Management of Esophageal Carcinoma Associated with Cirrhosis: A Retrospective Case-Control Analysis

Objectives. Esophageal carcinoma and cirrhosis have the overlapping etiologic factors. Methods. In a retrospective analysis conducted in 2 Breton institutions we wanted to asses the frequency of this association and the outcome of these patients in a case-control study where each case (cirrhosis and esophageal cancer) was paired with two controls (esophageal cancer). Results. In a 10-year period, we have treated 958 esophageal cancer patients; 26 (2.7%) had a cirrhosis. The same treatments were proposed to the 2 groups; cases received nonsignificantly different radiation and chemotherapy dose than controls. Severe toxicities and deaths were more frequent among the cases. At the end of the treatment 58% of the cases and 67% of the controls were in complete remission; median and 2-year survival were not different between the 2 groups. All 4 Child-Pugh B class patients experienced severe side effects and 2 died during the treatment. Conclusions. This association is surprisingly infrequent in our population! Child-Pugh B patients had a dismal prognosis and a bad tolerance to radiochemotherapy; Child-Pugh A patients have the same tolerance and the same prognosis as controls and the evidence of a well-compensated cirrhosis has not modified our medical options

Salivary gland-sparing other than parotid-sparing in definitive head-and-neck intensity-modulated radiotherapy does not seem to jeopardize local control.

International audienceBACKGROUND: The objective was to analyze locoregional (LR) failure patterns in patients with head-and-neck cancer (HNC) treated using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with whole salivary gland-sparing: parotid (PG), submandibular (SMG), and accessory salivary glands represented by the oral cavity (OC). METHODS: Seventy consecutive patients with Stage I-II (23%) or III/IV (77%) HNC treated by definitive IMRT were included. For all LR failure patients, the FDG-PET and CT scans documenting recurrence were rigidly registered to the initial treatment planning CT. Failure volumes (Vf) were delineated based on clinical, radiological, and histological data. The percentage of Vf covered by 95% of the prescription isodose (Vf-V95) was analyzed. Failures were classified as "in-field" if Vf--V95 >= 95%, "marginal" if 20% < Vf-V95 < 95%, and "out-of-field" if Vf-V95 <=20%. Correlation between Vf-V95 and mean doses (Dmean) in the PG, SMG, and OC was assessed using Spearman's rank-order correlation test. The salivary gland dose impact on the LR recurrence risk was assessed by Cox analysis. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 20 months (6--35). Contralateral and ipsilateral PGs were spared in 98% and 54% of patients, respectively, and contralateral and ipsilateral SMG in 26% and 7%, respectively. The OC was spared to a dose <=40 Gy in 26 patients (37%). The 2-year LR control rate was 76.5%. One recurrence was "marginal", and 12 were "in-field". No recurrence was observed in vicinity of spared structures. Vf-V95 was not significantly correlated with Dmean in PG, SMG, and OC. The LR recurrence risk was not increased by lower Dmean in the salivary glands, but by T (p = 0.04) and N stages (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Over 92% of LR failures occurred "in-field" within the high dose region when using IMRT with a whole salivary gland-sparing strategy. Sparing SMG and OC in addition to PG thus appears a safe strategy

Chemoradiotherapy for cancer of the esophagus: contribution of the leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil bolus, and infusion-cisplatin-radiotherapy schedule starting with two neoadjuvant chemotherapy cycles: results from a pilot study.

International audienceTo assess feasibility and tolerance of a modification in the usual radiochemotherapy regimen for esophageal cancer by using a leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil bolus, and infusion-cisplatin regimen (six cycles), beginning with two cycles of chemotherapy before conventional radiotherapy (50 Gy), 33 patients, 30 were men, 62.8 +/- 9.5 years, were treated for an esophageal carcinoma (29 squamous cell), 27 of these were in stage III (based on computed tomography scan). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was well tolerated; concomitant radiochemotherapy was associated with severe adverse events mostly hematological in 23 patients. Complete response was achieved in 70%; median overall survival was 14 months, and 2-year survival was 40 +/- 11%. More than one-third of cycles could be performed as outpatients. This regimen seems safe and efficient, and could be conducted in an outpatient basis

Simultaneously modulated accelerated radiation therapy reduces severe oesophageal toxicity in concomitant chemoradiotherapy of locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

International audienceOBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of simultaneously modulated accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) to reduce the incidence of severe acute oesophagitis in the treatment of unresectable locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (LANSCLC). METHODS: 21 patients were treated with SMART and concomitant platinum-based chemotherapy. The prescribed doses were limited to 54 Gy at 1.8 Gy per day to the zones of presumed microscopic extent while simultaneously maintaining doses of 66 Gy at 2.2 Gy per day to the macroscopic disease. The whole treatment was delivered over 30 fractions and 6 weeks. Dosimetric parameters of SMART and the standard technique of irradiation [intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)] were compared. Acute toxicity was prospectively recorded. RESULTS: The highest grade of oesophagitis was 62% (13 patients) grade 1, 33% (7 patients) grade 2 and 5% (1 patient) grade 3. Three (14%) patients experienced acute grade 2 pneumonitis. There was no grade 4 oesophageal or pulmonary toxicity. Doses to the organs at risk were significantly reduced in SMART compared with IMRT [oesophagus: V50Gy, 28.5 Gy vs 39.9 Gy (p = 0.003); V60Gy, 7.1 Gy vs 30.7 Gy (p = 0.003); lung: V20Gy, 27.4 Gy vs 30.1 Gy (p = 0,002); heart: V40Gy, 7.3 Gy vs 10.7 Gy (p = 0.006); spine: Dmax, 42.4 Gy vs 46.4 Gy (p = 0.003)]. With a median follow-up of 18 months (6-33 months), the 1-year local control rate was 70% and the disease-free survival rate was 47%. CONCLUSION: SMART reduces the incidence of severe oesophagitis and improves the whole dosimetric predictors of toxicity for the lung, heart and spine. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: Our study shows that SMART optimizes the therapeutic ratio in the treatment of LANSCLC, opening a window for dose intensificatio

Improving the pre-screening of eligible patients in order to increase enrollment in cancer clinical trials.

The trials evaluated in this study were previously registered with clinicaltrials.gov (registration number: NCT00104741 webcite on 3 March 2005; NCT00104715 webcite on 3 March 2005; NCT00423475 webcite on 16 January 2007; and NCT00667069 webcite on 24 April 2008).International audienceBackground. The performance of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is often hindered by recruitment difficulties. This study aims to explore the pre-screening phase of four prostate cancer RCTs to identify the impact of a systematic pre-selection of eligible patients for RCT recruitment.Methods. The pre-screening of four RCTs opened at the Comprehensive Cancer Center in Rennes was analyzed retrospectively (French Genitourinary Tumor Group (GETUG) 14, 15, 16, and 17). Data were extracted from electronic multidisciplinary cancer (MDC) reports and manually completed by physicians and medical secretaries. These data were the main source of information for clinicians to discuss treatment alternatives during MDC sessions. The pre-screening decisions made by the clinicians during these MDC meetings were compared with those made after a systematic review of the MDC reports by a clinical research assistant (CRA). Any inconsistencies in decisions between the CRA and the MDC physicians were corrected by the principal investigator (PI).Results. The pre-screening rate was 9.1% during the MDC meetings, while it was estimated to be 12.9% after the final review by the PI, and 29% after the systematic review by the CRA. The study showed that 77% and 67% of the MDC reports did not mention clinical and pathological Tumor, lymph node and metastasis classification of malignant tumors (TNM) staging, respectively, and that 35 of the CRA’s 47 proposals rejected by the PI concerned implicit information (not specified in the MDC reports). Only one patient was proposed by the PI, and none by the CRA.Conclusions. These results confirm that pre-screening could be improved by a systematic review of the medical reports. They also highlight the fact that missing data in electronic MDC reports leads to over-enrollment of non-eligible patients, but not to over-exclusion of eligible patients. Thus, our study confirms the potential gain in using semi-automated pre-selection of MDC reports, in order to avoid missing out on patients eligible for RCTs

Complete radiological response of an initially locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer to chemoradiotherapy using FOLFIRINOX regimen: Report of a case.

International audienceLetter to the Edito

: Quelle RCMI ? Point de vue du physicien.

International audienceIntensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is essential to have a dose distribution matching with the planning target volume (PTV) in case of concave-shape target. Today IMRT delivery techniques with linear accelerator can be divided into two classes: techniques with fixed gantry, called "step and shoot" (S&S) and "sliding window" (SW), and rotational techniques, called intensity modulated arc therapy (IMAT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). We discuss about constraints for IMRT implementation from dosimetric planning to treatment delivery. We compare S&S and VMAT performances concerning dose distribution quality, efficiency and delivery time. We describe quality controls that must be implemented and the methods for analysis and follow-up performances. VMAT tends to yield similar dose distribution to MRT with fixed gantry. VMAT also decreases monitor units as well as treatment delivery time to less than 5 minutes. However, VMAT is an IMRT technique more difficult to master than S&S technique because there are more variable parameters

: Prostate avec IGRT : Apport du VMAT

International audienceIn case of prostate irradiation, VMAT shows improvement compared with S&S. In particular, organs at risk are better spared, the delivery time is shortened and the number of delivered UM is decreased

Quality Assurance of Dose-Escalated Radiation Therapy in a Randomized Trial for Locally Advanced Oesophageal cancer

International audienc