An estimated gland volume of > 60 cc is a relative contraindication to brachytherapy for prostate cancer. As volume estimation using biopsy ultrasound (Bx-US) alone may be inaccurate, many centers ...perform additional volume assessments prior to the brachytherapy procedure. At the study institution, computed tomography (CT) based volume assessments were routinely performed on all patients to determine brachytherapy eligibility. This study aimed to determine whether this CT imaging could be omitted for certain Bx-US based gland volume estimates. To investigate this, 1576 consecutive patients that received ultrasound based intraoperatively planned brachytherapy at a single comprehensive cancer center between 2003 and 2021 were reviewed. Gland volume as estimated by Bx-US, CT and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging were compared to intraoperatively contoured gland volume (ICGV) or the larger contoured gland volume on CT for any patients receiving neo-adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for gland downsizing (IM-US-corr). There was a significant difference between IM-US-corr and estimated gland volume for Bx-US (P < 0.001) and MR (P < 0.001), but not CT (P = 0.160). Bx-US and MR tended to underrepresent the IM-US-corr, with a > 20% difference from actual volume in 31% and 59% of cases, respectively. When Bx-US volume was estimated to be < 40 cc, < 50 cc and < 60 cc, an IM-US-corr > 60 cc was encountered in 2%, 5% and 7% of cases, respectively. In contrast, IM-US-corr > 60 cc was encountered in 0.2%, 1% and 2% of cases for CT estimates of < 40 cc, < 50 cc and < 60 cc. In patients with an estimated gland volume of < 50 cc by Bx-US, dedicated pre-operative volume studies are unlikely to alter management. However, patients above this cut-off stand to benefit from the use of additional volume assessment to better delineate gland volume and determine eligibility for brachytherapy.
PurposeThis study investigated reliable vaginal mucosa dose-volume histogram (DVH) metrics in gynecologic template interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) for the purpose of standardized ...dose reporting.Material and methodsGynecologic template (Syed/Neblett) interstitial HDR-BT patients treated from September 2016 to November 2022 at the study institute were included in the cohort. Each patient implant included a vaginal mucosa contour defined by a 5 mm expansion from vaginal cylinder, then another volume with clinical target volume subtracted. DVH metrics were investigated between D0.1cc to D4cc. Clinical plans were re-calculated using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations both in heterogeneous material and in water.ResultsThe patient cohort included 61 patients with clinical plans using conventional homogeneous dose calculation (TG43). Heterogeneous vs. water MC dose differences were between -1.1% and -1.4% for all metrics investigated. DVH metrics D1cc and smaller resulted in > 5% discrepancies between TG43 and MC dose (to water) calculation due to the proximity of source positions in/nearby the vaginal mucosa. Reliability improved when DVH metric volume was larger (D2cc and D4cc). Both D2cc and D4cc presented very high linear correlation between TG43 and MC reported doses for the vagina, and average ± standard deviation dose difference was 4.6 ±2.9% and -3.0 ±1.9%, respectively. Dose differences decreased when the clinical target volume was removed: -1.5 ±3.5% and -0.8 ±2.1% for D2cc and D4cc, respectively.ConclusionsFor perineal template gynecologic HDR-BT procedures, the 2 cc volume is the smallest representative volume that reliably reports vaginal dose and at minimum should be reported to establish dose and outcome evaluation.
Abstract
Purpose
To compare CTV
HR
and OAR dimensions and inter-rater agreement between magnetic resonance (MR) and trans-rectal ultrasound (TRUS) images in IB cervical cancer patients.
Methods
IB ...cervical cancer patients treated with (chemo)radiotherapy plus MR-guided brachytherapy (BT) were prospectively enrolled in this study. Radiation oncologists contoured CTV
HR
and OARs in pre-BT MR images (MRI) and intra-operative TRUS images. These contours were subsequently compared in regard to volume and dimension. Contour inter-rater agreement analysis was also investigated using kappa index (KI). Stata 15.0 was used for statistical analysis and a
p
-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results
TRUS CTV
HR
volumes were statistically smaller than the respective MRI contoured volumes. TRUS CTV
HR
thickness was found to be consistently smaller than MRI contours in all patients. No statistical difference was seen in width and height between the two different imaging modalities. MRI contours had a median KI of 0.66 (range: 0.56–0.77) while TRUS-based contours had a median KI of 0.64 (range: 0.47–0.77). Bladder and rectum had very satisfactory KI in both imaging modalities. Vaginal contours had moderate agreement in MR (0.52) and in TRUS images (0.58).
Conclusion
TRUS images allow good visualization of CTV
HR
and OARs in IB cervical cancer patients. Inter-rater contour variability was comparable between TRUS and MR images. TRUS is a promising modality on its own for image-guided BT.
