A. Farneti

Outcome of a phase II prospective study on partial breast irradiation with interstitial multi-catheter high-dose-rate brachytherapy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Partial breast irradiation (PBI) is an alternative to whole-breast irradiation after breast-conserving surgery in selected patients. Until the results of randomized phase III studies are available, phase II studies inform about PBI. We report the 5 year results of a phase II prospective study with PBI using interstitial multi-catheter high-dose-rate brachytherapy (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00499057). METHODS Hundred patients received PBI (4 Gy, twice a day for 4 days, until 32 Gy). Inclusion criteria were: age ≥ 40years, infiltrating carcinoma without lobular histology, ductal in situ carcinoma, tumor size ≤ 2.5 cm, negative surgical margins and axillary lymph nodes. RESULTS At a median follow-up of 60 months late toxicity occurred in 25 patients; the 5-year probability of freedom from late toxicity was 72.6% (95% CI: 63.7-81.7). Tamoxifen was the only significant risk factor for late toxicity. Cosmetic results, judged by physicians and patients, were good/excellent in 98 patients. Three local relapses (1 true, 2 elsewhere) and 1 regional relapse occurred. The 5-year probability of local or regional relapse-free survival was 97.7% (95% CI: 91.1-99.4) and 99.0% (95% CI: 92.9-99.8), respectively. CONCLUSION PBI with interstitial multi-catheter brachytherapy is associated with low relapse and late toxicity rates.

Double‐blind randomized phase III study comparing a mixture of natural agents versus placebo in the prevention of acute mucositis during chemoradiotherapy for head and neck cancer

There is no widely accepted intervention in the prevention of acute mucositis during chemoradiotherapy for head and neck carcinoma. In the present double‐blind study, we tested 4 natural agents, propolis, aloe vera, calendula, and chamomile versus placebo.

The prediction of the treatment response of cervical nodes using intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging

PURPOSE To investigate the predictive role of Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (IVIM-DWI) parameters on cervical nodal response to chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients with pathologically confirmed HNSCC were included in the present prospective study, having at least one positive cervical lymph node (LN). They received concomitant CRT and underwent three serial IVIM-DWI investigations: before, at mid-treatment and after treatment completion. Tissue diffusion coefficient D, perfusion-related diffusion coefficient D* and perfusion fraction f were calculated by a bi-exponential fit. The two-sided Mann-Whitney rank test was used to compare the imaging parameters of patients with regional failure (RF) and regional control (RC). A p value lower than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS Thirty-four patients were accrued. Twenty-four out of 34 LN (70.6%) showed persistent RC after a median follow-up time of 27.6 months (range: 12.0-50.2 months), while ten cases of RF (29.4%) were confirmed with a median time of 6.8 months (range: 1.5-19.5 months). Patients with RC showed significantly lower pre-treatment D values compared to the RF patients (p=0.038). At mid-treatment, the patients with RF showed significantly higher D values (p=0.025), and exhibited larger percent reductions in f and the product D*×f from the baseline (p=0.008 and <0.001, respectively). No additional information was provided by the examination at the end of treatment. CONCLUSION Pre-treatment and mid-treatment IVIM-DWI showed potential for prediction of treatment response of cervical LN in HNSCC patients.

Radiation-induced parotid changes in oropharyngeal cancer patients: the role of early functional imaging and patient−/treatment-related factors

BackgroundFunctional magnetic resonance imaging may provide several quantitative indices strictly related to distinctive tissue signatures with radiobiological relevance, such as tissue cellular density and vascular perfusion. The role of Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Diffusion Weighted Imaging (IVIM-DWI) and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (DCE) MRI in detecting/predicting radiation-induced volumetric changes of parotids both during and shortly after (chemo)radiotherapy of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was explored.MethodsPatients with locally advanced oropharyngeal SCC were accrued within a prospective study offering both IVIM-DWI and DCE-MRI at baseline; IVIM-DWI was repeated at the 10th fraction of treatment. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), tissue diffusion coefficient Dt, perfusion fraction f and perfusion-related diffusion coefficient D* were estimated both at baseline and during RT. Semi-quantitative and quantitative parameters, including the transfer constant Ktrans, were calculated from DCE-MRI. Parotids were contoured on T2-weighted images at baseline, 10th fraction and 8th weeks after treatment end and the percent change of parotid volume between baseline/10th fr (∆Vol10fr) and baseline/8th wk. (∆Volpost) computed.Correlations among volumetric changes and patient-, treatment- and imaging-related features were investigated at univariate analysis (Spearman’s Rho).ResultsEighty parotids (40 patients) were analyzed. Percent changes were 18.2 ± 10.7% and 31.3 ± 15.8% for ∆Vol10fr and ∆Volpost, respectively. Among baseline characteristics, ∆Vol10fr was correlated to body mass index, patient weight as well as the initial parotid volume. A weak correlation was present between parotid shrinkage after the first 2 weeks of treatment and dosimetric variables, while no association was found after radiotherapy. Percent changes of both ADC and Dt at the 10th fraction were also correlated to ∆Vol10fr. Significant relationships were found between ∆Volpost and baseline DCE-MRI parameters.ConclusionsBoth IVIM-DWI and DCE-MRI can help to detect/predict early (during treatment) and shortly after treatment completion the parotid shrinkage. They may contribute to clarify the correlations between volumetric changes of parotid glands and patient−/treatment-related variables by assessing individual microcapillary perfusion and tissue diffusivity.

EP-1859: Tumor control assessment on cervical lymph nodes using texture analysis on CT and T2w-MRI images

ESTRO 35 2016 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Results: Before RT, the ADC values were comparable for all patients. Considering group A, the mean ADC value before RT was 1.24 x10^(-3) mm2/s, lower than the ADC after RT (1.38 x10^(-3) mm2/s) (Figure 1). Moreover, an increase in mean dose to the penile bulb corresponded to higher variations of ADC (p<0.05, Table 1). On the contrary, in group B, the mean ADC values remained almost unchanged (1.22 x10^(-3) mm2/s before RT, 1.20 x10^(-3) mm2/s after RT) (Figure 1); nevertheless, the linear regression analysis showed an ADC decrease tendency depending on time, as highlighted by the negative correlation between ADC changes and the amount of days after RT (p<0.05, Table 1).