[en] Purpose: Brazil has one of the highest incidence of carcinoma of the cervix in the world. Half of the patients have advanced stages at the diagnosis. Due to this large number of patients we decided to conduct a prospective pilot study to investigate the tolerance to and survival rate with hyperfractionated external radiotherapy only in patients with Stage IIIB carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Methods and Materials: Between January 1991 and December 1993, 23 patients underwent hyperfractionated external beam radiotherapy without brachytherapy. All cases were biopsy proven squamous cell carcinoma of cervix clinically Staged as IIIB (FIGO). Hyperfractionation (HFX) was given with 1.2 Gy doses, twice daily at 6-h interval, 5 days/week, to the whole pelvis up to 72 Gy within 30 working days. Complications were evaluated by an adaptation of the RTOG Radiation Morbidity Scoring Table graded as 1 = none/mild; 2 = moderate, and 3 = severe. Results: Follow-up ranged from 27 to 50 months (median 40 months) on the 9 to 23 living patients at the time of the analysis in December 1995. There was no severe acute toxicity, but moderate acute reaction was high: 74%. The commonest site of complication was the intestine where severe late toxicity occurred in 2 of 23 (9%). Overall survival rate at 27 months was 48% and at 40 months was 43%. Discussion: There is little information in literature about HFX in carcinoma of the cervix. This is the third published study about it and the one that gave the highest total dose with external HFX of 60 x 1.2 Gy = 72 Gy. Theoretically, through the linear quadratic formula this schedule of HFX would be equivalent to 30 x 2 Gy = 60 Gy of standard fractionation, both treatments given in 30 working days. HFX schedules must be tested to establish their safety. Present results suggest being possible to further increase the total dose in the pelvis with hyperfractionated irradiation

[en] Purpose: Long-term rectal toxicity is a concern for patients with prostate cancer treated with curative radiation. However, comparing results of late toxicity may not be straightforward. This article reviews the complexity of reporting long-term side effects by using data for patients treated in our institution with hypofractionated irradiation. Methods and Materials: Seventy-two patients with localized prostate cancer treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy alone to a dose of 66 Gy in 22 fractions were prospectively assessed for late rectal toxicity according to the Common Toxicity Criteria, Version 3, scoring system. Ninety percent of patients had more than 24 months of follow-up. Results are compared with data published in the literature. Results: We found an actuarial incidence of Grade 2 or higher late rectal toxicity of 27% at 30 months and a crude incidence of Grade 2 or higher late rectal toxicity of 18%. This was mostly severe toxicity documented during follow-up. The incidence of Grade 3 rectal toxicity at the last visit was 3% compared with 13% documented at any time during follow-up. Conclusion: Comparison of late toxicity after radiotherapy in patients with prostate cancer must be undertaken with caution because many factors need to be taken into consideration. Because accurate assessment of late toxicity in the evaluation of long-term outcome after radiotherapy in patients with localized prostate cancer is essential, there is a need to develop by consensus guidelines for assessing and reporting late toxicity in this group of patients

[en] The conventional treatment of localized breast cancer involves the use of both systemic therapy and loco-regional radiation after surgery. The ideal sequence of these two treatments is still undefined. This paper focus on our experience of concomitant chemotherapy (CT) and radiotherapy (RT), and discusses information from the literature about this issue. Between Jan,1989 and Jan, 1999 a retrospective analysis of 103 patients with ductal carcinoma of the breast who received concomitant CT with cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5 flurouracil (CMF) and RT was made. Radiation did not included mammary chain or axilla and total dose was of 50 Gy. End points were tolerance and oxicity leading changes to doses. Mean age was 44y; median follow up time of 33 mo; 62 patients had breast conserving surgery and 41 had mastectomy. All patients received both treatments without a break or dose modification. There was no change or interruption of RT. Ten out of 103 patients had the prescribed dose of CT decreased of 10%-20%. There was no evident changes in cosmetic results. Most of the knowledge regarding the delay of CT or RT comes from retrospective studies, and results are conflicting. It is well accepted that high risk patients need both CT and RT. However, there are data suggesting that giving RT first and CT after may increase the rate of distant metastases. There are also studies showing worse impact in the local control with the delay of radiotherapy. The use of concomitant chemotherapy and radiotherapy has apparent advantages, but no randomized trial has addressed this issue yet. Our experience has shown that is possible to give concomitant CT with CMF and RT without irradiation of IMC and axilla without major changes in scheduling or dose of both therapies. (author)

