Pulmonary Toxicity After Total Body Irradiation - Critical Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Toxicity Reporting.

Introduction: Total body irradiation is an effective conditioning regimen for allogeneic stem cell transplantation in pediatric and adult patients with high risk or relapsed/refractory leukemia. The most common adverse effect is pulmonary toxicity including idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS). As centers adopt more advanced treatment planning techniques for TBI, total marrow irradiation (TMI), or total marrow and lymphoid irradiation (TMLI) there is a greater need to understand treatment-related risks for IPS for patients treated with conventional TBI.

Using a Collaborative, Virtual Discussion Platform to Mobilize Oncologic Expertise for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: COVID-19 is a rapidly emerging worldwide pandemic that has drastically changed health care across the United States. Oncology patients are especially vulnerable. Novel point-of-care resources may be useful to rapidly disseminate peer-reviewed information from oncology experts nationwide.

Analysis of the prognostic utility of the cell cycle progression (CCP) score generated from needle biopsy in men treated with definitive therapy.

Background: Accurate risk stratification can help guide appropriate treatment decisions in men with localized prostate cancer. Here, we evaluated the independent ability of the molecular cell cycle progression (CCP) score and the combined cell-cycle clinical risk (CCR) score to predict 10-year risk of progression to metastatic disease in a large, pooled analysis of men with definitively treated prostate cancer.

Methods: The pooled analysis included 1,062 patients from four institutions (Martini Clinic, Durham VA Medical Center, Intermountain Healthcare, Ochsner Clinic) treated definitively for localized prostate cancer by either radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy (brachytherapy or external beam radiotherapy ± hormone therapy).

Daily breathing inconsistency in pancreas SBRT: a 4DCT study.

Background: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatments of pancreatic cancer typically employ relatively small margins. This study characterizes the motion of high visibility structures in close proximity to the pancreas to determine how much the motion envelope of such a structure changes due to respiratory variation between fractions.

Methods: Fanbeam, four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) studies acquired initially for planning and again prior to each treatment for 6 patients were used to fully characterize the change in motion of high-contrast structures in close proximity to the pancreas.

Identification of men with low-risk biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer as candidates for active surveillance.

Background: A combined clinical cell-cycle risk (CCR) score that incorporates prognostic molecular and clinical information has been recently developed and validated to improve prostate cancer mortality (PCM) risk stratification over clinical features alone. As clinical features are currently used to select men for active surveillance (AS), we developed and validated a CCR score threshold to improve the identification of men with low-risk disease who are appropriate for AS.

Methods: The score threshold was selected based on the 90th percentile of CCR scores among men who might typically be considered for AS based on NCCN low/favorable-intermediate risk criteria (CCR = 0.

Risk of Death from Prostate Cancer with and without Definitive Local Therapy when Gleason Pattern 5 is Present: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Analysis.

Purpose The purpose is to evaluate the patterns of care and comparative effectiveness for cause-specific and overall survival of definitive local treatments versus conservatively managed men with a primary or secondary Gleason pattern of 5. Methods and materials Patients diagnosed from 2004 to 2012 with a primary or secondary Gleason pattern of 5 N0M0 prostate cancer were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to estimate the survival.

Risk of secondary malignancies after radiation therapy for breast cancer: Comprehensive results.

Goals: To assess risks of secondary malignancies in breast cancer patients who received radiation therapy compared to patients who did not.

Methods: The SEER database was used to identify females with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer as their first malignancy, during 1973-2008. We excluded patients with metastatic disease, age <18 years, no definitive surgical intervention, ipsilateral breast cancer recurrence, or who developed a secondary malignancy within 1 year of diagnosis.

Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Resulting in a Durable Relapse-Free Survival: A Case Report.

The standard of care for localized hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is surgical resection. For patients who decline or who are unfit for surgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is emerging as a viable treatment approach. We present a case of a 77-year-old female in whom an early stage HCC was incidentally discovered.

