Peter G. Maxim

Metabolic Tumor Volume Predicts for Recurrence and Death in Head and Neck Cancer

PURPOSE To evaluate the prognostic value of metabolic tumor volume measured on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging and other clinical factors in patients treated for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer (HNC) at a single institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between March 2003 and August 2007, 85 patients received positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography-guided chemoradiotherapy for HNC. Metabolically active tumor regions were delineated on pretreatment PET scans semiautomatically using custom software. We evaluated the relationship of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) and total metabolic tumor volume (MTV) with disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS Mean follow-up for surviving patients was 20.4 months. The estimated 2-year locoregional control, DFS, and OS for the group were 88.0%, 69.5%, and 78.4%, respectively. The median time to first failure was 9.8 months among the 16 patients with relapse. An increase in MTV of 17.4 mL (difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles) was significantly associated with an increased hazard of first event (recurrence or death) (1.9-fold, p < 0.001), even after controlling for Karnofsky performance status (KPS) (1.8-fold, p = 0.001), and of death (2.1-fold, p < 0.001). We did not find a significant relationship of maximum SUV, stage, or other clinical factors with DFS or OS. CONCLUSIONS Metabolic tumor volume is an adverse prognostic factor for disease recurrence and death in HNC. MTV retained significance after controlling for KPS, the only other significant adverse prognostic factor found in this cohort. MTV is a direct measure of tumor burden and is a potentially valuable tool for risk stratification and guiding treatment in future studies.

SINGLE-FRACTION STEREOTACTIC BODY RADIATION THERAPY AND SEQUENTIAL GEMCITABINE FOR THE TREATMENT OF LOCALLY ADVANCED PANCREATIC CANCER

PURPOSE This Phase II trial evaluated the toxicity, local control, and overall survival in patients treated with sequential gemcitabine and linear accelerator-based single-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS Twenty patients with locally advanced, nonmetastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma were enrolled on this prospective single-institution, institutional review board-approved study. Gemcitabine was administered on Days 1, 8, and 15, and SBRT on Day 29. Gemcitabine was restarted on Day 43 and continued for 3-5 cycles. SBRT of 25 Gy in a single fraction was delivered to the internal target volume with a 2- 3-mm margin using a nine-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy technique. Respiratory gating was used to account for breathing motion. Follow-up evaluations occurred at 4-6 weeks, 10-12 weeks, and every 3 months after SBRT. RESULTS All patients completed SBRT and a median of five cycles of chemotherapy. Follow-up for the 2 remaining alive patients was 25.1 and 36.4 months. No acute Grade 3 or greater nonhematologic toxicity was observed. Late Grade 3 or greater toxicities occurred in 1 patient (5%) and consisted of a duodenal perforation (G4). Three patients (15%) developed ulcers (G2) that were medically managed. Overall, median survival was 11.8 months, with 1-year survival of 50% and 2-year survival of 20%. Using serial computed tomography, the freedom from local progression was 94% at 1 year. CONCLUSION Linear accelerator-delivered SBRT with sequential gemcitabine resulted in excellent local control of locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Future studies will address strategies for reducing long-term duodenal toxicity associated with SBRT.

Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Oropharyngeal Cancer: Clinical Outcomes and Patterns of Failure

