ESO-ESSO-ESTRO Multidisciplinary Course in Oncology for Medical Students: 4 Years of Experience (2016-2019).

The ESO-ESSO-ESTRO Multidisciplinary Course in Oncology is intended to fill the gap of the undergraduate fragmented oncology education, to provide insight into all theoretical and practical aspects of oncology, and to encourage future professional choices towards an oncology discipline. Students are exposed to (a) preclinical cancer topics; (b) natural history of the disease; (c) laboratory diagnostic tests; (d) medical, radiation, surgical, and palliative treatment; and (e) direct or through multidisciplinary patients' approach. Students are obliged to attend (i) all theoretical lectures, (ii) clinical case presentations, (iii) laboratories and ward visits, and (iv) to prepare and present a specific project under supervision. Participation is limited to 24 medical students who are selected through a competitive application process. Between 2016 and 2019, 96 students from 29 countries have attended. Data analysis derived from a given questionnaire demonstrates that most of the participants have declared that (1) they have achieved their expectations and objectives, (2) they have highly rated both clinical and non-clinical teaching oncological topics, and (3) they have been stimulated in developing a professional career in the field of oncology.

Hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy of choroidal melanoma: 20-year experience.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the long-term results after hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy (SRT) in patients with choroidal melanoma treated between 1997 and 2016. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 335 patients (183 male and 152 female) with choroidal melanoma unsuitable for ruthenium-106 brachytherapy or local resection were treated with linear accelerator-based SRT at the Medical University of Vienna. All patients received five fractions with either 10, 12 or 14 Gy per fraction. A complete ophthalmic examination including visual acuity and measurement of the tumor base and height using standardized A- and B-scan ultrasonography was performed every 3 months in the first 2 years, every 6 months until 5 years and yearly thereafter. Early and late adverse side effects were assessed at every follow-up visit. RESULTS: The median overall follow-up was 78.6 months (39.1 to 113.7 months). Local tumor control was 95.4% after 10 and 12 years, respectively. Fifty-four patients developed metastatic disease, and 31 died during the follow-up. Mean visual acuity decreased from 0.55 Snellen at baseline to 0.05 Snellen at the last individual follow-up. Ischemic retinopathy (192/335cases) and optic neuropathy (174/335cases) were the most common radiogenic side effects, followed by radiogenic cataract (n = 127), neovascular glaucoma (n = 71) and corneal epithelium defects (n = 49). Enucleation was performed in 54 patients mostly due to neovascular glaucoma (n = 41) or tumor recurrence (n = 10) during the study period. The eye retention rate was 79.7% after 10 and 12 years. CONCLUSION: Hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy showed a high rate of local tumor control for choroidal melanoma and an acceptable rate of radiogenic side effects.

IBS-GEC ESTRO-ABS recommendations for CT based contouring in image guided adaptive brachytherapy for cervical cancer.

MR Imaging is regarded asthe gold standardfor Image Gudied Adaptive Brachytherapy (IGABT) for cervical cancer. However, its wide applicability is limited by its availability, logistics and financial implications. Use of alternative imaging like CTand Ultrasound (US) for IGABT has been attempted. In order to arrive at a systematic, uniform and international approach for CT based definition and contouring of target structures, GEC ESTRO, IBS and ABS agreed to jointly develop such recommendations based on the concepts and terms as published in the ICRU Report 89. The minimum requirements are clinical examination & documentation, CT or MR imaging at diagnosis and at a minimum, CT imaging with the applicator in place. The recommendations are based on (i) assessment of the GTV at diagnosis and at brachytherapy, (ii) categorizing the response to external radiation into different clinical remission patterns, (iii) defining various clinico-radiological environments and (iv) definition & delineation of a target on CT imaging at the time of brachytherapy with the applicator in situ. CT based target contouring recommendations based on 4 remission categories within 8 defined environments, aim at improving the contouring accuracy for IGABT using CT, US and MRI as available. For each clinico-radiological environment, there is an attempt to minimize the specific uncertainties in order to arrive at the best possible contouring accuracy. Evaluating feasibility & reproducibility, to achieve a benchmark towards a gold standard MR IGABT and further clinical research including outcomes with CT Based IGABT will become the next steps.

