Patient-reported acute gastrointestinal symptoms during concurrent chemoradiation treatment for rectal cancer

Evaluation of the clinical impact of the differences between planned and delivered dose in prostate cancer radiotherapy based on CT-on-rails IGRT and patient-reported outcome scores

PURPOSE

To estimate the clinical impact of differences between delivered and planned dose using dose metrics and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) modeling.

METHODS

Forty-six consecutive patients with prostate adenocarcinoma between 2010 and 2015 treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and who had undergone computed tomography on rails imaging were included. Delivered doses to bladder and rectum were estimated using a contour-based deformable image registration method. The bladder and rectum NTCP were calculated using dose-response parameters applied to planned and delivered dose distributions. Seven urinary and gastrointestinal symptoms were prospectively collected using the validated prostate cancer symptom indices patient reported outcome (PRO) at pre-treatment, weekly treatment, and post-treatment follow-up visits. Correlations between planned and delivered doses against PRO were evaluated in this study.

RESULTS

Planned mean doses to bladder and rectum were 44.9 ± 13.6 Gy and 42.8 ± 7.3 Gy, while delivered doses were 46.1 ± 13.4 Gy and 41.3 ± 8.7 Gy, respectively. D_10cc for rectum was 64.1 ± 7.6 Gy for planned and 60.1 ± 9.3 Gy for delivered doses. NTCP values of treatment plan were 22.3% ± 8.4% and 12.6% ± 5.9%, while those for delivered doses were 23.2% ± 8.4% and 9.9% ± 8.3% for bladder and rectum, respectively. Seven of 25 patients with follow-up data showed urinary complications (28%) and three had rectal complications (12%). Correlations of NTCP values of planned and delivered doses with PRO follow-up data were random for bladder and moderate for rectum (0.68 and 0.67, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Sensitivity of bladder to clinical variations of dose accumulation indicates that an automated solution based on a DIR that considers inter-fractional organ deformation could recommend intervention. This is intended to achieve additional rectum sparing in cases that indicate higher than expected dose accumulation early during patient treatment in order to prevent acute severity of bowel symptoms.

Frequent Stools Were Related to Reduced Quality of Life and Capacity in Daily Activities: Weekly Observations During and After Pelvic or Abdominal Radiotherapy

BACKGROUND

Greater knowledge regarding stool frequency and infrequency during pelvic and abdominal irradiation is needed to accurately identify patients at risk of either.

OBJECTIVE

To describe occurrence of frequent and infrequent stools during pelvic-abdominal radiotherapy, and to compare quality of life (QoL) and activities of daily living (ADLs) of those patients experiencing frequent stools with those of patients experiencing infrequent stools.

METHODS

Longitudinally during radiotherapy, 193 patients (64% had gynecological tumors) documented stool frequency, medications, and QoL using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General.

RESULTS

Fifty (26%) experienced frequent stools (≥28 stools a week), and 17 (9%) experienced infrequent stools (<3 stools a week). The frequency of stools and the consumption of medication for diarrhea were highest the last week of the radiotherapy period (50% had ≥49 stools a week, and 50% could not even define the number of stools). Thirty-seven of the patients experiencing frequent stools used antidiarrhea medications. Patients with frequent stools experienced lower QoL (P = .035) and capacity in ADLs (P = .023) compared with patients not experiencing frequent stools.

CONCLUSIONS

A fourth of patients irradiated over pelvic or abdominal fields experienced frequent stools, defined as moderate to severe diarrhea, and those patients experienced lower QoL and capacity in ADLs compared with patients who did not experience frequent stools. Infrequent stools were rarely experienced.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Cancer nursing professionals should deliver evidence-based strategies to prevent frequent stools and treat frequent stools as an approach to lower the risk of impaired capacity in daily living and worsened QoL.

Induction Chemotherapy Reduces Patient-reported Toxicities During Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation with Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy for Rectal Cancer

BACKGROUND

Initial treatment with either neoadjuvant chemoradiation (CRT) or induction FOLFOX (5-Fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) chemotherapy followed by CRT is considered standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. We compared patient-reported outcomes (PRO) during CRT in patients who had received induction chemotherapy versus those who did not.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We reviewed records of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who were treated with CRT between September 2009 and October 2014, and who had completed ≥ 4 PRO assessments during treatment. Clinician- and patient-reported toxicities were collected each week during treatment. We fit binomial generalized linear models to maximum toxicity scores across all patients' visits.