PURPOSE To report outcomes, failures, and toxicities in patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx. METHODS AND MATERIALS Between Aug 2001 and Oct 2007, 107 patients were treated with IMRT with curative intent at Stanford University. Twenty-two patients were treated postoperatively, and 85 were treated definitively. Concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy was administered to 86 patients (80%) and cetuximab to 8 patients (7%). The prescribed dose was 66 Gy at 2.2 Gy/fraction for definitively treated cases and 60 Gy at 2 Gy/fraction for postoperative cases. Median follow-up was 29 months among surviving patients (range, 4-105 months). RESULTS Eight patients had persistent disease or local-regional failure at a median of 6.5 months (range, 0-9.9 months). Six local failures occurred entirely within the high-risk clinical target volume (CTV) (one with simultaneous distant metastasis). One patient relapsed within the high- and intermediate-risk CTV. One patient had a recurrence at the junction between the IMRT and low-neck fields. Seven patients developed distant metastasis as the first site of failure. The 3-year local-regional control (LRC), freedom from distant metastasis, overall survival, and disease-free survival rates were 92%, 92%, 83%, and 81%, respectively. T stage (T4 vs. T1-T3) was predictive of poorer LRC (p = 0.001), overall survival (p = 0.001), and disease-free survival (p < 0.001) rates. Acute toxicity consisted of 58% grade 3 mucosal and 5% grade 3 skin reactions. Six patients (6%) developed grade >or=3 late complications. CONCLUSIONS IMRT provides excellent LRC for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Distant metastases are a major failure pattern. No marginal failures were observed.

Continuous, Noninvasive, and Localized Microvascular Tissue Oximetry Using Visible Light Spectroscopy

Background: The authors evaluated the ability of visible light spectroscopy (VLS) oximetry to detect hypoxemia and ischemia in human and animal subjects. Unlike near-infrared spectroscopy or pulse oximetry (SpO2), VLS tissue oximetry uses shallow-penetrating visible light to measure microvascular hemoglobin oxygen saturation (StO2) in small, thin tissue volumes. Methods: In pigs, StO2 was measured in muscle and enteric mucosa during normoxia, hypoxemia (SpO2 = 40–96%), and ischemia (occlusion, arrest). In patients, StO2 was measured in skin, muscle, and oral/enteric mucosa during normoxia, hypoxemia (SpO2 = 60–99%), and ischemia (occlusion, compression, ventricular fibrillation). Results: In pigs, normoxic StO2 was 71 ± 4% (mean ± SD), without differences between sites, and decreased during hypoxemia (muscle, 11 ± 6%; P < 0.001) and ischemia (colon, 31 ± 11%; P < 0.001). In patients, mean normoxic StO2 ranged from 68 to 77% at different sites (733 measures, 111 subjects); for each noninvasive site except skin, variance between subjects was low (e.g., colon, 69% ± 4%, 40 subjects; buccal, 77% ± 3%, 21 subjects). During hypoxemia, StO2 correlated with SpO2 (animals, r2 = 0.98; humans, r2 = 0.87). During ischemia, StO2 initially decreased at −1.3 ± 0.2%/s and decreased to zero in 3–9 min (r2 = 0.94). Ischemia was distinguished from normoxia and hypoxemia by a widened pulse/VLS saturation difference (Δ < 30% during normoxia or hypoxemia vs. Δ > 35% during ischemia). Conclusions: VLS oximetry provides a continuous, noninvasive, and localized measurement of the StO2, sensitive to hypoxemia, regional, and global ischemia. The reproducible and narrow StO2 normal range for oral/enteric mucosa supports use of this site as an accessible and reliable reference point for the VLS monitoring of systemic flow.

Pancreatic tumor motion on a single planning 4D-CT does not correlate with intrafraction tumor motion during treatment

Purpose:To quantify pancreas tumor motion on both a planning 4D-CT and during a single fraction treatment using the CyberKnife linear accelerator and Synchrony respiratory tracking software, and to investigate whether a single 4D-CT study is reliable for determining radiation treatment margins for patients with locally advanced pancreas cancer. Methods and Materials:Twenty patients underwent fiducial placement, biphasic pancreatic protocol CT scan and 4D-CT scan in the treatment position while free-breathing. Patients were then treated with a single 25 Gy fraction of stereotactic body radiotherapy. Predicted pancreas motion in the superior-inferior (SI), left-right (LR), and anterior-posterior (AP) directions was calculated from the maximum inspiration and maximum expiration 4D-CT scan. For CyberKnife treatments, mean respiratory cycle motion and maximum respiratory cycle motion was determined in the SI, LR, and AP directions. Results:The range of centroid movement based on 4D-CT in the SI, LR, and AP directions were 0.9 to 28.8 mm, 0.1 to 13.7 mm, and 0.2 to 7.6 mm, respectively. During CyberKnife treatment, in the SI direction, the mean motion of the centroid ranged from 0.5 to 12.7 mm. In the LR direction, the mean motion range was 0.4 to 9.4 mm. In the AP direction, the mean motion range was 0.6 to 5.5 mm. The maximum range of movement (mean) during CyberKnife treatment in the SI, LR, and AP directions were 4.5 to 48.8 mm (mean 20.8 mm), 1.5 to 41.3 mm (mean 11.3 mm), and 1.6 to 68.1 mm (mean 13.4 mm), respectively. Neither the maximum or mean motion correlated with the 4D-CT movement. Conclusions:There is substantial respiratory associated motion of pancreatic tumors. The 4D-CT planning scans cannot accurately predict the movement of pancreatic tumors during actual treatment on CyberKnife.

