CT radiomic predictors of local relapse after SBRT for lung oligometastases from colorectal cancer: a single institute pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the potential of radiomic features (RFs) extracted from simulation computed tomography (CT) images in discriminating local progression (LP) after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in the management of lung oligometastases (LOM) from colorectal cancer (CRC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with 70 LOM treated with SBRT were analyzed. The largest LOM was considered as most representative for each patient and was manually delineated by two blinded radiation oncologists. In all, 141 RFs were extracted from both contours according to IBSI (International Biomarker Standardization Initiative) recommendations. Based on the agreement between the two observers, 134/141 RFs were found to be robust against delineation (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] > 0.80); independent RFs were then assessed by Spearman correlation coefficients. The association between RFs and LP was assessed with Mann-Whitney test and univariate logistic regression (ULR): the discriminative power of the most informative RF was quantified by receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) analysis through area under curve (AUC). RESULTS: In all, 15/38 patients presented LP. Median time to progression was 14.6 months (range 2.4-66 months); 5/141 RFs were significantly associated to LP at ULR analysis (p < 0.05); among them, 4 RFs were selected as robust and independent: Statistical_Variance (AUC = 0.75, p = 0.002), Statistical_Range (AUC = 0.72, p = 0.013), Grey Level Size Zone Matrix (GLSZM) _zoneSizeNonUniformity (AUC = 0.70, p = 0.022), Grey Level Dependence Zone Matrix (GLDZM) _zoneDistanceEntropy (AUC = 0.70, p = 0.026). Importantly, the RF with the best performance (Statisical_Variance) is simply representative of density heterogeneity within LOM. CONCLUSION: Four RFs extracted from planning CT were significantly associated with LP of LOM from CRC treated with SBRT. Results encourage further research on a larger population aiming to define a usable radiomic score combining the most predictive RFs and, possibly, additional clinical features.

Toxicity and efficacy of salvage carbon 11-choline positron emission tomography/computed tomography-guided radiation therapy in patients with lymph node recurrence of prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To report the 3-year toxicity and outcomes of carbon 11 (11C)-choline-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT)-guided radiotherapy (RT), delivered via helical tomotherapy (HTT; Tomotherapy® Hi-Art II® Treatment System, Accuray Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA) after lymph node (LN) relapses in patients with prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January 2005 to March 2013, 81 patients with biochemical recurrence after surgery, with or without adjuvant/salvage RT or radical RT, and with evidence of LN 11C-choline-PET/CT pathological uptake, underwent HTT (median [range] prostate-specific antigen level 2.59 [0.61-187] ng/mL). Of the 81 patients, 72 were treated at the pelvic and/or lumbar-aortic LN chain with HTT at 51.8 Gy/28 fr and with simultaneous integrated boost to a median dose of 65.5 Gy on the pathological uptake sites detected by 11C-choline-PET/CT. Nine patients were treated without simultaneous integrated boost (50-65.5 Gy, 25-30 fr). RESULTS: With a median (range) follow-up of 36 (9-116) months, 91.4% of the patients had a PSA reduction 3 months after HTT. The 3-year overall, local relapse-free and clinical relapse-free survival rates were 80.0, 89.8 and 61.8%, respectively. The 3-year actuarial incidences of ≥grade 2 rectal and ≥grade 2 genitourinary toxicity were 6.6% (±2.9%) and 26.3% (±5.5%), respectively. A PSA nadir of ≥0.26 ng/mL (hazard ratio [HR] 3.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7-7.7; P = 0.001), extrapelvic 11C-choline-PET/CT-positive LN location (HR 2.4, 95% CI 0.9-6.4; P = 0.07), RT previous to HTT (HR 2.7; 95% CI 1.07-6.9, P = 0.04) and number of positive LNs (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.04-1.22; P = 0.003) were the main predictors of clinical relapse after HTT. CONCLUSIONS: 11C-choline-PET/CT-guided HTT is safe and effective in the treatment of LN relapses of prostate cancer in previously treated patients.

Quality assurance multicenter comparison of different MR scanners for quantitative diffusion-weighted imaging.

