Development and implementation of a brachytherapy procedure scoring system to optimize clinic and physics staffing schedule: A retrospective study of a single institution with a busy brachytherapy program.

Purpose: Brachytherapy (BT) is a time and resource intensive treatment modality. Constraints to efficiency and throughput include resource, staff and physician availability. Herein, we introduce a daily BT procedure scorecard, designed to ensure adequate resource allocation based on the type of procedure(s) being performed.

Re-treatment of locally recurrent uveal melanoma with repeat eye plaque I-125 brachytherapy: A single institution experience.

Purpose: Eye plaque brachytherapy (EPBT) is the most common treatment for uveal melanoma with high local control rates of 95-100%. When local recurrences occur following EPBT, salvage options include enucleation, transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT), external beam radiation, or re-irradiation with EPBT. The purpose of this study is to report our institution's experience with EPBT re-irradiation for locally recurrent uveal melanoma.

Retrospective Analysis of Radiation-Induced Complications of Uveal Melanoma Patients Treated With Brachytherapy in the Era of Anti-VEGF.

Purpose: To associate clinical factors and radiation doses delivered by iodine-125 plaque brachytherapy to visual outcomes and development of radiation-induced ocular complications in patients with uveal melanoma in the era of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed for 225 patients treated with iodine-125 brachytherapy for uveal melanoma.

Synthetic Megavoltage Cone Beam Computed Tomography Image Generation for Improved Contouring Accuracy of Cardiac Pacemakers.

In this study, we aimed to enhance the contouring accuracy of cardiac pacemakers by improving their visualization using deep learning models to predict MV CBCT images based on kV CT or CBCT images. Ten pacemakers and four thorax phantoms were included, creating a total of 35 combinations. Each combination was imaged on a Varian Halcyon (kV/MV CBCT images) and Siemens SOMATOM CT scanner (kV CT images).

Radiation Pneumonitis, Really? A Case of Pulmonary Toxicity from CDK4/6 Inhibitor.

Background/aim: Radiation pneumonitis is a known complication of radiotherapy. It is also a rare complication of CDK4/6 inhibitors, and it can be difficult to differentiate the two. This is a report of a case of pulmonary toxicity from a CDK4/6 inhibitor, which was initially ascribed to radiation pneumonitis.

A feasibility study of utilizing a cadaveric training model for novel robotic bladder cancer brachytherapy techniques.

Purpose: The current standard of care for muscle-invasive bladder cancer is neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical cystectomy with lymph node dissection. Although this treatment provides therapeutic benefit, it is associated with notable morbidity. Bladder sparing techniques, such as concurrent chemo-radiation, are less invasive and prioritize organ preservation in individuals with invasive bladder cancer and offer comparable disease control.

Three-year outcomes of uveal melanoma treated with intra-operative ultrasound-guided iodine-125 brachytherapy using custom-built eye plaques.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to demonstrate that uveal melanoma (UM) treated with eye plaque brachytherapy (EPB) with intra-operative ultrasound (IOUS) guidance results in increased local control.

Material And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted among 212 patients with 214 UM tumors treated by iodine-125 EPB with IOUS guidance from 2013 to 2019. 85 Gy was prescribed to tumor apical height or 5 mm from inner sclera, whichever was greater.

DMSA-SPECT: A Novel Approach to Nephron Sparing SBRT for Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Purpose: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatment planning for renal cell carcinoma requires accurate delineation of tumor from normal tissue due to the radiosensitivity of normal renal cortical tissue. Tc-99m dimercapto succinic acid (DMSA) renal imaging is a functional imaging technique that precisely differentiates normal renal cortical tissue from tumor. There are no prior publications reporting using this imaging modality for SBRT treatment planning.

Salivary and Dental Complications in Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated With Radiation Therapy to the Head and Neck: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review.

Purpose: Radiation therapy (RT) to the head and neck (H&N) region is critical in the management of various pediatric malignancies; however, it may result in late toxicity. This comprehensive review from the Pediatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic (PENTEC) initiative focused on salivary dysfunction and dental abnormalities in survivors who received RT to the H&N region as children.

Materials & Methods: This systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method.

Adaptive Radiation Therapy for Intact Thymoma: An Illustrative Report.

Background/aim: Adaptive radiation therapy (ART) is a technique capable of reducing radiation dose to normal tissue without compromising local control. For potentially resectable thymoma, induction therapy is standard of care. Because large disease volume is common in this context, ART has been suggested to reduce toxicity from induction chemoradiation.

Staged Stereotactic Radiosurgery Decreases Symptomatic Radionecrosis in Large Brain Metastasis.

Background: Limited brain metastasis is treated definitively with stereotactic radiosurgery when surgical resection is not indicated. Although this has historically been performed in a single fraction, multi-fraction approaches such as fraction radiosurgery (FSRS) and staged radiosurgery (SSRS) have been recently examined as alternative approaches for larger lesions to permit better tumor control without increased toxicity.

