Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
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To evaluate residual patient setup errors and daily dose variations of different less-than-daily image guidance (IG) strategies in the delivery of external beam radiotherapy for esophageal cancer. ⋯ Substantial residual setup errors would occur for treatment fractions without IG even if the most frequent less-than-daily IG strategy was to be used, which could lead to significant daily dose variations for the target volume and adjacent normal tissues. Daily image guidance is recommended throughout the course of treatment in conformal radiotherapy for esophageal cancer.
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To assess the outcome of multi-catheter pulse dose rate (PDR) brachytherapy of re-irradiation for local ipsilateral breast tumour recurrence (IBTR) in regard to local control, survival, morbidity and quality of life (QoL). ⋯ Accelerated PDR-brachytherapy following breast conserving surgery (BCS) for local IBTR results in local tumour control comparable to mastectomy. Morbidity is moderate; the cosmetic outcome is good and hardly any impairment on QoL is observed.
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Comparative Study
Treatment of stage I NSCLC in elderly patients: a population-based matched-pair comparison of stereotactic radiotherapy versus surgery.
Elderly patients with stage I NSCLC who undergo surgical resection are at high risk of treatment-related toxicity. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) may provide an alternative treatment with a favorable toxicity profile. ⋯ Similar OS outcomes are achieved with surgery or SBRT for stage I NSCLC in elderly patients. Comorbidity data and outcomes from centralized surgical programs are needed for more robust conclusions.
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As a finding of benign disease is uncommon in Dutch patients undergoing surgery after a clinical diagnosis of stage I NSCLC, patients are also accepted for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) without pathology. We studied outcomes in patients who underwent SABR after either a pathological (n=209) or clinical diagnosis (N=382). ⋯ In a population with a low incidence of benign (18)FDG-PET positive lung nodules, clinical SABR outcomes were similar in large groups of patients with or without pathology. The survival benefits reported after the introduction of SABR are unlikely to be biased by inclusion of benign lesions.