Long-Term Outcomes of Dose-Escalated Pelvic Lymph Node Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) With a Simultaneous Hypofractionated Boost to the Prostate for Very High-Risk Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate: A Prospective Phase II Clinical Trial

Long-term outcomes of whole-pelvis radiation therapy using volumetric modulated arc therapy for high-risk prostate cancer†

This study investigated the outcomes of whole-pelvis radiation therapy (WPRT) using volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for high-risk prostate cancer. We retrospectively analysed 112 patients with high-risk prostate cancer who started WPRT at our hospital between August 2011 and August 2015. The prescribed dose was 78 Gy in 39 fractions to the prostate and 46.8 Gy in 26 fractions to the pelvic lymph node (LN) area. All patients received long-term androgen deprivation therapy. We evaluated late gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) toxicities using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. The median follow-up period for censored cases was 97 (interquartile range [IQR] = 85-108) months. The median age was 72 (IQR = 67-75) years. The high-risk and very-high-risk groups included 41 (36.6%) and 71 patients (63.4%), respectively. The median risk of LN invasion calculated by the Roach formula was 36.9 (IQR = 26.6-56.3) %. The 8-year overall survival, biochemical failure-free survival, disease-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival rates were 88.4, 91.9, 83.8 and 98.0%, respectively. Only one patient experienced common iliac LN recurrence, which was outside the pelvic irradiation area. All patients with recurrent disease were categorized into the very-high-risk group. The 8-year cumulative rates of ≥Grade 2 late GI and GU toxicities were 12.8 and 11.8%, respectively. No patients experienced Grade 4 or higher toxicities. WPRT using VMAT for high-risk prostate cancer was well tolerated and effective.

Focused Ultrasound and Ultrasound Stimulated Microbubbles in Radiotherapy Enhancement for Cancer Treatment

Radiation therapy (RT) has been the standard of care for treating a multitude of cancer types. However, ionizing radiation has adverse short and long-term side effects which have resulted in treatment complications for decades. Thus, advances in enhancing the effects of RT have been the primary focus of research in radiation oncology. To avoid the usage of high radiation doses, treatment modalities such as high-intensity focused ultrasound can be implemented to reduce the radiation doses required to destroy cancer cells. In the past few years, the use of focused ultrasound (FUS) has demonstrated immense success in a number of applications as it capitalizes on spatial specificity. It allows ultrasound energy to be delivered to a targeted focal area without harming the surrounding tissue. FUS combined with RT has specifically demonstrated experimental evidence in its application resulting in enhanced cell death and tumor cure. Ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles have recently proved to be a novel way of enhancing RT as a radioenhancing agent on its own, or as a delivery vector for radiosensitizing agents such as oxygen. In this mini-review article, we discuss the bio-effects of FUS and RT in various preclinical models and highlight the applicability of this combined therapy in clinical settings.

Dose-escalation in prostate cancer: Results of randomized trials

In 1998, an editorial from the International Journal of Radiation Oncology - Biology - Physics (IJROBP) on the occasion of the publication of Phase I by Zelefsky et al. on 3D radiotherapy dose escalation asked the question: "will more prove better?". More than 20 years later, several prospective studies have supported the authors' conclusions, making dose escalation a new standard in prostate cancer. The data from prospective randomized studies were ultimately disappointing in that they failed to show an overall survival benefit from dose escalation. However, there is a clear and consistent benefit in biochemical recurrence-free survival, which must be weighed on an individual patient basis against the potential additional toxicity of dose escalation. Techniques and concepts have become more and more precise, such as intensity modulated irradiation, simultaneous integrated boost, hypofractionated dose-escalation, pelvic irradiation with involved node boost or focal dose-escalation on gross recurrence after prostatectomy. The objective here was to summarize the prospective data on dose escalation in prostate cancer and in particular on recent advances in the field. In 2022, can we finally say that more has proven better?