PURPOSE: To propose a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) quality assurance procedure that can be used for multicenter comparison of different MR scanners for quantitative diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six centers (35 MR scanners with field strengths: 1T, 1.5T, and 3T) were enrolled in the study. Two different DWI acquisition series (b-value ranges 0-1000 and 0-3000 s/mm(2) , respectively) were performed for each MR scanner. All DWI acquisitions were performed by using a cylindrical doped water phantom. Mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values as well as ADC values along each of the three main orthogonal directions of the diffusion gradients (x, y, and z) were calculated. Short-term repeatability of ADC measurement was evaluated for 26 MR scanners. RESULTS: A good agreement was found between the nominal and measured mean ADC over all the centers. More than 80% of mean ADC measurements were within 5% from the nominal value, and the highest deviation and overall standard deviation were 9.3% and 3.5%, respectively. Short-term repeatability of ADC measurement was found <2.5% for all MR scanners. CONCLUSION: A specific and widely accepted protocol for quality controls in DWI is still lacking. The DWI quality assurance protocol proposed in this study can be applied in order to assess the reliability of DWI-derived indices before tackling single- as well as multicenter studies.

Comparing Performances of Predictive Models of Toxicity after Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer Using Different Machine Learning Approaches.

PURPOSE: Different ML models were compared to predict toxicity in RT on a large cohort (n = 1314). METHODS: The endpoint was RTOG G2/G3 acute toxicity, resulting in 204/1314 patients with the event. The dataset, including 25 clinical, anatomical, and dosimetric features, was split into 984 for training and 330 for internal tests. The dataset was standardized; features with a high p-value at univariate LR and with Spearman ρ>0.8 were excluded; synthesized data of the minority were generated to compensate for class imbalance. Twelve ML methods were considered. Model optimization and sequential backward selection were run to choose the best models with a parsimonious feature number. Finally, feature importance was derived for every model. RESULTS: The model's performance was compared on a training-test dataset over different metrics: the best performance model was LightGBM. Logistic regression with three variables (LR3) selected via bootstrapping showed performances similar to the best-performing models. The AUC of test data is slightly above 0.65 for the best models (highest value: 0.662 with LightGBM). CONCLUSIONS: No model performed the best for all metrics: more complex ML models had better performances; however, models with just three features showed performances comparable to the best models using many (n = 13-19) features.

Skin dose-volume predictors of moderate-severe late side effects after whole breast radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Toxicity after whole breast Radiotherapy is a relevant issue, impacting the quality-of-life of a not negligible number of patients. We aimed to develop a Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP) model predicting late toxicities by combining dosimetric parameters of the breast dermis and clinical factors. METHODS: The skin structure was defined as the outer CT body contour's 5 mm inner isotropic expansion. It was retrospectively segmented on a large mono-institutional cohort of early-stage breast cancer patients enrolled between 2009 and 2017 (n = 1066). Patients were treated with tangential-field RT, delivering 40 Gy in 15 fractions to the whole breast. Toxicity was reported during Follow-Up (FU) using SOMA/LENT scoring. The study endpoint was moderate-severe late side effects consisting of Fibrosis-Atrophy-Telangiectasia-Pain (FATP G ≥ 2) developed within 42 months after RT completion. A machine learning pipeline was designed with a logistic model combining clinical factors and absolute skin DVH (cc) parameters as output. RESULTS: The FATP G2 + rate was 3.8 %, with 40/1066 patients experiencing side effects. After the preprocessing of variables, a cross-validation was applied to define the best-performing model. We selected a 4-variable model with Post-Surgery Cosmetic alterations (Odds Ratio, OR = 7.3), Aromatase Inhibitors (as a protective factor with OR = 0.45), V20 Gy (50 % of the prescribed dose, OR = 1.02), and V42 Gy (105 %, OR = 1.09). Factors were also converted into an adjusted V20Gy. CONCLUSIONS: The association between late reactions and skin DVH when delivering 40 Gy/15 fr was quantified, suggesting an independent role of V20 and V42. Few clinical factors heavily modulate the risk.

Application of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to pretreatment phases in tomotherapy.

