Cardiac death after breast radiotherapy and the QUANTEC cardiac guidelines.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Beaton L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6715791 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The aim of the present paper is to update the practical guidelines for postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy of breast cancer published in 2007 by the breast cancer expert panel of the German Society for Radiooncology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Radioonkologie, DEGRO). The present recommendations are based on a revision of the German interdisciplinary S-3 guidelines published in July 2012.A comprehensive survey of the literature concerning radiotherapy following breast conserving therapy (BCT) was performed using the search terms "breast cancer", "radiotherapy", and "breast conserving therapy". Data from lately published meta-analyses, recent randomized trials, and guidelines of international breast cancer societies, yielding new aspects compared to 2007, provided the basis for defining recommendations according to the criteria of evidence-based medicine. In addition to the more general statements of the DKG (Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft), this paper addresses indications, target definition, dosage, and technique of radiotherapy of the breast after conservative surgery for invasive breast cancer.Among numerous reports on the effect of radiotherapy during BCT published since the last recommendations, the recent EBCTCG report builds the largest meta-analysis so far available. In a 15 year follow-up on 10,801 patients, whole breast irradiation (WBI) halves the average annual rate of disease recurrence (RR 0.52, 0.48-0.56) and reduces the annual breast cancer death rate by about one sixth (RR 0.82, 0.75-0.90), with a similar proportional, but different absolute benefit in prognostic subgroups (EBCTCG 2011). Furthermore, there is growing evidence that risk-adapted dose augmentation strategies to the tumor bed as well as the implementation of high precision RT techniques (e.g., intraoperative radiotherapy) contribute substantially to a further reduction of local relapse rates. A main focus of ongoing research lies in partial breast irradiation strategies as well as WBI hypofractionation schedules. The potential of both in replacing normofractionated WBI has not yet been finally clarified.After breast conserving surgery, no subgroup even in low risk patients has yet been identified for whom radiotherapy can be safely omitted without compromising local control and, hence, cancer-specific survival. In most patients, this translates into an overall survival benefit.
| S-EPMC3825416 | biostudies-other
Project description:PURPOSE:The limited radiotherapy resources for global cancer control have resulted in increased interest in developing time- and cost-saving innovations to expand access to those resources. Hypofractionated regimens could minimize cost and increase access for limited-resource countries. In this investigation, we estimated the percentage cost-savings per radiotherapy course and increased radiotherapy access in African countries after adopting hypofractionation for breast and prostate radiotherapy. For perspective, results were compared with high-income countries. METHODS:The cost and course of breast and prostate radiotherapy for conventional and hypofractionated regimens in low-resource facilities were calculated using the Radiotherapy Cost Estimator tool developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and then compared with another activity-based costing model. The potential maximum cost savings in each country over 7 years for breast and prostate radiotherapy were then estimated using cancer incidence data from the Global Cancer Observatory database with use rates applied. The increase in radiotherapy access was estimated by current national capacities from the IAEA directory. RESULTS:The estimated cost per course of conventional and hypofractionated regimens were US$2,232 and $1,339 for breast treatment, and $3,389 and $1,699 for prostate treatment, respectively. The projected potential maximum cost savings with full hypofractionation implementation were $1.1 billion and $606 million for breast and prostate treatment, respectively. The projected increase of radiotherapy access due to implementing hypofractionation varied between +0.3% to 25% and +0.4% to 36.0% for breast and prostate treatments, respectively. CONCLUSION:This investigation demonstrates that adopting hypofractionated regimens as standard treatment of breast and prostate cancers can result in substantial savings and increase radiotherapy access in developing countries. Given reduced delivery cost and treatment times, we anticipate a substantial increase in radiotherapy access with additional innovations that will allow progressive hypofractionation without compromising quality.
| S-EPMC7193821 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background and purposeWe developed an automatic method to segment cardiac substructures given a radiotherapy planning CT images to support epidemiological studies or clinical trials looking at cardiac disease endpoints after radiotherapy.Material and methodsWe used a most-similar atlas selection algorithm and 3D deformation combined with 30 detailed cardiac atlases. We cross-validated our method within the atlas library by evaluating geometric comparison metrics and by comparing cardiac doses for simulated breast radiotherapy between manual and automatic contours. We analyzed the impact of the number of cardiac atlas in the library and the use of manual guide points on the performance of our method.ResultsThe Dice Similarity Coefficients from the cross-validation reached up to 97% (whole heart) and 80% (chambers). The Average Surface Distance for the coronary arteries was less than 10.3 mm on average, with the best agreement (7.3 mm) in the left anterior descending artery (LAD). The dose comparison for simulated breast radiotherapy showed differences less than 0.06 Gy for the whole heart and atria, and 0.3 Gy for the ventricles. For the coronary arteries, the dose differences were 2.3 Gy (LAD) and 0.3 Gy (other arteries). The sensitivity analysis showed no notable improvement beyond ten atlases and the manual guide points does not significantly improve performance.ConclusionWe developed an automated method to contour cardiac substructures for radiotherapy CTs. When combined with accurate dose calculation techniques, our method should be useful for cardiac dose reconstruction of a large number of patients in epidemiological studies or clinical trials.