ENLIGHT: European network for Light ion hadron therapy.

The European Network for Light Ion Hadron Therapy (ENLIGHT) was established in 2002 following various European particle therapy network initiatives during the 1980s and 1990s (e.g. EORTC task group, EULIMA/PIMMS accelerator design). ENLIGHT started its work on major topics related to hadron therapy (HT), such as patient selection, clinical trials, technology, radiobiology, imaging and health economics. It was initiated through CERN and ESTRO and dealt with various disciplines such as (medical) physics and engineering, radiation biology and radiation oncology. ENLIGHT was funded until 2005 through the EC FP5 programme. A regular annual meeting structure was started in 2002 and continues until today bringing together the various disciplines and projects and institutions in the field of HT at different European places for regular exchange of information on best practices and research and development. Starting in 2006 ENLIGHT coordination was continued through CERN in collaboration with ESTRO and other partners involved in HT. Major projects within the EC FP7 programme (2008-2014) were launched for R&D and transnational access (ULICE, ENVISION) and education and training networks (Marie Curie ITNs: PARTNER, ENTERVISION). These projects were instrumental for the strengthening of the field of hadron therapy. With the start of 4 European carbon ion and proton centres and the upcoming numerous European proton therapy centres, the future scope of ENLIGHT will focus on strengthening current and developing European particle therapy research, multidisciplinary education and training and general R&D in technology and biology with annual meetings and a continuously strong CERN support. Collaboration with the European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN) and other similar networks will be pursued.

Overview of brachytherapy resources in Europe: a survey of patterns of care study for brachytherapy in Europe.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Patterns of Care for Brachytherapy in Europe (PCBE) study is aimed at establishing a detailed information system on brachytherapy throughout Europe. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The questionnaire was web-based and the analysis used data from each radiotherapy department with brachytherapy. There were three groups: Group I with 19 countries (15 initial European Community (EC) countries plus Iceland, Monaco, Norway and Switzerland -EC+4-), Group II with 10 countries (New European Community countries -NEC-) and Group III with 14 countries (Other European Countries -OEC-). RESULTS: In the European area there are 36 of 43 countries (85%) which achieved data collection from at least 50% of centres, and were included in the analysis. The tumour site that had the largest number of treated patients was gynaecological tumours. Several variations have been found in the mean number of patients treated per consultant radiation oncologist and physicist; and in the proportion of brachytherapy patients with gynaecology, prostate and breast tumours, by country and by European area. The provided data showed that the average number of brachytherapy patients per centre increased by 10% between 1997 and 2002. CONCLUSIONS: A European wide evaluation of brachytherapy practice using a web-based questionnaire is feasible and that there is considerable variation in both patterns of practice and available resources.

Intensified local treatment and systemic therapy significantly increase survival in patients with brain metastases from advanced breast cancer - a retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Brain metastases have evolved from a rare to a frequently encountered event in advanced breast cancer due to advances in palliative systemic treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All Patients treated at our centre from 1994 to 2004 with WBRT for brain metastases from breast cancer were included. We performed a multivariate analysis (Cox regression) to explore which factors are able to influence significantly cerebral time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (metastatic sites [visceral versus non-visceral], Karnofsky performance score [KPS], age, intensified local treatment [boost irradiation, neuro-surgical resection] further systemic treatment). RESULTS: Overall 174 patients, median age 51 years, range 27-76 years, were included. Median TTP was 3 months (m), range 1-33+ m. Median overall survival was 7 m, range 1-44 m. Factors significantly influencing TTP were KPS (p = 0.002), intensified local treatment (p < 0.001), and palliative systemic treatment (p = 0.001). Factors significantly influencing survival were intensified local treatment (p = 0.004), metastatic sites (p = 0.008), KPS (p = 0.006), and palliative systemic treatment (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: As shown by the significant influence of metastatic sites, some patients die from their advanced systemic tumour situation before they would die from cerebral progression. In other individuals however, intensified local treatment and systemic treatment appear to influence cerebral time to progression and overall survival.

