Open radiofrequency ablation as upfront treatment for locally advanced pancreatic cancer: Requiem from a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Local ablation of pancreatic cancer has been suggested as an option to manage locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) although no robust evidence has been published to date to support its application. The aim of this study is to compare overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients receiving both radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and conventional chemoradiotherapy (CHRT) with patients receiving CHRT only. METHODS: This is a multicentre prospective randomized controlled trial (RCT). Patients with LAPC diagnosed by the Pancreas-Ablation-Team-Verona were randomly assigned to open RFA (Group A) or CHRT (Group B). Survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: One hundred LAPC patients were enrolled from January 2014 to August 2016. 33% of patients in Group A did not receive the designated procedure because of intraoperative findings of liver (18.7%) or peritoneal metastases (43.8%), or technical contraindications (37.5%). We did not observe any statistically significant survival benefit from RFA compared to CHRT, neither in terms of OS (medians of 14.2 months and 18.1 months, respectively, p = 0.639) nor PFS (medians of 8 months and 6 months respectively, p = 0.570). Mortality was nil and RFA-related morbidity was 15.6%. In 13% of subjects, conversion to surgery occurred (2 after RFA and 11 after CHRT). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first RCT evaluating the impact of upfront RFA in the multimodal treatment of LAPC. Compared to CHRT, RFA alone did not provide any advantage in terms of OS or PFS. It could be considered as a therapeutic option for LAPC within a multimodal context and after neoadjuvant therapies.

Inter-observer variability of clinical target volume delineation in radiotherapy treatment of pancreatic cancer: a multi-institutional contouring experience.

BACKGROUND: An observational multi-institutional study has been conducted aimed to evaluate the inter-observer variability in clinical target volume (CTV) delineation among different radiation oncologists in radiotherapy treatment of pancreatic cancer. METHODS: A multi-institutional contouring dummy-run of two different cases of pancreatic cancer treated by postoperative and preoperative radiotherapy (RT) was performed. Clinical history, diagnostics, and planning CT imaging were available on AIRO website (http://www.radioterapiaitalia.it). Participants were requested to delineate CTVs according to their skills and knowledge. Aiming to quantify interobserver variability of CTVs delineations, the total volume, craniocaudal, laterolateral, and anteroposterior diameters were calculated. Descriptive statistic was calculated. The 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) for coefficient of variation (CV) was estimated. The Dice Similarity Index (DSI) was used to evaluate the spatial overlap accuracy of the different CTVs compared with the CTVs of a national reference Centre considered as a benchmark. The mean DSI (mDSI) was calculated and reported. RESULTS: A total of 18 radiation oncologists from different Institutes submitted the targets. Less variability was observed for the Elective CTV rather than the Boost CTV, in both cases. The estimated CV were 28.8% (95% CI: 21.2-45.0%) and 20.0% (95% CI: 14.9-30.6%) for the Elective CTV, in adjuvant (Case 1) and neoadjuvant (Case 2) case, respectively. The mDSI value was 0.68 for the Elective CTVs in both cases (range 0.19-0.79 in postoperative vs range 0.35-0.79 in preoperative case). The mDSI was increased to 0.71 (Case 1) and 0.72 (Case 2) if the observers with a worse agreement have been excluded. On the other hand, a CV of 42.4% (95% CI: 30.1-72.4%) and 63.8% (95% CI: 43.9-119.2%) with a mDSI value of 0.44 and 0.52, were calculated for the Boost CTV in Case 1 and Case 2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The CV and mDSI obtained values for Elective CTVs showed an acceptable agreement among participants either in postoperative as well in preoperative setting. Additional strategies to reduce the variability in Boost CTV delineation need to be found and promoted.

Chemo/tomotherapy stereotactic body radiation therapy (chemo/SBRT) for the salvage treatment of esophageal carcinoma following trimodality therapy: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer (EC) patients presenting a local recurrence following trimodality therapy (chemoradiaton and surgery) have limited palliative treatment options when the three major modalities of therapy have been exhausted. In addition, some patients experience a local recurrence or develop a metachronous cancer in a previously irradiated site, without evidence of systemic disease. For these patients there is a potential for cure, although the risk of further distant recurrences remains high. CASE REPORT: We report of a successful concomitant chemo/SBRT treatment in a case of locally advanced metachronous squamous cervical EC, which was diagnosed in a patient previously treated with trimodality therapy for a squamous tonsillar carcinoma. RESULT: Chemo/SBRT seems to be a reasonable salvage option for patients without distant metastases who have exhausted standard therapies. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience also suggests that a concomitant chemo/SBRT treatment appears to be either feasible or effective and chemo/SBRT can be considered also in selected patients affected by EC with squamous histology and with neoplastic infiltration of the trachea.

Risk analysis of colorectal cancer in women with endometrial carcinoma.

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) are closely linked in a well-documented, predominantly inherited cancer syndrome known as hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). Epidemiological studies report that women with EC have a 1.5- to 3-fold increased risk of developing CRC. However, this elevated risk could be the consequence of genetic confounding. In order to plan a proper CRC prevention program, we sought to verify and quantify this risk, first estimating it in 697 women with EC who received treatment and follow-up in one health care district between 1986 and 2000. The standardised incidence ratio (SIR), which compares observed with expected cases of CRC in the general population, was calculated. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval of a dependent variable, second primary CRC, as a function of clinical and pathological features. Multiple primary tumours were observed in 6.7% of the patients, with CRC being the second most frequently occurring type of cancer. The estimated overall risk for CRC was slightly higher than that observed in the general population, but was nonetheless not statistically significant. Multivariate analysis revealed a family history of CRC to be a risk factor for developing the disease as a second primary cancer. A BMI ≤25 and the pathological spectrum of EC were clinical and pathological features associated with CRC development, but were without statistical significance. MSH2 and MLH1 mutational screening confirmed genetic involvement in most of the CRCs observed in the cohort. Overall, the data show that women with EC have a CRC risk similar to that of the general population, and should therefore be screened on the basis of risk factors for CRC.