The aim of this paper was the application of the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) approach to assess the risks for patients undergoing radiotherapy treatments performed by means of a helical tomotherapy unit. FMEA was applied to the preplanning imaging, volume determination, and treatment planning stages of the tomotherapy process and consisted of three steps: 1) identification of the involved subprocesses; 2) identification and ranking of the potential failure modes, together with their causes and effects, using the risk probability number (RPN) scoring system; and 3) identification of additional safety measures to be proposed for process quality and safety improvement. RPN upper threshold for little concern of risk was set at 125. A total of 74 failure modes were identified: 38 in the stage of preplanning imaging and volume determination, and 36 in the stage of planning. The threshold of 125 for RPN was exceeded in four cases: one case only in the phase of preplanning imaging and volume determination, and three cases in the stage of planning. The most critical failures appeared related to (i) the wrong or missing definition and contouring of the overlapping regions, (ii) the wrong assignment of the overlap priority to each anatomical structure, (iii) the wrong choice of the computed tomography calibration curve for dose calculation, and (iv) the wrong (or not performed) choice of the number of fractions in the planning station. On the basis of these findings, in addition to the safety strategies already adopted in the clinical practice, novel solutions have been proposed for mitigating the risk of these failures and to increase patient safety.

Knowledge-based plan optimization for prostate SBRT delivered with CyberKnife according to RTOG0938 protocol.

PURPOSE: To extend the knowledge-based (KB) automatic planning approach to CyberKnife in the case of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for prostate cancer. METHODS: Seventy-two clinical plans of patients treated according to the RTOG0938 protocol (36.25 Gy/5fr) with CyberKnife were exported from the CyberKnife system to Eclipse to train a KB-model using the Rapid Plan tool. The KB approach provided dose-volume objectives for specific OARs only and not PTV. Bladder, rectum and femoral heads were considered in the model. The KB-model was successfully trained on 51 plans and then validated on 20 new patients. A KB-based template was tuned in the Precision system for both sequential optimization (SO) and VOLO optimization algorithms. Plans of the validation group were re-optimized (KB-TP) using both algorithms without any operator intervention and compared against the original plans (TP) in terms of OARs/PTV dose-volume parameters. Paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to assess statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Regarding SO, automatic KB-TP plans were generally better than or equivalent to TP plans. PTVs V95% was slightly worse while OARs sparing for KB-TP was significantly improved. Regarding VOLO optimization, the PTVs coverage was significantly better for KB-TP while there was a limited worsening in the rectum. A significant improvement was observed in the bladder in the range of low-intermediate doses. CONCLUSIONS: An extension of the KB optimization approach to the CyberKnife system has been successfully developed and validated in the case of SBRT prostate cancer.

Real-world validation of Artificial Intelligence-based Computed Tomography auto-contouring for prostate cancer radiotherapy planning.

Background and purpose: Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based auto-contouring for treatment planning in radiotherapy needs extensive clinical validation, including the impact of editing after automatic segmentation. The aims of this study were to assess the performance of a commercial system for Clinical Target Volumes (CTVs) (prostate/seminal vesicles) and selected Organs at Risk (OARs) (rectum/bladder/femoral heads + femurs), evaluating also inter-observer variability (manual vs automatic + editing) and the reduction of contouring time. Materials and methods: Two expert observers contoured CTVs/OARs of 20 patients in our Treatment Planning System (TPS). Computed Tomography (CT) images were sent to the automatic contouring workstation: automatic contours were generated and sent back to TPS, where observers could edit them if necessary. Inter- and intra-observer consistency was estimated using Dice Similarity Coefficients (DSC). Radiation oncologists were also asked to score the quality of automatic contours, ranging from 1 (complete re-contouring) to 5 (no editing). Contouring times (manual vs automatic + edit) were compared. Results: DSCs (manual vs automatic only) were consistent with inter-observer variability (between 0.65 for seminal vesicles and 0.94 for bladder); editing further improved performances (range: 0.76-0.94). The median clinical score was 4 (little editing) and it was <4 in 3/2 patients for the two observers respectively. Inter-observer variability of automatic + editing contours improved significantly, being lower than manual contouring (e.g.: seminal vesicles: 0.83vs0.73; prostate: 0.86vs0.83; rectum: 0.96vs0.81). Oncologist contouring time reduced from 17 to 24 min of manual contouring time to 3-7 min of editing time for the two observers (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Automatic contouring with a commercial AI-based system followed by editing can replace manual contouring, resulting in significantly reduced time for segmentation and better consistency between operators.

