Induction TPF followed by concomitant treatment versus concomitant treatment alone in locally advanced head and neck cancer. A phase II-III trial.

BACKGROUND: Platinum-based chemoradiation (CCRT) is the standard treatment for Locally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous-Cell Carcinoma (LAHNSCC). Cetuximab/RT (CET/RT) is an alternative treatment option to CCRT. The efficacy of induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by chemoradiation compared to chemoradiation alone has not been demonstrated in randomized clinical trials. The goals of this phase II-III trial were to assess: (i) the overall survival (OS) of IC versus no-induction (no-IC) and (ii) the Grade 3-4 in-field mucosal toxicity of CCRT versus CET/RT. The present paper focuses on the analysis of efficacy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with LAHNSCC were randomized to receive concomitant treatment alone [CCRT (Arm A1) or CET/RT (Arm A2)], or three cycles of induction docetaxel/cisplatin/5 fluorouracil (TPF) followed by CCRT (Arm B1) or followed by CET/RT (Arm B2). The superiority hypothesis of OS comparison of IC versus no-IC (Arms B1 + B2 versus A1 + A2) required 204 deaths to detect an absolute 3-year OS difference of 12% (HR 0.675, with 80% power at two-sided 5% significance level). RESULTS: 414 out of 421 patients were finally analyzed: 206 in the IC and 208 in the no-IC arm. Six patients were excluded because of major violation and one because of metastatic disease at diagnosis. With a median follow-up of 44.8 months, OS was significantly higher in the IC arm (HR 0.74; 95% CI 0.56-0.97; P = 0.031). Complete Responses (P = 0.0028), Progression Free Survival (P = 0.013) and the Loco-regional Control (P = 0.036) were also significantly higher in the IC arm. Compliance to concomitant treatments was not affected by induction TPF. CONCLUSIONS: IC followed by concomitant treatment improved the outcome of patients with LAHNSCC without compromising compliance to the concomitant treatments. The degree of the benefit of IC could be different according to the type of the subsequent concomitant strategy. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: NCT01086826, www.clinicaltrials.gov.

A multicenter LArge retrospectIve daTabase on the personalization of stereotactic ABlative radiotherapy use in lung metastases from colon-rectal cancer: The LaIT-SABR study.

INTRODUCTION: Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) has been shown to increase survival in oligometastatic disease, but local control of colorectal metastases remains poor. We aimed to identify potential predictive factors of SBRT response through a multicenter large retrospective database and to investigate the progression to the polymetastatic disease (PMD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 23 centers, and was approved by the Ethical Committee (Prot. Negrar 2019-ZT). 1033 lung metastases were reported. Clinical and biological parameters were evaluated as predictive for freedom from local progression-free survival (FLP). Secondary end-point was the time to the polymetastatic conversion (tPMC). RESULTS: Two-year FLP was 75.4%. Two-year FLP for lesions treated with a BED < 00 Gy, 100-124 Gy, and ≥125 Gy was 76.1%, 70.6%, and 94% (p = 0.000). Two-year FLP for lesion measuring ≤10 mm, 10-20 mm, and >20 mm was 79.7%, 77.1%, and 66.6% (p = 0.027). At the multivariate analysis a BED ≥125 Gy significantly reduced the risk of local progression (HR 0.24, 95%CI 0.11-0.51; p = 0.000). Median tPMC was 26.8 months. Lesions treated with BED ≥125 Gy reported a significantly longer tPMC as compared to lower BED. The median tPMC for patients treated to 1, 2-3 or 4-5 simultaneous oligometastases was 28.5, 25.4, and 9.8 months (p = 0.035). CONCLUSION: The present is the largest series of lung colorectal metastases treated with SABR. The results support the use of SBRT in lung oligometastatic colorectal cancer patients as it might delay the transition to PMD or offer relatively long disease-free period in selected cases. Predictive factors were identified for treatment personalization.

New trends in the radiotherapy of brain neoplasms.

Improved local control and survival within an acceptable toxicity represents a difficult goal in the treatment of brain neoplasms. There are numerous staging problems and alternative therapies, therefore comparisons are difficult. Treatment planning optimization, especially with dedicated software in stereotactic radiotherapy and the use of sophisticated systems of dose delivery as multi-leaf collimator, micro-multi leaf collimator, intensity-modulated tomotherapy etc. suggests a broad range of therapeutic options with the predominant use of: a) computers; b) different strategies as high dose gradient and combination with chemotherapy; c) higher costs for specialist equipment and activity.

