Prognostic impact of the "Sekhar grading system for cranial Chordomas" in patients treated with pencil beam scanning proton therapy: an institutional analysis.

BACKGROUND: Skull base chordomas are rare and heterogeneously behaving tumors. Though still classified as benign they can grow rapidly, are locally aggressive, and have the potential to metastasize. To adapt the treatment to the specific needs of patients at higher risk of recurrence, a pre-proton therapy prognostic grading system would be useful. The aim of this retrospective analysis is to assess prognostic factors and the "Sekhar Grading System for Cranial Chordomas" (SGSCC) by evaluating the larger cohort of patients treated at our institution as to determine its reproducibility and ultimately to ensure more risk adapted local treatments for these challenging tumors. METHODS: We analyzed 142 patients treated for skull base chordomas between 2004 and 2016. We focused the analysis on the 5 criteria proposed for the SGSCC (tumor size, number of anatomic regions and vessels involved, intradural invasion, as well as recurrence after prior treatment) and classified our patients according to their score (based on the above mentioned criteria) into three prognostic groups, low-risk, intermediate-risk and high-risk. The three groups were then analyzed in regards of local control, local recurrence-free survival and overall survival. RESULTS: The median follow up was 52 months (range, 3-152). We observed 34 (24%) patients with a local recurrence, resulting in a local control of 75% at 5 years. Overall survival was 83% at 5 years, 12 (9%) patients had died due to local progression. When split into the three prognostic groups according to the SGSCC the observed local control was 90, 72 and 64% (p = 0.07) in the low-, intermediate- and high-risk group, respectively. A similar correlation was observed for local recurrence-free survival with 93, 89 and 66% (p = 0.05) and for overall survival with 89, 83 and 76% (p = 0.65) for the same prognostic groups. CONCLUSIONS: After splitting our patient cohort into the three SGSCC risk groups, we found a trend towards better outcome for those patients with lower as opposed to higher scores. These results suggest that this prognostic grading system published by Sekhar et al. could be integrated in the management decision-tree for patients with skull base chordoma.

Heart-sparing volumetric modulated arc therapy for whole lung irradiation.

PURPOSE: Whole lung irradiation (WLI) is indicated for subgroups of patients with lung metastases from Wilms' tumor (nephroblastoma). WLI has traditionally been performed with an anterior/posterior field arrangement with poor potential for heart sparing; thus, new techniques are desirable to achieve a lower dose to the heart. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We utilized volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for WLI with 18 Gy in a patient with metastatic nephroblastoma. The planning results were compared against a three-dimensional (3D) conformal plan. RESULTS: VMAT resulted in adequate target volume coverage with the prescribed dose. Mean heart dose was 10.2 Gy. The dose to organs at risk (OAR) was generally more favorable with VMAT when compared with a 3D-conformal radiotherapy plan. DISCUSSION: WLI with VMAT provides superior sparing of OARs and especially a considerably lower dose to the heart.

Post-mortem 1.5T MR quantification of regular anatomical brain structures.

Recently, post-mortem MR quantification has been introduced to the field of post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging. By usage of a particular MR quantification sequence, T1 and T2 relaxation times and proton density (PD) of tissues and organs can be quantified simultaneously. The aim of the present basic research study was to assess the quantitative T1, T2, and PD values of regular anatomical brain structures for a 1.5T application and to correlate the assessed values with corpse temperatures. In a prospective study, 30 forensic cases were MR-scanned with a quantification sequence prior to autopsy. Body temperature was assessed during MR scans. In synthetically calculated T1, T2, and PD-weighted images, quantitative T1, T2 (both in ms) and PD (in %) values of anatomical structures of cerebrum (Group 1: frontal gray matter, frontal white matter, thalamus, internal capsule, caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus) and brainstem/cerebellum (Group 2: cerebral crus, substantia nigra, red nucleus, pons, cerebellar hemisphere, and superior cerebellar peduncle) were assessed. The investigated brain structures of cerebrum and brainstem/cerebellum could be characterized and differentiated based on a combination of their quantitative T1, T2, and PD values. MANOVA testing verified significant differences between the investigated anatomical brain structures among each other in Group 1 and Group 2 based on their quantitative values. Temperature dependence was observed mainly for T1 values, which were slightly increasing with rising temperature in the investigated brain structures in both groups. The results provide a base for future computer-aided diagnosis of brain pathologies and lesions in post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging.