Long-Term Cause-Specific Mortality in Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the impact of treatment-related morbidity on long-term, cause-specific mortality in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients. METHODS: This multicenter cohort included 4919 HL patients, treated before age 51 years between 1965 and 2000, with a median follow-up of 20.2 years. Standardized mortality ratios, absolute excess mortality (AEM) per 10 000 person-years, and cause-specific cumulative mortality by stage and primary treatment, accounting for competing risks, were calculated. RESULTS: HL patients experienced a 5.1-fold (AEM = 123 excess deaths per 10 000 person-years) higher risk of death due to causes other than HL. This risk remained increased in 40-year survivors (standardized mortality ratio = 5.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.2 to 6.5, AEM = 619). At age 54 years, HL survivors experienced similar cumulative mortality (20.0%) from causes other than HL to 71-year-old individuals from the general population. Whereas HL mortality statistically significantly decreased over the calendar period (P < .001), solid tumor mortality did not change in the most recent treatment era. Patients treated in 1989-2000 had lower 25-year cardiovascular disease mortality than patients treated in 1965-1976 (4.3% vs 5.7%; subdistribution hazard ratio = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.46 to 0.93). Infectious disease mortality was not only increased after splenectomy but also after spleen irradiation (hazard ratio = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.55 to 5.07). For stage I-II, primary treatment with chemotherapy (CT) alone was associated with statistically significantly higher HL mortality (P < .001 for CT vs radiotherapy [RT]; P = .04 for CT vs RT+CT) but lower 30-year mortality from causes other than HL (15.8%, 95% CI = 9.7% to 23.3%) compared with RT alone (36.9%, 95% CI = 34.0% to 39.8%, P = .001) and RT and CT combined (29.8%, 95% CI = 26.8% to 32.9%, P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the general population, HL survivors have a substantially reduced life expectancy. Optimal selection of patients for primary CT is crucial, weighing risks of HL relapse and long-term toxicity

Should breathing adapted radiotherapy also be applied for right-sided breast irradiation?

Contains fulltext : 171507.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)BACKGROUND: Voluntary moderate deep inspiration breath-hold (vmDIBH) is widely used for left sided breast cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of vmDIBH in local and locoregional radiation therapy (RT) of right-sided breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For fourteen right-sided breast cancer patients, 3D-conformal (3D-CRT) RT plans (i.e., forward IMRT) were calculated on free-breathing (FB) 3D-CRT(FB) and vmDIBHCT-scans, for local- as well as locoregional breast treatment, with and without internal mammary nodes (IMN). Dose volume parameters were compared. Results : For local breast treatment, no relevant reduction in mean lung dose (MLD) was found. For locoregional breast treatment without IMN, the average MLD reduced from 6.5 to 5.4 Gy (p < 0.005) for the total lung and from 11.2 to 9.7 Gy (p < 0.005) for the ipsilateral lung. For locoregional breast treatment with IMN, the average MLD reduced from 10.8 to 9.1 Gy (p < 0.005) for the total lung and from 18.7 to 16.2 Gy (p < 0.005) for the ipsilateral lung, whilea small reduction in mean heart dose of 0.4 Gy (p = 0.07) was also found. CONCLUSIONS: Breathing adapted radiation therapy in left-sided breast cancer patients is becoming widely introduced. As a result of the slight reduction in lung dose found for locoregional right-sided breast cancer treatment in this study, a slightly lower risk of pneumonitis and secondary lung cancer (in ever smoking patients) can be expected.In addition, for some patients the heart dose will also be reduced by more than 0.5 up to 2.6 Gy. We therefore suggest to also apply breath-hold for locoregional irradiation of right-sided breast cancer patients

Target volume delineation variation in radiotherapy for early stage rectal cancer in the Netherlands

Purpose: The aim of this study was to measure and improve the quality of target volume delineation by means of national consensus on target volume definition in early-stage rectal cancer. Methods and materials: The CTV's for eight patients were delineated by 11 radiation oncologists in 10 institutes according to local guidelines (phase 1). After observer variation analysis a workshop was organized to establish delineation guidelines and a digital atlas, with which the same observers re-delineated the dataset (phase 2). Variation in volume, most caudal and cranial slice and local surface distance variation were analyzed. Results: The average delineated CTV volume decreased from 620 to 460 cc (p <0.001) in phase 2. Variation in the caudal CTV border was reduced significantly from 1.8 to 1.2 cm SD (p = 0.01), while it remained 0.7 cm SD for the cranial border. The local surface distance variation (cm SD) reduced from 1.02 to 0.74 for anterior, 0.63 to 0.54 for lateral, 0.33 to 0.25 for posterior and 1.22 to 0.46 for the sphincter region, respectively. Conclusions: The large variation in target volume delineation could significantly be reduced by use of consensus guidelines and a digital delineation atlas. Despite the significant reduction there is still a need for further improvement. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Radiotherapy and Oncology 102 (2012) 14-2

The BETER survivorship care initiative for Hodgkin lymphoma; Tailored survivorship care for late effects of treatment

The Dutch BETER consortium has established a national care infrastructure for Hodgkin lymphoma survivors. 'BETER' [the Dutch word for 'better'] stands for Better care after Hodgkin lymphoma (HL): Evaluation of longterm Treatment Effects and screening Recommendations. The survivorship care focuses on longterm effects of HL treatment. Over 10,000 HL survivors who were treated in the period spanning 19652008 have been identified. As part of the survivorship care initiative, specific BETER outpatient clinics have been set up. A dedicated website, www.beternahodgkin.nl, provides HL survivors with relevant information. The stakeholders of the BETER survivorship care programme aim to achieve an improved healthy life expectancy for patients treated for HL