Annual Meeting of the American Radium Society (ARS)

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is increasingly used in the treatment of hypopharyngeal carcinoma for functional organ-sparing. We retrospectively reviewed our single-institution experience treating stage I–IVa hypopharyngeal cancer (HPC) patients with definitive IMRT +/− chemotherapy.

Repeat radiation for recurrent brain tumors may be performed in the pediatric population with acceptable short- and long-term toxicity. Establishment of dose-volume guidelines will facilitate treatment planning for these challenging cases.

We hypothesize that patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), daily image guidance, and reduced planning margins will have fewer significant late effects and improved functional outcomes than those treated with conventional techniques.

The purpose of this study was to develop a workflow process that enables quantitative assessment of different image registration techniques used for head and neck simulation CT to diagnostic CT coregistration.

Optic nerve sheath meningiomas (ONMs) typically present with unilateral vision loss, visual disturbance, and/or eye pain or pressure. ONMs are generally not amenable to surgery due to morbidity, visual deterioration. For this reason, radiation is often used as primary treatment.

Intraoperative Cs-131 brachytherapy has been demonstrated to be safe, well tolerated, and convenient for patients, rendering high local control and minimal toxicity for patients with brain metastases. In this study, we reviewed serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images along with diffusion-weighted images (DWIs) for distinct local changes and assessed their clinical relevance and measured apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an emerging treatment strategy with increasing clinical applications in patients with head and neck cancers (HNCs), including mainly those with recurrent, previously irradiated (rHNC), locally advanced unresectable primary, or metastatic HNCs who have shown radioresistance to conventional radiotherapy, amongst others. The aim of this study was to reduce treatment toxicity of SBRT for patients with HNCs using highly noncoplanar 4π RT.

Treatment options for recurrent gliomas include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The majority of patients receive radiotherapy as part of their primary treatment, and multiple reirradiation fractionation schedules have been used in an attempt to decrease toxicity. We sought to report our institutional experience with reirradiation in the management of recurrent gliomas.

Radiation to the spine may be associated with gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity, including nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and esophagitis. Proton therapy is expected to reduce this due to decreased exposure of the GI system when posterior-anterior beams are utilized.

Radiation therapy delivered to the lower neck has long been associated with an increased risk of subsequent development of hypothyroidism. The purpose of this study was to define dosimetric predictors of increased hypothyroidism risk for oropharyngeal (OPC) patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to be used to guide treatment planning.

At median follow-up of 40 months, patients with node-positive thyroid cancer were most likely to recur in the neck rather than in the thyroid bed or distantly. Increasing nodal burden is associated with significantly increased risk of locoregional recurrence.

Postoperative radiation consolidation following resection of a symptomatic brain metastasis has traditionally been administered as whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Given the increasing survival in some cancer patients, an increasing number of centers are offering postoperative cavity consolidation in the form of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

The outcomes of chordomas and chondrosarcomas treated with preoperative, postoperative, and definitive CyberKnife radiosurgery are determined. The goals of preoperative radiosurgery are to improve disease-free survival (DFS) by achieving clean margins and to decrease morbidity by achieving a smaller resection volume.

Involved-field radiotherapy (IFRT) after cytotoxic chemotherapy has become the standard of care in treating pediatric patients with Hodgkin disease. However, recent interest in shrinking the treatment volume to involved-node radiotherapy (INRT) may allow lower doses to critical organ structures. We dosimetrically compared IFRT and INRT treatment approaches.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of oropharyngeal cancer patients to evaluate the incidence of hypothyroidism after definitive radiation therapy.

In this small cohort of patients, we were able to show increased incidence of thyroid abnormalities after radiotherapy as compared with the normal population.

Pediatric patients with pilocytic astrocytomas heavily pretreated with chemotherapy and status post-R2 resections can have extended survival following proton beam radiotherapy.

The main aim of this study is to assess the acute and late toxicity as well as clinical outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer treated with SIB-IMRT at a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center.

CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a minimally invasive alternative for patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The purpose of this project is to determine the effects of dose and other clinical parameters on the rate of pain relief, duration of response, and rate of adverse effects in the treatment of TN using CyberKnife SRS.

We retrospectively evaluated rates of central nervous system toxicity following proton therapy in potentially high-risk patients in order to assess the incidence, clinical and dosimetric risk factors, and natural course of radiation treatment effects.

Despite the success of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) as a treatment modality for early-stage non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), some patients develop localized intrathoracic recurrences after treatment. Effective salvage therapy for these patients has typically been limited. We examine our institutional experience using SBRT for salvage of intrathoracic recurrence after definitive SBRT for early-stage NSCLC.

Here, we review patient outcomes and toxicity data of unbiopsied positron emission tomography (PET)-positive pulmonary lesions treated with SBRT for presumed non–small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).

To report on the Roswell Park Cancer Institute experience with iridium-192 high-dose-rate (HDR) intraoperative brachytherapy (IOBT) in minimally invasive, video-assisted thorascopic surgery (VATS) for localized pulmonary malignancy involving the chest wall.

Radiation esophagitis (RE) represents an inflammatory reaction to radiation therapy (RT). We hypothesized that aspects of the physiologic acute-phase response (APR), specifically increased platelet and decreased hemoglobin levels, predict RE.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is increasingly used as the primary treatment for early-stage medically inoperable non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although the role of SBRT is established in the treatment of peripheral lung tumors, the outcomes and toxicities of SBRT for central lung tumors are not well characterized. This study investigates our institutional experience with SBRT for central tumors in NSCLC patients.

Treatment of central lung tumors with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) has been associated with higher rates of toxicities than in patients with peripheral tumors. Here, we report our institution’s experience in treating central lung tumor patients with SABR, compared with patients treated for peripheral lung tumors.

Four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) is used to account for respiratory motion in radiation treatment planning, but image artifacts resulting from the acquisition and postprocessing limit its accuracy.

Radioembolization with yttrium-90 (Y-90) microspheres is a treatment option for primary and metastatic liver tumors. We aim to demonstrate correlation between activity measured within the patient and the administered activity and to describe the distribution within the liver.

In patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), there are few established predictors of outcomes. Pretreatment maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) has recently been debated as a prognosticator of progression-free survival (PFS). Here, we present a retrospective series with up to 86 months follow-up evaluating potential prognosticators of outcomes.

Technical advances in radiotherapy (RT), especially stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR), have allowed many non–small-cell lung cancer patients once considered untreatable to be eligible for locally effective therapies. Some patients will experience recurrence or will present with multiple lung primaries. We review the success and impact of SABR in patients who have undergone multiple course therapy.