Early morbidity and dose-volume effects in definitive radiochemotherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer: a prospective cohort study covering modern treatment techniques

Radiation Proctitis in Patients With Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Treated by Chemoradiation: Analysis and Predictive Factors From a Retrospective Cohort

OBJECTIVES

Radiation proctitis is a misunderstanding complication of chemoradiation in locally advanced cervical cancer. The objective of our study is to provide a detailed description and analysis of predictive factors associated with radiation proctitis in a retrospective cohort of patients treated by chemoradiation for locally advanced cervical cancer.

METHODS

All patients treated by exclusive chemoradiation or chemoradiation followed by brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer from 2011 to 2017 were included in the study. A bivariate analysis was conducted to establish correlations between the occurrence of radiation proctitis and various clinical and technical variables.

RESULTS

A total of 128 patients were included in the study. The mean dose (SD) to the planning target volume was 47.1 Gy (6.2). Fifty-nine (46.1%) patients underwent brachytherapy. Sixteen patients (12.5%) developed radiation proctitis, grade 2 or higher in 12 patients (9.3%). In univariate analysis, anticoagulant or antiplatelet treatments ( P =0.039), older age ( P =0.049), rectal volume irradiated at 40 Gy ( P =0.01) and 30 Gy ( P =0.037) were significantly associated with the occurrence of a grade ≥2 radiation proctitis. The delivered dose to 2 cm 3 of rectum (D2cm 3 ) showed a potential association with the occurrence of radiation proctitis of all grades ( P =0.064).

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights clinical and technical factors that should be considered in assessing the risk of radiation proctitis. These results contribute to a better understanding of this complication.

Dosimetric impact of bone marrow sparing for robustly optimized IMPT for locally advanced cervical cancer

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

To investigate the trade-off between bone marrow sparing (BMS) and dose to organs at risk (OARs) for intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) for women with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty LACC patients were retrospectively included. IMPT plans were created for each patient using automated treatment planning. These plans progressively reduced bone marrow mean doses by steps of 1 GyRBE, while constraining target coverage and conformality. The relation between bone marrow dose and bladder, small bowel, rectum, and sigmoid doses was evaluated.

RESULTS

A total of 140 IMPT plans were created. Plans without BMS had an average [range] bone marrow mean dose of 17.3 [14.7-21.6] GyRBE , which reduced to 12.0 [10.0-14.0] GyRBE with maximum BMS. The mean OAR dose [range] increased modestly for 1 GyRBE BMS: 0.2 [0.0 - 0.6] GyRBE for bladder, 0.3 [-0.2 - 0.7] GyRBE for rectum, 0.4 [0.1 - 0.8] GyRBE for small bowel, and 0.2 [-0.2 - 0.4] GyRBE for sigmoid. Moreover, for maximum BMS, mean OAR doses [range] escalated by 3.3 [0.1 - 6.7] GyRBE for bladder, 5.8 [1.8 - 12.4] GyRBE for rectum, 3.9 [1.6 - 5.9] GyRBE for small bowel, and 2.7 [0.6 - 5.9] GyRBE for sigmoid.

CONCLUSION

Achieving 1 GyRBE BMS for IMPT is feasible for LACC patients with limited dosimetric impact on other OARs. While further bone marrow dose reduction is possible for some patients, it may increase OAR doses substantially for others. Hence, we recommend a personalized approach when introducing BMS into clinical IMPT treatment planning to carefully assess individual patient benefits and risks.

Predictive Factors for Toxicity After Primary Chemoradiation for Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE

Women with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) undergoing primary platinum-based chemoradiotherapy and brachytherapy often experience toxicities. Normal-tissue complication probability (NTCP) models quantify toxicity risk and aid in optimizing radiation therapy to minimize side effects. However, it is unclear which predictors to include in an NTCP model. The aim of this systematic review was to provide an overview of the identified predictors contributing to gastrointestinal (GI), genitourinary (GU), and vaginal toxicities and insufficiency fractures for LACC.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

A systematic search was performed and articles evaluating the relationship between predictors and toxicities in women with LACC treated with primary chemoradiation were included. The Quality In Prognosis Studies tool was used to assess risk of bias, with high-risk studies being excluded from further analysis. Relationships between dose-volume parameters, patient and treatment characteristics, and toxicity endpoints were analyzed.