Knowledge-based automatic plan optimization for left-sided whole breast tomotherapy.

Background/Purpose: Tomotherapy may deliver high-quality whole breast irradiation at static angles. The aim of this study was to implement Knowledge-Based (KB) automatic planning for left-sided whole breast using this modality. Materials/Methods: Virtual volumetric plans were associated to the dose distributions of 69 Tomotherapy (TT) clinical plans of previously treated patients, aiming to train a KB-model using a commercial tool completely implemented in our treatment planning system. An individually optimized template based on the resulting KB-model was generated for automatic plan optimization. Thirty patients of the training set and ten new patients were considered for internal/external validation. Fully-automatic plans (KB-TT) were generated and compared using the same geometry/number of fields of the corresponding clinical plans. Results: KB-TT plans were successfully generated in 26/30 and 10/10 patients of the internal/external validation sets; for 4 patients whose original plans used only two fields, the manual insertion of one/two fields before running the automatic template was sufficient to obtain acceptable plans. Concerning internal validation, planning target volume V95%/D1%/dose distribution standard deviation improved by 0.9%/0.4Gy/0.2Gy (p < 0.05) against clinical plans; Organs at risk mean doses were also slightly improved (p < 0.05) by 0.07/0.4/0.2/0.01 Gy for left lung/heart/right breast/right lung respectively. Similarly satisfactory results were replicated in the external validation set. The resulting treatment duration was 8 ± 1 min, consistent with our clinical experience. The active planner time per patient was 5-10 minutes. Conclusion: Automatic TT left-sided breast KB-plans are comparable to or slightly better than clinical plans and can be obtained with limited planner time. The approach is currently under clinical implementation.

Breast radiotherapy with kilovoltage photons and gold nanoparticles as radiosensitizer: An in vitro study.

PURPOSE: We investigated the dose enhancement and internalization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) used as a radiosensitizer agent for rotational radiotherapy of breast cancer using a kilovoltage (kV) X-ray beam. METHODS: Human breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 were incubated with or without 100 µg/mL (4.87 nM) or 200 µg/mL (9.74 nM) 15 nm AuNPs and irradiated with 100 kV, 190 kV, or 6 MV X-rays. To assess the toxicity of the AuNPs, we performed a Sulforhodamine B assay. Using atomic absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and time-lapse optical microscopy (rate of 2 frames per minute), we carried out a quantitative assessment of the amount of gold internalized by MDA-MB-231 cells and a characterization of the static and dynamical aspects of this internalization process. RESULTS: No effect of AuNPs alone was shown on cell viability. Time-lapse optical microscopy showed for the first time AuNPs cellular uptake and the dynamics of AuNPs internalization. Electron microscopy demonstrated AuNPs localization in endosomal vesicles, preferentially in the perinuclear region. After irradiation at doses up to 2 Gy, cell survival fraction curves showed increased mortality with AuNPs, with respect to irradiation without AuNPs. The highest effect of radioenhancement by AuNPs (at 9.74 nM AuNPs concentration) was observed at 190 kV showing a dose enhancement factor of 1.33 ± 0.06 (1.34 ± 0.02 at 100 kV), while at 6 MV it was 1.14 ± 0.06. CONCLUSIONS: The observed radio-sensitization effect is promising for future radio-enhanced kV radiotherapy of breast cancer and quantitatively in the order of previous observations for 15 nm AuNPs. These results of a significant dose enhancement were obtained at 15 nm AuNPs concentration as low as several nanomolar units, at dose levels typical of a single dose fraction in a radiotherapy session. Dynamical behavior of the 3D spatial distribution of 15 nm AuNPs outside the nucleus of single breast cancer cell was observed, with possible implications for future models of AuNPs sensitization.

Toxicity of Hypofractionated Whole Breast Radiotherapy Without Boost and Timescale of Late Skin Responses in a Large Cohort of Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients.

