Clinical experience with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in prostate cancer

Evaluating the Effects of Prostate Radiotherapy Intensified with Pelvic Nodal Radiotherapy and Androgen Deprivation Therapy on Myelosuppression: Single-Institution Experience

BACKGROUND

Prostate cancer (PCa) management commonly involves the utilization of prostate radiotherapy (PRT), pelvic nodal radiotherapy (PNRT), and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). However, the potential association of these treatment modalities with bone marrow (BM) suppression remains inadequately reported in the existing literature. This study is designed to comprehensively evaluate the risk of myelosuppression associated with PRT, shedding light on an aspect that has been underrepresented in prior research.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 600 patients with prostate cancer (PCa) treated with prostate radiotherapy (PRT) at a single oncology center between 2007 and 2017. Patients were categorized into four cohorts: PRT alone (n = 149), PRT + ADT, (n = 91), PRT + PNRT (n = 39), and PRT + PNRT + ADT (n = 321). To assess the risk of myelosuppression, we scrutinized specific blood parameters, such as hemoglobin (HGB), white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophils (NEUT), lymphocytes (LYM), and platelets (PLT) at baseline, mid-treatment (mRT), immediately post-RT (pRT), 1 month post-RT (1M-pRT), and 1 year post-RT (1Y-pRT). The inter-cohort statistical significance was evaluated with further stratification based on the utilized RT technique {3D conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)}.

RESULTS

Significant statistical differences at baseline were observed in HGB and LYM values among all cohorts (p < 0.05). Patients in the PRT + PNRT + ADT cohort had significantly lower HGB at baseline and 1M-pRT. In patients undergoing ADT, BMS had a significant impact at 1M-pRT {odds ratio (OR) 9.1; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 4.8-17.1} and at 1Y-pRT (OR 2.84; CI 1.14-7.08). The use of 3D-CRT was linked to reduced HGB levels in the PRT + PNRT + ADT group at 1 month pRT (p = 0.015). Similarly, PNRT significantly impacted BMS at 1M-pRT (OR 6.7; CI 2.6-17.2). PNRT increased the odds of decreased WBC counts at 1Y-pRT (OR 6.83; CI: 1.02-45.82). Treatment with any RT techniques (3D-CRT or IMRT), particularly in the PRT + PNRT and PRT + PNRT + ADT groups, significantly increased the odds of low LYM counts at all time points except immediately pRT (p < 0.05). Furthermore, NEUT counts were considerably lower at 1M-pRT (p < 0.05) in the PRT + PNRT + ADT group. PLT counts were significantly decreased by PRT + PNRT + ADT at mRT (OR 2.57; 95% CI: 1.42-4.66) but were not significantly impacted by the RT technique.

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment with PRT, ADT, PNRT, and 3D-CRT is associated with BMS. Despite this statistically significant risk, no patient required additional interventions to manage the outcome. While its clinical impact appears limited, its importance cannot be underestimated in the context of increased integration of novel systemic agents with myelosuppressive properties. Longer follow-up should be considered in future studies.

Radiation technique and outcomes following moderately hypofractionated treatment of low risk prostate cancer: a secondary analysis of RTOG 0415

BACKGROUND

While moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy (MHRT) for prostate cancer (PC) is commonly delivered by intensity modulated radiation therapy, IMRT has not been prospectively compared to three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) in this context. We conducted a secondary analysis of the phase III RTOG 0415 trial comparing survival and toxicity outcomes for low-risk PC following MHRT with IMRT versus 3D-CRT.

METHODS

RTOG 0415 was a phase III, non-inferiority trial randomizing low-risk PC patients to either MHRT or conventionally fractionated radiation with stratification by RT technique. A secondary analysis for differences in overall survival (OS), biochemical recurrence free survival (BRFS), or toxicity by EPIC scores and Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) was performed.

RESULTS

1079 patients received the allocated intervention with a median follow up of 5.8 years. 79.1% of patients were treated with IMRT and radiation technique was balanced between arms. Across all patients, RT technique was not associated with significant differences in BRFS, OS, or rates of acute and late toxicities. For patients completing MHRT, there was a difference in the late GU toxicity distribution between 3D-CRT and IMRT but no difference in late grade 2 or greater GU or GI toxicity. Stratifying patients by RT technique and fractionation, no significant differences were observed in the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in EPIC urinary and bowel scores following RT.

CONCLUSIONS

RT technique did not impact clinical outcomes following MHRT for low-risk PC. Despite different late GU toxicity distributions in patients treated with MHRT by IMRT or 3D-CRT, there was no difference in late Grade 2 or greater GU or GI toxicity or patient reported toxicity. Increases in late GU and GI toxicity following MHRT compared to CFRT, as demonstrated in the initial publication of RTOG 0415, do not appear related to a 3D-CRT treatment technique.

Advances of radiolabeled GRPR ligands for PET/CT imaging of cancers

GRPR is a type of seven-transmembrane G-protein coupled receptor that belongs to the bombesin protein receptor family. It is highly expressed in various cancers, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, and so on. As a result, molecular imaging studies have been conducted using radiolabeled GRPR ligands for tumor diagnosis, as well as monitoring of recurrence and metastasis. In this paper, we provided a comprehensive overview of relevant literature from the past two decades, with a specific focus on the advancements made in radiolabeled GRPR ligands for imaging prostate cancer and breast cancer.

Association between gut microbial change and acute gastrointestinal toxicity in patients with prostate cancer receiving definitive radiation therapy

BACKGROUND

This prospective study investigated the association between gut microbial changes and acute gastrointestinal toxicities in prostate cancer patients receiving definitive radiation therapy (RT).

METHODS

Seventy-nine fecal samples were analyzed. Stool samples were collected at the following timepoints: pre-RT (prRT), 2 weeks after the start of RT (RT-2w), 5 weeks after the start of RT (RT-5w), 1 month after completion of RT (poRT-1 m), and 3 months after completion of RT (poRT-3 m). We computed the microbial community polarization index (MCPI) as an indicator of RT-induced dysbiosis.

RESULTS

Patients experiencing toxicity had lower alpha diversity, especially at RT-2w (p = 0.037) and RT-5w (p = 0.003). Compared to patients without toxicity, the MCPI in those experiencing toxicities was significantly elevated (p = 0.019). In terms of predicted metabolic pathways, we found linearly decreasing pathways, including carbon fixation pathways in prokaryotes (p = 0.035) and the bacterial secretion system (p = 0.005), in patients who experienced toxicities.

CONCLUSIONS

We showed RT-induced dysbiosis among patients who experienced toxicities. Reduced diversity and elevated RT-related MCPI could be helpfully used for developing individualized RT approaches.

Reducing the margin in prostate radiotherapy: optimizing radiotherapy with a general-purpose linear accelerator using an in-house position monitoring system

Purpose

To study the feasibility of optimizing the Clinical Target Volume to Planning Target Volume (CTV-PTV) margin in prostate radiotherapy(RT) with a general-purpose linear accelerator using an in-house developed position monitoring system, SeedTracker.

Methods

A cohort of 30 patients having definitive prostate radiotherapy treated within an ethics-approved prospective trial was considered for this study. The intrafraction prostate motion and the position deviations were measured using SeedTracker system during each treatment fraction. Using this data the CTV-PTV margin required to cover 90% of the patients with a minimum of 95% of the prescription dose to CTV was calculated using van Herk's formula. The margin calculations were performed for treatment scenarios both with and without applying the position corrections for observed position deviations. The feasibility of margin reduction with real-time monitoring was studied by assessing the delivered dose that incorporates the actual target position during treatment delivery and comparing it with the planned dose. This assessment was performed for plans generated with reduced CTV-PTV margin in the range of 7mm-3mm.

Results

With real-time monitoring and position corrections applied the margin of 2.0mm, 2.1mm and 2.1mm in LR, AP and SI directions were required to meet the criteria of 90% population to receive 95% of the dose prescription to CTV. Without position corrections applied for observed position deviations a margin of 3.1mm, 4.0mm and 3.0mm was required in LR, AP and SI directions to meet the same criteria. A mean ± SD reduction of 0.5 ± 1.8% and 3 ± 7% of V60 for the rectum and bladder can be achieved for every 1mm reduction of PTV margin. With position corrections applied, the CTV D99 can be delivered within -0.2 ± 0.3 Gy of the planned dose for plans with a 3mm margin. Without applying corrections for position deviations the CTV D99 was reduced by a maximum of 1.1 ± 1.1 Gy for the 3mm margin plan and there was a statistically significant difference between planned and delivered dose for 3mm and 4mm margin plans.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates the feasibility of reducing the margin in prostate radiotherapy with SeedTracker system without compromising the dose delivery accuracy to CTV while reducing dose to critical structures.