Organ preservation in locally advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

In the treatment of locally advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix the multimodal therapeutic approach is useful to improve overall survival and disease-free survival. Two studies of concomitant radiochemotherapy were conducted. In the first, recurrences of gynecologic tumors were treated, in the second primary tumors of the uterine cervix. In the first study 29 patients, of whom 15 with endometrial cancer recurrence, 10 with cervical cancer recurrence and 4 with vulvar cancer recurrence were treated with FUMIR schedule (5-FU and mitomycin C plus concomitant radiotherapy to the pelvis in two cycles of 23.4 Gy) and subsequent brachytherapy boost. In the second study 17 patients, of whom 14 evaluable, were treated with external beam radiotherapy (ERT 40 Gy) and concomitant chemotherapy (5-FU and CDDP). Before and after treatment the patients were examined with MRI. After radiochemotherapy radical hysterectomy and histology of surgical specimen was performed. Results of first study were as follows: acute G1-G2 (RTOG) hematologic toxicity 56%, G3 4%; G1-G2 gastrointestinal 54%, G1-G2 skin 29%; G1-G2 rectum 24%; G1-G2 bladder 25%; G1-G2 vagina 30%. Local control, overall survival and disease-free survival at 24 months were 45%, 76% and 67%, respectively. Results of the second study showed 9/14 patients with complete response and 4/4 patients with partial response (93%), no change in 1, with 100% MRI accuracy as compared to histology. Based on these results a phase III clinical trial was planned in primary cancer of the uterine cervix using concomitant radiochemotherapy (CDDP + 5-FU) plus intracavitary brachytherapy for organ preservation.

Radiation, hormonotherapy, survival and local control in prostatic carcinoma.

The combination of concomitant external beam radiotherapy (ERT) and neoadjuvant hormonotherapy was shown to be able to significantly improve local control and disease-free survival in locally advanced prostatic carcinoma. (RTOG study 8610). Aim of this analysis was to assess the clinical results observed in a population of patients undergoing this combined treatment and, more particularly, to examine the prognostic impact of local control. 84 patients (T2: 47%, T3: 49.4%, T4: 3.6%) underwent concomitant ERT (dose to pelvic volume: 45 Gy; mean dose to prostatic volume: 65 Gy) and neoadjuvant hormonotherapy (flutamide: 250 mg three times/daily for 30 days; LH-RH analogue: 1 oral dose every 28 days starting 2 months prior to radiotherapy and for its whole duration). With a median follow-up of 36 months, 3.6% of patients were deceased; hematogenous metastases and local disease progression were recorded in 16.7% and 4.8% of patients, respectively. Local disease progression was shown to be significantly correlated with the incidence of metastases. In fact, the actuarial incidence of metastases at 5 years was 100% and 27% in patients with and without local recurrence (p = 0.0043) respectively. Overall, metastases-free local and biochemical recurrence-free survival was 89.2%, 66.5%, 85.0% and 41.9% respectively. At univariate analysis (logrank) the clinical stage (T) was shown to be significantly correlated with the incidence of metastases (p = .0004) and local progression (p < .0001). In conclusion, this study has confirmed the low rate of local progression with the combination of hormonotherapy and radiotherapy and the significant correlation of local control with the incidence of hematogenous metastases.

Topical issues in the treatment of rectal cancer: economic and organizational aspects of concomitant radiochemotherapy.

Concomitant radiochemotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal carcinoma has been shown to be useful in improving local control and survival in operated patients and in favoring sphincter preservation when administered before surgery. Together with the search for less toxic combinations, cost-analysis of radiochemotherapy has become topical also in consideration of new generation drugs. In this study the analysis was carried out by comparing the costs for 4 different combined modalities in the dual perspective of the payer (the National Health Service) and the provider (the Hospital). Based on their characteristic of treatment and innovative aspects, the following combinations were examined: external beam radiotherapy (ERT) 50.4 Gy + 5FU bolus; ERT 50.4 Gy + 5FU protracted infusion; ERT 50.4 Gy + 5FU continuous infusion, week 1 and 5; ERT 50.4 Gy+ Tomudex bolus. Costs were evaluated based on the frequency and type of specific services provided in therapeutic protocols: the positioning of central venous catheter, time of stay in day-hospital or hospital ward and the cost of drugs. Calculations were carried out based on an "ideal" patient of 1.7 sqm body surface. Costs were based on out patient rates, DRGs and the official drug list valid to September 1999. As for day-hospital costs afforded by the payer it is observed that the most expensive combinations are bolus and continuous infusion followed by protracted infusion; Tomudex, is the most economic. As for hospital costs afforded by the provider, it is observed that the most expensive combination is continuous infusion followed by protracted infusion, bolus administration and Tomudex. In conclusion, doctors are increasingly involved in the economic and organizational aspects of therapeutic decisions; however, the patient's needs should be kept in mind; apart from the therapeutic benefits, lower toxicity and ready use of treatments are amongst the patient's needs. The analysis of the patient's satisfaction is still lacking suitable means of evaluation, however it should be defined and carefully studied for an exhaustive evaluation of the impact of combined modality therapy.

Radiotherapy, local control and survival in brain tumors.

High grade glial brain tumors and brain metastases are a complex subject with still unsatisfactory therapeutic results for the frequent absence of early and precise diagnosis as well as for the limited therapeutic interval between the tumor and presumed healthy tissues. The therapeutic problems of cellular hypoxia, the rapid recovery of sublethal damage for neoplastic cells, the rapid regrowth, have led to a number of efforts to deliver the dose of radiotherapy in various associations. The constant technological trend to increase the high dose gradient to the peripheral tumor, is reported.