Variations in head and neck treatment plan quality assessment among radiation oncologists and medical physicists in a single radiotherapy department

Background: Agreement between planners and treating radiation oncologists (ROs) on plan quality criteria is essential for consistent planning. Differences between ROs and planning medical physicists (MPs) in perceived quality of head and neck cancer plans were assessed. Materials and methods: Five ROs and 4 MPs scored 65 plans for in total 15 patients. For each patient, the clinical plan (CLIN) and 2 or 4 alternative plans, generated with automated multi-criterial optimization (MCO), were included. There was always one MCO plan aiming at maximally adhering to clinical plan requirements, while the other MCO plan(s) had a lower aimed quality. Scores were given from 1-7, 1-2: not acceptable, 3-5: acceptable if further planning would not resolve perceived weaknesses, 6-7: straightway acceptable. One MP and one RO repeated plan scoring for intra-observer variation assessment. Results: For the 36 unique observer pairs, the median percentage of plans for which the two observers agreed on plan score (100%=65 plans) was 27.7% [6.2,40.0]. In the repeat scoring, agreements between first and second scoring were 52.3% and 40.0%. With a binary division between unacceptable (scores 1,2) and acceptable (3-7) plans, the median inter-observer agreement percentage was 78.5% [63.1,86.2], while intra-observer agreements were 96.9% and 86.2%. There were no differences in observed agreements between RO-RO, MP-MP and RO-MP pairs. Agreements for the highest-quality, automatically generated MCO plans were higher than for the CLIN plans. Conclusions: Inter-observer differences in plan quality scores were substantial and could result in inconsistencies in generated treatment plans. Agreements among ROs were not better than between ROs and MPs, despite large differences in training and clinical role. High-quality automatically generated plans showed best score agreements

Salvage stereotactic body radiotherapy for isolated lymph node recurrent prostate cancer : single institution series of 94 consecutive patients and 124 lymph nodes

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Non-palliative radiotherapy in ab initio oligometastatic prostate cancer: an Italian national survey

The purpose of this survey was to investigate the current opinion among Italian radiation oncologists regarding the non-palliative radiotherapy in ab initio oligometastatic prostate cancer (OMPC) patients

Hypofractionated radiation therapy in the management of locally advanced NSCLC: a narrative review of the literature on behalf of the Italian Association of Radiation Oncology (AIRO)-Lung Working Group

A systematic literature was performed to assess the benefit in terms of effectiveness and feasibility of hypofractionated radiotherapy (HypoRT), with or without chemotherapy (CT), in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We have identified all studies, published from 2007 onwards, on patients with locally advanced NSCLC treated with HypoRT with radical intent, with a minimal dose per fraction of 2.4 Gy, with or without concurrent chemotherapy. Twenty-nine studies were identified, for a total of 2614 patients. Patients were divided in the concurrent chemo-radiation therapy group (CT-RT) and radiotherapy alone (RT). In RT group, the delivered dose ranged from 45 to 85.5 Gy, with a dose/fraction from 2.4 to 4 Gy. Actuarial 2-year PFS ranged from 13 to 57.8%, and 1, 2- and 3-year overall survival (OS) ranged from 51.3 to 95%, from 22 to 68.7%, and from 7 to 32%, respectively. Acute Grade ≥ 3 esophagitis occurred in 0-15%, while late esophageal toxicity was 0-16%. Acute pneumonitis occured in 0-44%, whereas late pneumonitis occured in 0-47%, most commonly grade ≤ G3. In CT-RT group, the delivered dose ranged from 52.5 to 75 Gy, with a dose/fraction ranging from 2.4 to 3.5 Gy. Actuarial 2-year PFS ranged from 19 to 57.8%, and OS at 1, 2 and 3 years ranged from 28 to 95%, 38.6 to 68.7%, and 31 to 44%, respectively. Acute Grade 2 and 3 esophagitis occurred in 3-41.7%, while late esophageal toxicity occurred in 0-8.3%. Acute pneumonitis ranged from 0 to 23%, whereas late pneumonitis occured 0-47%. HypoRT seems to be safe in patients with locally advanced NSCLC. The encouraging survival results of several studies analyzed suggest that hypofractionated radiation schemes should be further investigated in the future

Oligometastatic Prostate Cancer Treated with Metastasis-Directed Therapy Guided by Positron Emission Tomography: Does the Tracer Matter?

