Modeling of α/β for late rectal toxicity from a randomized phase II study: conventional versus hypofractionated scheme for localized prostate cancer

Abstract Background Recently, the use of hypo-fractionated treatment schemes for the prostate cancer has been encouraged due to the fact that α/β ratio for prostate cancer should be low. However a major concern on the use of hypofractionation is the late rectal toxicity, it is important to be able to predict the risk of toxicity for alternative treatment schemes, with the best accuracy. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the response of rectum wall to changes in fractionation and to quantify the α/β ratio for late rectal toxicity Methods 162 patients with localized prostate cancer, treated with conformal radiotherapy, were enrolled in a phase II randomized trial. The patients were randomly assigned to 80 Gy in 40 fractions over 8 weeks (arm A) or 62 Gy in 20 fractions over 5 weeks (arm B). The median follow-up was 30 months. The late rectal toxicity was evaluated using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) scale. It was assumed ≥ Grade 2 (G2) toxicity incidence as primary end point. Fit of toxicity incidence by the Lyman-Burman-Kutcher (LKB) model was performed. Results The crude incidence of late rectal toxicity ≥ G2 was 14% and 12% for the standard arm and the hypofractionated arm, respectively. The crude incidence of late rectal toxicity ≥ G2 was 14.0% and 12.3% for the arm A and B, respectively. For the arm A, volumes receiving ≥ 50 Gy (V50) and 70 Gy (V70) were 38.3 ± 7.5% and 23.4 ± 5.5%; for arm B, V38 and V54 were 40.9 ± 6.8% and 24.5 ± 4.4%. An α/β ratio for late rectal toxicity very close to 3 Gy was found. Conclusion The ≥ G2 late toxicities in both arms were comparable, indicating the feasibility of hypofractionated regimes in prostate cancer. An α/β ratio for late rectal toxicity very close to 3 Gy was found.</p

Leukotoxicity after moderately Hypofractionated radiotherapy versus conventionally fractionated dose escalated radiotherapy for localized prostate Cancer: a secondary analysis from a randomized study

Abstract Background To compare WBC counts during treatment of localized prostate cancer with either conventionally fractionated (CF) or moderately hypofractionated (HYPO) radiotherapy. Methods Weekly blood test results were extracted from the charts of patients treated within a phase III study comparing HYPO to CF. In order to compare WBC counts at the same nominal dose in both arms and thus to tease out the effect of fractionation, for each recorded WBC value the corresponding cumulative total dose was extracted as well. WBC counts were binned according to percentiles of the delivered dose and three dose levels were identified at median doses of 16, 34.1 and 52 Gy, respectively. A General Linear Model based on mixed design Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test variation of WBC counts between the two treatment arms. Results Out of 168 randomized patients, 140 (83.3%) had at least one observation for each one of the selected dose levels and were included in the analysis. Mean counts were lower in the CF than the HYPO arm at all selected dose levels, reaching a statistically significant difference at dose level #3 (5397/mm3 vs 6038/mm3 for CF and HYPO, respectively, p = 0.004). The GLM model confirms that the impact of dose on WBC counts is significantly lower in the HYPO arm over the CF one (Greenhouse-Geisser test, p = 0.04). Interestingly, while WBC counts tend to drop throughout all dose levels in the CF arm, this is the case only in the earlier part of treatment in the HYPO arm. Conclusion This secondary analysis of a phase III study shows that dose fractionation is correlated to WBC drop during treatment of localized prostate cancer, favoring HYPO over CF