Eleftheria Alevronta

Late symptoms in long-term gynaecological cancer survivors after radiation therapy: a population-based cohort study

Background:We surveyed the occurrence of physical symptoms among long-term gynaecological cancer survivors after pelvic radiation therapy, and compared with population-based control women.Methods:We identified a cohort of 789 eligible gynaecological cancer survivors treated with pelvic radiation therapy alone or combined with surgery in Stockholm or Gothenburg, Sweden. A control group of 478 women was randomly sampled from the Swedish Population Registry. Data were collected through a study-specific validated postal questionnaire with 351 questions concerning gastrointestinal and urinary tract function, lymph oedema, pelvic bones and sexuality. Clinical characteristics and treatment details were retrieved from medical records.Results:Participation rate was 78% for gynaecological cancer survivors and 72% for control women. Median follow-up time after treatment was 74 months. Cancer survivors reported a higher occurrence of symptoms from all organs studied. The highest age-adjusted relative risk (RR) was found for emptying of all stools into clothing without forewarning (RR 12.7), defaecation urgency (RR 5.7), difficulty feeling the need to empty the bladder (RR 2.8), protracted genital pain (RR 5.0), pubic pain when walking indoors (RR 4.9) and erysipelas on abdomen or legs at least once during the past 6 months (RR 3.6). Survivors treated with radiation therapy alone showed in general higher rates of symptoms.Conclusion:Gynaecological cancer survivors previously treated with pelvic radiation report a higher occurrence of symptoms from the urinary and gastrointestinal tract as well as lymph oedema, sexual dysfunction and pelvic pain compared with non-irradiated control women. Health-care providers need to actively ask patients about specific symptoms in order to provide proper diagnostic investigations and management.

Esophageal stricture after radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer: Experience of a single institution over 2 treatment periods

Risk factors for development of a stricture of the upper esophagus after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer are poorly defined.

Dose-response relations for stricture in the proximal oesophagus from head and neck radiotherapy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Determination of the dose-response relations for oesophageal stricture after radiotherapy of the head and neck. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study 33 patients who developed oesophageal stricture and 39 patients as controls are included. The patients received radiation therapy for head and neck cancer at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. For each patient the 3D dose distribution delivered to the upper 5 cm of the oesophagus was analysed. The analysis was conducted for two periods, 1992-2000 and 2001-2005, due to the different irradiation techniques used. The fitting has been done using the relative seriality model. RESULTS For the treatment period 1992-2005, the mean doses were 49.8 and 33.4 Gy, respectively, for the cases and the controls. For the period 1992-2000, the mean doses for the cases and the controls were 49.9 and 45.9 Gy and for the period 2001-2005 were 49.8 and 21.4 Gy. For the period 2001-2005 the best estimates of the dose-response parameters are D(50)=61.5 Gy (52.9-84.9 Gy), γ=1.4 (0.8-2.6) and s=0.1 (0.01-0.3). CONCLUSIONS Radiation-induced strictures were found to have a dose response relation and volume dependence (low relative seriality) for the treatment period 2001-2005. However, no dose response relation was found for the complete material.

Toward Restored Bowel Health in Rectal Cancer Survivors

As technology gets better and better, and as clinical research provides more and more knowledge, we can extend our ambition to cure patients from cancer with restored physical health among the survivors. This increased ambition requires attention to grade 1 toxicity that decreases quality of life. It forces us to document the details of grade 1 toxicity and improve our understanding of the mechanisms. Long-term toxicity scores, or adverse events as documented during clinical trials, may be regarded as symptoms or signs of underlying survivorship diseases. However, we lack a survivorship nosology for rectal cancer survivors. Primarily focusing on radiation-induced side effects, we highlight some important observations concerning late toxicity among rectal cancer survivors. With that and other data, we searched for a preliminary survivorship-disease nosology for rectal cancer survivors. We disentangled the following survivorship diseases among rectal cancer survivors: low anterior resection syndrome, radiation-induced anal sphincter dysfunction, gut wall inflammation and fibrosis, blood discharge, excessive gas discharge, excessive mucus discharge, constipation, bacterial overgrowth, and aberrant anatomical structures. The suggested survivorship nosology may form the basis for new instruments capturing long-term symptoms (patient-reported outcomes) and professional-reported signs. For some of the diseases, we can search for animal models. As an end result, the suggested survivorship nosology may accelerate our understanding on how to prevent, ameliorate, or eliminate manifestations of treatment-induced diseases among rectal cancer survivors.

