Eduardo Zubizarreta

Dose-Fractionation Sensitivity of Prostate Cancer Deduced From Radiotherapy Outcomes of 5,969 Patients in Seven International Institutional Datasets: α/β = 1.4 (0.9–2.2) Gy

PURPOSE There are reports of a high sensitivity of prostate cancer to radiotherapy dose fractionation, and this has prompted several trials of hypofractionation schedules. It remains unclear whether hypofractionation will provide a significant therapeutic benefit in the treatment of prostate cancer, and whether there are different fractionation sensitivities for different stages of disease. In order to address this, multiple primary datasets have been collected for analysis. METHODS AND MATERIALS Seven datasets were assembled from institutions worldwide. A total of 5969 patients were treated using external beams with or without androgen deprivation (AD). Standard fractionation (1.8-2.0 Gy per fraction) was used for 40% of the patients, and hypofractionation (2.5-6.7 Gy per fraction) for the remainder. The overall treatment time ranged from 1 to 8 weeks. Low-risk patients comprised 23% of the total, intermediate-risk 44%, and high-risk 33%. Direct analysis of the primary data for tumor control at 5 years was undertaken, using the Phoenix criterion of biochemical relapse-free survival, in order to calculate values in the linear-quadratic equation of k (natural log of the effective target cell number), α (dose-response slope using very low doses per fraction), and the ratio α/β that characterizes dose-fractionation sensitivity. RESULTS There was no significant difference between the α/β value for the three risk groups, and the value of α/β for the pooled data was 1.4 (95% CI = 0.9-2.2) Gy. Androgen deprivation improved the bNED outcome index by about 5% for all risk groups, but did not affect the α/β value. CONCLUSIONS The overall α/β value was consistently low, unaffected by AD deprivation, and lower than the appropriate values for late normal-tissue morbidity. Hence the fractionation sensitivity differential (tumor/normal tissue) favors the use of hypofractionated radiotherapy schedules for all risk groups, which is also very beneficial logistically in limited-resource settings.

Expanding global access to radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is a critical and inseparable component of comprehensive cancer treatment and care. For many of the most common cancers in low-income and middle-income countries, radiotherapy is essential for effective treatment. In high-income countries, radiotherapy is used in more than half of all cases of cancer to cure localised disease, palliate symptoms, and control disease in incurable cancers. Yet, in planning and building treatment capacity for cancer, radiotherapy is frequently the last resource to be considered. Consequently, worldwide access to radiotherapy is unacceptably low. We present a new body of evidence that quantifies the worldwide coverage of radiotherapy services by country. We show the shortfall in access to radiotherapy by country and globally for 2015-35 based on current and projected need, and show substantial health and economic benefits to investing in radiotherapy. The cost of scaling up radiotherapy in the nominal model in 2015-35 is US

Status of radiotherapy resources in Africa: an International Atomic Energy Agency analysis

26·6 billion in low-income countries,

Breast conservation treatment of early stage breast cancer: patterns of failure.

62·6 billion in lower-middle-income countries, and

Need for Radiotherapy in Low and Middle Income Countries – The Silent Crisis Continues

94·8 billion in upper-middle-income countries, which amounts to

Induction chemotherapy and radiotherapy of advanced cancer of the cervix: A pilot study and phase III randomized trial

184·0 billion across all low-income and middle-income countries. In the efficiency model the costs were lower:

Corticosteroids and radiation mucositis in head and neck cancer. A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial.

14·1 billion in low-income,

Fractionation in medium dose rate brachytherapy of cancer of the cervix

33·3 billion in lower-middle-income, and

Radiation therapy quality assurance in clinical trials – Global harmonisation group

49·4 billion in upper-middle-income countries-a total of

Medium-dose-rate brachytherapy of cancer of the cervix: preliminary results of a prospectively designed schedule based on the linear-quadratic model

96·8 billion. Scale-up of radiotherapy capacity in 2015-35 from current levels could lead to saving of 26·9 million life-years in low-income and middle-income countries over the lifetime of the patients who received treatment. The economic benefits of investment in radiotherapy are very substantial. Using the nominal cost model could produce a net benefit of