Assessing Radiology and Radiation Therapy Needs for Cancer Care in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries: Insight From a Global Survey of Departmental and Institutional Leaders.

Purpose: The global cancer burden and mortality rates are increasing, with significant disparities in access to care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aimed to identify radiology and radiation therapy needs in LMICs from the perspective of departmental and institutional leaders. Methods and Materials: A survey was developed and conducted by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Global Needs Assessment Committee and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine International Council. The survey, organized into 5 sections (Introduction, Infrastructure Needs, Education Needs, Research Needs, and General Information), was open to respondents from March 1, to August 16, 2022. Results: A total of 175 responses were received from 6 global regions: Africa (31.4%), the Americas (17.7%), the Eastern Mediterranean (14.3%), Europe (9.1%), Southeast Asia (23.4%), and the Western Pacific (4.0%). The greatest reported need was for new or updated equipment, particularly positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging technology. There was also a high demand for clinical and equipment training. Approximately 25% of institutions reported a lack of radiology-based cancer screening programs because of high health care costs and a shortage of specialized equipment. Many institutions that expressed interest in research face funding and grant challenges. Conclusions: The findings highlight critical areas where organizations can support LMICs in enhancing radiology and radiation therapy services to mitigate the growing cancer burden.

Safety of high-dose-rate brachytherapy in patients with prostate cancer and inflammatory bowel disease: A case series.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a relative contraindication to external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer patients due to fear of increased risk of gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity. High-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy, capable of minimizing radiation dose to surrounding tissues, is a feasible alternative. Given limited data, this study examined the safety profile of HDR brachytherapy in this setting. Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients with localized prostate cancer and IBD treated with HDR brachytherapy at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), between 2010 and 2022. Eligibility criteria included biopsy-proven prostate cancer, no distant metastases, absence of prior pelvic radiotherapy, IBD diagnosis, and at least one follow-up visit post-treatment. Results: Eleven patients were included, with a median follow-up of 28.7 months. The median dose administered was 2700 cGy (range, 1500-3150 cGy) over 2 fractions (range, 1-3 fractions). Two patients also received EBRT. Rectal spacers (SpaceOAR) were applied in seven patients. All patients experienced acute genitourinary (GU) toxicity, ten of which were grade 1 and one was grade 2. Eight patients experienced late grade 1 GU toxicity, and three patients had late grade 2 GU toxicity. GI toxicities were similarly low-grade, with six grade 1 acute toxicity, no grade 2 or higher acute toxicity, six grade 1 late toxicity, and one late grade 2 GI toxicity. No grade 3 or higher acute or late GI or GU toxicities were reported. Conclusions: HDR brachytherapy appears to be a safe and tolerable treatment modality for patients with prostate cancer and IBD, with minimal acute and late GI and GU toxicity. These findings warrant multi-institutional validation due to small sample size.

Safety of high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy for patients with prostate cancer and history of prior chemoradiation for rectal cancer: A case series.

PURPOSE: A history of prior pelvic radiation therapy (RT) for rectal cancer is a relative contraindication for definitive RT for prostate cancer. High-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy can significantly limit the dose to surrounding tissues compared to external beam RT. However, there is limited data surrounding its safety in patients with prior pelvic RT. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A retrospective chart review was performed at the University of California, San Francisco to identify patients diagnosed with prostate cancer with a history of pelvic RT for rectal cancer who were treated with high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) between 2006 and 2022. Inclusion criteria were biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer with no evidence of distant disease on clinical examination or imaging, and at least one post-treatment clinic appointment. RESULTS: Seven patients were treated with salvage HDR-BT at a median interval of 17.7 years after RT for rectal cancer. HDR-BT doses included 3600 cGy in six fractions (n = 5), 2700 cGy in 2 fractions (n=1), or 2800 cGy in four fractions (n = 1). There was no acute grade ≥2 gastrointestinal toxicity, and 1 patient developed late grade 2 rectal bleeding. Two patients developed acute grade 2 genitourinary toxicity consisting of urinary frequency and urgency, which persisted through long-term follow up. At a median follow up of 29.5 months after HDR brachytherapy, one patient developed regional and distant failure, and another had seminal vesicle recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: HDR-BT is a safe treatment for patients with prostate cancer who previously received RT for rectal cancer. Further studies are needed to better characterize the long-term toxicity of HDR-RT in this population.