Development and application of a real-time monitoring and feedback system for deep inspiration breath hold based on external marker tracking.

Respiration can cause tumor movements in thoracic regions of up to 3 cm. To minimize motion effects several approaches, such as gating and deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH), are still under development. The goal of our study was to develop and evaluate a noninvasive system for gated DIBH (GDIBH) based on external markers. DIBH monitoring was based on an infrared tracking system and an in-house-developed software. The in-house software provided the breathing curve in real time and was used as on-line information for a prototype of a feedback device. Reproducibility and stability of the breath holds were evaluated without and with feedback. Thirty-five patients undergoing stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) performed DIBH maneuvers after each treatment. For 16 patients dynamic imaging sequences on a multislice CT were used to determine the correlation between tumor and external markers. The relative reproducibility of DIBH maneuvers was improved with the feedback device (74.5% +/- 17.1% without versus 93.0% +/- 4.4% with feedback). The correlation between tumor and marker was good (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.83 +/- 0.17). The regression slopes showed great intersubject variability but on average the internal margin in a DIBH treatment situation could be theoretically reduced by 3 mm with the feedback device. DIBH monitoring could be realized in a noninvasive manner through external marker tracking. We conclude that reduction of internal margins can be achieved with a feedback system but should be performed with great care due to the individual behavior of target motion.

Multiparametric [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose/ [18F]Fluoromisonidazole Positron Emission Tomography/ Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer for the Non-Invasive Detection of Tumor Heterogeneity: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate fused multiparametric positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (MP PET/MRI) at 3T in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer, using high-resolution T2-weighted, contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and the radiotracers [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) and [18F]fluoromisonidazol ([18F]FMISO) for the non-invasive detection of tumor heterogeneity for an improved planning of chemo-radiation therapy (CRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients with locally advanced cervix were enrolled in this IRB approved and were examined with fused MP [18F]FDG/ [18F]FMISO PET/MRI and in eleven patients complete data sets were acquired. MP PET/MRI was assessed for tumor volume, enhancement (EH)-kinetics, diffusivity, and [18F]FDG/ [18F]FMISO-avidity. Descriptive statistics and voxel-by-voxel analysis of MRI and PET parameters were performed. Correlations were assessed using multiple correlation analysis. RESULTS: All tumors displayed imaging parameters concordant with cervix cancer, i.e. type II/III EH-kinetics, restricted diffusivity (median ADC 0.80x10-3mm2/sec), [18F]FDG- (median SUVmax16.2) and [18F]FMISO-avidity (median SUVmax3.1). In all patients, [18F]FMISO PET identified the hypoxic tumor subvolume, which was independent of tumor volume. A voxel-by-voxel analysis revealed only weak correlations between the MRI and PET parameters (0.05-0.22), indicating that each individual parameter yields independent information and the presence of tumor heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: MP [18F]FDG/ [18F]FMISO PET/MRI in patients with cervical cancer facilitates the acquisition of independent predictive and prognostic imaging parameters. MP [18F]FDG/ [18F]FMISO PET/MRI enables insights into tumor biology on multiple levels and provides information on tumor heterogeneity, which has the potential to improve the planning of CRT.

Impact of radiotherapy with and without concurrent cisplatin on lymphocyte subpopulations in cervical cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The impact of radiotherapy alone (RT-alone) and radiotherapy plus concurrent chemotherapy with cisplatin (RT-CHT) was determined for lymphocyte subpopulations in cervical cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-four women were treated either with RT-alone (n=14) or RT-CHT (n=20). Peripheral lymphocytes were collected before, immediately after and 6, 12 and 24 weeks after completion of treatment. Flow cytometric analysis included total T-cells, T-helper-cells, T-suppressor-cells, T-cytotoxic-cells, NK-cells, B-cells and the CD4+/CD8+ratio. RESULTS: Twenty-four weeks after treatment, B-cells had recovered to pretreatment levels whereas total lymphocyte counts, T-helper and T-cytotoxic-cells were still significantly reduced in both groups. In contrast, T-suppressor-cells and NK-cells had recovered to pretreatment levels only in patients who received RT-alone and were still significantly reduced in patients who received RT-CHT. CONCLUSION: RT-alone and RT-CHT induce a significant and prolonged suppression of all lymphocyte subpopulations. RT-CHT, but not RT-alone, causes a prolonged suppression of NK-cells and T-suppressor cells.

