Background: Cognitive decline is an arising concern in patients who need cranial irradiation. We used the pooled longitudinal individual patient data of two phase III trials: NCT01780675 and PREMER to investigate whether hippocampal avoidance (HA)-PCI is associated with improved self-reported cognitive functioning (SRCF) compared with PCI without increasing brain metastases (BM) development within the HA area.
Methods: Patients with stage I-IV small cell lung cancer (SCLC) were randomized to PCI or HA-PCI.
Purpose: Design and evaluate a knowledge-based model using commercially available artificial intelligence tools for automated treatment planning to efficiently generate clinically acceptable hippocampal avoidance prophylactic cranial irradiation (HA-PCI) plans in patients with small-cell lung cancer.
Materials And Methods: Data from 44 patients with different grades of head flexion (range 45°) were used as the training datasets. A Rapid Plan knowledge-based planning (KB) routine was applied for a prescription of 25 Gy in 10 fractions using two volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) arcs.
The treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a challenge for all specialists involved. New treatments have been added to the therapeutic armamentarium in recent months, but efforts must continue to improve both survival and quality of life. Advances in surgery and radiotherapy have resulted in prolonged survival times and fewer complications, while more careful patient selection has led to increased staging accuracy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous disease accounting for approximately 85% of all lung cancers. Only 17% of patients are diagnosed at an early stage. Treatment is multidisciplinary and radiotherapy plays a key role in all stages of the disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) is an effective technique comparable to surgery in terms of local control and efficacy in early stages of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and pulmonary metastasis. Several fractionation schemes have proven to be safe and effective, including the single fraction (SF) scheme. SF is an option cost-effectiveness, more convenience and comfortable for the patient and flexible in terms of its management combined with systemic treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Our center adopted high-dose-rate brachytherapy with surface applicators (plesiotherapy) in 2008, creating custom molds to treat irregular areas. This study describes the efficacy and safety outcomes after extensive follow-up in the patients.
Methods/patients: We planned the treatment using two computed tomography (CT) scans: the first to delineate the lesion and the second after placing the thermoplastic mold.
Purpose: This paper describes the protocol for the development of 3D-printed custom applicators in treating skin carcinoma, the evaluation of the materials used, and the methods for segmentation and rendering of the applicators.
Material And Methods: The segmentation and rendering process for the applicator had six phases: (i) determination of the volume of the lesion using a computed tomography (CT) scan; (ii) delineation of the patient surface, using the same CT images; (iii) creation of the applicator in the planner and segmentation of the mold; (iv) preliminary dosimetry and establishment of the route of the catheter from the brachytherapy unit; (v) creation of the 3D applicator using specialized software; and (vi) applicator printing. Following this process, the patient returned for a second CT to undergo the definitive dosimetry with the applicator in place.
Purpose: Radiation dose received by the neural stem cells of the hippocampus during whole-brain radiotherapy has been associated with neurocognitive decline. The key concern using hippocampal avoidance-prophylactic cranial irradiation (HA-PCI) in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is the incidence of brain metastasis within the hippocampal avoidance zone.
Methods: This phase III trial enrolled 150 patients with SCLC (71.