Patterns of Care in Proton Radiation Therapy for Pediatric Central Nervous System Malignancies.

Purpose: Proton beam therapy (PBT) potentially allows for improved sparing of normal tissues, hopefully leading to decreased late side effects in children. Using a national registry, we sought to perform a patterns-of-care analysis for children receiving PBT for primary malignancies of the central nervous system (CNS).

Methods And Materials: Using the National Cancer Data Base, we identified pediatric patients with primary CNS malignancies that were diagnosed between 2004 and 2012.

Sister Society Meeting on Global Education Development and Collaboration: Meeting Report.

Objectives: To identify common barriers to teaching and training and to identify strategies that would be useful in developing future training programs in gynecologic oncology in low- and middle- income countries.

Methods: There is a lack of overall strategy to meet the needs of education and training in gynecologic oncology in low- and middle- income countries, the leaderships of sister societies and global health volunteers met at the European Society of Gynecologic Oncology in October 23, 2015. The challenges of the training programs supported by gynecologic oncology societies, major universities and individual efforts were presented and discussed.

The Prognostic Significance of Facial Nerve Involvement in Carcinomas of the Parotid Gland.

Importance And Background: Facial nerve (FN) palsy and perineural invasion (PNI) are adverse features in carcinomas of the parotid gland. FN sacrifice at the time of surgery is associated with significant morbidity. The role of adjuvant radiotherapy in patients with high-risk features, including FN involvement, remains unclear.

Comparison and consensus guidelines for delineation of clinical target volume for CT- and MR-based brachytherapy in locally advanced cervical cancer.

Objective: To create and compare consensus clinical target volume (CTV) contours for computed tomography (CT) and 3-Tesla (3-T) magnetic resonance (MR) image-based cervical-cancer brachytherapy.

Methods And Materials: Twenty-three experts in gynecologic radiation oncology contoured the same 3 cervical cancer brachytherapy cases: 1 stage IIB near-complete response (CR) case with a tandem and ovoid, 1 stage IIB partial response (PR) case with tandem and ovoid with needles, and 1 stage IB2 CR case with a tandem and ring applicator. The CT contours were completed before the MRI contours.

The KRAS-variant and miRNA expression in RTOG endometrial cancer clinical trials 9708 and 9905.

Objective: To explore the association of a functional germline variant in the 3'-UTR of KRAS with endometrial cancer risk, as well as the association of microRNA (miRNA) signatures and the KRAS-variant with clinical characteristics and survival outcomes in two prospective RTOG endometrial cancer trials.

Methods/materials: The association of the KRAS-variant with endometrial cancer risk was evaluated by case-control analysis of 467 women with type 1 or 2 endometrial cancer and 582 age-matched controls. miRNA and DNA were isolated for expression profiling and genotyping from tumor specimens of 46 women with type 1 endometrial cancer enrolled in RTOG trials 9708 and 9905.

Does the FIGO 2009 endometrial cancer staging system more accurately correlate with clinical outcome in different histologies? Revised staging, endometrial cancer, histology.

Objective: In 2009, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system was revised for endometrial cancers. Different histologies were examined in a large population database. The FIGO 1988 and 2009 staging systems were compared for stage at presentation, differences in patient populations, and disease-specific survival (DSS).

Does the revised International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging system for endometrial cancer lead to increased discrimination in patient outcomes?

Background: Recent changes were made to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system for endometrial cancer. The objective of this study was to compare survival outcomes for patients who were staged according to the 1988 FIGO staging system versus the 2009 FIGO staging system.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for the years 1998 to 2006.

Current challenges in clinical management of endometrial cancer.

Endometrial cancer remains a management challenge. Improved understanding of the mechanisms of carcinogenesis may enable better understanding of biologic behavior and guide therapy. Improvements in diagnostic imaging, radiation delivery systems, and systemic therapies potentially can improve outcomes while minimizing morbidity.