RESULTS

Seventy-three studies were identified. Twenty-six had a low or moderate risk of bias and were therefore included. Brachytherapy-related dose-volume parameters of the GI tract, including rectum and bowel equivalent dose in 2 Gy fractions (EQD2) D2 cm3, were frequently related to toxicities, unlike GU dose-volume parameters. Furthermore, (recto)vaginal point doses predicted toxicities. Few studies evaluated external beam radiation therapy dose-volume parameters and identified rectum EQD2 V30 Gy, V40 Gy, and V55 Gy, bowel and bladder EQD2 V40 Gy as toxicity predictors. Also, total reference air kerma and vaginal reference length were associated with toxicities. Relationships between patient characteristics and GI toxicity were inconsistent. The extent of vaginal involvement at diagnosis, baseline symptoms, and obesity predicted GU or vaginal toxicities. Only 1 study evaluated insufficiency fractures and demonstrated lower pretreatment bone densities to be associated.

CONCLUSIONS

This review detected multiple candidate predictors of toxicity. Larger studies should consider insufficiency fractures, assess dose levels from external beam radiation therapy, and quantify the relationship between the predictors and treatment-related toxicities in women with LACC to further facilitate NTCP model development for clinical use.

Outcome and toxicity of chemoradiation using volumetric modulated arc therapy followed by 3D image-guided brachytherapy for cervical cancer: Vietnam National Cancer Hospital experience

Background

Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and 3D image-guided brachytherapy (3D-IGBT) have recently been introduced in Vietnam for the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer. This study aims to assess the outcomes and toxicities of chemoradiation using VMAT followed by 3D-IGBT in Vietnamese cervical cancer patients.

Materials and methods

A prospective interventional study on 72 patients with 2018 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IB3-IIIC2 disease who underwent concurrent chemoradiation using VMAT, followed by 3D-IGBT according to EMBRACE-II protocol. Primary endpoints were locoregional control; secondary endpoints were systemic control and toxicity.

Results

Median body volume received 43 Gy was 1589.1 cm3 (range 1214.8-2574.8). Median high-risk clinical target volume (CTV-HR) was 18.8 cm3 (range 8.6-61.2) with a median dose to 90% (D90) of CTV-HR of 90.6 Gy (range 86.8-99.6). Mean doses to 2cc (D2cc) of bladder, rectum, and sigmoid were 75.8, 55.2, and 62.1 Gy, respectively. At median 19-month follow-up (range 12-25), locoregional control and systemic control were 95.8% and 81.9%, respectively. Systemic control was the lowest in N2 disease (54.5%). Grade ≥ 3 acute toxicities were less than 10%, except neutropenia (31.9%). Extended-field radiation increased significantly nausea, fatigue, and thrombocytopenia. No grade ≥ 3 proctitis or cystitis; 8.3% had grade 3 vaginal stenosis.

Conclusions

VMAT-based chemoradiation therapy followed by 3D-IGBT achieved high locoregional control with manageable toxicities in locally advanced cervical cancer. Systemic control correlated with disease stage.

Systematic Review of the Literature on Multiple Co-occurring Symptoms in Patients Receiving Treatment for Gynecologic Cancers

OBJECTIVE

Patients with gynecologic cancers experience a very high symptom burden that has a negative impact on their quality of life. This systematic review aims to identify the common co-occurring symptoms, the prevalence of common symptoms, common instruments used to measure symptoms, associated risk factors, and the symptom burden in patients with gynecologic cancers.

DATA SOURCES

A search of four databases (ie, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CINAHL) was done from January 1, 2012, through September 5, 2022. A qualitative synthesis of the extant literature was performed using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines (PRISMA 2020).

CONCLUSION

A total of 118 studies met the prespecified inclusion criteria. Ninety-six symptoms were assessed across these studies. The top six symptoms and their grand mean prevalence rates were lack of energy (64.4%), fatigue (62.1%), abdominal pain (53.3%), depression (52.6%), concentration dysfunction (52.0%), and drowsiness (51.9%). Numerous methodologic challenges were evident across studies. Future research needs to develop a disease-specific symptom assessment measure, evaluate for risk factors associated with a higher symptom burden, and determine the impact of multiple symptoms on patient outcomes.