| S-EPMC7807574 | biostudies-literature
Project description:OBJECTIVE: Cardiac irradiation during left-sided breast radiotherapy may lead to deleterious cardiac side effects. Using image guided radiotherapy, it is possible to exclude the heart from treatment fields and monitor reproducibility of virtual simulation (VS) fields at treatment delivery using electronic portal imaging (EPI). Retrospectively, we evaluate the incidence of cardiac irradiation at VS and subsequent unintended cardiac irradiation during treatment. METHODS: Patients receiving left-sided radiotherapy to the breast or chest wall, treated with a glancing photon field technique during a four-month period, were included. VS images and EPIs during radiotherapy delivery were visually assessed. The presence of any portion of the heart within the treatment field at VS or during treatment was recorded. Central lung distance and maximum heart distance were recorded. RESULTS: Of 128 patients, 45 (35.1%) had any portion of the heart within the planned treatment field. Of these, inclusion of the heart was clinically unavoidable in 25 (55.6%). Of those with no heart included in the treatment fields at VS, 41 (49.4%) had presence of the heart as assessed on EPI during treatment. CONCLUSION: Unintended cardiac irradiation during left-sided breast radiotherapy treatment occurs in a sizeable proportion of patients. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: Despite the use of three-dimensional computed tomography simulation and cardiac shielding, sizeable proportions of patients receiving left-sided breast cancer radiotherapy have unintended cardiac irradiation.
| S-EPMC3608042 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundThe cardiotoxicity caused by radiotherapy is a critical problem in the treatment of patients with breast cancer. The appropriate radiotherapy modality sparing for cardiac valves in left-sided breast cancer has not been well defined. The aim of this study was thus to compare the dosimetric differences in heart and cardiac valves of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), fixed-field intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) to find the optimal radiotherapy modality sparing for cardiac valves in patients with left breast cancer.MethodsFrom January 5, 2021, to March 15, 2021, 21 patients with left-sided breast cancer postmastectomy were included in this study, and 3 different plans for adjuvant radiation were created using 3D-CRT, IMRT, and VMAT for each patient. All patients received 50 Gy in 25 fractions. The mean dose (Dmean) of the heart; percentage volume of the heart receiving ≥5 Gy (V5), ≥30 Gy (V30), and ≥40 Gy (V40); and the Dmean and the near-maximum dose (D0.03cc) of cardiac valves were extracted from dose-volume histograms (DVHs) and compared. The correlations in dosimetric factors between cardiac valves and the whole heart were analyzed.ResultsIMRT significantly decreased the values of V5, V30, V40, and Dmean in the whole heart compared to 3D-CRT and VMAT (P<0.001). Among the 3 different plans, IMRT had the lowest radiation dose to the Dmean and the D0.03cc of the aortic valve (1.27 Gy/1.75 Gy), pulmonary valve (3.44 Gy/6.89 Gy), tricuspid valve (1.02 Gy/1.14 Gy), and mitral valve (0.93 Gy/1.00 Gy). Pearson correlation analysis found that local parameters (Dmean and D0.03cc) within valves were strongly correlated to the global parameters (V5, V30, V40, and Dmean) of the heart.ConclusionsThis study revealed that IMRT showed the lowest cardiac valves dose compared with 3D-CRT and VMAT in left-sided breast cancer radiotherapy. IMRT might be the optimal modality sparing for cardiac valves in this group of patients. Further studies need to be carried out in order to validate the protective role of IMRT on the cardiac valves.
| S-EPMC9929844 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Our recently developed prone crawl position (PCP) for radiotherapy of breast cancer patients with lymphatic involvement showed promising preliminary data and it is being optimized for clinical use. An important aspect in this process is making new, position specific delineation guidelines to ensure delineation (for treatment planning) is uniform across different centers. The existing ESTRO and PROCAB guidelines for supine position (SP) were adapted for PCP. Nine volunteers were MRI scanned in both SP and PCP. Lymph node regions were delineated in SP using the existing ESTRO and PROCAB guidelines and were then translated to PCP, based on the observed changes in reference structure position. Nine PCP patient CT scans were used to verify if the new reference structures were consistently identified and easily applicable on different patient CT scans. Based on these data, a team of specialists in anatomy, CT- and MRI radiology and radiation oncology postulated the final guidelines. By taking the ESTRO and PROCAB guidelines for SP into account and by using a relatively big number of datasets, these new PCP specific guidelines incorporate anatomical variability between patients. The guidelines are easily and consistently applicable, even for people with limited previous experience with delineations in PCP.