AIM: To report toxicity of hypofractionated whole-breast radiotherapy in a large cohort of early-stage breast cancer (BCaients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 02/2009-05/2017, 1325 consecutive BCa patients were treated with 40.05 Gy/15 fractions, without boost. Median age was 62 (IQR:51.1-70.5) years. Chemotherapy was prescribed for 28% of patients, hormonal therapy for 80.3%, monoclonal antibodies for 8.2%. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 72.4 (IQR: 44.6-104.1) months. Acute RTOG toxicity was: 69.8% Grade (G) 1, 14.3% G2 and 1.7% G3. Late SOMA-LENT toxicities were: edema-hyperpigmentation (E-H): G1 28.67%, G2 4.41%, G3 0.15%; fibrosis-atrophy-telangiectasia-pain (F-A-T-P): G1 14.6%, G2 3.2%, G3 0.8%, G4 0.1%. Median time to first occurrence was 6 and 18 months, respectively. Aesthetic result after surgery was excellent in 28.7%, good in 41.5%, acceptable in 20.3% and poor in 9.5% of patients. Change in breast appearance after radiotherapy was mild in 6.9%, moderate in 2.3% and marked in 1.3% of patients. Concomitant chemotherapy, obesity, smoking, use of bolus and planning target volume (PTV) were associated with higher acute toxicity. Patients ≥55 years old were less likely to experience acute toxicity. PTV and acute G2 toxicity were associated with ≥G2 E-H. PTV, concomitant chemotherapy, hypertension and ≥G2 acute toxicity were associated with increased risk of F-A-T-P. CONCLUSION: Hypofractionated whole-breast radiotherapy without boost demonstrated mild acute and late toxicity in a large cohort of consecutive patients. Moderate and marked changes in breast appearance were registered for 3.6% of patients and occurred between 18 to 42 months.

Feasibility of safe ultra-high (EQD(2)>100 Gy) dose escalation on dominant intra-prostatic lesions (DILs) by Helical Tomotheraphy.

PURPOSE: to verify the possibility of using Helical Tomotherapy to safely escalate dose to single or multiple highly radioresistant dominant intra-prostatic lesions (DILs) as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIAL: in seven intermediate/high risk patients, T2WI, T1WI and DWI MRI imaging showed evidence of one DIL in four patients and two DILs in three patients in the peripheral zone of the prostate. The planning strategy was to deliver median doses of 80, 90, 100 and 120 Gy to PTVDIL while delivering 71.4 Gy/28 fractions (EQD(2)=75 Gy) to the remaining portion of PTV. A higher priority was assigned to rectal constraints relative to DIL coverage. Rectal NTCP calculations were performed using the most recently available model data. RESULTS: the median dose to DIL could safely be escalated to at least 100 Gy (EQD(2,α/ß=10)=113 Gy) without violating safe constraints for the organs at risk. Typical rectal NTCP values were around or below 1-3% for G3 toxicity and 5-7% for G2-G3 toxicity. For the 100 Gy DIL dose boost strategy, mean D95% of DIL and PTVDIL were 98.8 Gy and 86.7 Gy, respectively. The constraints for bladder, urethra and femoral heads were always respected. CONCLUSIONS: IGRT by Helical Tomotherapy may permit the safe escalation of EQD(2,α/ß=10) to at least 113 Gy to DILs without significantly increasing rectal NTCP compared to plans without dose escalation. A Phase I-II clinical study is warranted.

Development and in vivo assessment of a novel MRI-compatible headframe system for the ovine animal model.

BACKGROUND: The brain of sheep has primarily been used in neuroscience as an animal model because of its similarity to the human brain, in particular if compared to other models such as the lissencephalic rodent brain. Their brain size also makes sheep an ideal model for the development of neurosurgical techniques using conventional clinical CT/MRI scanners and stereotactic systems for neurosurgery. METHODS: In this study, we present the design and validation of a new CT/MRI compatible head frame for the ovine model and software, with its assessment under two real clinical scenarios. RESULTS: Ex-vivo and in vivo trial results report an average linear displacement of the ovine head frame during conventional surgical procedures of 0.81 mm for ex-vivo trials and 0.68 mm for in vivo tests, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These trial results demonstrate the robustness of the head frame system and its suitability to be employed within a real clinical setting.

Replacing Manual Planning of Whole Breast Irradiation With Knowledge-Based Automatic Optimization by Virtual Tangential-Fields Arc Therapy.