Purpose: Virtual monoenergetic images (VMI) obtained from Dual-Energy Computed Tomography (DECT) with iodinated contrast are used in radiotherapy of the Head and Neck to improve the delineation of target volumes and organs at-risk (OAR). The energies used to vary from 40 to 70 keV, but noise at low keV and the use of Single Energy CT (SECT) at low kV settings may shrink this interval. There is no guide about how to find out the optimal range where VMI has a significant improvement related to SECT images.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim: In Stage IIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the accuracy of combined positron-emission tomography/computed tomography imaging (PET-CT), together with mediastinal staging techniques, has led to a wide range of challenging clinical scenarios in terms of therapeutic management. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by consolidation immunotherapy remains the standard of care. In patients with potentially-resectable disease, surgery plays an important role in multimodal therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe coronavirus disease 2019 crisis has had a major and highly complex impact on the clinical practice of radiation oncology worldwide. Spain is one of the countries hardest hit by the virus, with devastating consequences. There is an urgent need to share experiences and offer guidance on decision-making with regard to the indications and standards for radiation therapy in the treatment of lung cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a very heterogeneous disease that encompasses patients with resected, potentially resectable and unresectable tumours. To improve the prognostic capacity of the TNM classification, it has been agreed to divide stage III into sub-stages IIIA, IIIB and IIIC that have very different 5-year survival rates (36, 26 and 13%, respectively). Currently, it is considered that both staging and optimal treatment of stage III NSCLC requires the joint work of a multidisciplinary team of expert physicians within the tumour committee.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is part of the usual treatment in most patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and response after treatment of the primary tumor. Clinical evidence suggests that radiation dose received by the hippocampus during whole brain radiotherapy might play a role in radiation-induced neurocognitive decline.
Patients And Methods: This study is a multicenter phase III trial (NCT02397733) randomizing SCLC patients after informed consent, to receive standard PCI treatment or PCI with hippocampus avoidance (PCI-HA) by using intensity modulated radiation therapy or volumetric modulated arc therapy.
Objectives: The role of surgery in stage IIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is an actively debated in oncology. To evaluate the value of surgery in this patient population, we conducted a multi-institutional retrospective study comparing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy plus surgery (CRTS) to definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT).
Material And Methods: A total of 247 patients with potentially resectable stage T1-T3N2M0 NSCLC treated with either CRTS or dCRT between January 2005 and December 2014 at 15 hospitals in Spain were identified.
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 13% of all lung tumours. The standard treatment in patients with limited-stage disease is radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy. In extensive SCLC, the importance of consolidation thoracic radiotherapy in patients with a good treatment response has become increasingly recognized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years, major advances in our understanding of the molecular biology of lung cancer, together with significant improvements in radiotherapy technologies, have revolutionized the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This has led to the development of new therapies that target molecular mutations specific to each tumor type, acting on the cell surface antigens or intracellular signaling pathways, or directly affecting cell survival. At the same time, ablative dose radiotherapy can be delivered safely in the context of metastatic disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Disease stage is the most important prognostic factor in lung cancer, and optimal staging is important to determine the best therapeutic option. FDG-PET/CT has demonstrated its value in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but there is still insufficient data to define its role in other stages.
Hypothesis: Information provided by FDG-PET/CT has an impact on the therapeutic management of patients with NSCLC.
PURPOSE Our primary endpoint is to determine the effect of L-glutamine Resource (Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition) in the prevention of induced enteritis after pelvic radiotherapy (RT). METHODS We observed the incidence of diarrhoea during and after pelvic radiation therapy in patients receiving L-glutamine Resource (Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition) supplementation. To assess results, patients were stratified according to prior treatment (prior surgery and/or concomitant chemotherapy, or no prior or concomitant treatment).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroendocrine small cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (SCC) is a rare disease that mixes clinical and biological characteristics of both cervical neoplasms and neuroendocrine small cell cancer. The prognosis is poor and the optimal treatment has not yet been clarified. Multimodality treatment, with surgery and concurrent chemoradiation has recently been shown to improve local control and survival rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Advances in diagnosis and treatment in oncology combined with technical advances in radiotherapy have resulted in qualitative and quantitative changes in the use of radiation to treat breast cancer.
Objective: The objective was to analyse changes in radiation indications from 1990 to the present time and their consequences in the use of treatments units.
Methods And Material: From January 1990 to December 2005, 4545 radiation treatments for breast cancer were performed, classified as radical after conservative surgery, radical after mastectomy or palliative.
Purpose: The objective of the present analysis is to know what risk factors affect local relapse in breast cancer.
Methods And Materials: A total of 1165 patients diagnosed with early breast cancer were included. Boost dose was modulated in the presence of risk factors.