Quality assurance in intracoronary brachytherapy. Recommendations for determining the planning target length to avoid geographic miss.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A new method of assessing geographic miss (GM) in endovascular brachytherapy (EVBT) is applied to evaluate the quality of intracoronary brachytherapy treatments, retrospectively. Based on the Vienna experience, recommendations for adequate safety margins are derived to avoid GM. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Evaluation is done on 136 vessels of 128 consecutive patients treated between October 1999 and July 2001. The quality of EVBT is assessed using the concept and terminology of the EVA GEC ESTRO task group. Evaluation of GM and/or safety margin is performed by comparing the outermost interventions with the reference isodose length (RIL) of the applied delivering devices on recorded compact disk (CD) angiograms. The RIL is defined as the length of the vessel segment, which receives at least 90% of the reference dose at the reference depth (=1 mm within the vessel). GM is defined as injured vessel segments, which receive a dose lower than 90% of reference dose. Measurements of intervention length (IL) and active source length (ASL) are performed with respect to anatomical landmarks within the vessel in the region of interest (e.g. stent edges), and by using the nominal length of the devices (balloons, sources) as a reference scale. The edges of RIL are determined by subtracting the length of the dose-fall-off zone (specific to the applied delivery devices: (192)Ir 4.5 mm, (90)Sr 2.5 mm, (32)P 2.0 mm) from the edges of ASL. RESULTS: The described method to assess GM is applicable to 128 vessels (94%). GM is found in 23% of proximal edges and 20% of distal edges. 95% of all GM are observed if the total margin (proximal+distal margin) between RIL and IL is shorter than 10.5 mm. CONCLUSIONS: GM in intracoronary brachytherapy can be widely avoided by adding an appropriate safety margin to the IL (5-6 mm each edge in this study) in order to determine the necessary RIL for a treatment.

Hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy of posteriorly located choroidal melanoma with five fractions at ten Gy--clinical results after six years of experience.

PURPOSE: To evaluate long-term safety and efficacy of hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy with 5 five fractions at 10 Gy each in patients with centrally located choroidal melanoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-one patients with centrally located choroidal melanoma were treated stereotactically at a linear accelerator with 6 MV photon beams with 5 fractions at 10 Gy each. Examinations were performed at baseline and every 3 months in the first 2 years, then every 6 months until 5 years and yearly thereafter. Median follow-up was 37.8 months (IQR 19.2-49.9). They included visual acuity assessment, routine ophthalmological examinations with fundoscopy, echography for measurement of tumor dimensions, medical examinations and, if necessary, fluorescein angiography. RESULTS: Initial tumor base diameters, height and volume were 11.20mm (IQR 9.10-13.70), 9.80 mm (IQR 7.80-11.70), 4.53 mm (IQR 3.33-6.43) and 253.8mm(3) (IQR 127.5-477.0). Local tumor control and eye retention rates were 97.7% and 86.4% after 5 years, respectively. Eight patients developed metastatic disease and 3 of them died due to metastatic disease during the follow-up period. Median visual acuity decreased from 0.67 initially to 0.05 at the last individual follow-up (p<0.001). The most common toxicities (any grade) were radiation retinopathy (n=39), optic neuropathy (n=32), radiogenic cataract (n=21), neovascular glaucoma (n=15) and dry eye syndrome (n=10). The 5 year probabilities to remain free of these side effects (any grade) were 26.0%, 45.4%, 55.4%, 72.6% and 80.5%, respectively. The most important prognostic factors for toxicities were the largest tumor base diameter, tumor height and tumor distance to the optic disk. CONCLUSION: Hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy with a total dose of 50 Gy delivered in 5 fractions is a highly effective treatment option in patients with centrally located choroidal melanoma and has a moderate toxicity profile.

Radiogenic side effects after hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy of choroidal melanoma in 212 patients treated between 1997 and 2007.

