Postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: the sooner the better and potential to reduce toxicity even further.

PURPOSE: To evaluate biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS), overall survival (OS), late rectal and bladder toxicities in a retrospective single institution series, also applying an in-house software for biological dose calculation. METHODS: 258 patients submitted to radiotherapy after prostatectomy were considered. Differences between groups were calculated using the log-rank test and the relevant clinical and therapeutic variables were considered for multivariate analysis. PRODVH is an in-house system able to calculate mean dose-volume histograms (DVHs) of a series of patients, to convert them in biologically effective DVHs (BEDVHs) and allowing to compare them with ANOVA and t Student test. RESULTS: Adjuvant radiotherapy (ART) and salvage radiotherapy (SRT) were performed in 131 (50.8%) and 127 patients (49.2%). At multivariate analysis advanced T stage, androgen deprivation total (ADT) and SRT resulted as independent variables related to a worst bRFS (p = 0.019, 0.001 and 0.02), while GS > 7 and SRT affected negatively OS (p 0.047 and 0.039). High grade toxicity events occurred mainly in patients treated with 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) (proctitis p = 0.006; cystitis: p = 0.041). A significantly more favorable mean rectum BEDVH for patients with G0 or G1 rectal toxicity was shown (p < 0.001). Mean BEDVH for both bladder (p < 0.01) and rectum (p < 0.05) were also significantly better for volumetric modulated arc therapy-image guided radiotherapy (VMAT-IGRT) plans than for 3DCRT plans. CONCLUSION: ART is better than SRT in terms of bRFS and OS, particularly for more aggressive cases, advanced T stage and higher Gleason Score. Postoperative prostate cancer radiotherapy should be applied as soon as possible after surgery. The use of modern techniques such as VMAT-IGRT significantly reduces toxicity.

[Post-radiation pelvic disease and ureteral stenosis: physiopathology and evolution in the patient treated for cervical carcinoma. Review of the literature and experience of the Radium Institute]. / La malattia pelvica post-attinica e la stenosi ureterale: fisiopatologia ed evoluzione nelle pazienti trattate per carcinoma della cervice. Revisione della letteratura ed esperienza dell'Istituto del Radio.

Ureteral stenosis secondary to radiation-induced fibrosis is a well-known, late complication of radiation treatment in patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix. This paper focuses on epidemiological data, physiopathology and treatment modalities reviewed from Internet-published literature. Experience from a single institution (Institute of Radiotherapy of Brescia) is reported. Ureteral stenosis has an incidence of 15% in patients treated with standard doses of radiotherapy for carcinoma of the uterine cervix. An asymptomatic low-grade fibrotic ureteral stenosis establishes at doses of 20 Gy in experimental animal models, and both incidence and severity rise with increasing of doses. An emerging role for Transforming Growth Factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) is recognized in determining chronic activation of fibroblast/fibrocyte lineage and remodelling extracellular matrix which are known mechanisms in the genesis of any fibrotic disease. Experience of the radiotherapy Institute of Brescia, Italy, is reported. A series of 191 patients with stage IB-IIA cervix carcinoma was treated with radical radiotherapy. About 10% of patients developed late urinary tract complications related to post-actinic fibrosis with only 1% of grade III-IV ureteral fibrosis. These data are consistent with those published by other institutions. In conclusion, late ureteral fibrosis is a common and distressing treatment-related complication in patients treated with radiotherapy for cervix carcinoma. Newer strategies in better defining the target for radiotherapy, conformational radiotherapy and better understanding of biologic factors will contribute to further reducing the frequency of such a complication.