ACR-ASTRO Practice Parameter for the Performance of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy.

AIM/OBJECTIVES/BACKGROUND: To standardize the practice of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) cooperatively developed the practice parameter for SBRT. SBRT is a treatment technique that delivers radiation dose to a well-defined extracranial target in 5 fractions or less and usually employs a higher dose per fraction than used in conventional radiation. METHODS: The ACR-ASTRO Practice Parameter for the Performance of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy was revised according to the process described on the ACR website ("The Process for Developing ACR Practice Parameters and Technical Standards," www.acr.org/ClinicalResources/Practice-Parameters-and-Technical-Standards) by the Committee on Practice Parameters of the ACR Commission on Radiation Oncology in collaboration with the ASTRO. Both societies then reviewed and approved the document. RESULTS: Given the complexities of SBRT, a separate document was created to develop a technical standard for the medical physics of SBRT (ACR-AAPM Technical Standard for Medical Physics Performance Monitoring of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy). Workflow, qualifications and responsibilities of personnel, specifications, documentation, quality control/safety/improvement, simulation/treatment, and follow-up were addressed in this practice parameter. CONCLUSIONS: This practice parameter assists practitioners in providing safe and appropriate SBRT treatment and care for patients when clinically indicated. As technologies and techniques continue to evolve, this document will be reviewed, revised and renewed accordingly to a 5 year or sooner timeline specified by the ACR.

Host-dependent patterns of tissue injury in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in neutropenic, nonneutropenic, and other immunocompromised patients. We therefore compared the patterns of infection and inflammation among 3 cohorts of immunocompromised patients with profound neutropenia, nonneutropenic immunosuppression, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Lesions of IPA in neutropenic patients and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients were similar and consisted predominantly of angioinvasion and intraalveolar hemorrhage. The frequency of these histologic findings in neutropenic patients and HSCT recipients differed significantly from those of nonneutropenic patients (P < .05). It is noteworthy that even if HSCT recipients have normal peripheral blood neutrophil counts, there may be no influx into sites of infection. In the nonneutropenic cohort, lesions of IPA consisted mainly of neutrophilic and monocytic infiltrates and inflammatory necrosis. Thus, the status of innate host defenses contributes significantly to the histologic patterns observed in IPA.

Bridging Innovation and Outreach to Overcome Global Gaps in Radiation Oncology Through Information and Communication Tools, Trainee Advancement, Engaging Industry, Attention to Ethical Challenges, and Political Advocacy.

An evolving paradigm in global outreach in radiation oncology has been the implementation of a more region-specific, needs-based approach to help close the gap in radiation services to low- and middle-income countries through the use of innovative tools in information and communication technology. This report highlights 4 information and communication technology tools in action today: (1) the NCCN Framework for Resource Stratification of NCCN guidelines, (2) ASTRO e-Contouring, (3) i.treatsafely.org, and (4) ChartRounds.com. We also render special consideration to matters related to global outreach that we believe require distinct attention to help us meet the goals established by the 2011 United Nations׳ Declaration on noncommunicable diseases: (1) trainee advancement toward careers in global health, (2) ethical challenges of international outreach, (3) critical importance of political advocacy, and (4) collaboration with Industry.

Results of the 2005 to 2008 Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology surveys of chief residents in the United States: didactics and research experience.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the didactics and research experience reported by chief residents during their residency training. METHODS: During the academic years 2005 to 2006, 2006 to 2007, and 2007 to 2008, the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO) conducted a nationwide survey of all radiation oncology chief residents in the United States. Chi-square statistic was used to assess for changes in didactics and research experience over time. RESULTS: During the years surveyed, an increasing percentage of programs offered curriculum-based didactics in clinical oncology (P=0.042), with a similar trend of borderline significance observed in biostatistics (P = 0.056). Each year, the majority of programs offered >40 hours of curriculum-based training in clinical oncology and physics, >20 hours in radiobiology, and 10 hours or fewer in biostatistics. 11% to 13% of residents reported having no full-time equivalent radiation biologists affiliated with their training program. Less than 64% of programs incorporated mock oral boards into their training. An increasing percentage of programs evaluated residents in a "360 degree" manner, with a trend to significance (P=0.073). Over 80% of programs required resident participation in research activities and allocated dedicated elective research time, typically 4 months or longer. Though the vast majority of programs make clinical research activities available to interested residents, borderline significance (P = 0.051) was observed for a decreasing percentage of such programs during the years analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: Trends in didactics and research experience over three years are documented to allow residents and program directors to assess their residency training.

Results of the 2005-2008 Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology survey of chief residents in the United States: clinical training and resident working conditions.

