Intestinal microbiota composition is predictive of radiotherapy-induced acute gastrointestinal toxicity in prostate cancer patients.

Background: The search for factors beyond the radiotherapy dose that could identify patients more at risk of developing radio-induced toxicity is essential to establish personalised treatment protocols for improving the quality-of-life of survivors. To investigate the role of the intestinal microbiota in the development of radiotherapy-induced gastrointestinal toxicity, the MicroLearner observational cohort study characterised the intestinal microbiota of 136 (discovery) and 79 (validation) consecutive prostate cancer patients at baseline radiotherapy.

Methods: Gastrointestinal toxicity was assessed weekly during RT using CTCAE.

A monocentric, open-label randomized standard-of-care controlled study of XONRID®, a medical device for the prevention and treatment of radiation-induced dermatitis in breast and head and neck cancer patients.

Background: This study was an open-label, 2-arms, monocentric, randomized clinical trial comparing Xonrid®, a topical medical device, versus standard of care (SOC) in preventing and treating acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) in Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) and Breast Cancer (BC) patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT).

Methods: Eligible HNC and BC patients were randomized 1:1 to receive Xonrid® + SOC or SOC during RT. Patients were instructed to apply Xonrid® on the irradiated area three times daily, starting on the first day of RT and until 2 weeks after RT completion or until the development of grade ≥ 3 skin toxicity.

Hypofractionated irradiation in 794 elderly breast cancer patients: An observational study.

To assess the efficacy, and the acute and late toxicity of hypofractionated radiotherapy (Hypo-RT), and the impact of age and comorbidities on disease progression and death in elderly breast cancer (BC) patients. Women aged ≥65 years who received Hypo-RT (42.4 Gy in 16 fractions, plus a boost for high-risk patients) were considered for the present analysis.

Interobserver variability (between radiation oncologist and radiation therapist) in tumor bed contouring after breast-conserving surgery.

Purpose: To examine interobserver variability between the radiation oncologist (RTO) and the radiation therapist (RTT) in delineating the tumor bed (TB) in early breast cancer (BC).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients who received a radiotherapy boost to the TB. In a first group, the clinical target volume (CTV) for the boost was the surgical bed, defined by using surgical clips.

Radiotherapy with the anti-programmed cell death ligand-1 immune checkpoint blocker avelumab: acute toxicities in triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is clinically the most aggressive breast cancer (BC) subtype. There is an urgent need for effective therapies for patients with TNBC. Recent findings confirm the important role of factors related to the immune system in the clinical outcome and response to treatment of TNBC patients.

Discontinuation of hormone therapy for elderly breast cancer patients after hypofractionated whole-breast radiotherapy.

The purpose of the study was to examine adherence to hormone therapy (HT) in elderly breast cancer patients (≥ 65 years old) treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy. We analyzed data on 550 ER-positive breast cancer patients given hypofractionated whole-breast radiotherapy from June 2009 to September 2016. Baseline comorbidities considered in the hypertension-augmented Charlson Comorbidity Index (hCCI) were retrospectively retrieved.

Hypofractionated Whole-Breast Irradiation With or Without Boost in Elderly Patients: Clinical Evaluation of an Italian Experience.

Purpose: To examine local control, disease-free survival (DFS), and toxicity in elderly (≥ 65 years) breast cancer patients treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy (hypo-RT) with or without a boost to the tumor bed.

Patients And Methods: The study was conducted on 752 patients treated from April 2009 to February 2017. Patients received 42.

Variability in axillary lymph node delineation for breast cancer radiotherapy in presence of guidelines on a multi-institutional platform.

Aim: To quantify the variability between radiation oncologists (ROs) when outlining axillary nodes in breast cancer.

Material And Methods: For each participating center, three ROs with different levels of expertise, i.e.

Comparison of two radiation techniques for the breast boost in patients undergoing neoadjuvant treatment for breast cancer.

Objective: After breast conservative surgery (BCS) and whole-breast radiotherapy (WBRT), the use of boost irradiation is recommended especially in patients at high risk. However, the standard technique and the definition of the boost volume have not been well defined.

Methods: We retrospectively compared an anticipated pre-operative photon boost on the tumour, administered with low-dose fractionated radiotherapy, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy with two different sequential boost techniques, administered after BCS and standard adjuvant WBRT: (1) a standard photon beam (2) and an electron beam technique on the tumour bed of the same patients.

Axillary coverage by whole breast irradiation in 1 to 2 positive sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the dosimetric coverage of axillary levels I, II, and III obtained with standard whole breast irradiation in 1 to 2 positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) patients not submitted to axillary lymph nodes dissection (ALND), and to compare the lymph nodes areas coverage obtained with 3D conformal radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).

Methods: Patients with 1 to 2 positive SLNs undergoing breast-conserving therapy, without ALND, were included in the analysis. For each patient, 3 treatment plans were performed: a 3D conventional tangential plan, a static IMRT plan, and a volumetric IMRT, designed to encompass the entire breast parenchyma.

Image guided hypofractionated radiotherapy and quality of life for localized prostate cancer: prospective longitudinal study in 337 patients.

Purpose: We prospectively analyzed quality of life in a cohort of patients with prostate cancer undergoing a course of hypofractionated image guided radiotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Between August 2006 and January 2011, 337 patients with a median age of 73 years who had cT1-T2N0M0 prostate cancer were eligible for this prospective, longitudinal study of hypofractionated image guided radiotherapy (70.2 Gy/26 fractions) using 1 of 3 image guided radiotherapy modalities (transabdominal ultrasound, x-ray or cone beam computerized tomography) available in our radiation oncology department.