Effect of Traditional Korean Medicine Oncotherapy on the Survival, Quality of Life, and Telomere Length: A Prospective Cohort Study

A 4-year prospective cohort study on patients with lung, gastric, hepatic, colorectal, breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer was conducted at the East-West Cancer Center (EWCC) of Daejeon Korean Medicine Hospital in Daejeon, Korea. We divided patients into 2 groups based on how long they had been receiving TKM oncotherapy and compared event-free survival (EFS), telomere length change, and quality of life (QoL). The study collected data on 83 patients from October 2016 to June 2020 and discovered no statistical differences in EFS based on the duration of TKM oncotherapy. In the analysis of changes in QoL outcomes, there were no statistically significant group differences between the groups. After controlling for covariates that could affect telomere length, the long-term TKM oncotherapy group had a higher daily telomere attrition rate. The study of the relationship between telomere length and prognostic factors discovered that patients with advanced N stage at the time of diagnosis and who had previously received radiotherapy had shorter telomere length. When examining associations between SNP genotype and percentile score of telomere length, this study was able to confirm an association between telomere length and rs4387287. This study is significant because it is the first to assess the effects of TKM oncotherapy and investigate telomere length-related factors. To assess the effects of TKM oncotherapy on cancer patients' survival and QoL, a longer-term observational study with a larger sample size is required.

Risk factors for rectal bleeding after volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy of prostate cancer

Background

It is crucially important to understand the risk factors for rectal bleeding after volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy (VMAT) for prostate cancer to prevent subsequent rectal bleeding. We assayed clinical and dosimetric data to investigate the risk factors for rectal bleeding after VMAT of prostate cancer.

Materials and methods

This study included 149 patients with prostate cancer who received VMAT from February, 2012 to June, 2020. Irradiated total doses were 78 Gy/39 fractions in 33 patients (22.1%), 76 Gy/38 fractions in 89 (59.7%), 74 Gy/37 fractions in 4 (2.7%), and 72 Gy/36 fractions in 23 (15.4%). We investigated multiple clinical and dosimetric factors with reference to rectal bleeding.

Results

The median observation period was 38 months. Fourteen patients (9.4%) experienced rectal bleeding: five (3.4%) were classified as Grade 2, and nine (6.0%) as Grade 1. There were significant differences between Grade ≥ 1 and Grade 0 patients in the overlap region of the planning target volume (PTV) and the rectum, the rectal V30-75, and the mean rectal dose (p < 0.05). There were significant differences between Grade 2 and Grade 0-1 patients in rectal V30-65 and mean rectal dose (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Rectal bleeding occurred, but its grades and rate of occurrence were permissible. Higher rectal doses were shown to be related to rectal bleeding, and reduction of low/intermediate and mean rectal doses will be important for preventing rectal bleeding.

Impact of respiratory motion on lung dose during total marrow irradiation

We evaluated the impact of respiratory motion on the lung dose during linac-based intensity-modulated total marrow irradiation (IMTMI) using two different approaches: (1) measurement of doses within the lungs of an anthropomorphic phantom using thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs) and (2) treatment delivery measurements using ArcCHECK where gamma passing rates (GPRs) and the mean lung doses were calculated and compared with and without motion. In the first approach, respiratory motions were simulated using a programmable motion platform by using typical published peak-to-peak motion amplitudes of 5, 8, and 12 mm in the craniocaudal (CC) direction, denoted here as M1, M2, and M3, respectively, with 2 mm in both anteroposterior (AP) and lateral (LAT) directions. TLDs were placed in five selected locations in the lungs of a RANDO phantom. Average TLD measurements obtained with motion were normalized to those obtained with static phantom delivery. The mean dose ratios were 1.01 (0.98–1.03), 1.04 (1.01–1.09), and 1.08 (1.04–1.12) for respiratory motions M1, M2, and M3, respectively. To determine the impact of directional respiratory motion, we repeated the experiment with 5-, 8-, and 12-mm motion in the CC direction only. The differences in average TLD doses were less than 1% when compared with the M1, M2, and M3 motions indicating a minimal impact from CC motion on lung dose during IMTMI. In the second experimental approach, we evaluated extreme respiratory motion 15 mm excursion in only the CC direction. We placed an ArcCHECK device on a commercial motion platform and delivered the clinical IMTMI plans of five patients. We compared, with and without motion, the dose volume histograms (DVHs) and mean lung dose calculated with the ArcCHECK-3DVH tool as well as GPR with 3%, 5%, and 10% dose agreements and a 3-mm constant distance to agreement (DTA). GPR differed by 11.1 ± 2.1%, 3.8 ± 1.5%, and 0.1 ± 0.2% with dose agreement criteria of 3%, 5%, and 10%, respectively. This indicates that respiratory motion impacts dose distribution in small and isolated parts of the lungs. More importantly, the impact of respiratory motion on the mean lung dose, a critical indicator for toxicity in IMTMI, was not statistically significant (p > 0.05) based on the Student’s t-test. We conclude that most patients treated with IMTMI will have negligible dose uncertainty due to respiratory motion. This is particularly reassuring as lung toxicity is the main concern for future IMTMI dose escalation studies.

Incidence of genitourinary complications following radiation therapy for localised prostate cancer

PURPOSE

Studies of genitourinary toxicity following radiotherapy for prostate cancer are mainly from high volume single institutions and the incidence and burden of treatment remain uncertain. Hence we determine the cumulative incidence of treatment-related genitourinary toxicity in patients with localised prostate cancer treated with primary external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) at a state population level.

METHODS

We analysed data from a prospective population-based cohort, including hospital admission and cancer registry data, for men with localised prostate cancer who underwent primary EBRT without nodal irradiation between 1998 and 2019 in South Australia. The 10-year cumulative incidence of genitourinary toxicity requiring hospitalisation or procedures was determined. Clinical predictors of toxicity and the volume of admissions, non-operative, minor operative and major operative procedures were determined.

RESULTS

All the included patients (n = 3350) had EBRT, with a median (IQR) of 74 Gy (70-78) in 37 fractions (35-39). The 10-year cumulative incidence of was 28.4% (95% CI 26.3-30.6) with a total of 2545 hospital admissions, including 1040 (41%) emergency and 1893 (74%) readmissions. The 10-year cumulative incidence of patients in this cohort requiring a urological operative procedure was 18% (95% CI 16.1-19.9), with a total of 106 (4.2%) non-operative, 1044 (41%) minor operative and 57 (2.2%) major operative urological procedures.

CONCLUSIONS

Genitourinary toxicity after radiotherapy for prostate cancer is common. Although there continue to be advancements in radiotherapy techniques, patients and physicians should be aware of the risk of late toxicity when considering EBRT.

Second cancer risk in childhood cancer survivors treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy: An updated analysis of more than 10 years of follow-up

BACKGROUND

It is unclear how intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) impacts long-term risk of second malignant neoplasms (SMNs) in childhood cancer patients.

PROCEDURE

Patients aged ≤21 years treated with IMRT between 1998 and 2009 and who survived ≥5 years after IMRT were included. SMN site in relation to isodose level (IDL) of IMRT was evaluated. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) and excess absolute risks (EAR) were calculated. Cumulative incidences were estimated with death as a competing risk.

RESULTS

Three-hundred twenty-five patients were included with median follow-up of 11.2 years from IMRT (interquartile range: 9.4-14.0) among patients alive at the end of follow-up. Two hundred (62%) patients had ≥10 years of follow-up and 284 (87%) patients were alive at the time of analysis. Fifteen patients developed SMNs (11 solid, four hematologic). Median time from IMRT to solid SMN was 11.0 years (range: 6.8-19.2) with 10- and 15-year cumulative incidences 1.8% (95% CI: 0.7-3.9) and 3.5% (95% CI: 1.4-7.5), respectively; SIR was 13.7 (95% CI: 6.9-24.6) and EAR was 2.8 per 1000 person-years (95% CI: 1.0-4.6). Eight solid SMNs developed within the IMRT field (100% IDL [n = 5], 80% IDL [n = 1], 50% IDL [n = 1], 40% IDL [n = 1]), one within the 70%-80% IDL of a conventional field, one was out-of-field, and one could not be determined.

CONCLUSIONS

With median follow-up of >10 years, many solid SMNs after IMRT in childhood cancer survivors develop in the high-dose region. These data serve as a foundation for comparison with other modalities of radiation treatment (e.g., proton therapy).

Influence of Specific Treatment Parameters on Nontarget and Out-of-Field Doses in a Phantom Model of Prostate SBRT with CyberKnife and TrueBeam

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of a key treatment plan and beam parameters on overall dose distribution and on doses in organs laying in further distance from the target during prostate SBRT. Multiple representative treatment plans (n = 12) for TrueBeam and CyberKnife were prepared and evaluated. Nontarget doses were measured with anionization chamber, in a quasi-humanoid phantom at four sites corresponding to the intestines, right lung, thyroid, and head. The following parameters were modified: radiotherapy technique, presence or not of a flattening filter, degree of modulation, and use or not of jaw tracking function for TrueBeam and beam orientation set-up, optimization techniques, and number of MUs for CyberKnife. After usual optimization doses in intestines (near the target) were 0.73% and 0.76%, in head (farthest from target) 0.05% and 0.19% for TrueBeam and CyberKnife, respectively. For TrueBeam the highest peripheral (head, thyroid, lung) doses occurred for the VMAT with the flattening filter while the lowest for 3DCRT. For CyberKnife the highest doses were for gantry with caudal direction beams blocked (gantry close to OARs) while the lowest was the low modulated VOLO optimization technique. The easiest method to reduce peripheral doses was to combine FFF with jaw tracking and reducing monitor units at TrueBeam and to avoid gantry position close to OARs together with reduction of monitor units at CyberKnife, respectively. The presented strategies allowed to significantly reduce out-of-field and nontarget doses during prostate radiotherapy delivered with TrueBeam and CyberKnife. A different approach was required to reduce peripheral doses because of the difference in dose delivery techniques: non-coplanar using CyberKnife and coplanar using TrueBeam, respectively.

