Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
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New data suggest that a higher radiation dose will improve outcome in treatment of localized prostate cancer. External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) may on the other hand induce disturbances in the patient's urinary and intestinal function. Since 1997, 195 patients have been treated with a stereotactic boost of 4-8 Gy added to conventional 70 Gy EBRT. Late side effects were prospectively evaluated 3 years after dose-escalated EBRT. ⋯ The stereotactic BeamCath EBRT technique facilitates safe dose escalation of patients with prostate cancer.
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Recent investigations showed some correlation between three-dimensional (3D) treatment planning dose-volume data (dose-volume histograms: DVH, dose statistics) and rectal toxicity for patients treated for prostate cancer. However, no data are available about the possible impact of inter-institute variability in contouring the rectum, so that the possibility of reliably using information from single-centre studies remains doubtful. ⋯ Once a robust definition of rectum is assessed, inter- and intra-institute variability in contouring the rectum appear relatively modest. However, the results suggest that the number of LS patients in DVH correlation studies should be as low as possible; the low number of these patients in the multi-centric trial involving our institutions should not have significant impact on the results of the study.
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Comparative Study
Patients with brain metastases: hope for recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) class 3.
The objectives of the present study were (a) to validate the prognostic classification derived from recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG); (b) to identify prognostic factors in class 3; (c) to examine the impact of treatment related variables on the prognosis in class 3. ⋯ Our results validate the RTOG RPA classification for patients with brain metastases. The variables age, status of the primary, and number of brain metastases allow the division of class 3 into prognostic subgroups. Even class 3 patients may benefit from more aggressive treatment strategies.