Radiation Oncology 

About: Radiation Oncology is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Radiation therapy & Medicine. It has an ISSN identifier of 1748-717X. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 3424 publications have been published receiving 80092 citations.

Stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases: Analysis of outcome and risk of brain radionecrosis

Abstract: to investigate the factors affecting survival and toxicity in patients treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), with special attention to volumes of brain receiving a specific dose (V10 - V16 Gy) as predictors for brain radionecrosis. Two hundred six consecutive patients with 310 cerebral metastases less than 3.5 cm were treated with SRS as primary treatment and followed prospectively at University of Rome La Sapienza Sant'Andrea Hospital. Overall survival, brain control, and local control were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method calculated from the time of SRS. Univariate and multivariate analysis using a Cox proportional hazards regression model were performed to determine the predictive value of prognostic factors for treatment outcome and SRS-related complications. Median overall survival and brain control were 14.1 months and 10 months, respectively. The 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 58% and 24%, and respective brain control were 43% and 22%. Sixteen patients recurred locally after SRS, with 1-year and 2-year local control rates of 92% and 84%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, stable extracranial disease and KPS >70 were associated with the most significant survival benefit. Neurological complications were recorded in 27 (13%) patients. Severe neurological complications (RTOG Grade 3 and 4) occurred in 5.8% of patients. Brain radionecrosis occurred in 24% of treated lesions, being symptomatic in 10% and asymptomatic in 14%. On multivariate analysis, V10 through V16 Gy were independent risk factors for radionecrosis, with V10 Gy and V12 Gy being the most predictive (p = 0.0001). For V10 Gy >12.6 cm3 and V12 Gy >10.9 cm3 the risk of radionecrosis was 47%. SRS alone represents a feasible option as initial treatment for patients with brain metastases, however a significant subset of patients may develop neurological complications. Lesions with V12 Gy >8.5 cm3 carries a risk of radionecrosis >10% and should be considered for hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy especially when located in/near eloquent areas.

Current status of boron neutron capture therapy of high grade gliomas and recurrent head and neck cancer

Abstract: Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a biochemically targeted radiotherapy based on the nuclear capture and fission reactions that occur when non-radioactive boron-10, which is a constituent of natural elemental boron, is irradiated with low energy thermal neutrons to yield high linear energy transfer alpha particles and recoiling lithium-7 nuclei. Clinical interest in BNCT has focused primarily on the treatment of high grade gliomas, recurrent cancers of the head and neck region and either primary or metastatic melanoma. Neutron sources for BNCT currently have been limited to specially modified nuclear reactors, which are or until the recent Japanese natural disaster, were available in Japan, the United States, Finland and several other European countries, Argentina and Taiwan. Accelerators producing epithermal neutron beams also could be used for BNCT and these are being developed in several countries. It is anticipated that the first Japanese accelerator will be available for therapeutic use in 2013. The major hurdle for the design and synthesis of boron delivery agents has been the requirement for selective tumor targeting to achieve boron concentrations in the range of 20 μg/g. This would be sufficient to deliver therapeutic doses of radiation with minimal normal tissue toxicity. Two boron drugs have been used clinically, a dihydroxyboryl derivative of phenylalanine, referred to as boronophenylalanine or “BPA”, and sodium borocaptate or “BSH” (Na2B12H11SH). In this report we will provide an overview of other boron delivery agents that currently are under evaluation, neutron sources in use or under development for BNCT, clinical dosimetry, treatment planning, and finally a summary of previous and on-going clinical studies for high grade gliomas and recurrent tumors of the head and neck region. Promising results have been obtained with both groups of patients but these outcomes must be more rigorously evaluated in larger, possibly randomized clinical trials. Finally, we will summarize the critical issues that must be addressed if BNCT is to become a more widely established clinical modality for the treatment of those malignancies for which there currently are no good treatment options.

Wound healing after radiation therapy: Review of the literature

Abstract: Radiation therapy is an established modality in the treatment of head and neck cancer patients. Compromised wound healing in irradiated tissues is a common and challenging clinical problem. The pathophysiology and underlying cellular mechanisms including the complex interaction of cytokines and growth factors are still not understood completely. In this review, the current state of research regarding the pathomechanisms of compromised wound healing in irradiated tissues is presented. Current and possible future treatment strategies are critically reviewed.

Determination of cell survival after irradiation via clonogenic assay versus multiple MTT Assay - A comparative study

Abstract: For studying proliferation and determination of survival of cancer cells after irradiation, the multiple MTT assay, based on the reduction of a yellow water soluble tetrazolium salt to a purple water insoluble formazan dye by living cells was modified from a single-point towards a proliferation assay. This assay can be performed with a large number of samples in short time using multi-well-plates, assays can be performed semi-automatically with a microplate reader. Survival, the calculated parameter in this assay, is determined mathematically. Exponential growth in both control and irradiated groups was proven as the underlying basis of the applicability of the multiple MTT assay. The equivalence to a clonogenic survival assay with its disadvantages such as time consumption was proven in two setups including plating of cells before and after irradiation. Three cell lines (A 549, LN 229 and F 98) were included in the experiment to study its principal and general applicability.

A review of substitute CT generation for MRI-only radiation therapy

Abstract: Radiotherapy based on magnetic resonance imaging as the sole modality (MRI-only RT) is an area of growing scientific interest due to the increasing use of MRI for both target and normal tissue delineation and the development of MR based delivery systems. One major issue in MRI-only RT is the assignment of electron densities (ED) to MRI scans for dose calculation and a similar need for attenuation correction can be found for hybrid PET/MR systems. The ED assigned MRI scan is here named a substitute CT (sCT). In this review, we report on a collection of typical performance values for a number of main approaches encountered in the literature for sCT generation as compared to CT. A literature search in the Scopus database resulted in 254 papers which were included in this investigation. A final number of 50 contributions which fulfilled all inclusion criteria were categorized according to applied method, MRI sequence/contrast involved, number of subjects included and anatomical site investigated. The latter included brain, torso, prostate and phantoms. The contributions geometric and/or dosimetric performance metrics were also noted. The majority of studies are carried out on the brain for 5–10 patients with PET/MR applications in mind using a voxel based method. T1 weighted images are most commonly applied. The overall dosimetric agreement is in the order of 0.3–2.5%. A strict gamma criterion of 1% and 1mm has a range of passing rates from 68 to 94% while less strict criteria show pass rates > 98%. The mean absolute error (MAE) is between 80 and 200 HU for the brain and around 40 HU for the prostate. The Dice score for bone is between 0.5 and 0.95. The specificity and sensitivity is reported in the upper 80s% for both quantities and correctly classified voxels average around 84%. The review shows that a variety of promising approaches exist that seem clinical acceptable even with standard clinical MRI sequences. A consistent reference frame for method benchmarking is probably necessary to move the field further towards a widespread clinical implementation.