Symptom Profiles in Head and Neck Cancer Patients treated with Radiation Therapy: A Prospective Study

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/catalyst24/1004/thumbnail.jp

Comparison of deep-learning data fusion strategies in mandibular osteoradionecrosis prediction modelling using clinical variables and radiation dose distribution volumes

Purpose. NTCP modelling is rapidly embracing DL methods as the need to include spatial dose information is acknowledged. Finding the most appropriate way of combining radiation dose distribution images and clinical data involves technical challenges and requires domain knowledge. We propose different data fusion strategies that we hope will serve as a starting point for future DL NTCP studies. Methods. Early, joint and late DL multi-modality fusion strategies were compared using clinical variables and mandibular radiation dose distribution volumes. The discriminative performance of the multi-modality models was compared to that of single-modality models. All the experiments were conducted on a control-case matched cohort of 92 ORN cases and 92 controls from a single institution. Results. The highest ROC AUC score was obtained with the late fusion model (0.70), but no statistically significant differences in discrimination performance were observed between strategies. While late fusion was the least technically complex strategy, its design did not model the inter-modality interactions that are required for NTCP modelling. Joint fusion involved the most complex design but resulted in a single network training process which included intra- and inter-modality interactions in its model parameter optimisation. Conclusions. This is the first study that compares different strategies for including image data into DL NTCP models in combination with lower dimensional data such as clinical variables. The discrimination performance of such multi-modality NTCP models and the choice of fusion strategy will depend on the distribution and quality of both types of data. We encourage future DL NTCP studies to report on different fusion strategies to better justify their choice of DL pipeline.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 3 table

Using the RE-AIM Framework for Implementation of Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes in Head-Neck Cancer Patients Treated with Radiation Therapy

Patients undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancers can experience moderate-severe toxicities. To monitor symptoms, patient-reported outcomes have proven highly effective, but are hard to implement in clinic settings. We performed an implementation study in the head-neck radiation oncology clinic and evaluated this through the RE-AIM framework. The implementation study demonstrated increased PRO utilization and identified potential barriers to implementation and ways to address these.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/radonc24/1004/thumbnail.jp

Implementation of Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes in Head-Neck Cancer Patients Treated with Radiation Therapy Using the RE-AIM Framework​

Radiation therapy for head and neck cancers can result in many moderate-severe toxicities. Patient-reported outcomes can be used to monitor these symptoms, but are difficult to implement in the clinic. To evaluate the implementation of electronic patient-reported outcomes, a study was conducted in the head and neck radiation oncology clinic. This resulted in increased PRO utilization, along with the identification of barriers to implementation, with next steps to address.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/soar24/1007/thumbnail.jp

Usability Assessment of a Graphical User Interface for Prediction of Time-To-Event Risk of Osteoradionecrosis of the Jaw

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/catalyst24/1008/thumbnail.jp

Common History of Osteoradionecrosis Patients and Zip Code Impacts Onset

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/catalyst24/1009/thumbnail.jp

National audit of a system for rectal contact brachytherapy

Background and purpose: Contact brachytherapy is used for the treatment of early rectal cancer. An overview of the current status of quality assurance of the rectal contact brachytherapy systems in the UK, based on a national audit, was undertaken in order to assist users in optimising their own practices. Material and methods: Four UK centres using the Papillon 50 contact brachytherapy system were audited. Measurements included beam quality, output and radiation field size and uniformity. Test frequencies and tolerances were reviewed and compared to both existing recommendations and published reviews on other kV and electronic brachytherapy systems. External validation of dosimetric measurements was provided by the National Physical Laboratory. Results: The maximum host/audit discrepancy in beam quality determination was 6.5%; this resulted in absorbed dose variations of 0.2%. The host/audit agreement in absorbed dose determination was within 2.2%. The median of the radiation field uniformity measurements was 2.7% and the host/audit agreement in field size was within 1 mm. Test tolerances and frequencies were within the national recommendations for kV units. Conclusions: The dosimetric characterisation of the Papillon 50 was validated by the audit measurements for all participating centres, thus providing reassurance that the implementation had been performed within the standards stated in previously published audit work and recommendations for kV and electronic brachytherapy units. However, optimised and standardised quality assurance testing could be achieved by reducing some methodological differences observed. Keywords: Contact brachytherapy, Electronic brachytherapy, Audi