Palliative radiotherapy utilization for cancer patients at end of life in British Columbia: retrospective cohort study.

Background: The use of palliative radiotherapy (PRT) is variable in advanced cancer. Little is known about PRT utilization by end-of-life (EOL) cancer patients in Canada. This study examined the PRT utilization rates and factors associated with its use in a cohort of cancer patients who died in British Columbia (BC).

Tumor-associated autoantibodies correlate with poor outcome in prostate cancer patients treated with androgen deprivation and external beam radiation therapy.

Standard cancer treatments trigger immune responses that may influence tumor control. The nature of these responses varies depending on the tumor and the treatment modality. We previously reported that radiation and androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) induce tumor-associated autoantibody responses in prostate cancer patients.

Impact of quality assurance rounds in a Canadian radiation therapy department.

Purpose: Quality assurance (QA) programs aim to identify inconsistencies that may compromise patient care. Radiation treatment planning is a well-documented source of variation in radiation oncology, leading many organizations to recommend the implementation of QA rounds in which radiation therapy plans are peer reviewed. This study evaluates the outcome of QA rounds that have been conducted by a radiation therapy department since 2004.

Use of combined androgen blockade for advanced prostate cancer in British Columbia.

Objectives: Initial androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for metastatic prostate cancer with combined androgen blockade (luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone agonist [LHRH agonist] plus antiandrogen) is not recommended in British Columbia (BC). However, this is difficult to monitor since ADT includes concurrent antiandrogen for the first month of LHRH agonist to prevent disease flare. We describe the prevalence of CAB use in BC and its financial impact.

Does neoadjuvant hormone therapy improve outcome in prostate cancer patients receiving radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy?

Purpose: To assess outcome and predictive factors in men with prostate cancer who receive post radical prostatectomy (RP) radiotherapy (RT) either in the adjuvant or salvage setting, with or without neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (NADT).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 175 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer treated with RP who subsequently received RT (dose range 50 Gy-68 Gy). Twenty-two patients received adjuvant RT (ART), 57 received NADT + ART, 15 received salvage RT (SRT), and 81 received NADT + SRT.

The median non-prostate cancer survival is more than 10 years for men up to age 80 years who are selected and receive curative radiation treatment for prostate cancer.

Treatment guidelines recommend that curative radiation treatment of prostate cancer be offered only to men whose life expectancy is greater than 10 years. The average life expectancy of North American males is less than 10 years after age 75, yet many men older than 75 years receive curative radiation treatment for prostate cancer. This study used the provincial cancer registry in British Columbia, Canada, to determine median non-prostate cancer survival for men who were aged 75 to 82 years at start of radiation treatment.

Pretreatment PSA velocity as a predictor of disease outcome following radical radiation therapy.

Purpose: Pretreatment prostate-specific antigen velocity (PSAV) greater than 2.0 ng/mL/year has been identified as a predictor of disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) after radiotherapy for prostate adenocarcinoma. This study aimed to independently verify if pretreatment PSAV is associated with biochemical disease-free survival (bDFS), DSS, or OS in men undergoing radiation therapy.

Standard treatments induce antigen-specific immune responses in prostate cancer.

Purpose: Prostate tumors express antigens that are recognized by the immune system in a significant proportion of patients; however, little is known about the effect of standard treatments on tumor-specific immunity. Radiation therapy induces expression of inflammatory and immune-stimulatory molecules, and neoadjuvant hormone therapy causes prominent T-cell infiltration of prostate tumors. We therefore hypothesized that radiation therapy and hormone therapy may initiate tumor-specific immune responses.

The changing age distribution of prostate cancer in Canada.

Background: Prostate cancer incidence rates are still increasing steadily; mortality rates are levelling, possibly decreasing; and hospitalization rates for many diagnoses are decreasing. Our objective is to examine changes in age distributions of prostate cancer during these times of change.

Methods: Prostate cancer cases were derived from the Canadian Cancer Registry, prostate cancer deaths from Vital Statistics, hospitalizations from the Hospital Morbidity File.

Trends in prostate cancer incidence, hospital utilization and surgical procedures, Canada, 1981-2000.