Dose-response relationships for an atomized symptom of fecal incontinence after gynecological radiotherapy

Abstract Purpose. The aim of this study was to investigate what bowel organ and delivered dose levels are most relevant for the development of ‘emptying of all stools into clothing without forewarning’ so that the related dose-responses could be derived as an aid in avoiding this distressing symptom in the future. Material and methods. Of the 77 gynecological cancer survivors treated with radiotherapy (RT) for gynecological cancer, 13 developed the symptom. The survivors were treated between 1991 and 2003. The anal-sphincter region, the rectum, the sigmoid and the small intestines were all delineated and the dose-volume histograms were exported for each patient. The dose-volume parameters were estimated fitting the data to the Relative Seriality (RS), the Lyman and the generalized Equivalent Uniform Dose (gEUD) model. Results. The dose-response parameters for all three models and four organs at risk (OARs) were estimated. The data from the sigmoid fits the studied models best: D50 was 58.8 and 59.5 Gy (RS, Lyman), γ50 was 1.60 and 1.57 (RS, Lyman), s was 0.32, n was 0.13 and a was 7.7 (RS, Lyman, gEUD). The estimated volume parameters indicate that the investigated OARs behave serially for this endpoint. Our results for the three models studied indicate that they have the same predictive power (similar LL values) for the symptom as a function of the dose for all investigated OARs. Conclusions. In our study, the anal-sphincter region and sigmoid fit our data best, but all OARs were found to have steep dose-responses for ‘emptying of all stools into clothing without forewarning’ and thus, the outcome can be predicted with an NTCP model. In addition, the dose to the four studied OARs may be considered when minimizing the risk of the symptom.

Relative Importance of Hip and Sacral Pain Among Long-Term Gynecological Cancer Survivors Treated With Pelvic Radiotherapy and Their Relationships to Mean Absorbed Doses

PURPOSE To investigate the relative importance of patient-reported hip and sacral pain after pelvic radiotherapy (RT) for gynecological cancer and its relationship to the absorbed doses in these organs. METHODS AND MATERIALS We used data from a population-based study that included 650 long-term gynecological cancer survivors treated with pelvic RT in the Gothenburg and Stockholm areas in Sweden with a median follow-up of 6 years (range, 2-15) and 344 population controls. Symptoms were assessed through a study-specific postal questionnaire. We also analyzed the hip and sacral dose-volume histogram data for 358 of the survivors. RESULTS Of the survivors, one in three reported having or having had hip pain after completing RT. Daily pain when walking was four times as common among the survivors compared to controls. Symptoms increased in frequency with a mean absorbed dose >37.5 Gy. Also, two in five survivors reported pain in the sacrum. Sacral pain also affected their walking ability and tended to increase with a mean absorbed dose >42.5 Gy. CONCLUSIONS Long-term survivors of gynecological cancer treated with pelvic RT experience hip and sacral pain when walking. The mean absorbed dose was significantly related to hip pain and was borderline significantly related to sacral pain. Keeping the total mean absorbed hip dose below 37.5 Gy during treatment might lower the occurrence of long-lasting pain. In relation to the controls, the survivors had a lower occurrence of pain and pain-related symptoms from the hips and sacrum compared with what has previously been reported for the pubic bone.

Identifying radiation-induced survivorship syndromes affecting bowel health in a cohort of gynecological cancer survivors

Background During radiotherapy unwanted radiation to normal tissue surrounding the tumor triggers survivorship diseases; we lack a nosology for radiation-induced survivorship diseases that decrease bowel health and we do not know which symptoms are related to which diseases. Methods Gynecological-cancer survivors were followed-up two to 15 years after having undergone radiotherapy; they reported in a postal questionnaire the frequency of 28 different symptoms related to bowel health. Population-based controls gave the same information. With a modified factor analysis, we determined the optimal number of factors, factor loadings for each symptom, factor-specific factor-loading cutoffs and factor scores. Results Altogether data from 623 survivors and 344 population-based controls were analyzed. Six factors best explain the correlation structure of the symptoms; for five of these a statistically significant difference (P< 0.001, Mann-Whitney U test) was found between survivors and controls concerning factor score quantiles. Taken together these five factors explain 42 percent of the variance of the symptoms. We interpreted these five factors as radiation-induced syndromes that may reflect distinct survivorship diseases. We obtained the following frequencies, defined as survivors having a factor loading above the 95 percent percentile of the controls, urgency syndrome (190 of 623, 30 percent), leakage syndrome (164 of 623, 26 percent), excessive gas discharge (93 of 623, 15 percent), excessive mucus discharge (102 of 623, 16 percent) and blood discharge (63 of 623, 10 percent). Conclusion Late effects of radiotherapy include five syndromes affecting bowel health; studying them and identifying the underlying survivorship diseases, instead of the approximately 30 long-term symptoms they produce, will simplify the search for prevention, alleviation and elimination.