IMPLICATION FOR NURSING PRACTICE

The results are relevant for oncology clinicians to assess patients with gynecologic cancers for the presence of common symptoms and risk factors for higher symptom burden in the patients and to offer effective management interventions.

Precision assessment of bowel motion quantification using 3D cine-MRI for radiotherapy

Objective. The bowel is an important organ at risk for toxicity during pelvic and abdominal radiotherapy. Identifying regions of high and low bowel motion with MRI during radiotherapy may help to understand the development of bowel toxicity, but the acquisition time of MRI is rather long. The aim of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the precision of bowel motion quantification and to estimate the minimum MRI acquisition time.Approach. We included 22 gynaecologic cancer patients receiving definitive radiotherapy with curative intent. The 10 min pre-treatment 3D cine-MRI scan consisted of 160 dynamics with an acquisition time of 3.7 s per volume. Deformable registration of consecutive images generated 159 deformation vector fields (DVFs). We defined two motion metrics, the 50th percentile vector lengths (VL50) of the complete set of DVFs was used to measure median bowel motion. The 95th percentile vector lengths (VL95) was used to quantify high motion of the bowel. The precision of these metrics was assessed by calculating their variation (interquartile range) in three different time frames, defined as subsets of 40, 80, and 120 consecutive images, corresponding to acquisition times of 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 min, respectively.Main results. For the full 10 min scan, the minimum motion per frame of 50% of the bowel volume (M50%) ranged from 0.6-3.5 mm for the VL50 motion metric and 2.3-9.0 mm for the VL95 motion metric, across all patients. At 7.5 min scan time, the variation in M50% was less than 0.5 mm in 100% (VL50) and 95% (VL95) of the subsets. A scan time of 5.0 and 2.5 min achieved a variation within 0.5 mm in 95.2%/81% and 85.7%/57.1% of the subsets, respectively.Significance. Our 3D cine-MRI technique quantifies bowel loop motion with 95%-100% confidence with a precision of 0.5 mm variation or less, using a 7.5 min scan time.

Implementing cone-beam computed tomography-guided online adaptive radiotherapy in cervical cancer

Background and purpose

Adaptive radiotherapy (ART) in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) has shown promising outcomes. This study investigated the feasibility of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-guided online ART (oART) for the treatment of LACC.

Material and methods

The quality of the automated radiotherapy treatment plans and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven contour delineation for LACC on a novel CBCT-guided oART system were assessed. Dosimetric analysis of 200 simulated oART sessions were compared with standard treatment. Feasibility of oART was assessed from the delivery of 132 oART fractions for the first five clinical LACC patients. The simulated and live oART sessions compared a fixed planning target volume (PTV) margin of 1.5 cm around the uterus-cervix clinical target volume (CTV) with an internal target volume-based approach. Workflow timing measurements were recorded.

Results

The automatically-generated 12-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy plans were comparable to manually generated plans. The AI-driven organ-at-risk (OAR) contouring was acceptable requiring, on average, 12.3 min to edit, with the bowel performing least well and rated as unacceptable in 16 % of cases. The treated patients demonstrated a mean PTV D98% (+/-SD) of 96.7 (+/- 0.2)% for the adapted plans and 94.9 (+/- 3.7)% for the non-adapted scheduled plans (p<10^-5). The D2cc (+/-SD) for the bowel, bladder and rectum were reduced by 0.07 (+/- 0.03)Gy, 0.04 (+/-0.05)Gy and 0.04 (+/-0.03)Gy per fraction respectively with the adapted plan (p <10^-5). In the live.setting, the mean oART session (+/-SD) from CBCT acquisition to beam-on was 29 +/- 5 (range 21-44) minutes.

Conclusion

CBCT-guided oART was shown to be feasible with dosimetric benefits for patients with LACC. Further work to analyse potential reductions in PTV margins is ongoing.

Carpe Diem: Making the Most of Plan-of-the-Day for Cervical Cancer Radiation Therapy

PURPOSE

Radiation therapy is the key treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer. Organ motion presents a challenge to accurate targeting of external beam radiation therapy. The plan-of-the-day (PotD) adaptive approach is therefore an attractive option. We present our experience and the procedural steps required to implement PotD for cervix cancer.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

We reviewed relevant studies on organ motion and adaptive radiation therapy identified through a literature search and cross referencing. These included 10 dosimetric and 3 quality of life studies directly assessing the PotD approach to radiation therapy in cervix cancer.