Case Report: We present the case of a patient who developed symptomatic radionecrosis in two brain metastasis, 2.

Combinatorial Anatomic and Functional Neural Tract Mapping for Stereotactic Radiosurgery Planning.

Introduction Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is effective and safe for the treatment of the vast majority of brain metastases (BMs). SRS is increasingly used for the simultaneous treatment of multiple lesions, retreatment of recurrence, or subsequent treatment of new lesions. Although radiation injury is relatively uncommon, with the increased utilization of SRS, it is imperative to develop approaches to assess and mitigate radiation-induced neurologic toxicity.

Quality assurance for Gamma Knife Perfexion using the Exradin W1 plastic scintillation detector and Lucy phantom.

The goal of this work is to validate the use of the Exradin W1 plastic scintillation detector (PSD) to measure profiles and output factors from Gamma Knife Perfexion collimators in a Lucy phantom. The Exradin W1 PSD has a small-volume, near-water-equivalent, energy-independent sensitive element. Output measurements were performed for all 3 collimators (4 mm, 8 mm, and 16 mm) of the Gamma Knife Perfexion system, and these measurements were compared to measurements made with an A16 ion chamber and an EBT3 film and to the nominal values.

Long-term outcome of a moderately hypofractionated, intensity-modulated radiotherapy approach using an endorectal balloon for patients with localized prostate cancer.

Background: Technical advances in radiotherapy delivery have simultaneously enabled dose escalation and enhanced bladder and rectal sparing. However, the optimal radiation fractionation regimen for localized prostate cancer is unclear. Laboratory and clinical evidence suggest that hypofractionation may improve the therapeutic ratio of radiotherapy.

Clinical outcomes, toxicity, and cosmesis in breast cancer patients with close skin spacing treated with accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using multi-lumen/catheter applicators.

Purpose: Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using a single-lumen device is associated with better cosmetic outcomes if the spacing between the applicator and skin is > 7 mm. However, there are no reports addressing the late toxicity and clinical outcomes in patients treated with single-entry multi-lumen/catheter applicators who had close skin spacing (7 mm or less). We undertook this study to report clinical outcome, acute and late toxicity as well as cosmesis of early stage breast cancer patients with close skin spacing treated with APBI using multi-lumen or multi-catheter devices.

Dosimetric considerations and early clinical experience of accelerated partial breast irradiation using multi-lumen applicators in the setting of breast augmentation.

Purpose: Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) is an accepted treatment option in breast-conserving therapy for early stage breast cancer. However, data regarding outcomes of patients treated with multi-lumen catheter systems who have existing breast implants is limited. The purpose of this study was to report treatment parameters, outcomes, and possible dosimetric correlation with cosmetic outcome for this population of patients at our institution.

Prospective evaluation of target and spinal cord motion and dosimetric changes with respiration in spinal stereotactic body radiation therapy utilizing 4-D CT.

Purpose: To assess the dosimetric effects of respiratory motion on the target and spinal cord in spinal stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).

Methods And Materials: Thirty patients with 33 lesions were enrolled on a prospective clinical protocol and simulated with both free-breathing and four-dimensional (4-D) computed tomography (CT). We studied the target motion using 4-D data (10 phases) by registering a secondary image dataset (phase 1 to 9) to a primary image dataset (phase 0) and analyzing the displacement in both translational and rotational directions.

Dosimetric effects of an air cavity for the SAVI partial breast irradiation applicator.

Purpose: To investigate the dosimetric effect of the air inside the SAVI partial breast irradiation device.

Methods: The authors have investigated how the air inside the SAVI partial breast irradiation device changes the delivered dose from the homogeneously calculated dose. Measurements were made with the device filled with air and water to allow comparison to a homogenous dose calculation done by the treatment planning system.

Analytical calculation of central-axis dosimetric data for a dedicated 6-MV radiosurgery linear accelerator.

Narrow beams are extensively used in stereotactic radiosurgery. The accuracy of treatment planning dose calculation depends largely on how well the dosimetric data are measured during the machine commissioning. Narrow beams are characterized by the lack of lateral electronic equilibrium.

Importance of chain-chain interactions on the band gap of trans-polyacetylene as predicted by second-order perturbation theory.

We employ the Laplace-transformed second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory for periodic systems in its atomic orbital basis formulation to determine the geometric structure and band gap of interacting polyacetylene chains. We have studied single, double, and triple chains, and also two-dimensional crystals. We estimate from first principles the equilibrium interchain distance and setting angle, along with binding energy between trans-polyacetylene chains due to dispersion interactions.

Laplace-transformed diagonal Dyson correction to quasiparticle energies in periodic systems.

We present a method to self-consistently evaluate quasiparticle energies of periodic systems within the diagonal approximation for solving Dyson's equation. Our method is based on the Laplace transform of the second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation (MP2) theory kernel in the atomic basis formulation. The overhead computational cost of evaluating the fully self-consistent diagonal correction over the MP2 band energy calculation is negligible.