RESULTS

Of 123 patients with ≥ 4 PRO assessments, 87 (71%) patients reported a clinically meaningful PRO score of 3 or higher for diarrhea, and 91 (74%) patients reported a PRO score of ≥ 3 for urgency, during 1 or more weeks of treatment, corresponding to 'very frequent' or worse. Of 116 patients who had also completed ≥ 4 clinician-reported assessments for descriptive analysis, clinically significant diarrhea (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events grade ≥ 2) was reported in 9% of patients, and grade 2 proctitis and cystitis were reported in 20% and 4%, respectively. Eighty-four (68%) patients had undergone induction chemotherapy prior to CRT. Patients who received induction chemotherapy had 68% lower odds of experiencing significant urgency (odds ratio [OR], 0.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11-0.95; P = .04), 76% lower odds of bleeding (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.1-0.62; P < .01), and 75% lower odds of tenesmus (OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.11-0.6; P < .01) versus those treated with upfront CRT.

CONCLUSION

Based on PROs, a high proportion of patients experienced clinically significant symptoms during pelvic CRT, with diarrhea and urgency being most commonly reported. This appears to be under-reported on clinician-reported assessments. Delivery of induction chemotherapy was associated with lower odds of experiencing urgency, bleeding, and tenesmus on PROs during subsequent CRT, with no significant impact on diarrhea and rectal pain.

Fitting NTCP models to bladder doses and acute urinary symptoms during post-prostatectomy radiotherapy

BACKGROUND

To estimate the radiobiological parameters of three popular normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models, which describe the dose-response relations of bladder regarding different acute urinary symptoms during post-prostatectomy radiotherapy (RT). To evaluate the goodness-of-fit and the correlation of those models with those symptoms.

METHODS

Ninety-three consecutive patients treated from 2010 to 2015 with post-prostatectomy image-guided intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were included in this study. Patient-reported urinary symptoms were collected pre-RT and weekly during treatment using the validated Prostate Cancer Symptom Indices (PCSI). The assessed symptoms were flow, dysuria, urgency, incontinence, frequency and nocturia using a Likert scale of 1 to 4 or 5. For this analysis, an increase by ≥2 levels in a symptom at any time during treatment compared to baseline was considered clinically significant. The dose volume histograms of the bladder were calculated. The Lyman-Kutcher-Burman (LKB), Relative Seriality (RS) and Logit NTCP models were used to fit the clinical data. The fitting of the different models was assessed through the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Odds Ratio methods.

RESULTS

For the symptoms of urinary urgency, leakage, frequency and nocturia, the derived LKB model parameters were: 1) D50 = 64.2Gy, m = 0.50, n = 1.0; 2) D50 = 95.0Gy, m = 0.45, n = 0.50; 3) D50 = 83.1Gy, m = 0.56, n = 1.00; and 4) D50 = 85.4Gy, m = 0.60, n = 1.00, respectively. The AUC values for those symptoms were 0.66, 0.58, 0.64 and 0.64, respectively. The differences in AIC between the different models were less than 2 and ranged within 0.1 and 1.3.

CONCLUSIONS

Different dose metrics were correlated with the symptoms of urgency, incontinence, frequency and nocturia. The symptoms of urinary flow and dysuria were poorly associated with dose. The values of the parameters of three NTCP models were determined for bladder regarding four acute urinary symptoms. All the models could fit the clinical data equally well. The NTCP predictions of urgency showed the best correlation with the patient reported outcomes.

Predictors of Radiation Therapy-Related Gastrointestinal Toxicity From Anal Cancer Dose-Painted Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy: Secondary Analysis of NRG Oncology RTOG 0529

PURPOSE

NRG Oncology RTOG 0529 assessed the feasibility of dose-painted intensity modulated radiation therapy (DP-IMRT) to reduce the acute morbidity of chemoradiation with 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and mitomycin-C (MMC) for T2-4N0-3M0 anal cancer. This secondary analysis was performed to identify patient and treatment factors associated with acute and late gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events (AEs).