RESULTS

Studies show improvements in target coverage and reduction of dose received by normal tissues and suggest improved toxicity. Clinical implementation of PotD has been slow because of a number of difficulties and uncertainties, which we discuss with the aim of helping teams to implement PotD at their center.

CONCLUSIONS

The PotD approach improves dosimetry and may improve toxicity. We describe a framework to assist with practical implementation.

Establishment of a prediction model for severe acute radiation enteritis associated with cervical cancer radiotherapy

BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignant tumors. Radiation enteritis (RE) leads to radiotherapy intolerance or termination of radiotherapy, which negatively impacts the therapeutic effect and seriously affects the quality of life of patients. If the incidence of RE in patients can be predicted in advance, and targeted clinical preventive treatment can be carried out, the side effects of radiotherapy in cervical cancer patients can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, accurate prediction of RE is essential for the selection of individualized radiation dose and the optimization of the radiotherapy plan.

AIM

To analyze the relationships between severe acute RE (SARE) of cervical cancer radiotherapy and clinical factors and dose-volume parameters retrospectively.

METHODS

We included 50 cervical cancer patients who received volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) from September 2017 to June 2018 in the Department of Radiotherapy at The First Affiliated Hospital Soochow University. Clinical and dose-volume histogram factors of patients were collected. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of each factor for SARE. A nomogram to predict SARE was developed (SARE scoring system ≥ 3 points) based on the multiple regression coefficients; validity was verified by an internal verification method.

RESULTS

Gastrointestinal and hematological toxicity of cervical cancer VMAT gradually increased with radiotherapy and reached the peak at the end of radiotherapy. The main adverse reactions were diarrhea, abdominal pain, colitis, anal swelling, and blood in the stool. There was no significant difference in the incidence of gastrointestinal toxicity between the radical and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy groups (P > 0.05). There were significant differences in the small intestine V₂₀, V₃₀, V₄₀, and rectal V₄₀ between adjuvant radiotherapy and radical radiotherapy after surgery (P < 0.05). Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed anal bulge rating (OR: 14.779, 95%CI: 1.281-170.547, P = 0.031) and disease activity index (DAI) score (OR: 53.928, 95%CI: 3.822-760.948, P = 0.003) as independent predictors of SARE.

CONCLUSION

Anal bulge rating (> 0.500 grade) and DAI score (> 2.165 points) can predict SARE. The nomogram shows potential value in clinical practice.

Geriatric Radiation Oncology: What We Know and What Can We Do Better?

Elderly patients represent a growing subgroup of cancer patients for whom the role of radiation therapy is poorly defined. Older patients are still clearly underrepresented in clinical trials, resulting in very limited high-level evidence. Moreover, elderly patients are less likely to receive radiation therapy in similar clinical scenarios compared to younger patients. However, there is no clear evidence for a generally reduced radiation tolerance with increasing age. Modern radiation techniques have clearly reduced acute and late side effects, thus extending the boundaries of the possible regarding treatment intensity in elderly or frail patients. Hypofractionated regimens have further decreased the socioeconomic burden of radiation treatments by reducing the overall treatment time. The current review aims at summarizing the existing data for the use of radiation therapy or chemoradiation in elderly patients focusing on the main cancer types. It provides an overview of treatment tolerability and outcomes with current standard radiation therapy regimens, including possible predictive factors in the elderly population. Strategies for patient selection for standard or tailored radiation therapy approaches based on age, performance score or comorbidity, including the use of prediction tests or geriatric assessments, are discussed. Current and future possibilities for improvements of routine care and creation of high-level evidence in elderly patients receiving radiation therapy are highlighted.

[What do we need to deliver "online" adapted radiotherapy treatment plans?]

During the joint SFRO/SFPM session of the 2019 congress, a state of the art of adaptive radiotherapy announced a strong impact in our clinical practice, in particular with the availability of treatment devices coupled to an MRI system. Three years later, it seems relevant to take stock of adaptive radiotherapy in practice, and especially the "online" strategy because it is indeed more and more accessible with recent hardware and software developments, such as coupled accelerators to a three-dimensional imaging device and algorithms based on artificial intelligence. However, the deployment of this promising strategy is complex because it contracts the usual time scale and upsets the usual organizations. So what do we need to deliver adapted treatment plans with an "online" strategy?