Background: Numbers of new prostate cancer cases in Canada continue to increase because of increasing prostate cancer incidence, population growth, aging of the population, and earlier detection methods such as PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing. Concern has been expressed that PSA-related increases in incidence will make unaffordable demands on Canadian hospital resources. Our objective is to relate increases in prostate cancer incidence to trends in hospitalizations and in- patient treatment.

Prospective evaluation of the prevalence and severity of fatigue in patients with prostate cancer undergoing radical external beam radiotherapy and neoadjuvant hormone therapy.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the prevalence and severity of fatigue and its impact on quality of life (QOL) during and after radical external beam radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer.

Method And Materials: Twenty-eight men with prostate cancer undergoing RT over 6-8 consecutive weeks were prospectively accrued. The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), a validated fatigue assessment tool, was administered at five time points: baseline (week 1), middle of RT (week 3-4), end of RT (last week of RT), and follow-up (median 6.

Neoadjuvant hormone therapy and external-beam radiation for localized high-risk prostate cancer: the importance of PSA nadir before radiation.

Purpose: To examine the impact of various patient, disease, and treatment characteristics on outcome in patients treated with neoadjuvant hormone therapy (NAHT) and external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for clinically localized, high-risk prostate adenocarcinoma (initial prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level >20, Gleason score 8-10 or Stage > or = T3).

Methods And Materials: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 407 patients treated between 1991 and 2001 with NAHT and EBRT for high-risk prostate cancer. The effect of tumor (PSA level, Gleason score, and T stage) and treatment (NAHT duration, total-hormone duration, preradiation PSA) characteristics on rates of biochemical disease-free survival (bDFS), prostate cancer-specific survival, and overall survival were examined.

Correction of systematic setup errors in prostate radiation therapy: how many images to perform?

The purpose of this study was to develop an evidence-based off-line setup correction protocol for systematic errors in prostate radiation therapy. Daily orthogonal electronic portal images were acquired from 30 patients. Field displacements were measured in the medial-lateral (ML), superior-inferior (SI), and anterior-posterior (AP) directions for each treatment fraction.

Mapping the journey of cancer patients through the health care system. Part 3: An approach to staging.

This is the third in a series of articles relating results from a line of research whose intent was to construct a complete history of patient interactions with the health care system using available data sources for all patients diagnosed in 1990 with a primary breast, colorectal, or lung tumour in Manitoba. This article presents details of the development and application of methods to produce TNM staging data on the roughly 2,000 patients in this population. The operational definitions constructed for this research can be adapted for other tumour sites and data sources.

Mapping the journey of cancer patients through the health care system. Part 2: Methodological approaches and basic findings.

This is the second in a series of articles from a line of research whose intent was to construct a complete history of interactions with the health care system. This paper provides details of the methods developed to collect and collate the scattered information regarding the event history (trajectory) that a cancer patient experiences in traveling through the Manitoba health care system from one year prior to diagnosis through to two years post-diagnosis. Survival data were obtained through 1994.

Mapping the journey of cancer patients through health care system. Part 1: developing the research question.

This is the first in a series of articles relating results from research which constructed a complete history of interactions with the health care system from available data sources for all patients diagnosed in 1990 with primary breast, colorectal, or lung tumours in Manitoba from one year prior to diagnosis through to two years post-diagnosis. This article presents the motivation and genesis for this line of research. The study evolved from the question of "What happens to a person who is diagnosed with cancer?" into a major research endeavour encompassing a broad spectrum of philosophic and clinical research questions.

Randomized phase III trial of single versus fractionated thoracic radiation in the palliation of patients with lung cancer (NCIC CTG SC.15).

Purpose: This multi-institutional Phase III randomized study compared 10 Gy single-fraction radiotherapy (RT) with 20 Gy in five fractions in the palliation of thoracic symptoms from lung cancer.

Methods And Materials: The primary end point was palliation of thoracic symptoms at 1 month after RT, evaluated by a patient-completed daily diary card. Secondary end points included quality of life, toxicity, and survival.

Incorrect biochemistry complicates prostate cancer management.

A man with a prostate specific antigen (PSA) of 6.1 ng/mL, a clinical stage T2b prostate nodule and biopsies that showed Gleason sum 6 adenocarcinoma of the prostate underwent a radical prostatectomy. The final pathology showed organ-confined disease.