Salvage external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) followed by interstitial brachytherapy is commonly used to treat patients with vaginal recurrence of endometrial cancer. The evidence for this is ...typically limited to case series treating small volumes of disease. For the present study, 12 consecutive patients with locally advanced, biopsy‐proven vaginal recurrence after surgically treated endometrial cancer who received salvage EBRT (45 Gy in 25 daily fractions to microscopic disease and 55–57.5 Gy to gross nodal disease) with magnetic resonance‐guided interstitial brachytherapy (20–21 Gy in 3 fractions over 2 days) were retrospectively reviewed. The median tumor size of recurrent disease on magnetic resonance imaging was 5 (3–6) cm. Three (25%) tumors involved the bladder wall, three (25%) involved the urethra, and four (33%) extended to the pelvic sidewall. Four (25%) patients had gross nodal disease. On follow‐up, no (0%) patient developed local recurrence. One patient (8%) developed nodal recurrence outside of the radiotherapy treatment volume and then distant metastases, and one patient (8%) developed distant metastasis 2.5 years post‐treatment and subsequently died from the disease. No (0%) other deaths were reported. Zero patients (0%) developed grade ≥4 bowel or bladder toxicity. These data support EBRT with interstitial brachytherapy using modern techniques for locally advanced, vaginal recurrences of endometrial cancer.
We investigated the association of social jetlag (misalignment between the internal clock and socially required timing of activities) and prostate cancer incidence in a prospective cohort in Alberta, ...Canada. Data were collected from 7455 cancer-free men aged 35-69 years enrolled in Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP) from 2001-2007. In the 2008 survey, participants reported usual bed- and wake-times on weekdays and weekend days. Social jetlag was defined as the absolute difference in waking time between weekday and weekend days, and was categorized into three groups: 0-<1 h (from 0 to anything smaller than 1), 1-<2 h (from 1 to anything smaller than 2), and 2+ h. ATP facilitated data linkage with the Alberta Cancer Registry in June 2018 to determine incident prostate cancer cases (
= 250). Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regressions, adjusting for a range of covariates. Median follow-up was 9.57 years, yielding 68,499 person-years. Baseline presence of social jetlag of 1-<2 h (HR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.10 to 2.01), and 2+ hours (HR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.15 to 2.46) were associated with increased prostate cancer risk vs. those reporting no social jetlag (
for trend = 0.004). These associations remained after adjusting for sleep duration (
for trend = 0.006). With respect to chronotype, the association between social jetlag and prostate cancer risk remained significant in men with early chronotypes (
for trend = 0.003) but attenuated to null in men with intermediate (
for trend = 0.150) or late chronotype (
for trend = 0.381). Our findings suggest that greater than one hour of habitual social jetlag is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Longitudinal studies with repeated measures of social jetlag and large samples with sufficient advanced prostate cancer cases are needed to confirm these findings.
Radical treatment of localized prostate cancer in elderly patients may lead to unacceptable treatment-associated toxicities that adversely impact quality of life without improving survival outcomes. ...This study reports on a cohort of 54 elderly (>70 years) patients that received 4000–5000 cGy of palliative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) as an alternative to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The primary outcome of interest was the period of ADT-free survival, and secondary outcomes included overall survival (OS) and metastases-free survival (MFS). Kaplan–Meier regression was used to estimate survival outcomes. Thirty-six (67%) patients achieved a break in ADT post-radiotherapy, with a median time to ADT reinitiation of 20 months. Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) were limited to low-grade gastrointestinal (GI) or genitourinary (GU) toxicities, with no skin toxicities observed. Grade 1 GI toxicity was observed in 9 (17%) patients, and grades 1 and 2 GU toxicities were observed in 13 (24%) and 3 (6%) patients, respectively, with no higher-grade toxicities reported. Five-year MFS and OS were 56% and 78%, respectively. In summary, the treatment regimen was well-tolerated and achieved durable ADT-free survival in most patients. Dose-reduced EBRT appears to be a viable alternative to ADT in elderly patients with localized prostate cancer.
We aim to characterize the workup received by and identify any delays to diagnosis or treatment in patients referred to a tertiary cancer centre with the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma in neck ...node(s) and no identifiable primary (SCCNIP).
Over 1 year, 68 patients were initially referred to the Head and Neck clinic with a label of "primary unknown". After extensive workup, 29 of the 68 patients were found to have pathologically confirmed SCCNIP. For these 29 patients, imaging tests, biopsies, examinations and times to treatment were reviewed and compared to 145 patients referred for known primaries.
In 21/29 (72%) patients, ultrasound was ordered prior to biopsy or referral. After referral, the first imaging test used was CT neck in 28 patients and PET/CT in 1 patient. Median time from referral to primary identification (n = 23) or workup completion (n = 6) were 16 (range: 0-48) and 36 (17-82) days respectively. Median time from referral to treatment was 55 (27-90; n = 26) days and was longer than those referred for known primaries (48 days; 20-162; p < 0.001). Across all patients, median time between first diagnostic imaging test and pathologic diagnosis were 20.5 and -8.0 days (p < 0.0001) in patients receiving ultrasound and CT, respectively.
In our cohort, delays to management were linked to community use of ultrasound and scheduling of both CT and PET/CT after thorough head and neck examination in patients with SCCNIP.
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