Changes in myocardial blood flow in a canine model of left sided breast cancer radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Left-sided breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant radiotherapy are at risk for coronary artery disease, and/or radiation mediated effects on the microvasculature. Previously our laboratory demonstrated in canines with hybrid 18FDG/PET a progressive global inflammatory response during the initial one year following treatment. In this study, the objective is to evaluate corresponding changes in perfusion, in the same cohort, where resting myocardial blood flow (MBF) was quantitatively measured. METHOD: In five canines, Ammonia PET (13NH3) derived MBF was measured at baseline, 1-week, 1, 3, 6 and 12-months after cardiac external beam irradiation. MBF measurements were correlated with concurrent 18FDG uptake. Simultaneously MBF was measured using the dual bolus MRI method. RESULTS: MBF was significantly increased at all time points, in comparison to baseline, except at 3-months. This was seen globally throughout the entire myocardium independent of the coronary artery territories. MBF showed a modest significant correlation with 18FDG activity for the entire myocardium (r = 0.51, p = 0.005) including the LAD (r = 0.49, p = 0.008) and LCX (r = 0.47, p = 0.013) coronary artery territories. CONCLUSION: In this canine model of radiotherapy for left-sided breast cancer, resting MBF increases as early as 1-week and persists for up to one year except at 3-months. This pattern is similar to that of 18FDG uptake. A possible interpretation is that the increase in resting MBF is a response to myocardial inflammation.

PET/MRI Assessment of Acute Cardiac Inflammation 1 Month After Left-Sided Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy.

Our purpose was to investigate the utility of 18F-FDG PET/MRI and serial blood work to detect early inflammatory responses and cardiac functionality changes at 1 mo after radiation therapy (RT) in patients with left-sided breast cancer. Methods: Fifteen left-sided breast cancer patients who enrolled in the RICT-BREAST study underwent cardiac PET/MRI at baseline and 1 mo after standard RT. Eleven patients received deep-inspiration breath-hold RT, whereas the others received free-breathing RT. A list-mode 18F-FDG PET scan with glucose suppression was acquired. Myocardial inflammation was quantified by the change in 18F-FDG SUVmean (based on body weight) and analyzed on the basis of the myocardial tissue associated with the left anterior descending, left circumflex, or right coronary artery territories. MRI assessments, including left ventricular functional and extracellular volumes (ECVs), were extracted from T1 (before and during a constant infusion of gadolinium) and cine images, respectively, acquired simultaneously during the PET acquisition. Cardiac injury and inflammation biomarker measurements of high-sensitivity troponin T, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were measured at the 1-mo follow-up and compared with preirradiation values. Results: At the 1-mo follow-up, a significant increase (10%) in myocardial SUVmean in left anterior descending segments (P = 0.04) and ECVs in slices at the apex (6%) and base (5%) was detected (P ≤ 0.02). Further, a significant reduction in left ventricular stroke volume (-7%) was seen (P < 0.02). No significant changes in any circulating biomarkers were seen at follow-up. Conclusion: Myocardial 18F-FDG uptake and functional MRI, including stroke volume and ECVs, were sensitive to changes at 1 mo after breast cancer RT, with findings suggesting an acute cardiac inflammatory response to RT.

Dosimetric Planning Comparison for Left-Sided Breast Cancer Radiotherapy: The Clinical Feasibility of Four-Dimensional-Computed Tomography-Based Treatment Planning Optimization.