Accuracy Improvement Method Based on Characteristic Database Classification for IMRT Dose Prediction in Cervical Cancer: Scientifically Training Data Selection

Purpose

Consistent training and testing datasets can lead to good performance for deep learning (DL) models. However, a large high-quality training dataset for unusual clinical scenarios is usually not easy to collect. The work aims to find optimal training data collection strategies for DL-based dose prediction models.

Materials and Methods

A total of 325 clinically approved cervical IMRT plans were utilized. We designed comparison experiments to investigate the impact of (1) beam angles, (2) the number of beams, and (3) patient position for DL dose prediction models. In addition, a novel geometry-based beam mask generation method was proposed to provide beam setting information in the model training process. What is more, we proposed a new training strategy named “full-database pre-trained strategy”.

Results

The model trained with a homogeneous dataset with the same beam settings achieved the best performance [mean prediction errors of planning target volume (PTV), bladder, and rectum: 0.29 ± 0.15%, 3.1 ± 2.55%, and 3.15 ± 1.69%] compared with that trained with large mixed beam setting plans (mean errors of PTV, bladder, and rectum: 0.8 ± 0.14%, 5.03 ± 2.2%, and 4.45 ± 1.4%). A homogeneous dataset is more accessible to train an accurate dose prediction model (mean errors of PTV, bladder and rectum: 2.2 ± 0.15%, 5 ± 2.1%, and 3.23 ± 1.53%) than a non-homogeneous one (mean errors of PTV, bladder and rectum: 2.55 ± 0.12%, 6.33 ± 2.46%, and 4.76 ± 2.91%) without other processing approaches. The added beam mask can constantly improve the model performance, especially for datasets with different beam settings (mean errors of PTV, bladder, and rectum improved from 0.8 ± 0.14%, 5.03 ± 2.2%, and 4.45 ± 1.4% to 0.29 ± 0.15%, 3.1 ± 2.55%, and 3.15 ± 1.69%).

Conclusions

A consistent dataset is recommended to form a patient-specific IMRT dose prediction model. When a consistent dataset is not accessible to collect, a large dataset with different beam angles and a training model with beam information can also get a relatively good model. The full-database pre-trained strategies can rapidly form an accuracy model from a pre-trained model. The proposed beam mask can effectively improve the model performance. Our study may be helpful for further dose prediction studies in terms of training strategies or database establishment.

The efficacy and tolerability of ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy in low-intermediate risk prostate cancer patients: single center experience

BACKGROUND

We aimed to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy (UHRT) in the treatment of low and intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients.

METHODS

This retrospective study was conducted using data derived from 44 patients who underwent UHRT, and toxicity assessment and clinical response were investigated. Treatment consisted of 35-36.25 Gy in 5 fractions using stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) with the Linac-based delivery system.

RESULTS

The median duration of follow-up was 52 months (8-68 months) and the median age was 71.5 years (54-85 years). Twenty-seven patients were assigned as intermediate-risk, whereas 17 patients had low-risk. The 5-year overall survival rate was 87.8%, while the 5-year biochemical recurrence-free survival (bRFS) rate was 97.4%. Acute grade 3 genitourinary (GU) side effect was not observed in any patient, whereas acute gastrointestinal (GI) system grade 3 side effect was seen in 6.8% of the patients. Late grade 3 GU and GI side effects were seen in 4.6% and 6.8% of the patients, respectively. In patients with planning target volume (PTV) ≥85 ml, acute grade ≥2 GU side effects were more common (p=.034).

CONCLUSION

Our data demonstrated that UHRT administered with volumetric arc therapy (VMAT) can be recommended for selected patients with low-intermediate risk prostate cancer. Further prospective, multicentric, controlled trials on larger series are warranted to reach more accurate conclusions.

Comparison of radical prostatectomy and external beam radiotherapy in high-risk prostate cancer

Purpose

We evaluated clinical outcomes of high-risk prostate cancer patients receiving external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or radical prostatectomy (RP).

Materials and Methods

Patients were classified as high-risk prostate cancer and received definitive treatment between 2005 and 2015. Patients with previous pelvic radiotherapy, positive lymph node or distant metastasis were excluded. The primary outcomes were prostate cancer-specific survival (PCSS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS).

Results

Of 583 patients met the inclusion criteria (77 EBRT and 506 RP), the estimated 10-year PCSS was 97.0% in the RP and 95.9% in the EBRT (p = 0.770). No significant difference was seen in the DMFS (p = 0.540), whereas there was a trend in favor of RP over EBRT in overall survival (OS) (p = 0.068). Propensity score matching analysis with confounding variables was done, with 183 patients (66 EBRT and 117 RP) were included. No significant difference in DMFS, PCSS or OS was found.

Conclusion

Our data demonstrated similar oncologic PCSS, OS, and DMFS outcomes between EBRT and RP patients.

Esophagus segmentation from planning CT images using an atlas-based deep learning approach

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

One of the main steps in the planning of radiotherapy (RT) is the segmentation of organs at risk (OARs) in Computed Tomography (CT). The esophagus is one of the most difficult OARs to segment. The boundaries between the esophagus and other surrounding tissues are not well-defined, and it is presented in several slices of the CT. Thus, manually segment the esophagus requires a lot of experience and takes time. This difficulty in manual segmentation combined with fatigue due to the number of slices to segment can cause human errors. To address these challenges, computational solutions for analyzing medical images and proposing automated segmentation have been developed and explored in recent years. In this work, we propose a fully automatic method for esophagus segmentation for better planning of radiotherapy in CT.

METHODS

The proposed method is a fully automated segmentation of the esophagus, consisting of 5 main steps: (a) image acquisition; (b) VOI segmentation; (c) preprocessing; (d) esophagus segmentation; and (e) segmentation refinement.

RESULTS

The method was applied in a database of 36 CT acquired from 3 different institutes. It achieved the best results in literature so far: Dice coefficient value of 82.15%, Jaccard Index of 70.21%, accuracy of 99.69%, sensitivity of 90.61%, specificity of 99.76%, and Hausdorff Distance of 6.1030 mm.

CONCLUSIONS

With the achieved results, we were able to show how promising the method is, and that applying it in large medical centers, where esophagus segmentation is still an arduous and challenging task, can be of great help to the specialists.

Effect of a hydrogel spacer on the intrafractional prostate motion during CyberKnife treatment for prostate cancer

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a hydrogel spacer on intrafractional prostate motion during CyberKnife treatment. The retrospective study enrolled 24 patients (with the hydrogel spacer = 12, without the hydrogel spacer = 12) with two fiducial markers. Regarding intrafractional prostate motion, the offset values (mm) of three axes (X-axis; superior [+] to inferior [-], Y-axis; right [+] to left [-], Z-axis; posterior [+] to anterior [-]) obtained from fiducial markers position between a digitally reconstructed radiographs images and live images in the Target Locating System were used, and extracted from generated log files. The mean values of the offset and each standard deviation were calculated for each patient, and both the groups were compared. For all the patients, a total of 2204 offset values and timestamps (without the hydrogel spacer group: 1065, with the hydrogel spacer group: 1139) were recorded for the X-, Y-, and Z-axes, respectively. The offset values (mean ± standard deviation) for the X-, Y-, and Z-axes were -0.04 ± 0.92 mm, -0.03 ± 0.97 mm (P = 0.66), 0.02 ± 0.51, -0.02 ± 0.49 mm (P = 0.50), and 0.56 ± 0.97 mm, 0.34 ± 1.07 mm (P = 0.14), in patients inserted without or with the hydrogel spacer, respectively. There was no effect of a hydrogel spacer on the intrafractional prostate motion in the three axes during CyberKnife treatment for prostate cancer.

Multi-atlas-based auto-segmentation for prostatic urethra using novel prediction of deformable image registration accuracy

PURPOSE

Accurate identification of the prostatic urethra and bladder can help determine dosing and evaluate urinary toxicity during intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning in patients with localized prostate cancer. However, it is challenging to locate the prostatic urethra in planning computed tomography (pCT). In the present study, we developed a multiatlas-based auto-segmentation method for prostatic urethra identification using deformable image registration accuracy prediction with machine learning (ML) and assessed its feasibility.