PURPOSE: To evaluate side effects of hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy for patients with choroidal melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred and twelve patients with choroidal melanoma unsuitable for ruthenium-106 brachytherapy or local resection were treated stereotactically at the Medical University of Vienna between 1997 and 2007 with a Linac with 6-MV photon beams in five fractions with 10, 12, or 14 Gy per fraction. Examinations for radiogenic side effects were performed at baseline and every 3 months in the first 2 years, then every 6 months until 5 years and then once a year thereafter until 10 years after radiotherapy. Adverse side effects were assessed using slit-lamp examination, funduscopy, gonioscopy, tonometry, and, if necessary, fundus photography and fluorescein angiography. Evaluations of incidence of side effects are based on an actuarial analysis. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-nine (89.2%) and 168 (79.2%) of the tumors were within 3 mm of the macula and the optic disc, respectively. The five most common radiotherapy side effects were retinopathy and optic neuropathy (114 cases and 107 cases, respectively), cataract development (87 cases), neovascular glaucoma (46 cases), and corneal epithelium defects (41 cases). In total, 33.6%, 38.5%, 51.2%, 75.5%, and 77.6% of the patients were free of any radiation retinopathy, optic neuropathy, cataract, neovascular glaucoma, or corneal epithelium defects 5 years after radiotherapy, respectively. CONCLUSION: In centrally located choroidal melanoma hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy shows a low to moderate rate of adverse long-term side effects comparable with those after proton beam radiotherapy. Future fractionation schemes should seek to further reduce adverse side effects rate while maintaining excellent local tumor control.

Local tumor control, visual acuity, and survival after hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy of choroidal melanoma in 212 patients treated between 1997 and 2007.

PURPOSE: To evaluate long-term local tumor control, visual acuity, and survival after hypofractionated linear accelerator-based stereotactic photon radiotherapy in patients with choroidal melanoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between 1997 and 2007, 212 patients with choroidal melanoma unsuitable for ruthenium-106 brachytherapy or local resection were treated stereotactically at a linear accelerator with 6-MV photon beams at the Medical University of Vienna in five fractions over 7 days. Twenty-four patients received a total dose of 70 Gy (five fractions of 14 Gy), 158 a total dose of 60 Gy (five fractions of 12 Gy) and 30 patients a total dose of 50 Gy (five fractions of 10 Gy) applied on the 80% isodose. Ophthalmologic examinations were performed at baseline and every 3 months in the first 2 years, every 6 months until 5 years, and once a year thereafter until 10 years after radiotherapy. Assessment of visual acuity, routine ophthalmologic examinations, and measurement of tumor base dimension and height using standardized A-scan and B-scan echography were done at each visit. Funduscopy and fluorescein angiography were done when necessary to document tumor response. RESULTS: Median tumor height and volume decreased from 4.8 mm and 270.7 mm3 at baseline to 2.6 mm and 86.6 mm3 at the last individual follow-up, respectively (p<0.001, p<0.001). Median visual acuity decreased from 0.55 at baseline to hand motion at the last individual follow-up (p<0.001). Local tumor control was 95.9% after 5 years and 92.6% after 10 years. Thirty-two patients developed metastatic disease, and 22 of these patients died during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Hypofractionated stereotactic photon radiotherapy with 70 to 50 Gy delivered in five fractions in 7 days is sufficient to achieve excellent local tumor control in patients with malignant melanoma of the choroid. Disease outcome and vision are comparable to those achieved with proton beam radiotherapy. Decreasing the total dose below 60 Gy seems to be possible.

Image quality and stability of image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) devices: A comparative study.

