Nantaka Pukanhaphan

Intermediate-term results of image-guided brachytherapy and high-technology external beam radiotherapy in cervical cancer: Chiang Mai University experience

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the outcomes of image-guided brachytherapy combined with 3D conformal or intensity modulated external beam radiotherapy (3D CRT/IMRT) in cervical cancer at Chiang Mai University. METHODS From 2008 to 2011, forty-seven patients with locally advanced cervical cancer were enrolled in this study. All patients received high-technology (3D CRT/IMRT) whole pelvic radiotherapy with a total dose of 45-46 Gy plus image-guided High-Dose-Rate intracavitary brachytherapy 6.5-7 Gy × 4 fractions to a High-Risk Clinical Target Volume (HR-CTV) according to GEC-ESTRO recommendations. The dose parameters of the HR-CTV for bladder, rectum and sigmoid colon were recorded, as well as toxicity profiles. In addition, the endpoints for local control, disease-free, metastasis-free survival and overall survival were calculated. RESULTS At the median follow-up time of 26 months, the local control, disease-free survival, and overall survival rates were 97.9%, 85.1%, and 93.6%, respectively. The mean dose of HR-CTV, bladder, rectum and sigmoid were 93.1, 88.2, 69.6, and 72 Gy, respectively. In terms of late toxicity, the incidence of grade 3-4 bladder and rectum morbidity was 2.1% and 2.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS A combination of image-guided brachytherapy and IMRT/3D CRT showed very promising results of local control, disease-free survival, metastasis-free survival and overall survival rates. It also caused a low incidence of grade 3-4 toxicity in treated study patients.

Real-world outcomes of postmastectomy radiotherapy in breast cancer patients with 1–3 positive lymph nodes: a retrospective study

Objective: To assess the treatment outcomes and to explore the determinants of clinical outcome in breast cancer patients with 1–3 positive nodes who did or did not receive postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) in a tertiary care referral cancer center in Northern Thailand. Methods: We investigated a retrospective cohort of registered breast cancer patients at the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand from 2001–2007. Analysis was performed using Cox regression models to identify factors affecting the overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) rates. Comparisons were made between two cohorts: women who received adjuvant PMRT (74 patients) and women who did not receive adjuvant PMRT (81 patients). Results: A total of 155 patients were included with a median follow-up period of 4.45 years. There was a statistically significant 4-year OS difference between the two groups of patients: 100% for the PMRT group and 93.1% for the non-PMRT group (P = 0.044). The 4-year RFS was 85.9% for patients receiving PMRT and 78.3% for patients who did not receive PMRT (P = 0.291). On multivariate analysis of OS, using hormonal treatment was the only significant independent factor associated with improved OS. On multivariate analysis of RFS, none of the variables were significantly associated with improved RFS. PMRT was notfound to be a prognostic variable related to the outcome of patients using a logistic regression model. Conclusion: Our retrospective, hospital-based analysis demonstrated that PMRT improved the treatment outcome in terms of OS for women with 1–3 node positive early-stage breast cancer.