METHODS AND MATERIALS

NRG Oncology RTOG 0529 treatment plans were reviewed to extract dose-volume data for tightly contoured small bowel, loosely contoured anterior pelvic contents (APC), and uninvolved colon outside the target volume (UC). Univariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate association between volumes of each structure receiving doses ≥5 to 60 Gy (V5-V60) in 5-Gy increments between patients with and without grade ≥2 acute and late GI AEs, and grade ≥3 acute GI AEs. Additional patient and treatment factors were evaluated in multivariate logistic regression (acute AEs) or Cox proportional hazards models (late AEs).

RESULTS

Among 52 evaluable patients, grade ≥2 acute, grade ≥2 late, and grade ≥3 acute GI AEs were observed in 35, 17, and 10 patients, respectively. Trends (P<.05) toward statistically significant associations were observed between grade ≥2 acute GI AEs and small bowel dose (V20-V40), grade ≥2 late GI AEs and APC dose (V60), grade ≥3 acute GI AEs and APC dose (V5-V25), increasing age, tumor size >4 cm, and worse Zubrod performance status. Small bowel volumes of 186.0 cc, 155.0 cc, 41.0 cc, and 30.4 cc receiving doses greater than 25, 30, 35, and 40 Gy, respectively, correlated with increased risk of acute grade ≥2 GI AEs.

CONCLUSIONS

Acute and late GI AEs from 5FU/MMC chemoradiation using DP-IMRT correlate with radiation dose to the small bowel and APC. Such associations will be incorporated in the dose-volume normal tissue constraint design for future NRG oncology anal cancer studies.

Trans-sectoral care in patients with colorectal cancer: Protocol of the randomized controlled multi-center trial Supportive Cancer Care Networkers (SCAN)

BACKGROUND

Managing therapy-related side-effects and improving health-related quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer is still challenging. The need for an effective management of adverse events and unmet supportive care needs have been widely discussed. In the past decade, interventions by nursing staff gained more and more importance. Evidence suggests that a majority of patients even in early stages of the disease experience substantial impairments potentially resulting in diminished therapy adherence as well as impaired quality of life. However, evidence for the effectiveness of nurse-led interventions on symptom management and quality of life is still very limited. This especially applies to care transitions between different inpatient and outpatient health care providers throughout the course of treatment and aftercare.

METHODS/DESIGN

Supportive Cancer Care Networkers (SCAN) is a prospective randomized controlled trial conducted in eight large and middle-sized German cancer centers and municipal hospitals. The target population is adults with colorectal cancer UICC I-III after initial R-0 resection scheduled for adjuvant chemotherapy or guideline-based aftercare only. 370 patients will be randomly assigned to either intervention or control group. Patients in the intervention group will receive an additional support by specialized oncology nurses for eight weeks after discharge from hospital by telephone, consisting of symptom monitoring, counselling on self-assessment and self-management and dealing with individual resources for coping and psychosocial well-being. The primary endpoint will be health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at eight weeks after discharge from the initial treating hospital.

DISCUSSION

The presented SCAN trial is to provide information that will be useful to advance our understanding of complex interdependencies between symptom severity, supportive care needs, functioning and the risk for diminished HRQoL. Most importantly, these patient-reported outcomes are not fully implemented in today's clinical routine practice potentially resulting in therapy cessations and lower chemotherapy treatment rates for colorectal cancer especially in older patients.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01651832.

Synthesis and summary of patient-reported outcome measures to inform the development of a core outcome set in colorectal cancer surgery

AIM

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures (PROMs) are standard measures in the assessment of colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment, but the range and complexity of available PROMs may be hindering the synthesis of evidence. This systematic review aimed to: (i) summarize PROMs in studies of CRC surgery and (ii) categorize PRO content to inform the future development of an agreed minimum 'core' outcome set to be measured in all trials.

METHOD

All PROMs were identified from a systematic review of prospective CRC surgical studies. The type and frequency of PROMs in each study were summarized, and the number of items documented. All items were extracted and independently categorized by content by two researchers into 'health domains', and discrepancies were discussed with a patient and expert. Domain popularity and the distribution of items were summarized.

