clinical Practice.

(1) Background: Whether clinical management of spinal metastatic disease (SMD) matches evidence-based recommendations is largely unknown. (2) Patients and Methods: A questionnaire was distributed through Spanish Medical Societies, exploring routine practice, interpretation of the SINS and ESCC scores and agreement with items in the Tokuhashi and SINS scales, and NICE guideline recommendations. Questionnaires were completed voluntarily and anonymously, without compensation.

High-Risk Clinicopathological and Genetic Features and Outcomes in Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Radiochemotherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

Administering preoperative radiochemotherapy (RCT) in stage II-III tumors to locally advanced rectal carcinoma patients has proved to be effective in a high percentage of cases. Despite this, 20-30% of patients show no response or even disease progression. At present, preoperative response is assessed by a combination of imaging and tumor regression on histopathology, but recent studies suggest that various genetic abnormalities may be associated with the sensitivity or resistance of rectal cancer tumor cells to neoadjuvant therapy.

Tumor volume delineation in head and neck cancer with 18-fluor-fluorodeoxiglucose positron emission tomography: adaptive thresholding method applied to primary tumors and metastatic lymph nodes.

Purpose: There are several potential advantages of using 18-fluor-fluorodeoxiglucose (18F-FDG) PET for target volume contouring, but before PET-based gross tumor volumes (GTVs) can reliably and reproducibly be incorporated into high-precision radiotherapy planning, operator-independent segmentation tools have to be developed and validated. The purpose of the present work was to apply the adaptive to the signal/background ratio (R(S/B)) thresholding method for head and neck tumor delineation, and compare these GTV(PET) to reference GTV(CT) volumes in order to assess discrepancies.

Materials And Methods: A cohort of 19 patients (39 lesions) with a histological diagnosis of head and neck cancer who would undergo definitive concurrent radiochemotherapy or radical radiotherapy with intensity-modulated radiotherapy technique (IMRT), were enrolled in this prospective study.

Recommendations of the Spanish Societies of Radiation Oncology (SEOR), Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (SEMNiM), and Medical Physics (SEFM) on (18)F-FDG PET-CT for radiotherapy treatment planning.

Positron emission tomography (PET) with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is a valuable tool for diagnosing and staging malignant lesions. The fusion of PET and computed tomography (CT) yields images that contain both metabolic and morphological information, which, taken together, have improved the diagnostic precision of PET in oncology. The main imaging modality for planning radiotherapy treatment is CT.

[Supportive care in radiation oncology].

Over the past two decades radiation oncology has evolved into a high-technology, multi-disciplinary field of medicine which requires not only the command of highly complex modes of treatment but also the grouping together of skilled teams of medical professionals who are able to provide individualized assistance to the cancer patient. Supportive care in Radiation Oncology integrates key aspects of diagnosis and treatment with the objective of alleviating physical and psycho-social co-morbidities inherent in the disease, as well as the treatment of the cancer. This article addresses the impact of treatment on the individual and the issues facing health-provision professionals who provide clinical and supportive care.