PURPOSE: To document clinical training and resident working conditions reported by chief residents during their residency. METHODS AND MATERIALS: During the academic years 2005 to 2006, 2006 to 2007, and 2007 to 2008, the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology conducted a nationwide survey of all radiation oncology chief residents in the United States. Chi-square statistics were used to assess changes in clinical training and resident working conditions over time. RESULTS: Surveys were completed by representatives from 55 programs (response rate, 71.4%) in 2005 to 2006, 60 programs (75.9%) in 2006 to 2007, and 74 programs (93.7%) in 2007 to 2008. Nearly all chief residents reported receiving adequate clinical experience in commonly treated disease sites, such as breast and genitourinary malignancies; and commonly performed procedures, such as three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Clinical experience in extracranial stereotactic radiotherapy increased over time (p < 0.001), whereas clinical experience in endovascular brachytherapy (p <0.001) decreased over time. The distribution of gynecologic and prostate brachytherapy cases remained stable, while clinical case load in breast brachytherapy increased (p = 0.006). A small but significant percentage of residents reported receiving inadequate clinical experience in pediatrics, seeing 10 or fewer pediatric cases during the course of residency. Procedures involving higher capital costs, such as particle beam therapy and intraoperative radiotherapy, and infrequent clinical use, such as head and neck brachytherapy, were limited to a minority of institutions. Most residency programs associated with at least one satellite facility have incorporated resident rotations into their clinical training, and the majority of residents at these programs find them valuable experiences. The majority of residents reported working 60 or fewer hours per week on required clinical duties. CONCLUSIONS: Trends in clinical training and resident working conditions over 3 years are documented to allow residents and program directors to assess their residency training.

An increase in medical student knowledge of radiation oncology: a pre-post examination analysis of the oncology education initiative.

PURPOSE: The Oncology Education Initiative was created to advance oncology and radiation oncology education by integrating structured didactics into the existing core radiology clerkship. We set out to determine whether the addition of structured didactics could lead to a significant increase in overall medical student knowledge about radiation oncology. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We conducted a pre- and posttest examining concepts in general radiation oncology, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. The 15-question, multiple-choice exam was administered before and after a 1.5-hour didactic lecture by an attending physician in radiation oncology. Individual question changes, overall student changes, and overall categorical changes were analyzed. All hypothesis tests were two-tailed (significance level 0.05). RESULTS: Of the 153 fourth-year students, 137 (90%) took the pre- and posttest and were present for the didactic lecture. The average test grade improved from 59% to 70% (p = 0.011). Improvement was seen in all questions except clinical vignettes involving correct identification of TNM staging. Statistically significant improvement (p

Safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of cyclodextrin itraconazole in pediatric patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis.

The safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of cyclodextrin itraconazole (CD-ITRA) oral suspension were investigated in an open sequential dose escalation study with 26 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children and adolescents (5 to 18 years old; mean CD4(+)-cell count, 128/microl) with oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC). Patients received CD-ITRA at either 2.5 mg/kg of body weight once a day (QD) or 2.5 mg/kg twice a day (BID) for a total of 15 days. Pharmacokinetic sampling was performed after the first dose and for up to 120 h after the last dose, and antifungal efficacy was evaluated by standardized scoring of the oropharynx. Apart from mild to moderate gastrointestinal disturbances in three patients (11.5%), CD-ITRA was well tolerated. Two patients (7.6%) discontinued treatment prematurely due to study drug-related adverse events. After 15 days of treatment, the peak concentration of drug in plasma (C(max)), the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) from 0 to 24 h (AUC(0-24)), the concentration in plasma at the end of the dosing interval (predose) (C(min)), and the terminal half-life of itraconazole (ITRA) were (means and standard deviations) 0.604 +/- 0.53 microg/ml, 6.80 +/- 7.4 microg. h/ml, 0.192 +/- 0.06 microg/ml, and 56.48 +/- 44 h, respectively, for the QD regimen and 1.340 +/- 0.75 microg/ml, 23.04 +/- 14.5 microg. h/ml, 0.782 +/- 0.19 microg/ml, and 104.22 +/- 94 h, respectively, for the BID regimen. The mean AUC-based accumulation factors for ITRA on day 15 were 4.14 +/- 0.9 and 3.53 +/- 0.6, respectively. A comparison of the dose-normalized median AUC of the two dosage regimens revealed a trend toward nonlinear drug disposition (P = 0.05). The mean metabolic ratios (AUC of hydroxyitraconazole/AUC of ITRA) at day 15 were 1.96 +/- 0.1 for the QD regimen and 1.29 +/- 0.2 for the BID regimen, respectively (P < 0.05). The OPC score (range, 0 to 13) for all 26 patients decreased from a mean of 7.46 +/- 0.8 at baseline to 2.8 +/- 0.7 at the end of therapy (P < 0.001), demonstrating antifungal efficacy in this setting. The relationships among C(max), C(min), AUC(0-12), C(max)/MIC, C(min)/MIC, AUC(0-12)/MIC, time during the dosing interval when the plasma drug concentrations were above the MIC for the infecting isolate, and the residual OPC score at day 15 for the entire study population fit inhibitory effect pharmacodynamic models (r, 0.595 to 0.421; P, <0.01 to <0.05). All patients with fluconazole-resistant isolates responded to treatment with CD-ITRA; however, there was no clear correlation between the MIC of ITRA and response to therapy. In conclusion, CD-ITRA was well tolerated and efficacious for the treatment of OPC in HIV-infected pediatric patients. Pharmacodynamic modeling revealed significant correlations between plasma drug concentrations and antifungal efficacy. Based on this documented safety and efficacy, a dosage of 2.5 mg/kg BID can be recommended for the treatment of OPC in pediatric patients > or =5 years old.