| S-EPMC8602302 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for approximately 20% of all lung cancers. The main treatment is chemotherapy (Ch). However, the addition of radiotherapy significantly improves overall survival (OS) in patients with non-metastatic SCLC and in those with metastatic SCLC who respond to Ch. Prophylactic cranial irradiation reduces the risk of brain metastases and improves OS in both metastatic and non-metastatic patients. The 5-year OS rate in patients with limited-stage disease (non-metastatic) is slightly higher than 30%, but less than 5% in patients with extensive-stage disease (metastatic). The present clinical guidelines were developed by Spanish radiation oncologists on behalf of the Oncologic Group for the Study of Lung Cancer/Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology to provide a current review of the diagnosis, planning, and treatment of SCLC. These guidelines emphasise treatment fields, radiation techniques, fractionation, concomitant treatment, and the optimal timing of Ch and radiotherapy. Finally, we discuss the main indications for reirradiation in local recurrence.
| S-EPMC7968106 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Afferent and efferent cardiac neurotransmission via the cardiac nerves intricately modulates nearly all physiological functions of the heart (chronotropy, dromotropy, lusitropy, and inotropy). Afferent information from the heart is transmitted to higher levels of the nervous system for processing (intrinsic cardiac nervous system, extracardiac-intrathoracic ganglia, spinal cord, brain stem, and higher centers), which ultimately results in efferent cardiomotor neural impulses (via the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves). This system forms interacting feedback loops that provide physiological stability for maintaining normal rhythm and life-sustaining circulation. This system also ensures that there is fine-tuned regulation of sympathetic-parasympathetic balance in the heart under normal and stressed states in the short (beat to beat), intermediate (minutes to hours), and long term (days to years). This important neurovisceral/autonomic nervous system also plays a major role in the pathophysiology and progression of heart disease, including heart failure and arrhythmias leading to sudden cardiac death. Transdifferentiation of neurons in heart failure, functional denervation, cardiac and extracardiac neural remodeling has also been identified and characterized during the progression of disease. Recent advances in understanding the cellular and molecular processes governing innervation and the functional control of the myocardium in health and disease provide a rational mechanistic basis for the development of neuraxial therapies for preventing sudden cardiac death and other arrhythmias. Advances in cellular, molecular, and bioengineering realms have underscored the emergence of this area as an important avenue of scientific inquiry and therapeutic intervention.
| S-EPMC4465108 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A low-resource visually monitored deep inspiration breath-hold (VM-DIBH) technique was successfully implemented in our clinic to reduce cardiac dose in left-sided breast radiotherapy. In this study, we retrospectively characterized the chest wall and heart positioning accuracy of VM-DIBH using cine portal images from 42 patients. Central chest wall position from field edge and in-field maximum heart distance (MHD) were manually measured on cine images and compared to the planned positions based on the digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs). An in-house program was designed to measure left anterior descending artery (LAD) and chest wall separation on the planning DIBH CT scan with respect to breath-hold level (BHL) during simulation to determine a minimum BHL for VM-DIBH eligibility. Systematic and random setup uncertainties of 3.0 mm and 2.6 mm, respectively, were found for VM-DIBH treatment from the chest wall measurements. Intrabeam breath-hold stability was found to be good, with over 96% of delivered fields within 3 mm. Average treatment MHD was significantly larger for those patients where some of the heart was planned in the field compared to patients whose heart was completely shielded in the plan (p < 0.001). No evidence for a minimum BHL was found, suggesting that all patients who can tolerate DIBH may yield a benefit from it.
| S-EPMC5690055 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background and purposeQuantifying radiation dose to cardiac substructures is important for research on the etiology and prevention of complications following radiotherapy; however, segmentation of substructures is challenging. In this study we demonstrate the application of our atlas-based automatic segmentation method to breast cancer radiotherapy plans for generating radiation doses in support of late effects research.Material and methodsWe applied our segmentation method to contour heart substructures on the computed tomography (CT) images of 70 breast cancer patients who received external photon radiotherapy. Two cardiologists provided manual segmentation of the whole heart (WH), left/right atria, left/right ventricles, and left anterior descending artery (LAD). The automatically contours were compared with manual delineations to evaluate similarity in terms of geometry and dose.ResultsThe mean Dice similarity coefficient between manual and automatic segmentations was 0.96 for the WH, 0.65 to 0.82 for the atria and ventricles, and 0.06 for the LAD. The mean average surface distance was 1.2 mm for the WH, 3.4 to 4.1 mm for the atria and ventricles, and 6.4 mm for the LAD. We found the dose to the cardiac substructures based on our automatic segmentation agrees with manual segmentation within expected observer variability. For left breast patients, the mean absolute difference in mean dose was 0.1 Gy for the WH, 0.2 to 0.7 Gy for the atria and ventricles, and 1.8 Gy for the LAD. For right breast patients, these values were 0.0 Gy, 0.1 to 0.4 Gy, and 0.4 Gy, respectively.ConclusionOur automatic segmentation method will facilitate the development of radiotherapy prescriptive criteria for mitigating cardiovascular complications.
| S-EPMC8397890 | biostudies-literature