[en] Between October, 1988 and November, 1993, 57 patients with metastatic brain disease underwent stereotactic radiosurgery at McGill University, canada. Four patients were excluded from this analysis leaving a total of 53 evaluable patients (with 57 lesions). Radiosurgery was performed with the dynamic rotation technique which uses an isocentric, 10 MV, linear accelerator. A median dose of 1,800 c Gy was given in a single session. In 89% of the cases radiosurgery was used after failure to conventional brain radiotherapy. With a median follow-up of 6 months, the response rate was 65% . Treatments were well tolerated and only 4 patients (7%) developed late complications related to the therapy, with one patient requiring a surgical resection of an area of radionecrose. Radiosurgery appears to be and effective and safe treatment for selected patients with metastatic brain disease, recurrent post-conventional radiotherapy. Its value as a single treatment modality for patients with isolated brain metastasis is now being studied in prospective trials. (author). 29 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs

[en] Hypofractionated radiotherapy may overcome repopulation in rapidly proliferating tumors such as lung cancer. It is more convenient for the patients and reduces health care costs. This study reports our results on patients with medically inoperable, early stage, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with hypofractionation. Stage T1-2N0 NSCLC patients were treated with hypofractionation alone, 52.5 Gy/15 fractions, in 3 weeks, with 3-dimensional conformal planning. T1-2N1 patients with the hilar lymphnode close to the primary tumor were also eligible for this treatment. We did not use any approach to reduce respiratory motion, but it was monitored in all patients. Elective nodal radiotherapy was not performed. Routine follow up included assessment for acute and late toxicity and radiological tumor response. Median follow up time was 29 months for the surviving patients. Thirty-two patients with a median age of 76 years, T1 = 15 and T2 = 17, were treated. Median planning target volume (PTV) volume was 150cc and median V16 of both lungs was 13%. The most important finding of this study is that toxicity was minimal. Two patients had grade ≤ 2 acute pneumonitis and 3 had mild (grade 1) acute esophagitis. There was no late toxicity. Actuarial 1 and 2-year overall survival rates are 78% and 56%, cancer specific survival rates (CSS) are 90% and 74%, and local relapse free survival rates are 93% and 76% respectively. 3-D planning, involved field hypofractionation at a dose of 52.5 Gy in 15 daily fractions is safe, well tolerated and easy radiation treatment for medically inoperable lung cancer patients. It shortens by half the traditional treatment. Results compare favorably with previously published studies. Further studies are needed to compare similar technique with other treatments such as surgery and stereotactic radiotherapy

[en] Radiation therapy represents an important alternative for curative treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. However, an accurate definition of the volume to be irradiated becomes even more important, considering that lungs are highly sensitive to radiation. Most recently, combined FDG-PET/CT scan has been utilized, and the literature reports its significant role in the planning of radiation therapy, since it seems to influence the target-volume delineation in cases of lung cancer. Differences between diagnostic and treatment equipment must be taken into consideration when FDG-PET/CT scan is utilized in the planning of radiation therapy. The present study discusses some of the many technical problems that must be solved when PET is incorporated into the planning of radiation therapy for non-small cell lung cancer. (author)

[en] Purpose/Objective(s): To review our experience with bladder-preserving trimodality treatment (TMT) using hypofractionated intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for the treatment of elderly patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Methods and Materials: Retrospective study of elderly patients treated with TMT using hypofractionated IMRT (50 Gy in 20 fractions) with concomitant weekly radiosensitizing chemotherapy. Eligibility criteria were as follows: age ≥70 years, a proven diagnosis of muscle-invasive transitional cell bladder carcinoma, stage T2-T3N0M0 disease, and receipt of TMT with curative intent. Response rate was assessed by cystoscopic evaluation and bladder biopsy. Results: 24 patients with a median age of 79 years were eligible. A complete response was confirmed in 83% of the patients. Of the remaining patients, 1 of them underwent salvage cystectomy, and no disease was found in the bladder on histopathologic assessment. After a median follow-up time of 28 months, of the patients with a complete response, 2 patients had muscle-invasive recurrence, 1 experienced locoregional failure, and 3 experienced distant metastasis. The overall and cancer-specific survival rates at 3 years were 61% and 71%, respectively. Of the surviving patients, 75% have a disease-free and functioning bladder. All patients completed hypofractionated IMRT, and 19 patients tolerated all 4 cycles of chemotherapy. Acute grade 3 gastrointestinal or genitourinary toxicities occurred in only 4% of the patients, and acute grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxicities, liver toxicities, or both were experienced by 17% of the cohort. No patient experienced grade 4 gastrointestinal or genitourinary toxicity. Conclusions: Hypofractionated IMRT with concurrent radiosensitizing chemotherapy appears to be an effective and well-tolerated curative treatment strategy in the elderly population and should be considered for patients who are not candidates for cystectomy or who wish to avoid cystectomy