Defecation into clothing without forewarning and mean radiation dose to bowel and anal-sphincter among gynecological cancer survivors.

Abstract Background: To analyze the relationship between mean radiation dose to the bowels and the anal-sphincter and occurrence of ‘defecation into clothing without forewarning’, a specific and serious fecal incontinence symptom after gynecological radiotherapy. Additional potential risk factors associated with the symptom are explored. Material and methods: Data were collected for 519 eligible gynecological cancer survivors, treated with pelvic radiotherapy, with a median follow-up of 5.8 years, using a study-specific questionnaire and medical records. Correlations between defecation into clothing without forewarning and mean dose to organs at risk; the anal-sphincter region, the rectum, the sigmoid and the small intestines were investigated, also taking other risk factors into account. Results: Twelve percent reported having had the symptom at least once in the preceding six months. Mean doses >50 Gy to the anal-sphincter region, the rectum, the sigmoid and the small intestines were related to the occurrence of the symptom. Significantly associated risk factors were deliveries with high birth weight, heart failure and lactose and/or gluten intolerance. After adjusting for these factors, mean doses >50 Gy to the anal-sphincter region, the sigmoid and the small intestines remained related to the occurrence of the symptom. Conclusion: Mean doses to the bowels and anal-sphincter region are related to the risk of defecation into clothing without forewarning in long-term gynecological cancer survivors treated with pelvic radiotherapy. Further radiobiological modeling may distinguish which organ(s) contribute most to development of the symptom.

A novel mouse model of radiation-induced cancer survivorship diseases of the gut

A deeper understanding of the radiation-induced pathophysiological processes that develop in the gut is imperative to prevent, alleviate, or eliminate cancer survivorship diseases after radiotherapy to the pelvic area. Most rodent models of high-dose gastrointestinal radiation injury are limited by high mortality. We therefore established a model that allows for the delivering of radiation in fractions at high doses while maintaining long-term survival. Adult male C57/BL6 mice were exposed to small-field irradiation, restricted to 1.5 cm of the colorectum using a linear accelerator. Each mouse received 6 or 8 Gy, two times daily in 12-h intervals in two, three, or four fractions. Acute cell death was examined at 4.5 h postirradiation and histological changes at 6 wk postirradiation. Another group was given four fractions of 8 Gy and followed over time for development of visible symptoms. Irradiation caused immediate cell death, mainly limited to the colorectum. At 6 wk postirradiation, several crypts displayed signs of radiation-induced degeneration. The degenerating crypts were seen alongside crypts that appeared perfectly healthy. Crypt survival was reduced after the fourth fraction regardless of dose, whereas the number of macrophages increased. Angiogenesis was induced, likely as a compensatory mechanism for hypoxia. Four months postirradiation, mice began to show radiation-induced symptoms, and histological examination revealed an extensive crypt loss and fibrosis. Our model is uniquely suitable for studying the long-term trajectory and underlying mechanisms of radiation-induced gastrointestinal injury.NEW & NOTEWORTHY A novel mouse model for studying the long-term trajectory of radiation-induced gut injury. The method allows for the use of high doses and multiple fractions, with minor impact on animal health for at least 3 mo. Crypt loss and a slow progression of fibrosis is observed. Crypt degeneration is a process restricted to isolated crypts. Crypt degeneration is presented as a convenient proxy endpoint for long-term radiation-induced gut injury.

Late radiation-induced bowel syndromes, tobacco smoking, age at treatment and time since treatment – gynecological cancer survivors

Abstract Background: It is unknown whether smoking; age at time of radiotherapy or time since radiotherapy influence the intensity of late radiation-induced bowel syndromes. Material and methods: We have previously identified 28 symptoms decreasing bowel health among 623 gynecological-cancer survivors (three to twelve years after radiotherapy) and 344 matched population-based controls. The 28 symptoms were grouped into five separate late bowel syndromes through factor analysis. Here, we related possible predictors of bowel health to syndrome intensity, by combining factor analysis weights and symptom frequency on a person-incidence scale. Results: A strong (p < .001) association between smoking and radiation-induced urgency syndrome was found with a syndrome intensity (normalized factor score) of 0.4 (never smoker), 1.2 (former smoker) and 2.5 (current smoker). Excessive gas discharge was also related to smoking (p = .001). Younger age at treatment resulted in a higher intensity, except for the leakage syndrome. For the urgency syndrome, intensity decreased with time since treatment. Conclusions: Smoking aggravates the radiation-induced urgency syndrome and excessive gas discharge syndrome. Smoking cessation may promote bowel health among gynecological-cancer survivors. Furthermore, by understanding the mechanism for the decline in urgency-syndrome intensity over time, we may identify new strategies for prevention and alleviation.