INTRODUCTION: Our aim was to implement standards for quality assurance of IGRT devices used in our department and to compare their performances with that of a CT simulator. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated image quality parameters for three devices over a period of 16months. A multislice CT was used as a benchmark and results related to noise, spatial resolution, low contrast visibility (LCV) and uniformity were compared with a cone beam CT (CBCT) at a linac and simulator. RESULTS: All devices performed well in terms of LCV and, in fact, exceeded vendor specifications. MTF was comparable between CT and linac CBCT. Integral nonuniformity was, on average, 0.002 for the CT and 0.006 for the linac CBCT. Uniformity, LCV and MTF varied depending on the protocols used for the linac CBCT. Contrast-to-noise ratio was an average of 51% higher for the CT than for the linac and simulator CBCT. No significant time trend was observed and tolerance limits were implemented. DISCUSSION: Reasonable differences in image quality between CT and CBCT were observed. Further research and development are necessary to increase image quality of commercially available CBCT devices in order for them to serve the needs for adaptive and/or online planning.

Factors influencing the time to development of brain metastases in breast cancer.

This retrospective study analyzed risk factors influencing the time to development of brain metastases with the aim to facilitate the definition of a high-risk population among breast cancer patients. One hundred seventy-four breast cancer patients with brain metastases, treated with whole brain radiotherapy, were evaluated. Statistical analysis included hormone receptor status, HER2/neu status, tumour grading, tumour stage, young age at the time of diagnosis, adjuvant systemic treatment, palliative systemic treatment, metastatic sites (if brain metastases were not the first site of recurrence), and immunotherapy with trastuzumab. Time to development of brain metastases was significantly prolonged by systemic palliative treatment (p< or =0.0001) whereas high tumour grading (p< or =0.04) and trastuzumab therapy (p< or =0.04) significantly shortened this time span. Patients with the brain as first metastatic site, age>35 (p< or =0.001) and stage III (p< or =0.018) at the time of diagnosis had a significantly shorter time to development for brain lesions. These factors should be further validated by a prospective trial to identify a high-risk population amongst breast cancer patients and enable the development of screening programs for early detection.

Trastuzumab prolongs overall survival in patients with brain metastases from Her2 positive breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Brain metastases are frequently encountered in Her2 positive advanced breast cancer. It is still not clear, if trastuzumab treatment should be continued following their diagnosis. In this analysis we evaluated if trastuzumab was able to influence time to in-brain progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS). For this reason, we compared patients who continued on trastuzumab with a historical control group. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventeen Her2 positive patients receiving whole brain radiotherapy for brain metastases and continuing on trastuzumab were identified. As historical control group, thirty-six patients treated before 2002 were identified from a breast cancer database. We performed a multivariate analysis (Cox regression) to explore which factors were potentially able to significantly influence TTP and OS. RESULTS: Median TTP was 6 months, range 1-33+ months. Median OS was 7 months, range 1-38 months. Seventeen patients received trastuzumab after WBRT. Factors associated with prolonged TTP were KPS (p = 0.001), and intensified local treatment (p = 0.004). A trend towards longer TTP was observed in patients treated with trastuzumab (p = 0.068). OS was significantly influenced by KPS (p < 0.001), and continued antibody therapy (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Two parameters were significantly associated with prolonged OS: KPS and trastuzumab. While there was a trend towards prolonged TTP in patients with trastuzumab treatment after WBRT, this did not reach statistical significance. It appears therefore reasonable to suggest continuation of antibody therapy in patients with good performance status despite disease spreading to the brain. Concerning activity of trastuzumab in brain metastases themselves, no final conclusion is possible.

Impaired quality of life in patients commencing radiotherapy for cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study tested a three-item questionnaire to measure global quality of life (QOL) and pain in patients commencing radiotherapy, based on items from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 instrument. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a pretest, the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the three-item short questionnaire were administered to 100 patients, yielding similar global QOL and pain scores. After the pretest, the three-item questionnaire was administered to 1,837 patients prior to first radiotherapy treatment. RESULTS: 254 (13.8%) patients with impaired QOL were identified. These patients had a mean global QOL score of 32.6 compared to 72.4 (p < 0.001) found in patients with satisfactory QOL. Patients with impaired QOL were also more likely < 60 years and treated for lung, gastrointestinal or head and neck cancer or advanced, metastatic cancer. CONCLUSION: This brief questionnaire addresses important aspects of QOL, is feasible to use in a clinical setting and therefore represents a potentially useful tool for detecting those patients who may benefit from further evaluation and/or psychosocial support.