[Cyberknife surgery with a radio-scalpel: a new treatment option for patients with unresectable metastases]

CyberKnife Radiosurgery - Value as an Adjunct to Surgical Treatment of HCC?

INTRODUCTION

CyberKnife radiosurgery (CK) is an effective tool for the treatment of malignancies. Its greatest potential is in high-dose radiosurgery delivered to targets in organs that move with respiration, e.g., liver tumors. For hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, surgical treatment (resection, transplantation) is most likely to produce long-term survival; for non-resectable tumors, therapies other than radiosurgery are typically recommended. This study evaluated the long-lasting anti-tumor effects of CK combined with surgery in patients with HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS : Eighteen patients (three women, 15 men) were included in this prospective observational study. They received 21 single-fraction CK treatments (26 Gy). Patient characteristics, treatment effects, tumor response (according to the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) grading) and survival were measured for a median period of 29 months.

RESULTS

Local tumor control was achieved in 15 patients, with complete and partial remission observed in 10 and five patients, respectively. One patient was treated for two separate lesions in one session, and one received three treatments each separated by two-year intervals; both patients are tumor-free. Two patients showed minimal response, and in one patient local tumor viability could not be excluded by MRI. Nine patients had HCC recurrence, all distant to the treated site. Nine patients died during follow-up, including two with clear relation to tumor progress. Tumor-free survival was 79.4% after one year and 29.8% after three years, and the corresponding overall survival was 84.8% and 66%. CONCLUSION : This study shows the high effectiveness of single-session frameless CyberKnife radiosurgery for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and reconfirms previous results of fractioned radiotherapy of HCC. It also demonstrates the potential of radiosurgery to be combined with surgical concepts.

[Solitary spinal metastases. Is aggressive surgical management justified?]

Advances in oncological and surgical therapies have led to a significant increase in life expectancy of cancer patients and also prolonged survival of patients with isolated or multiple metastases. Among the skeletal manifestations the spine is the most often affected site. Using novel imaging techniques with higher resolution and use of metabolic signatures, the screening of cancer patients has improved considerably. Consequently, the diagnosis of metastases is becoming increasingly more sensitive. Therefore, but also due to more effective polychemotherapy protocols, singular or solitary metastases are more frequently observed either in the early stages or as a result of a controlled malignant tumor entity (stable disease). The questions whether a solitary metastasis really exists (illusion or reality?) and its radical oncological and surgical treatment as a circumscribed singular tumor manifestation, is really relevant for the overall prognosis, remains controversial. However, it seems evident that a biologically favorable underlying tumor biology, radical treatment of the primary tumor and a long metastasis-free interval are valid predictors of a good oncological outcome. In the presence of a solitary metastasis under these circumstances (typical example: solitary metastasis of renal cell carcinoma many years after radical tumor nephrectomy) a radical surgical procedure (en bloc spondylectomy) can significantly improve the long-term prognosis of this patient group in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. However, a thorough evaluation of the overall survival prognosis, a detailed and complete staging followed by a treatment consensus in the interdisciplinary tumor board has to precede any therapeutical decisions.