METHODS

We examined 120 patients with prostate cancer treated with IMRT. All patients underwent temporary urinary catheter placement for identification and contouring of the prostatic urethra in pCT images (ground truth). Our method comprises the following three steps: (a) select four atlas datasets from the atlas datasets using the deformable image registration (DIR) accuracy prediction model, (b) deform them by structure-based DIR, (3) and propagate urethra contour using displacement vector field calculated by the DIR. In (a), for identifying suitable datasets, we used the trained support vector machine regression (SVR) model and five feature descriptors (e.g., prostate volume) to increase DIR accuracy. This method was trained/validated using 100 patients and performance was evaluated within an independent test set of 20 patients. Fivefold cross-validation was used to optimize the hype parameters of the DIR accuracy prediction model. We assessed the accuracy of our method by comparing it with those of two others: Acostas method-based patient selection (previous study method, by Acosta et al.), and the Waterman's method (defines the prostatic urethra based on the center of the prostate, by Waterman et al.). We used the centerlines distance (CLD) between the ground truth and the predicted prostatic urethra as the evaluation index.

RESULTS

The CLD in the entire prostatic urethra was 2.09 ± 0.89 mm (our proposed method), 2.77 ± 0.99 mm (Acosta et al., P = 0.022), and 3.47 ± 1.19 mm (Waterman et al., P < 0.001); our proposed method showed the highest accuracy. In segmented CLD, CLD in the top 1/3 segment was highly improved from that of Waterman et.al. and was slightly improved from that of Acosta et.al., with results of 2.49 ± 1.78 mm (our proposed method), 2.95 ± 1.75 mm (Acosta et al., P = 0.42), and 5.76 ± 3.09 mm (Waterman et al., P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

We developed a DIR accuracy prediction model-based multiatlas-based auto-segmentation method for prostatic urethra identification. Our method identified prostatic urethra with mean error of 2.09 mm, likely due to combined effects of SVR model employment in patient selection, modified atlas dataset characteristics and DIR algorithm. Our method has potential utility in prostate cancer IMRT and can replace use of temporary indwelling urinary catheters.

Feasibility study on a novel tiny dosimeter using a barium titanate capacitor

In our laboratory we have confirmed that the capacitance of barium titanate-based capacitors changes due to radiation. Since a commercially available capacitor is very small and inexpensive, it may be used as a multidimensional dose meter in which a large number of capacitor elements are arranged, or may be embedded in the body and used as an in-vivo dose meter. In this study we examined the usefulness of a dosimeter using the capacitance change of a barium titanate capacitor. As a basic property, it was confirmed that the dose linearity was good. With regard to dose rate characteristics and response to fractionated irradiation, capacitance change due to aging affects measurement accuracy, but online measurement of capacitance change immediately before irradiation can be performed to correct aging effects during irradiation. By doing this, we confirmed that the dose rate characteristics and the response to fractionated radiation are improved.

Three-dimensional MRI evaluation of the effect of bladder volume on prostate translocation and distortion

Background The accuracy of any radiation therapy delivery is limited by target organ translocation and distortion. Bladder filling is one of the recognised factors affecting prostate translocation and distortion. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effect of bladder volume on prostate translocation and distortion by using detailed three-dimensional prostate delineation on MRI. Patients and methods Fifteen healthy male volunteers were recruited in this prospective, institutional review board-approved study. Each volunteer underwent 4 different drinking preparations prior to imaging, with MR images acquired pre- and post-void. MR images were co-registered by using bony landmarks and three-dimensional contouring was performed in order to assess the degree of prostate translocation and distortion. According to changes in bladder or rectum distention, subdivisions were made into bladder and rectal groups. Studies with concomitant change in both bladder and rectal volume were excluded. Results Forty studies were included in the bladder volume study group and 8 in the rectal volume study group. The differences in rectal volumes yielded higher levels of translocation (p < 0.01) and distortion (p = 0.02) than differences in bladder volume. Moderate correlation of prostate translocation with bladder filling was shown (r = 0.64, p < 0.01). There was no important prostate translocation when bladder volume change was < 2-fold (p < 0.01). Moderate correlation of prostate distortion with bladder filling was shown (r = 0.61, p < 0.01). Conclusions Bladder volume has a minimal effect on prostate translocation and effect on prostate distortion is negligible. Prostate translocation may be minimalised if there is < 2-fold increase in the bladder volume.

Dose escalation (81 Gy) with image-guided radiation therapy and volumetric-modulated arc therapy for localized prostate cancer: A retrospective preliminary result

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the study is to report the acute and late toxicity and preliminary results of localized prostate cancer treated with high-dose radiation therapy (RT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between March 2010 and October 2018, a total of 53 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer were treated with definitive RT at our institution. All patients were planned to receive a total dose of 81 Gy with the volumetric-modulated arc therapy technique. Patients were stratified by prognostic risk groups based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network risk classification criteria. Acute and late toxicities were scored by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group morbidity grading scales. The definition of biochemical failure was using the 2005 ASTRO Phoenix consensus definition. Median follow-up time was 46.5 months (range: 4.7-81.0 months).

RESULTS

The 3-year biochemical failure-free survival rates for low-, intermediate-, and high-risk group patients were 100%, 87.5%, and 84%, respectively. The 3- and 5-year overall survival rates were 83% and 62%, respectively. Three (5.6%) patients developed Grade II acute gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity. Four (7.5%) patients developed Grade II acute genitourinary (GU) toxicity, and none experienced Grade III or higher acute GI or GU symptoms. One (1.8%) patient developed Grade II or higher late GI toxicity. Six (11.3%) patients experienced Grade II late GU toxicity. No Grade III or higher late GI and GU complications have been observed.

CONCLUSIONS

Data from the current study demonstrated the feasibility of dose escalation with image-guided and volumetric-modulated arc therapy techniques for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. Minimal acute and late toxicities were observed from patients in this study. Long-term prostate-specific antigen controls are comparable to previously published results of high-dose intensity-modulated RT for localized prostate cancer. Based on this favorable outcome, dose escalation (81 Gy) has become the standard treatment for localized prostate cancer at our institution.

A convolutional neural network approach for IMRT dose distribution prediction in prostate cancer patients

The purpose of the study was to compare a 3D convolutional neural network (CNN) with the conventional machine learning method for predicting intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) dose distribution using only contours in prostate cancer. In this study, which included 95 IMRT-treated prostate cancer patients with available dose distributions and contours for planning target volume (PTVs) and organs at risk (OARs), a supervised-learning approach was used for training, where the dose for a voxel set in the dataset was defined as the label. The adaptive moment estimation algorithm was employed for optimizing a 3D U-net similar network. Eighty cases were used for the training and validation set in 5-fold cross-validation, and the remaining 15 cases were used as the test set. The predicted dose distributions were compared with the clinical dose distributions, and the model performance was evaluated by comparison with RapidPlan™. Dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters were calculated for each contour as evaluation indexes. The mean absolute errors (MAE) with one standard deviation (1SD) between the clinical and CNN-predicted doses were 1.10% ± 0.64%, 2.50% ± 1.17%, 2.04% ± 1.40%, and 2.08% ± 1.99% for D2, D98 in PTV-1 and V65 in rectum and V65 in bladder, respectively, whereas the MAEs with 1SD between the clinical and the RapidPlan™-generated doses were 1.01% ± 0.66%, 2.15% ± 1.25%, 5.34% ± 2.13% and 3.04% ± 1.79%, respectively. Our CNN model could predict dose distributions that were superior or comparable with that generated by RapidPlan™, suggesting the potential of CNN in dose distribution prediction.

Basic Properties of a New Polymer Gel for 3D-Dosimetry at High Dose-Rates Typical for FFF Irradiation Based on Dithiothreitol and Methacrylic Acid (MAGADIT): Sensitivity, Range, Reproducibility, Accuracy, Dose Rate Effect and Impact of Oxygen Scavenger

The photon induced radical-initiated polymerization in polymer gels can be used for high-resolution tissue equivalent dosimeters in quality control of radiation therapy. The dose (D) distribution in radiation therapy can be measured as a change of the physical measurement parameter T2 using T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. The detection by T2 is relying on the local change of the molecular mobility due to local polymerization initiated by radicals generated by the ionizing radiation. The dosimetric signals R2 = 1/T2 of many of the current polymer gels are dose-rate dependent, which reduces the reliability of the gel for clinical use. A novel gel dosimeter, based on methacrylic acid, gelatin and the newly added dithiothreitol (MAGADIT) as an oxygen-scavenger was analyzed for basic properties, such as sensitivity, reproducibility, accuracy and dose-rate dependence. Dithiothreitol features no toxic classification with a difference to THPC and offers a stronger negative redox-potential than ascorbic acid. Polymer gels with three different concentration levels of dithiothreitol were irradiated with a preclinical research X-ray unit and MR-scanned (T2) for quantitative dosimetry after calibration. The polymer gel with the lowest concentration of the oxygen scavenger was about factor 3 more sensitive to dose as compared to the gel with the highest concentration. The dose sensitivity (α = ∆R2/∆D) of MAGADIT gels was significantly dependent on the applied dose rate D˙ (≈48% reduction between D˙ = 0.6 Gy/min and D˙ = 4 Gy/min). However, this undesirable dose-rate effect reduced between 4–8 Gy/min (≈23%) and almost disappeared in the high dose-rate range (8 ≤ D˙≤ 12 Gy/min) used in flattening-filter-free (FFF) irradiations. The dose response varied for different samples within one manufacturing batch within 3%–6% (reproducibility). The accuracy ranged between 3.5% and 7.9%. The impact of the dose rate on the spatial integrity is demonstrated in the example of a linear accelerator (LINAC) small sized 5 × 10 mm² 10 MV photon field. For MAGADIT the maximum shift in the flanks in this field is limited to about 0.8 mm at a FFF dose rate of 15 Gy/min. Dose rate sensitive polymer gels likely perform better at high dose rates; MAGADIT exhibits a slightly improved performance compared to the reference normoxic polymer gel methacrylic and ascorbic acid in gelatin initiated by copper (MAGIC) using ascorbic acid.