The superior diagnostic accuracy of [68Ga]Ga-prostate-specific membrane antigen-11 (PSMA) ([68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11) compared to [18F]F-Fluorocholine Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) in Prostate Cancer (PCa) is established. However, it is currently unclear if the added diagnostic accuracy actually translates into improved clinical outcomes in oligometastatic PCa patients treated with [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET-guided metastasis-directed therapy (MDT). The present study aimed to assess the impact of these two imaging techniques on Progression-Free Survival (PFS) in a real-world sample of oligometastatic PCa patients submitted to PET-guided MDT. Thirty-seven oligometastatic PCa patients treated with PET-guided MDT were retrospectively enrolled. MDT was guided by [18F]F-Fluorocholine PET/CT in eleven patients and by [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in twenty-six. Progression was defined as biochemical recurrence (BR), radiological progression at subsequent PET/CT imaging, clinical progression, androgen deprivation therapy initiation, or death. Clinical and imaging parameters were assessed as predictors of PFS. [18F]F-Fluorocholine PET-guided MDT was associated with significantly lower PFS compared to the [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 group (median PFS, mPFS 15.47 months, 95% CI: 4.13–38.00 vs. 40.93 months, 95% CI: 40.93–40.93, respectively; p < 0.05). Coherently, the radiotracer used for PET-guided MDT resulted in predictive PFS at the univariate analysis, as well as the castration-resistant status at the time of MDT and the PSA nadir after MDT. However, in the multivariate analysis, castration resistance and PSA nadir after MDT remained the sole independent predictors of PFS. In conclusion, in the present proof-of-concept study, [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 provided higher PFS rates than [18F]F-Fluorocholine imaging in oligometastatic PCa patients receiving PET-guided MDT. Although preliminary, this finding suggests that enlarging the “tip of the iceberg”, by detecting a major proportion of the submerged disease thanks to next-generation imaging may favourably impact the oncological outcome of oligometastatic PCa treated with MDT

Oligometastatic Prostate Cancer Treated with Metastasis-Directed Therapy Guided by Positron Emission Tomography: Does the Tracer Matter?

The superior diagnostic accuracy of [68Ga]Ga-prostate-specific membrane antigen-11 (PSMA) ([68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11) compared to [18F]F-Fluorocholine Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) in Prostate Cancer (PCa) is established. However, it is currently unclear if the added diagnostic accuracy actually translates into improved clinical outcomes in oligometastatic PCa patients treated with [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET-guided metastasis-directed therapy (MDT). The present study aimed to assess the impact of these two imaging techniques on Progression-Free Survival (PFS) in a real-world sample of oligometastatic PCa patients submitted to PET-guided MDT. Thirty-seven oligometastatic PCa patients treated with PET-guided MDT were retrospectively enrolled. MDT was guided by [18F]F-Fluorocholine PET/CT in eleven patients and by [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in twenty-six. Progression was defined as biochemical recurrence (BR), radiological progression at subsequent PET/CT imaging, clinical progression, androgen deprivation therapy initiation, or death. Clinical and imaging parameters were assessed as predictors of PFS. [18F]F-Fluorocholine PET-guided MDT was associated with significantly lower PFS compared to the [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 group (median PFS, mPFS 15.47 months, 95% CI: 4.13&ndash;38.00 vs. 40.93 months, 95% CI: 40.93&ndash;40.93, respectively; p &lt; 0.05). Coherently, the radiotracer used for PET-guided MDT resulted in predictive PFS at the univariate analysis, as well as the castration-resistant status at the time of MDT and the PSA nadir after MDT. However, in the multivariate analysis, castration resistance and PSA nadir after MDT remained the sole independent predictors of PFS. In conclusion, in the present proof-of-concept study, [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 provided higher PFS rates than [18F]F-Fluorocholine imaging in oligometastatic PCa patients receiving PET-guided MDT. Although preliminary, this finding suggests that enlarging the &ldquo;tip of the iceberg&rdquo;, by detecting a major proportion of the submerged disease thanks to next-generation imaging may favourably impact the oncological outcome of oligometastatic PCa treated with MDT