Correlation between Biological Effective Dose and Radiation-induced Liver Disease from Hypofractionated Radiotherapy

Canine primary liver tumors treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy: A case series

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an increasingly used alternative treatment option for nonresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in people. Comparatively, the publication of SBRT of dogs with HCC is limited. The objective of this retrospective, descriptive case series was to evaluate the clinical outcomes and toxicity data of SBRT in dogs with HCC and imaging-documented primary liver tumors using volumetric-modulated arc therapy delivery at two private institutions. Medical records of 14 dogs treated between 2018 and 2023 were reviewed. All dogs had macroscopic tumors, and 9 of 14 dogs had HCC diagnoses confirmed on cytology or histopathology. The median longest tumor diameter was 5.5 cm. The median percentage of planning target volume relative to liver volume was 27.1%. Most dogs were treated with three daily fractions of 7-7.5 Gy. All dogs completed their radiotherapy protocols. Three of nine HCC dogs experienced partial responses and clinical improvement. Five of nine HCC dogs had stable disease. Overall median survival time was 164 days for nine HCC dogs (range: 93-706 days). One late grade 5 liver and two late grade 3 kidney side effects were reported. One dog received repeated SBRT to the same HCC treatment field, and one dog had two courses of SBRT to bifocal HCC treatment fields, both with no more than grade 2 acute and chronic toxicities.

The safety and efficacy of immunotherapy and palliative radiotherapy in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 13 prospective studies

OBJECTIVE

Whether palliative RT (pRT) can influence the prognosis of mNSCLC patients who are treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is still under debate. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pRT plus ICIs in mNSCLC patients.

METHODS

PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases were searched, and only prospective studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. All data were analyzed with Stata 14.0 and Review Manager Version 5.4 software.

RESULTS

A total of 13 studies were included. The combined ORRs for the ICIs group, cRT plus ICIs group, and SBRT plus ICIs group were 0.22 (95% CI: 1.27, 4.04), 0.26 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.49), and 0.29 (95% CI: 0.17, 0.40), respectively. And PFS were 2.21 (95% CI: 1.71, 2.70), 4.63 (95% CI: 2.16, 7.09), and 7.38 (95% CI: 2.16, 12.60) months, respectively. OS was 5.96 (95% CI: 3.85, 8.07), 9.04 (95% CI: 6.49, 11.59), and 7.96 (95% CI: 4.02, 11.91) months for the above groups, respectively. For safety terms, patients receiving ICIs plus SBRT had an incidence of 5% (95% CI: 2%, 9%) for pneumonia.

CONCLUSION

Patients with mNSCLC may benefit from the combination of ICIs and pRT therapy, but these findings need further validation.