Louis Potters, MD

The emergence of using hypofractionated radiation treatments—fewer radiation treatments at larger doses—across cancer types may place financial strain on radiation oncologists, but one expert notes there’s still continued success.

Early study results show that an artificial intelligence model may help oncologists better stratify patients with prostate cancer into risk groups than existing methods, according to an expert.

Adding radiation to sorafenib elicited a survival improvement in a group of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer.

Trial results presented at a recent medical conference demonstrated that the use of shorter duration radiation is safe and effective in prostate cancer, as well as a type of rare cancer, according to an expert.

Data presented at a recent medical conference shows that there is continued interest in observing the effects of fewer radiation treatments across several cancer types, according to an expert.

ABSTRACT Symptomatic spinal metastasis is a frequent complication of cancer that had been treated, until relatively recently, with primitive techniques to modest radiation dose levels, with a baseline assumption of limited survival and poor patient performance in that setting. In the era of targeted and personalized therapies, many patients are living longer and more functionally and are able to manage their disease on the model of chronic illness. Given these developments, an attractive option is the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to deliver high biologically effective doses of radiation conformally to maximize the palliative gains of treatment. However, randomized data to guide practice are scarce. We review the extant literature and present an algorithmic approach to selecting patients with metastatic disease for palliative spinal SBRT favoring the results of available randomized studies and remaining within the safety constraints supported by evidence from randomized trials.