Almost one year of COVID-19 pandemic: how radiotherapy centers have counteracted its impact on cancer treatment in Lombardy, Italy. CODRAL/AIRO-L study.

Lombardy has represented the Italian and European epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Although most clinical efforts within hospitals were diverted towards the care of virally infected patients, therapies for patients with cancer, including radiotherapy (RT), have continued. During both the first and second pandemic waves, several national and regional organizations provided Italian and Lombardian RT departments with detailed guidelines aimed at ensuring safe treatments during the pandemic.

Back to (new) normality-A CODRAL/AIRO-L survey on cancer radiotherapy in Lombardy during Italian COVID-19 phase 2.

Background: Italy experienced one of the world's severest COVID-19 outbreak, with Lombardy being the most afflicted region. However, the imposed safety measures allowed to flatten the epidemic curve and hence to ease the restrictions and inaugurate, on the 4th of May 2020, the Italian phase (P) 2 of the pandemic. The present survey study, endorsed by CODRAL and AIRO-L, aimed to assess how radiotherapy (RT) departments in Lombardy have dealt with the recovery.

Radiotherapy for oligometastatic cancer: a survey among radiation oncologists of Lombardy (AIRO-Lombardy), Italy.

Aims: To evaluate the use of radiotherapy (RT) for oligometastatic cancer (OMC) among radiation oncologists in Lombardy, Italy.

Methods And Study Design: A survey with 12 items regarding data of 2016 was sent to all 34 Lombardy RT centers. The survey included six general items and six specific items regarding patient/disease/treatment characteristics.

Fiducial markers implantation for prostate image-guided radiotherapy: a report on the transperineal approach.

Introduction: In the external beam prostate cancer radiation therapy, daily gland displacement could lead to a target missing. The use of intra-prostatic gold fiducial markers for daily prostate position verification and correction before and during treatment delivery (image-guided radiotherapy, IGRT) is widely used in the radiation therapy centers to accurately target the prostate. Usually, the fiducial markers are implanted through the rectum, with complications such as infections and rectal bleeding.

Equipment, staffing, and provision of radiotherapy in Lombardy, Italy: Results of three surveys performed between 2012 and 2016.

Introduction:: Several efforts are being implemented at the European level to measure provision of up-to-date radiation treatments across the continent.

Methods:: A snapshot survey involving all radiation oncology centers within Lombardy, Italy, was performed in 2012 and repeated in 2014 and 2016, in cooperation with regional governmental officers. Centers were asked to provide detailed information concerning all individual patients being treated on the index day, and to report data on available local resources.

Urinary bladder preservation for muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a survey among radiation oncologists of Lombardy, Italy.

Aims And Background: Bladder preservation is a treatment option in muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma. The most investigated approach is a trimodality schedule including maximum transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) followed by chemoradiotherapy. Our aim was to evaluate the use of bladder preservation by radiation oncologists of the Lombardy region in Italy.