PURPOSE: To implement Knowledge Based (KB) automatic planning for right and left-sided whole breast treatment through a new volumetric technique (ViTAT, Virtual Tangential-fields Arc Therapy) mimicking conventional tangential fields (TF) irradiation. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A total of 193 clinical plans delivering TF with wedged or field-in-field beams were selected to train two KB-models for right(R) and left(L) sided breast cancer patients using the RapidPlan (RP) tool implemented in the Varian Eclipse system. Then, a template for ViTAT optimization, incorporating individual KB-optimized constraints, was interactively fine-tuned. ViTAT plans consisted of four arcs (6 MV) with start/stop angles consistent with the TF geometry variability within our population; the delivery was completely blocked along the arcs, apart from the first and last 20° of rotation for each arc. Optimized fine-tuned KB templates for automatic plan optimization were generated. Validation tests were performed on 60 new patients equally divided in R and L breast treatment: KB automatic ViTAT-plans (KB-ViTAT) were compared against the original TF plans in terms of OARs/PTVs dose-volume parameters. Wilcoxon-tests were used to assess the statistically significant differences. RESULTS: KB models were successfully generated for both L and R sides. Overall, 1(3%) and 7(23%) out of 30 automatic KB-ViTAT plans were unacceptable compared to TF for R and L side, respectively. After the manual refinement of the start/stop angles, KB-ViTAT plans well fitted TF-performances for these patients as well. PTV coverage was comparable, while PTV D1% was improved with KB-ViTAT by R:0.4/L:0.2 Gy (p < 0.05); ipsilateral OARs Dmean were similar with a slight (i.e., few % volume) improvement/worsening in the 15-35 Gy/2-15 Gy range, respectively. KB-ViTAT better spared contralateral OARs: Dmean of contralateral OARs was 0.1 Gy lower (p < 0.05); integral dose was R:5%/L:8% lower (p < 0.05) than TF. The overall time for the automatic plan optimization and final dose calculation was 12 ± 2 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: Fully automatic KB-optimization of ViTAT can efficiently replace manually optimized TF planning for whole breast irradiation. This approach was clinically implemented in our institute and may be suggested as a large-scale strategy for efficiently replacing manual planning with large sparing of time, elimination of inter-planner variability and of, seldomly occurring, sub-optimal manual plans.

Clinical Implementation of Knowledge-Based Automatic Plan Optimization for Helical Tomotherapy.

PURPOSE: To implement knowledge-based (KB) automatic planning for helical TomoTherapy (HTT). The focus of the first clinical implementation was the case of high-risk prostate cancer, including pelvic node irradiation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: One hundred two HTT clinical plans were selected to train a KB model using the RapidPlan tool incorporated in the Eclipse system (v13.6, Varian Inc). The individually optimized KB-based templates were converted into HTT-like templates and sent automatically to the HTT treatment planning system through scripting. The full dose calculation was set after 300 iterations without any additional planner intervention. Internal (20 patients in the training cohort) and external (28 new patients) validation were performed to assess the performance of the model: Automatic HTT plans (KB-TP) were compared against the original plans (TP) in terms of organs at risk and planning target volume (PTV) dose-volume parameters and by blinded clinical evaluation of 3 expert clinicians. RESULTS: KB-TP plans were generally better than or equivalent to TP plans in both validation cohorts. A significant improvement in PTVs and rectum-PTV overlap dosimetry parameters were observed for both sets. Organ-at-risk sparing for KB-TP was slightly improved, which was more evident in the external validation group and for bladder and bowel. Clinical evaluation reported KB-TP to be better in 60% of cases and worse in 10% compared with TP (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The fully KB-based automatic planning workflow was successfully implemented for HTT planning optimization in the case of high-risk patients with prostate cancer.

Ten Year Results of Extensive Nodal Radiotherapy and Moderately Hypofractionated Simultaneous Integrated Boost in Unfavorable Intermediate-, High-, and Very High-Risk Prostate Cancer.