Analyzation of the local confidence limits for IMRT and VMAT based on AAPM TG119 report

The aim of this study was to generate a local confidence limit (CL) for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) techniques for Clinac IX linear accelerator using the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group (TG119) protocol. The results were compared with the published studies to test the capability and quality of the VMAT technique in our clinic. We used TG119 cases to create plans for IMRT and VMAT in Eclipse Treatment Planning System for Clinac IX using 6 MV and 10 MV photons. Two preliminary and 5 clinical test cases were created based on the dose prescriptions and planning objectives provided by TG119. Verification plans were created in a planning slab phantom, 2D matrix dosimetry system (MatriXX) with multicube phantom and a volumetric phantom (Delta⁴). Radiation absorption doses to high-dose points in the planning target volume region and low-dose points in avoidance structures were measured with a 0.125 cc semiflex thimble ionization chamber (PTW). The measured and planned doses were normalized with respect to their prescription doses and intercompared with each other. The gamma analysis was carried out for MatriXX and Delta⁴ adopting the acceptance criteria of 3% dose difference and 3 mm distance to agreement with 10% threshold dose, respectively. The local CLs with the bench mark set by TG119 were obtained for point, composite planar and field-by-field measurements for IMRT and VMAT with different energies. In this study, the CLs for the high-dose regions of IMRT with 6 MV and 10 MV were 0.025 and 0.014, respectively. For VMAT, they were 0.032 and 0.018. The counterpart CL was 0.045 in TG119. And in organs at risk region, the CLs of IMRT with 6 MV and 10 MV beam were 0.022 and 0.019, respectively, with the counterpart CL indicated by TG119 was 0.047. For VMAT with 6 MV and 10 MV photon beams, the CLs were measured 0.030 and 0.027 with Delta⁴, respectively. The CLs of the maximum gamma passing for all values were 2.0 in 6 MV VMAT plan, which however recommended in TG119 was 12.4. The data presented here showed all the CLs in our clinic meet the criteria of TG119 report well. All these local CLs reached the goals mentioned in AAPM TG119, which indicated that the local clinic had commissioned IMRT and VMAT techniques with adequate accuracy. Prior to the clinical application practice, it is essential to verify with the TG119 test cases for IMRT and VMAT, which allows us to better understand the basic capability of VMAT technology.

Dose-Escalated Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer: 15-Year Outcomes Data

PURPOSE

To report 15-year outcomes for dose-escalated intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for localized prostate cancer (PC) by evaluating biochemical relapse, distant metastases, cancer-specific survival, and long-term toxicity.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

A database search was conducted for the first cohort of patients treated at this institution with 81 or 86.4 Gy between 1996 and 1998 using IMRT. Toxicity data were scored according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0. Median follow-up was 11.6 years (range, 5-21 years).

RESULTS

In the study, 301 patients were treated with 81 Gy (n = 269, 89%) or 86.4 Gy (n = 32, 11%). Patients were analyzed by National Comprehensive Cancer Network risk group, with 29% low risk (LR), 49% intermediate risk (IR), and 22% high risk (HR). Late grade 3 gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity was seen in 3 patients (1.0%). No grade 4 GI toxicity events occurred. Median time from radiation therapy to late grade 3 GI toxicity was 2.9 years. One event occurred after 10 years. Late grade 3 and 4 genitourinary (GU) toxicity was seen in 6 (2.0%) and 1 (0.3%) patient, respectively. Median time to late grade 3+ GU toxicity was 5.5 years. Two events occurred after 10 years. In addition, 38 (12.6%) developed second primary malignancies (SPMs), 8 of which were in-field malignancies. Median time from radiation therapy to all SPM and in-field SPM was 10 years. The 15-year relapse-free survival was 76%, 65%, and 55% in the LR, IR, and HR groups, respectively. Distant metastases-free survival was 88%, 75%, and 63% for LR, IR, and HR patients, respectively. PC-specific mortality was 1.9%, 7.1%, and 12.2% for LR, IR, and HR patients.

CONCLUSIONS

This report represents the longest follow-up data set to our knowledge of patients treated with high-dose IMRT for PC. Our findings indicate that it is well tolerated with 1.0% and 2.3% incidence of long-term grade 3+ GI and GU toxicity, respectively. The cohort had excellent PC-specific survival.

Spinal cord detection in planning CT for radiotherapy through adaptive template matching, IMSLIC and convolutional neural networks

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The spinal cord is a very important organ that must be protected in treatments of radiotherapy (RT), considered an organ at risk (OAR). Excess rays associated with the spinal cord can cause irreversible diseases in patients who are undergoing radiotherapy. For the planning of treatments with RT, computed tomography (CT) scans are commonly used to delimit the OARs and to analyze the impact of rays in these organs. Delimiting these OARs take a lot of time from medical specialists, plus the fact that involves a large team of professionals. Moreover, this task made slice-by-slice becomes an exhaustive and consequently subject to errors, especially in organs such as the spinal cord, which extend through several slices of the CT and requires precise segmentation. Thus, we propose, in this work, a computational methodology capable of detecting spinal cord in planning CT images.

METHODS

The techniques highlighted in this methodology are adaptive template matching for initial segmentation, intrinsic manifold simple linear iterative clustering (IMSLIC) for candidate segmentation and convolutional neural networks (CNN) for candidate classification, that consists of four steps: (1) images acquisition, (2) initial segmentation, (3) candidates segmentation and (4) candidates classification.

RESULTS

The methodology was applied on 36 planning CT images provided by The Cancer Imaging Archive, and achieved an accuracy of 92.55%, specificity of 92.87% and sensitivity of 89.23% with 0.065 of false positives per images, without any false positives reduction technique, in detection of spinal cord.

CONCLUSIONS

It is demonstrated the feasibility of the analysis of planning CT images using IMSLIC and convolutional neural network techniques to achieve success in detection of spinal cord regions.

MRI Radiomic Analysis of IMRT-Induced Bladder Wall Changes in Prostate Cancer Patients: A Relationship with Radiation Dose and Toxicity

BACKGROUND

The main purpose of this study was to assess the structural changes in the bladder wall of prostate cancer patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy using magnetic resonance imaging texture features analysis and to correlate image texture changes with radiation dose and urinary toxicity.

METHODS

Ethical clearance was granted to enroll 33 patients into this study who were treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy for prostate cancer. All patients underwent two magnetic resonance imagings before and after radiation therapy (RT). A total of 274 radiomic features were extracted from MR-T2W-weighted images. Wilcoxon singed rank-test was performed to assess significance of the change in mean radiomic features post-RT relative to pre-RT values. The relationship between radiation dose and feature changes was assessed and depicted. Cystitis was recorded as urinary toxicity. Area under receiver operating characteristic curve of a logistic regression-based classifier was used to find correlation between radiomic features with significant changes and radiation toxicity.

RESULTS

Thirty-three bladder walls were analyzed, with 11 patients developing grade ≥2 urinary toxicity. We showed that radiomic features may predict radiation toxicity and features including S5.0SumVarnc, S2.2SumVarnc, S1.0AngScMom, S0.4SumAverg, and S5. _5InvDfMom with area under receiver operating characteristic curve 0.75, 0.69, 0.65, 0.63, and 0.62 had highest correlation with toxicity, respectively. The results showed that most of the radiomic features were changed with radiation dose.

CONCLUSION

Feature changes have a good correlation with radiation dose and radiation-induced urinary toxicity. These radiomic features can be identified as being potentially important imaging biomarkers and also assessing mechanisms of radiation-induced bladder injuries.

Clinical and radiobiological evaluation of a method for planning target volume generation dependent on organ-at-risk exclusions in magnetic resonance imaging-based prostate radiotherapy

Background and purpose

Due to a smaller target volume when delineating prostate on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), margins may be too tight as compared to computed tomography (CT) delineation, potentially reducing tumor control probability (TCP) in prostate radiotherapy. This study evaluated a clinically implemented MRI-based target expansion method to provide adequate margins yet limit organ-at-risk (OAR) dose as compared to CT-based delineation.