RESULTS

Fifty-eight different PROMs were identified from the 104 included studies. There were 23 generic, four cancer-specific, 11 disease-specific and 16 symptom-specific questionnaires, and three ad hoc measures. The most frequently used PROM was the EORTC QLQ-C30 (50 studies), and most PROMs (n = 40, 69%) were used in only one study. Detailed examination of the 50 available measures identified 917 items, which were categorized into 51 domains. The domains comprising the most items were 'anxiety' (n = 85, 9.2%), 'fatigue' (n = 67, 7.3%) and 'physical function' (n = 63, 6.9%). No domains were included in all PROMs.

CONCLUSION

There is major heterogeneity of PRO measurement and a wide variation in content assessed in the PROMs available for CRC. A core outcome set will improve PRO outcome measurement and reporting in CRC trials.

NRG Oncology Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0822: A Phase 2 Study of Preoperative Chemoradiation Therapy Using Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy in Combination With Capecitabine and Oxaliplatin for Patients With Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

PURPOSE

To evaluate the rate of gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity of neoadjuvant chemoradiation with capecitabine, oxaliplatin, and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in cT3-4 rectal cancer.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Patients with localized, nonmetastatic T3 or T4 rectal cancer <12 cm from the anal verge were enrolled in a prospective, multi-institutional, single-arm study of preoperative chemoradiation. Patients received 45 Gy with IMRT in 25 fractions, followed by a 3-dimensional conformal boost of 5.4 Gy in 3 fractions with concurrent capecitabine/oxaliplatin (CAPOX). Surgery was performed 4 to 8 weeks after the completion of therapy. Patients were recommended to receive FOLFOX chemotherapy after surgery. The primary endpoint of the study was acute grade 2 to 5 GI toxicity. Seventy-one patients provided 80% probability to detect at least a 12% reduction in the specified GI toxicity with the treatment of CAPOX and IMRT, at a significance level of .10 (1-sided).

RESULTS

Seventy-nine patients were accrued, of whom 68 were evaluable. Sixty-one patients (89.7%) had cT3 disease, and 37 (54.4%) had cN (+) disease. Postoperative chemotherapy was given to 42 of 68 patients. Fifty-eight patients had target contours drawn per protocol, 5 patients with acceptable variation, and 5 patients with unacceptable variations. Thirty-five patients (51.5%) experienced grade ≥ 2 GI toxicity, 12 patients (17.6%) experienced grade 3 or 4 diarrhea, and pCR was achieved in 10 patients (14.7%). With a median follow-up time of 3.98 years, the 4-year rate of locoregional failure was 7.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0%-13.7%). The 4-year rates of OS and DFS were 82.9% (95% CI: 70.1%-90.6%) and 60.6% (95% CI: 47.5%-71.4%), respectively.

CONCLUSION

The use of IMRT in neoadjuvant chemoradiation for rectal cancer did not reduce the rate of GI toxicity.

A systematic review of outcome reporting in colorectal cancer surgery

AIM

Evaluation of surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC) is necessary to inform clinical decision-making and healthcare policy. The standards of outcome reporting after CRC surgery have not previously been considered.

METHOD

Systematic literature searches identified randomized and nonrandomized prospective studies reporting clinical outcomes of CRC surgery. Outcomes were listed verbatim, categorized into broad groups (outcome domains) and examined for a definition (an appropriate textual explanation or a supporting citation). Outcome reporting was considered inconsistent if results of the outcome specified in the methods were not reported. Outcome reporting was compared between randomized and nonrandomized studies.

RESULTS

Of 5644 abstracts, 194 articles (34 randomized and 160 nonrandomized studies) were included reporting 766 different clinical outcomes, categorized into seven domains. A mean of 14 ± 8 individual outcomes were reported per study. 'Anastomotic leak', 'overall survival' and 'wound infection' were the three most frequently reported outcomes in 72, 60 and 44 (37.1%, 30.9% and 22.7%) studies, respectively, and no single outcome was reported in every publication. Outcome definitions were significantly more often provided in randomized studies than in nonrandomized studies (19.0% vs 14.9%, P = 0.015). One-hundred and twenty-seven (65.5%) papers reported results of all outcomes specified in the methods (randomized studies, n = 21, 61.5%; nonrandomized studies, n = 106, 66.2%; P = 0.617).

CONCLUSION

Outcome reporting in CRC surgery lacks consistency and method. Improved standards of outcome measurement are recommended to permit data synthesis and transparent cross-study comparisons.