AIMS: To report 10-year outcomes of WPRT and HD moderately hypofractionated SIB to the prostate in UIR, HR, and VHR PCa. METHODS: From 11/2005 to 12/2015, 224 UIR, HR, and VHR PCa patients underwent WPRT at 51.8 Gy/28 fractions and SIB at 74.2 Gy (EQD2 88 Gy) to the prostate. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was prescribed in up to 86.2% of patients. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 96.3 months (IQR: 71-124.7). Median age was 75 years (IQR: 71.3-78.1). At last follow up, G3 GI-GU toxicity was 3.1% and 8%, respectively. Ten-year biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS) was 79.8% (95% CI: 72.3-88.1%), disease-free survival (DFS) 87.8% (95% CI: 81.7-94.3%), overall survival (OS) 65.7% (95% CI: 58.2-74.1%), and prostate cancer-specific survival (PCSS) 94.9% (95% CI: 91.0-99.0%). Only two patients presented local relapse. At univariate analysis, VHR vs. UIR was found to be a significant risk factor for biochemical relapse (HR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.17-6.67, p = 0.021). After model selection, only Gleason Score ≥ 8 emerged as a significant factor for biochemical relapse (HR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.12-4.9, p = 0.023). Previous TURP (HR = 3.5, 95% CI: 1.62-7.54, p = 0.001) and acute toxicity ≥ G2 (HR = 3.1, 95% CI = 1.45-6.52, p = 0.003) were significant risk factors for GU toxicity ≥ G3. Hypertension was a significant factor for GI toxicity ≥ G3 (HR = 3.63, 95% CI: 1.06-12.46, p = 0.041). ADT (HR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.12-0.8, p = 0.015) and iPsa (HR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.16-0.83, p = 0.0164) played a protective role. CONCLUSIONS: WPRT and HD SIB to the prostate combined with long-term ADT, in HR PCa, determine good outcomes with acceptable toxicity.

Impact of molecular subtype on 1325 early-stage breast cancer patients homogeneously treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy without boost: Should the indications for radiotherapy be more personalized?

AIM: We report molecular subtype impact on 1325 early breast cancer (BCa) patients treated with whole breast hypofractionated (WBH) adjuvant forward-planned intensity modulated radiotherapy (F-IMRT) without boost. METHODS AND MATERIALS: From 02/2009-05/2017 1325 patients with pTis-pT3, pNx-N1aM0 BCa who underwent breast conservation surgery were treated with WBHF-IMRT in our institute, to a total dose of 40 Gy/15 fractions, without boost. Median age: 62 (interquartile range-IQR-:51.14-70.53) years. HISTOLOGY: 8% in situ carcinoma (ISC), 92% invasive tumors. Molecular subtypes (invasive tumors): 49.9% Luminal A, 33.1% Luminal B Her2 negative (-), 6.2% Luminal B Her2 positive (+), 3.6% Hormone Receptor (HR)- Her2+, 7.1% Triple negative (TNBC), and 0.2% HR+. Chemotherapy (CT) was prescribed in 28% of patients, hormonal therapy in 80.3%, monoclonal antibodies (MAb) in 86.8% of Luminal B Her2+ and 97.7% of HR- Her2+ patients. RESULTS: Median follow up was 72.43 (IQR: 44.63-104.13) months. The 5-year Kaplan-Meier estimates of local relapse-free survival (LRFS) was 97.8%, regional-(RRFS) 98.6%, loco-regional- (LRRFS) 96.9%, distant- (DRFS) 96.6%, disease-free survival (DFS) 94.8% and overall survival (OS) 95.5%. Considering molecular subtypes, 5-year LRFS was: 99.8% for Luminal A, 96.7% for Luminal B Her2-, 94.1% for Luminal B Her2+, 87.9% for HR- Her2+, 95.1% for TNBC and 99.1% for in situ carcinoma. CONCLUSION: While the overall estimated probability of LR within 5 years after WBHF-IMRT without boost is good (2.2%), molecular subtypes have a strong impact, despite MAb therapy in Her2+ patients, and CT for TNBC patients, and could be used as a parameter in deciding the boost prescription.

