International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Aug 2019
Quality at the American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting: Gender Balance Among Invited Speakers and Associations with Panel Success.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting is the most prominent international conference in radiation oncology. It represents one of the greatest time efforts for ASTRO volunteers, and the quality of the annual meeting is a high priority. Measures of diversity have been linked with quality of academic efforts. We conducted a study of gender diversity of the ASTRO invited speakers, focusing on speaker and panel characteristics, and associations of these characteristics with measures of audience satisfaction. ⋯ Given observations that women constitute a minority of invited speakers and that greater female representation correlates with a key panel success metric, efforts to ensure greater diversity of those included in AM speaking invitations merit serious attention.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Aug 2019
Five-Year Outcomes of a Single-Institution Prospective Trial of 19-Gy Single-Fraction High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Low- and Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer.
To update outcome and toxicity results of a prospective trial of 19-Gy single-fraction high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for men with low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer. ⋯ With extended follow-up, toxicity rates after single-fraction 19-Gy HDR brachytherapy remain low. Higher-than-expected rates of biochemical and local failure, however, raise concerns regarding the adequacy of this dose. Additional investigation to define the optimal single-fraction HDR brachytherapy dose is warranted, and single-fraction treatment currently should not be offered outside the context of a clinical trial.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Aug 2019
Quantification of Acute Skin Toxicities in Patients With Breast Cancer Undergoing Adjuvant Proton versus Photon Radiation Therapy: A Single Institutional Experience.
Acute skin toxicity in the form of radiation dermatitis (RD) or skin hyperpigmentation (SH) is a common problem experienced by patients undergoing breast irradiation. Proton radiation has been thought to deliver higher doses to skin compared with photon radiation because of differences in the physical properties between photons and protons; however, limited literature exists directly comparing toxicity outcomes. ⋯ In a comparison with patients receiving photon radiation, a significantly higher rate of grade ≥2 RD was observed in patients undergoing proton radiation, with very low rates of grade 3 toxicity in both groups. Rates of SH did not differ significantly between modalities. Women should be counseled regarding the possibility of increased grade 2 toxicities, although this might present a dosimetric advantage for physicians when treating patients in the postmastectomy setting or when skin was involved on presentation.
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Jul 2019
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialA Multicenter Prospective Clinical Trial of 68Gallium PSMA HBED-CC PET-CT Restaging in Biochemically Relapsed Prostate Carcinoma: Oligometastatic Rate and Distribution Compared With Standard Imaging.
The purpose of this study is to assess the utility of 68Gallium prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry (DKFZ)-PSMA-11 positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT), compared with standard imaging, in the detection of recurrent prostate carcinoma in patients with biochemical relapse to determine the prevalence of oligometastatic disease recurrence and its distribution. ⋯ For patients with biochemical relapse with BS and CT demonstrating either no disease or low-volume disease, there is a high overall prevalence of PSMA PET/CT-positive disease. More than half of the patients were oligometastatic, and of those, disease was confined to the pelvis in nearly two-thirds of patients. This result confirms that PSMA PET/CT is significantly more sensitive than standard restaging imaging, and it may be useful in identifying patients for subsequent targeted therapy.