[en] Purpose: Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/computed tomography (CT) is more accurate than CT in determining the extent of non-small-cell lung cancer. We performed a study to evaluate the impact of FDG-PET/CT on the radiotherapy volume delineation compared with CT without using any mathematical algorithm and to correlate the findings with the pathologic examination findings. Methods and Materials: A total of 32 patients with proven non-small-cell lung cancer, pathologic specimens from the mediastinum and lung primary, and pretreatment chest CT and FDG-PET/CT scans were studied. For each patient, two data sets of theoretical gross tumor volumes were contoured. One set was determined using the chest CT only, and the second, done separately, was based on the co-registered FDG-PET/CT data. The disease stage of each patient was determined using the TNM staging system for three data sets: the CT scan only, FDG-PET/CT scan, and pathologic findings. Results: Pathologic examination altered the CT-determined stage in 22 (69%) of 32 patients and the PET-determined stage in 16 (50%) of 32 patients. The most significant alterations were related to the N stage. PET altered the TNM stage in 15 (44%) of 32 patients compared with CT alone, but only 7 of these 15 alterations were confirmed by the pathologic findings. With respect to contouring the tumor volume for radiotherapy, PET altered the contour in 18 (56%) of 32 cases compared with CT alone. Conclusion: The contour of the tumor volume of non-small-cell lung cancer patients with co-registered FDG-PET/CT resulted in >50% alterations compared with CT targeting, findings similar to those of other publications. However, the significance of this change is unknown. Furthermore, pathologic examination showed that PET is not always accurate and histologic examination should be obtained to confirm the findings of PET whenever possible

[en] Purpose: To compare two different ultrasound-based verification systems for prostate alignment during daily external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for localized prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Prostate displacements were measured prospectively in 40 patients undergoing daily EBRT. Comparison was made between a system based on the cross-modality verification method (CMVM), which uses two different imaging modalities to assess organ motion, and a system based on the intramodality verification method (IMVM), which uses only one imaging modality for such assessment. A total of 217 CMVM and 217 IMVM displacements were collected within a minute of each other. In 10 patients, IMVM displacements were also compared with those measured by sequential CT scans. Results: Analysis in the paired CMVM and IMVM displacements shows a significant mean difference of 0.9 ± 3.3 mm in the lateral and 6.0 ± 5.1 mm in the superoinferior directions (p < 0.0001), whereas no significant difference was detected in the anteroposterior direction between the two methods. Comparison of the computed tomography scan and IMVM measured displacements shows no significant difference between the two methods, with mean values of 0.2 ± 1.7 mm in the lateral, -0.3 ± 1.6 mm in the anteroposterior, and 0.1 ± 1.4 mm in the superoinferior directions. Conclusions: A significant systematic difference exists between cross-modality and intramodality methods when assessing prostate alignment during daily EBRT. Because displacements assessed by IMVM are consistent with those assessed by computed tomography scan, a more accurate prostate alignment appears to be obtained when the IMVM method is used

[en] Purpose: To assess the efficacy of intermittent androgen ablation (IAA) in patients with biochemical failure after radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Thirty-nine patients received a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analog every 2 months for a total of 4 doses. IAA was then discontinued if serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) fell to a normal level with a castrate level of testosterone. Therapy was restarted when the serum PSA level reached ≥10 ng/mL and was discontinued if hormone resistance or unacceptable toxicity occurred. Results: Median PSA was 9.1 ng/mL at the time of first IAA. The median time between the first and the second cycles was 20.1 months, decreasing to 15.5 months between the third and fourth cycles. Two patients discontinued the treatment because of severe hot flushes. Four patients developed hormone resistance. With a median follow-up of 56.4 months, 5-year survival is 92.3%. Three patients died of unrelated causes. The incidence of distant metastasis is 6.8%. Conclusions: The use of IAA seems to be a safe and effective treatment for patients with biochemical failure post radiotherapy and no evidence of metastatic disease. The use of IAA limits hormone-related side effects and health care costs without an apparent increase in the risk for the development of metastatic disease