Tumor volume-adapted dosing in stereotactic ablative radiotherapy of lung tumors.

PURPOSE Current stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) protocols for lung tumors prescribe a uniform dose regimen irrespective of tumor size. We report the outcomes of a lung tumor volume-adapted SABR dosing strategy. METHODS AND MATERIALS We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes in 111 patients with a total of 138 primary or metastatic lung tumors treated by SABR, including local control, regional control, distant metastasis, overall survival, and treatment toxicity. We also performed subset analysis on 83 patients with 97 tumors treated with a volume-adapted dosing strategy in which small tumors (gross tumor volume <12 mL) received single-fraction regimens with biologically effective doses (BED) <100 Gy (total dose, 18-25 Gy) (Group 1), and larger tumors (gross tumor volume ≥12 mL) received multifraction regimens with BED ≥100 Gy (total dose, 50-60 Gy in three to four fractions) (Group 2). RESULTS The median follow-up time was 13.5 months. Local control for Groups 1 and 2 was 91.4% and 92.5%, respectively (p = 0.24) at 12 months. For primary lung tumors only (excluding metastases), local control was 92.6% and 91.7%, respectively (p = 0.58). Regional control, freedom from distant metastasis, and overall survival did not differ significantly between Groups 1 and 2. Rates of radiation pneumonitis, chest wall toxicity, and esophagitis were low in both groups, but all Grade 3 toxicities developed in Group 2 (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION A volume-adapted dosing approach for SABR of lung tumors seems to provide excellent local control for both small- and large-volume tumors and may reduce toxicity.

Postradiation metabolic tumor volume predicts outcome in head-and-neck cancer.

PURPOSE To explore the prognostic value of metabolic tumor volume measured on postradiation (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in patients with head-and-neck cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS Forty-seven patients with head-and-neck cancer who received pretreatment and posttreatment PET/computed tomography (CT) imaging along with definitive chemoradiotherapy were included in this study. The PET/CT parameters evaluated include the maximum standardized uptake value, metabolic tumor volume (MTV(2.0)-MTV(4.0); where MTV(2.0) refers to the volume above a standardized uptake value threshold of 2.0), and integrated tumor volume. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models were used to test for association between PET endpoints and disease-free survival and overall survival. RESULTS Multiple postradiation PET endpoints correlated significantly with outcome; however, the most robust predictor of disease progression and death was MTV(2.0). An increase in MTV(2.0) of 21 cm(3) (difference between 75th and 25th percentiles) was associated with an increased risk of disease progression (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.5, p = 0.0001) and death (HR = 2.0, p = 0.003). In patients with nonnasopharyngeal carcinoma histology (n = 34), MTV(2.0) <18 cm(3) and MTV(2.0) ≥18 cm(3) yielded 2-year disease-free survival rates of 100% and 63%, respectively (p = 0.006) and 2-year overall survival rates of 100% and 81%, respectively (p = 0.009). There was no correlation between MTV(2.0) and disease-free survival or overall survival with nasopharyngeal carcinoma histology (n = 13). On multivariate analysis, only postradiation MTV(2.0) was predictive of disease-free survival (HR = 2.47, p = 0.0001) and overall survival (HR = 1.98, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS Postradiation metabolic tumor volume is an adverse prognostic factor in head-and-neck cancer. Biomarkers such as MTV are important for risk stratification and will be valuable in the future with risk-adapted therapies.

Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy for Reirradiation of Locally Recurrent Lung Tumors

Introduction: Patients with thoracic tumors that recur after irradiation currently have limited therapeutic options. Retreatment using stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is appealing for these patients because of its high conformity but has not been studied extensively. Here we report our experience with SABR for lung tumors in previously irradiated regions. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of patients with primary lung cancer or metastatic lung tumors treated with SABR. We identified 17 such tumors in 15 patients and compared their outcomes with those of a cohort of 135 previously unirradiated lung tumors treated with SABR during the same time period. Results: Twelve-month local control (LC) for retreated tumors was 65.5%, compared with 92.1% for tumors receiving SABR as initial treatment. Twelve-month LC was significantly worse for reirradiated tumors in which the time interval between treatments was 16 months or less (46.7%), compared with those with longer intertreatment intervals (87.5%). SABR reirradiation did not lead to significant increases in treatment-related toxicity. Conclusions: SABR for locally recurrent lung tumors arising in previously irradiated fields seems to be feasible and safe for appropriately selected patients. LC of retreated lesions was significantly lower, likely owing to the lower doses used for retreatment. Shorter time to retreatment was associated with increased risk of local failure, suggesting that these tumors may be particularly radioresistant. Our findings suggest that dose escalation may improve LC while maintaining acceptable levels of toxicity for these patients.

Particle size, magnetic field, and blood velocity effects on particle retention in magnetic drug targeting.

PURPOSE A physics-based model of a general magnetic drug targeting (MDT) system was developed with the goal of realizing the practical limitations of MDT when electromagnets are the source of the magnetic field. METHODS The simulation tracks magnetic particles subject to gravity, drag force, magnetic force, and hydrodynamic lift in specified flow fields and external magnetic field distributions. A model problem was analyzed to determine the effect of drug particle size, blood flow velocity, and magnetic field gradient strength on efficiency in holding particles stationary in a laminar Poiseuille flow modeling blood flow in a medium-sized artery. RESULTS It was found that particle retention rate increased with increasing particle diameter and magnetic field gradient strength and decreased with increasing bulk flow velocity. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that MDT systems with electromagnets are unsuitable for use in small arteries because it is difficult to control particles smaller than about 20 microm in diameter.

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: Patterns of failure and predictors of local control

PURPOSE Few studies have evaluated the use of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity (OC). We report clinical outcomes and failure patterns for these patients. METHODS AND MATERIALS Between October 2002 and June 2009, 37 patients with newly diagnosed SCC of the OC underwent postoperative (30) or definitive (7) IMRT. Twenty-five patients (66%) received systemic therapy. The median follow-up was 38 months (range, 10-87 months). The median interval from surgery to RT was 5.9 weeks (range, 2.1-10.7 weeks). RESULTS Thirteen patients experienced local-regional failure at a median of 8.1 months (range, 2.4-31.9 months), and 2 additional patients experienced local recurrence between surgery and RT. Seven local failures occurred in-field (one with simultaneous nodal and distant disease) and two at the margin. Four regional failures occurred, two in-field and two out-of-field, one with synchronous metastases. Six patients experienced distant failure. The 3-year actuarial estimates of local control, local-regional control, freedom from distant metastasis, and overall survival were 67%, 53%, 81%, and 60% among postoperative patients, respectively, and 60%, 60%, 71%, and 57% among definitive patients. Four patients developed Grade ≥ 2 chronic toxicity. Increased surgery to RT interval predicted for decreased LRC (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS Local-regional control for SCC of the OC treated with IMRT with or without surgery remains unsatisfactory. Definitive and postoperative IMRT have favorable toxicity profiles. A surgery-to-RT interval of < 6 weeks improves local-regional control. The predominant failure pattern was local, suggesting that both improvements in target delineation and radiosensitization and/or dose escalation are needed.