BACKGROUND: Adjuvant whole-breast radiotherapy (RT) is a significant part of the standard of care treatment after breast cancer (BC) conserving surgery. Modern techniques including intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) have constituted to better target coverage and critical organs sparing. However, BC survivors are at risk of developing radiation-induced cardiac toxicity. Hence, deep-inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) techniques have been implemented at many centers to further reduce cardiac exposure but require compliance. 4D-CT robust optimization can account for heart intrafractional motion per breathing phase. The optimization has been explored in cardiac sparing of breast IMRT compared to DIBH in a small sample size but has not been evaluated in substructures sparing, nor in VMAT. To provide patients who are not compliant to breath-hold with an optimal treatment approach, various heart sparing techniques need to be evaluated for statistical significance and clinical feasibility. AIM: This retrospective study aimed to provide an extensive dosimetric heart sparing comparison of free-breathing, 4D-CT-based treatment planning, including robust optimization with DIBH-based treatment planning. Combinations of forward and inverse IMRT and VMAT are also considered. METHODS: Fifteen early stage left-sided BC standard treatment plans were selected. Breast, lung, left anterior descending artery (LAD), left ventricle (LV), and the whole heart were contoured on each 4D-CT phase and DIBH CT dataset. Each treatment plan was optimized using forward/inverse IMRT and VMAT on the following CT datasets: DIBH, average 4D-CT, and the complete 4D-CT dataset needed for robust optimization. Dose-volume histograms were used to compare V5GyHeart, mean heart dose, mean and max LAD dose, mean LV dose, and V50%Lung. RESULTS: All RT techniques assessed including 4D robust optimization were clinically feasible. Statistically significant differences in mean heart, LAD and LV dose, max LAD dose, and V5GyHeart (p < 0.01) but no difference in V50%Lung (p = 0.29) were found between different techniques. IMRT DIBH achieved the optimal cardiac and substructure sparing among treatment plans. 4D robust IMRT had significantly greater mean heart and LV dose than DIBH IMRT (p ≤ 0.01), except LAD dose. Among free-breathing methods, no difference in all cardiac and substructure dose parameters was observed (p > 0.2) in comparing forward and inverse IMRT with average 4D-CT, inverse average 4D-CT, and 4D robust with IMRT, and between average 4D-CT VMAT and 4D robust VMAT. Only V5GyHeart and mean LV dose were significantly greater in 4D robust VMAT (p < 0.01) compared to DIBH VMAT. Mean heart and LV doses were significantly reduced (p < 0.01) in DIBH IMRT compared to DIBH VMAT. Moreover, mean heart and LV dose, V5GyHeart were significantly reduced in inverse IMRT average 4D-CT compared to average 4D-CT VMAT (p < 0.02) and in 4D robust IMRT compared to 4D robust VMAT (p < 0.04). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the clinical feasibility of 4D robust optimization in limiting the cardiac and substructures dose during free-breathing RT with both IMRT/VMAT for patients who are not compliant with breath-hold RT. However, this study also presents that 4D robust optimization can reduce LAD dose but not fully outperform DIBH or conventional 4D-CT-based planning with IMRT/VMAT in heart sparing in treating early staged left-sided BC patients.

Technical Note: Volumetric computed tomography for radiotherapy simulation and treatment planning.

PURPOSE: For lung and liver tumors requiring radiotherapy, motion artifacts are common in 4D-CT images due to the small axial field-of-view (aFOV) of conventional CT scanners. This may negatively impact contouring and dose calculation accuracy and could lead to a geographic miss during treatment. Recent advancements in volumetric CT (vCT) enable an aFOV up to 160 mm in a single rotation, which may reduce motion artifacts. However, the impact of large aFOV on CT number required for dose calculation needs to be evaluated before clinical implementation. The objective of this study was to determine the utility of a 256-slice vCT scanner for 4D-CT simulation by evaluating image quality and generating relative electron density (RED) curves. METHODS: Images were acquired on a 256-slice GE Revolution CT scanner with 40 mm, 80 mm, 120 mm, 140 mm, and 160 mm aFOV. Image quality was assessed by evaluating CT number linearity, uniformity, noise, and low-contrast resolution. The relationship between each quality metric and aFOV was assessed. RESULTS: CT number linearity, uniformity, noise, and low-contrast resolution were within the expected range for each image set, except CT number in Teflon and Delrin, which were underestimated. Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ) showed that the CT number for Teflon (ρ = 1.0, p = 0.02), Delrin (ρ = 1.0, p = 0.02), and air (ρ = 1.0, p = 0.02) was significantly related to aFOV, while all other measurements were not. The measured deviations from expected values were not clinically significant. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that vCT can be used for CT simulation for radiation treatment planning.