Methods and materials

Patients in this study were treated to 79.2 Gy in 44 fractions via intensity modulated radiotherapy using an MRI-based expansion method, which excluded OARs when performing a 5 mm isotropic (except 4 mm posterior) expansion from gross tumor volume to clinical target volume (CTV), followed by an isotropic 5 mm expansion to generate the planning target volume (PTV). Ten cases were re-planned using CT-delineated prostate with CTV-to-PTV expansion of isotropic 8 mm, except for a 5 mm posterior expansion, with comparison of PTV volumes, TCP and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) to the MRI-based method. Under IRB approved protocol, we retrospectively evaluated 51 patients treated with the MRI-based method for acute bladder and rectal toxicity with CTC-AE version 4.0 used for scoring.

Results

MRI-based PTV volume differed by 4% compared to CT-based PTV volume. Radiobiological calculated TCP of the MRI-based method was found comparable to CT-based methods with an average equivalent uniform dose of 80.5 Gy and 80.1 Gy respectively. Statistically significant decrease in bladder NTCP (toxicity Grade 2 and above for 5% complications within 5 years post radiotherapy) was observed in the MRI-based method. Outcomes data collected showed 65% and 100% of patients studied experienced Grade 0/1 bladder and rectal acute toxicity respectively. Grade 2 bladder toxicity was indicated in the remaining 35% of patients studied with no Grade 3 toxicity reported.

Conclusions

Results showed comparable PTV volume with MRI-based method, and NTCP was reduced while maintaining TCP. Clinically, bladder and rectal toxicities were observed to be minimal.

Impact of image guidance on toxicity and tumour outcome in moderately hypofractionated external-beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer

To report toxicity and efficacy outcome of moderately hypofractionated image-guided external-beam radiotherapy in a large series of patients treated for prostate cancer (PCa). Between 10/2006 and 12/2015, 572 T1-T3N0M0 PCa patients received 70.2 Gy in 26 fractions at 2.7 Gy/fraction: 344 patients (60%) with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and 228 (40%) with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer criteria and Houston definition (nadir + 2) were used for toxicity and biochemical failure evaluation, respectively. Median age was 74 years (interquartile range 69-77). Compared with 3D-CRT, in IMRT group more high-risk patients (29% vs 18%; P = 0.002) and more high-volume target (75% vs 60%; P < 0.001) were included. Acute gastro-intestinal (GI) toxicity G > 1 were registered in 8% and in 11% IMRT and 3D-CRT patients, respectively, whereas late GI G > 1 were observed in 2% and 16% IMRT and 3D-CRT patients, respectively. Acute genito-urinary (GU) toxicity G > 1 were registered in 26% and 40% IMRT and 3D-CRT patients, respectively, whereas late GU G > 1 occurred in 5% IMRT and 15% 3D-CRT patients. Multivariate proportional hazard Cox models confirmed significantly greater risk of late toxicity with 3D-CRT compared to IMRT for GU > 1 (P = 0.004) and for GI > 1 (P < 0.001). With a median 4-year follow-up, overall survival (OS), clinical progression-free survival (cPFS) and biochemical PFS (bPFS) for the whole series were 91%, 92% and 91%, respectively. cPFS and bPFS were significantly different by risk groups. Multivariate Cox models for bPFS and cPFS showed no difference between irradiation techniques and a significant impact of risk group and initial PSA. Moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy is a viable treatment option for localized PCa with excellent tumour control and satisfactory toxicity profile. IMRT seems associated with a reduction in toxicity, whereas tumour control was equal between IMRT and 3D-CRT patients and depended mainly on the risk category.

Hematologic Toxicity of Conformal Radiotherapy and Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy in Prostate and Bladder Cancer Patients

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare hematologic adverse effects and hematologic toxicity (HT) of pelvic irradiation in patients treated with conformal radiotherapy (CRT) and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for radical treatment of prostate and bladder cancer. Methods: A group of 115 patients with prostate or bladder cancer treated with definitive radical radiotherapy was evaluated retrospectively. Blood test were taken before and after treatment comprising of following indices: white blood cells (WBC) hemoglobin (HGB), red blood cell (RBC), lymphocyte (LC), neutrophil (NC) and platelet (PLT) count. Patients were divided into several subgroups and the data was evaluated statistically using absolute and relative values. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in WBC (p=0.007), NC (p=0.031) and PLT (p=0.026) count decrease (absolute values) after treatment, between two treatment methods (CRT and IMRT), all in favor of IMRT. The relationship still proves to be significant regarding WBC (p=0,02) and (NC) (p=0,049) after presenting the data as relative percentage loss of starting value. However using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Effects (CTCAE), PLT count toxicity was more common in IMRT group (p=0.045). Conclusion: IMRT in comparison to CRT in bladder and prostate cancer patients is associated with a lesser absolute and relative decrease of hematologic indices. The hematologic effect of radiation was observed mainly regarding LC. Patients treated with IMRT suffered from significantly lesser decrease in relative and absolute values of WBC and NC. The mean of absolute PLT decrease count was lower in IMRT group; however, toxicity according to CTCAE was slightly more prevalent in IMRT group.

Automated prediction of dosimetric eligibility of patients with prostate cancer undergoing intensity-modulated radiation therapy using a convolutional neural network

The quality of radiotherapy has greatly improved due to the high precision achieved by intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Studies have been conducted to increase the quality of planning and reduce the costs associated with planning through automated planning method; however, few studies have used the deep learning method for optimization of planning. The purpose of this study was to propose an automated method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) for predicting the dosimetric eligibility of patients with prostate cancer undergoing IMRT. Sixty patients with prostate cancer who underwent IMRT were included in the study. Treatment strategy involved division of the patients into two groups, namely, meeting all dose constraints and not meeting all dose constraints, by experienced medical physicists. We used AlexNet (i.e., one of common CNN architectures) for CNN-based methods to predict the two groups. An AlexNet CNN pre-trained on ImageNet was fine-tuned. Two dataset formats were used as input data: planning computed tomography (CT) images and structure labels. Five-fold cross-validation was used, and performance metrics included sensitivity, specificity, and prediction accuracy. Class activation mapping was used to visualize the internal representation learned by the CNN. Prediction accuracies of the model with the planning CT image dataset and that with the structure label dataset were 56.7 ± 9.7% and 70.0 ± 11.3%, respectively. Moreover, the model with structure labels focused on areas associated with dose constraints. These results revealed the potential applicability of deep learning to the treatment planning of patients with prostate cancer undergoing IMRT.

Acute toxicity and quality of life in high risk prostate cancer patients: Updated results of randomized hypofractionation trial

Purpose

The aim of our study was to perform the final analysis of acute toxicity and quality of life data obtained from 221 consecutive patients who suffered from intermediate-to-high risk prostate cancer.

Methods

In this trial, 221 patients were randomized to receive either hypofractionated (63 Gy in 20 fractions, 4 fractions/week) or conventionally fractionated (76 Gy in 38 fractions, 5 fractions/week) radiotherapy to the prostate and seminal vesicles. Elective pelvic lymph node irradiation with 46 Gy in 23 fractions sequentially and 44 Gy in 20 fractions simultaneously was also applied.

Results

There was no statistically significant difference in acute GU and GI toxicity in men treated with hypofractionated (SIB) (Arm 2) in comparison with patients who had conventional fractionation (Arm 1) radiation therapy. Multivariate analysis using logistic regression showed statistical significant association between acute GU ≥ 1 and PTV(LN) (p = 0.008) only. We found out that clinically relevant decrease (CRD) was significantly higher only in the urinary domain of Arm 1 at month 3 (p = 0.02).

Conclusion

Our study demonstrated that hypofractionated radiotherapy was associated with a small but insignificant increase of acute toxicity. The reduction of overall treatment time has no significant influence on patients' QOL in any domain.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy versus conventional conformal techniques at high energy: Dose assessment and impact on second primary cancer in the out-of-field region

The aim of this work was to estimate peripheral neutron and photon doses associated with the conventional 3D conformal radiotherapy techniques in comparison to modern ones such as Intensity modulated radiation therapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy. Assessment in terms of second cancer incidence ought to peripheral doses was also considered. For that, a dosimetric methodology proposed by the authors has been applied beyond the region where there is no CT information and, thus, treatment planning systems do not calculate and where, nonetheless, about one third of second primary cancers occurs.

The potential failure risk of the cone-beam computed tomography-based planning target volume margin definition for prostate image-guided radiotherapy based on a prospective single-institutional hybrid analysis

Background

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of markerless on-board kilovoltage (kV) cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-based positioning uncertainty on determination of the planning target volume (PTV) margin by comparison with kV on-board imaging (OBI) with gold fiducial markers (FMs), and to validate a methodology for the evaluation of PTV margins for markerless kV-CBCT in prostate image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT).

Methods

A total of 1177 pre- and 1177 post-treatment kV-OBI and 1177 pre- and 206 post-treatment kV-CBCT images were analyzed in 25 patients who received prostate IGRT with daily localization by implanted FMs. Intrafractional motion of the prostate was evaluated between each pre- and post-treatment image with these two different techniques. The differences in prostate deviations and intrafractional motions between matching by FM in kV-OBI (OBI-FM) and matching by soft tissues in kV-CBCT (CBCT-ST) were compared by Bland-Altman limits of agreement. Compensated PTV margins were determined and compensated by references.

Results

Mean differences between OBI-FM and CBCT-ST in the anterior to posterior (AP), superior to inferior (SI), and left to right (LR) directions were − 0.43 ± 1.45, − 0.09 ± 1.65, and − 0.12 ± 0.80 mm, respectively, with R² = 0.85, 0.88, and 0.83, respectively. Intrafractional motions obtained from CBCT-ST were 0.00 ± 1.46, 0.02 ± 1.49, and 0.15 ± 0.64 mm, respectively, which were smaller than the results from OBI-FM, with 0.43 ± 1.90, 0.12 ± 1.98, and 0.26 ± 0.80 mm, respectively, with R² = 0.42, 0.33, and 0.16, respectively. Bland-Altman analysis showed a significant proportional bias. PTV margins of 1.5 mm, 1.4 mm, and 0.9 mm for CBCT-ST were calculated from the values of CBCT-ST, which were also smaller than the values of 3.15 mm, 3.66 mm, and 1.60 mm from OBI-FM. The practical PTV margin for CBCT-ST was compensated with the values from OBI-FM as 4.1 mm, 4.8 mm, and 2.2 mm.

Conclusions

PTV margins calculated from CBCT-ST might be underestimated compared to the true PTV margins. To determine a reliable CBCT-ST-based PTV margin, at least the systemic error Σ and the random error σ for on-line matching errors need to be investigated by supportive preliminary FM evaluation at least once.

Developing and Evaluating Multimedia Patient Education Tools to Better Prepare Prostate-Cancer Patients for Radiotherapy Treatment (Randomized Study)

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of multimedia educational tools to improve CT planning preparation for intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer. Many patients are not prepared when given verbal preparation instructions to have a full bladder and empty rectum for their IMRT and require being rescanned, which results in additional costs for the patient and the hospital. A pamphlet and video outlining the proper preparation for prostate IMRT was created to decrease additional scans and the associated costs, while increasing patient satisfaction. A controlled, randomized experimental group study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the multimedia tools (the video and the pamphlet), as compared to the pamphlet only, in preparing patients for their planning CT appointment. We found no statistical difference between the multimedia group and the pamphlet group in patients' preparedness for their appointments and the rescanning rate. However, patients in the multimedia group indicated that they felt more prepared about their treatment after watching the video and stated that they would recommend the video to other patients with prostate cancer. Furthermore, patients who had to wait longer for their planning CT appointment felt less prepared by the materials than those with a shorter wait time. We recommend reducing wait times between appointments as much as possible to increase patients' preparedness for the planning CT. We conclude that providing multimedia treatment information and minimizing wait times increases patients' feelings of preparedness leading to a more positive treatment experience and reducing costly rescans.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02410291.

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer

Radiation therapy (RT) is a curative treatment modality for localized prostate cancer. Over the past two decades, advances in technology and imaging have considerably changed RT in prostate cancer treatment. Treatment has evolved from 2-dimensional (2D) planning using X-ray fields based on pelvic bony landmarks to 3-dimensional (3D) conformal RT (CRT) which uses computed tomography (CT) based planning. Despite improvements with 3D-CRT, dose distributions often remained suboptimal with portions of the rectum and bladder receiving unacceptably high doses. In more recent years, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has become the standard of care to deliver external beam RT. IMRT uses multiple radiation beams of different shapes and intensities delivered from a wide range of angles to ‘paint’ the radiation dose onto the tumor. IMRT allows for a higher dose of radiation to be delivered to the prostate while reducing dose to surrounding organs. Multiple clinical trials have demonstrated improved cancer outcomes with dose escalation, but toxicities using 3D-CRT and escalated doses have been problematic. IMRT is a method to deliver dose escalated RT with more conformal dose distributions than 3D-CRT and has been associated with improved toxicity profiles. IMRT also appears to be the safest method to deliver hypofractionated RT and pelvic lymph node radiation. The purpose of this review is to summarize the technical aspects of IMRT planning and delivery, and to review the literature supporting the use of IMRT for prostate cancer.

Inter-institutional analysis demonstrates the importance of lower than previously anticipated dose regions to prevent late rectal bleeding following prostate radiotherapy

PURPOSE

To investigate whether inter-institutional cohort analysis uncovers more reliable dose-response relationships exemplified for late rectal bleeding (LRB) following prostate radiotherapy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Data from five institutions were used. Rectal dose-volume histograms (DVHs) for 989 patients treated with 3DCRT or IMRT to 70-86.4 Gy@1.8-2.0 Gy/fraction were obtained, and corrected for fractionation effects (α/β = 3 Gy). Cohorts with best-fit Lyman-Kutcher-Burman volume-effect parameter a were pooled after calibration adjustments of the available LRB definitions. In the pooled cohort, dose-response modeling (incorporating rectal dose and geometry, and patient characteristics) was conducted on a training cohort (70%) followed by final testing on the remaining 30%. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to build models with bootstrap stability.

RESULTS

Two cohorts with low bleeding rates (2%) were judged to be inconsistent with the remaining data, and were excluded. In the remaining pooled cohorts (n = 690; LRB rate = 12%), an optimal model was generated for 3DCRT using the minimum rectal dose and the absolute rectal volume receiving less than 55 Gy (AUC = 0.67; p = 0.0002; Hosmer-Lemeshow p-value, pHL = 0.59). The model performed nearly as well in the hold-out testing data (AUC = 0.71; p < 0.0001; pHL = 0.63), indicating a logistically shaped dose-response.

CONCLUSION

We have demonstrated the importance of integrating datasets from multiple institutions, thereby reducing the impact of intra-institutional dose-volume parameters explicitly correlated with prescription dose levels. This uncovered an unexpected emphasis on sparing of the low to intermediate rectal dose range in the etiology of late rectal bleeding following prostate radiotherapy.

Computational analysis of interfractional anisotropic shape variations of the rectum in prostate cancer radiation therapy

PURPOSE

To analyze the uncertainties of the rectum due to anisotropic shape variations by using a statistical point distribution model (PDM).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The PDM was applied to the rectum contours that were delineated on planning computed tomography (CT) and cone-beam CT (CBCT) at 80 fractions of 11 patients. The standard deviations (SDs) of systematic and random errors of the shape variations of the whole rectum and the region in which the rectum overlapped with the PTV (ROP regions) were derived from the PDMs at all fractions of each patient. The systematic error was derived by using the PDMs of planning and average rectum surface determined from rectum surfaces at all fractions, while the random error was derived by using a PDM-based covariance matrix at all fractions of each patient.

RESULTS

Regarding whole rectum, the population SDs were larger than 1.0 mm along all directions for random error, and along the anterior, superior, and inferior directions for systematic error. The deviation is largest along the superior and inferior directions for systematic and random errors, respectively. For ROP regions, the population SDs of systematic error were larger than 1.0 mm along the superior and inferior directions. The population SDs of random error for the ROP regions were larger than 1.0 mm except along the right and posterior directions.

CONCLUSIONS

The anisotropic shape variations of the rectum, especially in the ROP regions, should be considered when determining a planning risk volume (PRV) margins for the rectum associated with the acute toxicities.

Reproducible Deep-inspiration Breath-hold Irradiation with Forward Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy for Left-sided Breast Cancer Significantly Reduces Cardiac Radiation Exposure Compared to Inverse Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy

Aims and Background

To investigate the objective utility of our clinical routine of reproducible deep-inspiration breath-hold irradiation for left-sided breast cancer patients on reducing cardiac exposure.

Methods and Study Design

Free-breathing and reproducible deep-inspiration breath-hold scans were evaluated for our 10 consecutive left-sided breast cancer patients treated with reproducible deep-inspiration breath-hold. The study was based on the adjuvant dose of 50 Gy in 25 fractions of 2 Gy/fraction. Both inverse and forward intensity-modulated radiotherapy plans were generated for each computed tomography dataset.

Results

Reproducible deep-inspiration breath-hold plans with forward intensity-modulated radiotherapy significantly spared the heart and left anterior descending artery compared to generated free-breathing plans based on mean doses – free-breathing vs reproducible deep-inspiration breath-hold, left ventricle (296.1 vs 94.5 cGy, P = 0.005), right ventricle (158.3 vs 59.2 cGy, P = 0.005), left anterior descending artery (171.1 vs 78.1 cGy, P = 0.005), and whole heart (173.9 vs 66 cGy, P = 0.005), heart V20 (2.2% vs 0%, P = 0.007) and heart V10 (4.2% vs 0.3%, P = 0.007) – whereas they revealed no additional burden on the ipsilateral lung. Reproducible deep-inspiration breath-hold and free-breathing plans with inverse intensity-modulated radiotherapy provided similar organ at risk sparing by reducing the mean doses to the left ventricle, left anterior descending artery, heart, V10-V20 of the heart and right ventricle. However, forward intensity-modulated radiotherapy showed significant reduction in doses to the left ventricle, left anterior descending artery, heart, right ventricle, and contralateral breast (mean dose, 248.9 to 12.3 cGy, P = 0.005). The mean doses for free-breathing vs reproducible deep-inspiration breath-hold of the proximal left anterior descending artery were 1.78 vs 1.08 Gy and of the distal left anterior descending artery were 8.11 vs 3.89 Gy, whereas mean distances to the 50 Gy isodose line of the proximal left anterior descending artery were 6.6 vs 3.3 cm and of the distal left anterior descending artery were 7.4 vs 4.1 cm, with forward intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Overall reduction in mean doses to proximal and distal left anterior descending artery with deep-inspiration breath-hold irradiation was 39% (P = 0.02) and 52% (P = 0.002), respectively.