[Trans-sectoral care for patients with colorectal cancer: Design of a prospective randomized controlled multi-center trial (FKZ 01GY1143)]

BACKGROUND

Health-related quality of life (HrQoL) is an increasingly focused aim in the care for patients with colorectal cancer that are treated with curative intent. Achieving this aim partly depends on the quality of the transsectoral management of these patients throughout the entire treatment course. However, recent population-based surveys have shown that HrQoL in patients with colorectal cancer is significantly impaired over a long time following initial diagnosis. This also applies to patients for whom adjuncant chemotherapy is not indicated according to the German medical S3 guideline. In addition, the patients' need for medical and psychosocial support has repeatedly been reported to persist at a significantly increased level - despite the extensive establishment of certified cancer centres which has apparently failed to solve this problem sufficiently.

AIM

The SCAN intervention aims to increase the percentage of patients reaching an enhancement of their HrQoL by at least 12 points (range: 0-100 pts.) within eight weeks after hospital discharge by 15 percent compared to standard care.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The SCAN intervention is carried out as a randomised controlled multicentre trial in seven large- and middle-sized hospitals all over Saxony-Anhalt. 370 patients have been enrolled, 185 of whom are offered additional nurse-led outpatient counselling.

INTERVENTION

Patients in the intervention group are offered transitional guidance and support consisting of routine symptom assessment and patient counselling regarding self-management, informed therapy-related decision-making and psychosocial support.

ENDPOINTS

The primary endpoint of the study is the patients' global health-related quality of life (HrQoL), assessed by the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire QLQ C-30 V3.0, item 30. Disease-free survival within eight months, the utilisation of indicated adjuvant chemotherapies as well as therapy-related side effects, e. g., anxiety and depression and the patients' symptom burden are monitored as secondary endpoints.

EXPECTED RESULTS

We assume that the SCAN intervention will be effective in increasing the percentage of patients reaching a clinically relevant enhancement of their HrQoL within eight weeks after hospital discharge by 15 percent compared to standard care.

Treatment options for advanced pancreatic cancer: a review

Advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma historically has a poor prognosis and the mortality rate has remained unchanged for over a decade. Common treatment options for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer include chemoradiation and/or chemotherapy. Single-agent gemcitabine has been considered the standard of care since 1997. Recently published findings indicate that the oxaliplatin, irinotecan, fluorouracil and leucovorin (FOLFIRINOX) treatment regimen significantly improves overall survival compared with gemcitabine. Research has shifted to focus on understanding the causes the resistance of pancreatic cancer to chemotherapy and potential methods to overcome it. This review will focus on the current treatment options, the evolution of targeted therapy, novel agents on the horizon and potential options to ameliorate chemoresistance.

Dose--volume effects on patient-reported acute gastrointestinal symptoms during chemoradiation therapy for rectal cancer

PURPOSE

Research on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in rectal cancer is limited. We examined whether dose-volume parameters of the small bowel and large bowel were associated with patient-reported gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms during 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemoradiation treatment for rectal cancer.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

66 patients treated at the Brigham & Women's Hospital or Massachusetts General Hospital between 2006 and 2008 were included. Weekly during treatment, patients completed a questionnaire assessing severity of diarrhea, urgency, pain, cramping, mucus, and tenesmus. The association between dosimetric parameters and changes in overall GI symptoms from baseline through treatment was examined by using Spearman's correlation. Potential associations between these parameters and individual GI symptoms were also explored.

RESULTS

The amount of small bowel receiving at least 15 Gy (V15) was significantly associated with acute symptoms (p = 0.01), and other dosimetric parameters ranging from V5 to V45 also trended toward association. For the large bowel, correlations between dosimetric parameters and overall GI symptoms at the higher dose levels from V25 to V45 did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.1), and a significant association was seen with rectal pain from V15 to V45 (p < 0.01). Other individual symptoms did not correlate with small bowel or large bowel dosimetric parameters.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study using PROs are consistent with prior studies with physician-assessed acute toxicity, and they identify small bowel V15 as an important predictor of acute GI symptoms during 5-FU-based chemoradiation treatment. A better understanding of the relationship between radiation dosimetric parameters and PROs may allow physicians to improve radiation planning to optimize patient outcomes.