Conclusions

We found a significant reduction of radiation exposure to the contralateral breast, left and right ventricles, as well as of proximal and especially distal left anterior descending artery with the deep-inspiration breath-hold technique with forward intensity-modulated radiotherapy planning.

Converting Treatment Plans From Helical Tomotherapy to L-Shape Linac: Clinical Workflow and Dosimetric Evaluation

This work evaluated a commercial fallback planning workflow designed to provide cross-platform treatment planning and delivery. A total of 27 helical tomotherapy intensity-modulated radiotherapy plans covering 4 anatomical sites were selected, including 7 brain, 5 unilateral head and neck, 5 bilateral head and neck, 5 pelvis, and 5 prostate cases. All helical tomotherapy plans were converted to 7-field/9-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy and volumetric-modulated radiotherapy plans through fallback dose-mimicking algorithm using a 6-MV beam model. The planning target volume (PTV) coverage ( D₁, D₉₉, and homogeneity index) and organs at risk dose constraints were evaluated and compared. Overall, all 3 techniques resulted in relatively inferior target dose coverage compared to helical tomotherapy plans, with higher homogeneity index and maximum dose. The organs at risk dose ratio of fallback to helical tomotherapy plans covered a wide spectrum, from 0.87 to 1.11 on average for all sites, with fallback plans being superior for brain, pelvis, and prostate sites. The quality of fallback plans depends on the delivery technique, field numbers, and angles, as well as user selection of structures for organs at risk. In actual clinical scenario, fallback plans would typically be needed for 1 to 5 fractions of a treatment course in the event of machine breakdown. Our results suggested that <1% dose variance can be introduced in target coverage and/or organs at risk from fallback plans. The presented clinical workflow showed that the fallback plan generation typically takes 10 to 20 minutes per case. Fallback planning provides an expeditious and effective strategy for transferring patients cross platforms, and minimizing the untold risk of a patient missing treatment(s).

Defining the Optimal Time of Adaptive Replanning in Prostate Cancer Patients with Weight Change during Volumetric Arc Radiotherapy: A Dosimetric and Mathematical Analysis Using the Gamma Index

We evaluated the changes in the dose distribution of radiation during volumetric arc radiotherapy (VMAT), to determine the right time for adaptive replanning in prostate cancer patients with progressive weight (WT) changes. Five prostate cancer patients treated with VMAT were selected for dosimetric analysis. On the original computed tomography images, nine artificial body contours were created to reflect progressive WT changes. Combined with three different photon energies (6, 10, and 15-MV), 27 comparable virtual VMAT plans were created per patient. The dosimetric analysis included evaluation of target coverage (D95%, Dmax), conformity index, homogeneity index, and organs at risk doses. The dose differences among the plans were determined using the gamma index analysis and were compared with the dosimetric analysis. Mean D95% became lower than 98% when body contour expanded by 2.0 cm or more and Dmax became higher than 107% when body contour contracted by 1.5 cm or more in 10-MV plans. This cut-off values correlated well with gamma index analysis results. Adaptive replanning should, therefore, be considered if the depth of body contour becomes 1.5 cm smaller (WT loss) or 2.0 cm larger (WT gain) in patients treated by VMAT with 10-MV photons.

The impact of bladder preparation protocols on post treatment toxicity in radiotherapy for localised prostate cancer patients

•

Our study suggests that excellent outcome in terms of post radiotherapy toxicity.

•

The empty bladder preparation protocol has non-inferior post radiotherapy toxicity.

•

This empty bladder approach can provide better patient comfort and reproducibility.

Objective

This study compares the post radiotherapy related toxicity between the use of an empty and a full bladder preparation protocol in patients receiving radical radiotherapy for localised prostate cancer.

Methods and materials

A retrospective review of patient treatment records in which they were treated with a standard radiotherapy schedule (60Gy/20 fractions) to prostates and base of seminal vesicles only and followed two different bladder preparation (empty and full) protocols was carried out. This included each patient's daily image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) setup, treatment time, bladder size on planning computed tomography, organs at risk dose volume histograms (OAR DVHs) and 12 months post treatment gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) toxicity data.

Results

20 patients were included. There were significant differences in IGRT setup between the two groups. Although treatment times of the two groups were not significantly different, 5/200 (2.5%) sessions were longer than 20 min in the full bladder group while this was not found in the other group.

Associations between bladder preparation protocols and GI (p = 1.0) and GU (p = 0.6) toxicities were not statistically significant. The bladder size on planning CT was not significantly correlated to the GI (R = 0.06, p = 0.8) or GU (R = 0.27, p = 0.3) toxicity scores. No significant differences were found in OAR DVHs between patients with and without GI and GU toxicities. No grade 3/4 toxicities were reported.

Conclusion

The empty bladder preparation approach has non-inferior acute and intermediate post RT GI and GU toxicities in patients treated for localised prostate cancer with advanced radiotherapy techniques compared to the full bladder preparation.

National Population-Based Study Comparing Treatment-Related Toxicity in Men Who Received Intensity Modulated Versus 3-Dimensional Conformal Radical Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer

PURPOSE

To compare, in a national population-based study, severe genitourinary (GU) and gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity in patients with prostate cancer who were treated with radical intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT).

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Patients treated with IMRT (n=6933) or 3D-CRT (n=16,289) between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013 in the English National Health Service were identified using cancer registry data, the National Radiotherapy Dataset, and Hospital Episodes Statistics, the administrative database of care episodes in National Health Service hospitals. We developed a coding system that identifies severe toxicity (at least grade 3 according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events scoring system) according to the presence of a procedure and a corresponding diagnostic code in patients' Hospital Episodes Statistics records after radiation therapy. A competing risks regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs), comparing the incidence of severe GI and GU complications after IMRT and 3D-CRT, adjusting for patient, disease, and treatment characteristics.

RESULTS

The use of IMRT, as opposed to 3D-CRT, increased from 3.1% in 2010 to 64.7% in 2013. Patients who received IMRT were less likely than those receiving 3D-CRT to experience severe GI toxicity (4.9 vs 6.5 per 100 person-years; adjusted HR 0.66; 95% confidence interval 0.61-0.72) but had similar levels of GU toxicity (2.3 vs 2.4 per 100 person-years; adjusted HR 0.94; 95% confidence interval 0.84-1.06).

CONCLUSIONS

Prostate cancer patients who received radical radiation therapy using IMRT were less likely to experience severe GI toxicity, and they had similar GU toxicity compared with those who received 3D-CRT. These findings in an unselected "real-world" population support the use of IMRT, but further cost-effectiveness studies are urgently required.

Treatment plan comparison between Tri-Co-60 magnetic-resonance image-guided radiation therapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy for prostate cancer

To investigate the plan quality of tri-Co-60 intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with magnetic-resonance image-guided radiation therapy compared with volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for prostate cancer. Twenty patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, who received radical VMAT were selected. Additional tri-Co-60 IMRT plans were generated for each patient. Both primary and boost plans were generated with tri-Co-60 IMRT and VMAT techniques. The prescription doses of the primary and boost plans were 50.4 Gy and 30.6 Gy, respectively. The primary and boost planning target volumes (PTVs) of the tri-Co-60 IMRT were generated with 3 mm margins from the primary clinical target volume (CTV, prostate + seminal vesicle) and a boost CTV (prostate), respectively. VMAT had a primary planning target volume (primary CTV + 1 cm or 2 cm margins) and a boost PTV (boost CTV + 0.7 cm margins), respectively. For both tri-Co-60 IMRT and VMAT, all the primary and boost plans were generated that 95% of the target volumes would be covered by the 100% of the prescription doses. Sum plans were generated by summation of primary and boost plans. In sum plans, the average values of V70 Gy of the bladder of tri-Co-60 IMRT vs. VMAT were 4.0% ± 3.1% vs. 10.9% ± 6.7%, (p < 0.001). Average values of V70 Gy of the rectum of tri-Co-60 IMRT vs. VMAT were 5.2% ± 1.8% vs. 19.1% ± 4.0% (p < 0.001). The doses of tri-Co-60 IMRT delivered to the bladder and rectum were smaller than those of VMAT while maintaining identical target coverage in both plans.