Residual intra-fraction error in robotic spinal stereotactic body radiotherapy without immobilization devices.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Spinal stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) involves large dose gradients and high geometrical accuracy is therefore required. The aim of this work was to assess residual intra-fraction error with a tracking robotic system for non-immobilized patients. Shifts from the first alignment (i.e. mimicking the unavailability of tracking) were also quantified. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two patients treated for spinal metastasis (128 fractions, 4220 images) were analyzed. Residual error was quantified as the difference between translations/rotations referring to consecutive x-ray images during delivery (tracking) and to the initial set-up (no-tracking). The error distribution for each fraction/patient and the entire population was assessed for each axis/rotation angle. The impact of lesion sites, fractionation and patient's pain (VAS score) were investigated. Finally, the dosimetric impact of residual motion was quantified in the four most affected fractions. RESULTS: Mean overall errors (OE) were near 0 (SD < 0.1 mm). Residual translations/rotations >1 mm/1° were found in less than 1.5%/1% of measurements. Lesion site and fractionation showed no impact. The dosimetric impact in the most affected fractions was negligible. For "no-tracking", mean OE was <1 mm/0.5°; less than 2% of displacements were >2 mm/1° within 10 min from the start of treatment with an increasing probability of shifts >2 mm over time. A significantly higher fraction of OE ≥ 2 mm was found for patients with pain in case of no-tracking. CONCLUSIONS: Spine tracking with a latest-generation robotic system is highly efficient for non-immobilized patients: residual error is time independent and close to 0. For delivery times >7-8 min, tracking should be considered as mandatory for non-immobilized patients.

Virtual Tangential-fields Arc Therapy (ViTAT) for whole breast irradiation: Technique optimization and validation.

PURPOSE: To test the performances of a volumetric arc technique named ViTAT (Virtual Tangential-fields Arc Therapy) mimicking tangential field irradiation for whole breast radiotherapy. METHODS: ViTAT plans consisted in 4 arcs whose starting/ending position were established based on gantry angle distribution of clinical plans for right and left-breast. The arcs were completely blocked excluding the first and last 20°. Different virtual bolus densities and thicknesses were preliminarily evaluated to obtain the best plan performances. For 40 patients with tumor laterality equally divided between right and left sides, ViTAT plans were optimized considering the clinical DVHs for OARs (resulting from tangential field manual planning) to constrain them: ViTAT plans were compared with the clinical tangential-fields in terms of DVH parameters for both PTV and OARs. RESULTS: Distal angle values were suggested in the ranges [220°,240°] for the right-breast and [115°,135°] for the left-breast cases; medial angles were [60°,40°] for the right side and [295°,315°] for the left side, limiting the risk of collision. The optimal virtual bolus had -500 HU density and 1.5 cm thickness. ViTAT plans generated dose distributions very similar to the tangential-field plans, with significantly improved PTV homogeneity. The mean doses of ipsilateral OARs were comparable between the two techniques with minor increase of the low-dose spread in the range 2-15 Gy (few % volume); contralateral OARs were slightly better spared with ViTAT. CONCLUSION: ViTAT dose distributions were similar to tangential-fields. ViTAT should allow automatic plan optimization by developing knowledge-based DVH prediction models of patients treated with tangential-fields.

Physics aspects of prostate tomotherapy: planning optimization and image-guidance issues.

PURPOSE: To review planning and image-guidance aspects of more than 3 years experience in the treatment of prostate cancer with Helical Tomotherapy (HT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Planning issues concerning two Phase I-II clinical studies were addressed: in the first one, 58 Gy in 20 fractions were delivered to the prostatic bed for post-prostatectomy patients: in the second one, a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) approach was applied for radical treatment, delivering 71.4-74.2 Gy to the prostate in 28 fractions. On-line daily MVCT image guidance was applied: bone match was used for post-operative patients while prostate match was applied for radically treated patients. MVCT data of a large sample of both categories of patients were reviewed. RESULTS: At now, more than 250 patients were treated. Planning data show the ability of HT in creating highly homogeneous dose distributions within PTVs. Organs at risk (OAR) sparing also showed to be excellent. HT was also found to favorably compare to inversely-optimized IMAT in terms of PTVs coverage and dose distribution homogeneity. In the case of pelvic nodes irradiation, a large sparing of bowel was evident compared to 3DCRT and conventional 5-fields IMRT. The analysis of MVCT data showed a limited motion of the prostate (about 5% of the fractions show a deviation > or =3 mm in posterior-anterior direction), due to the careful application of rectal emptying procedures. Based on phantom measurements and on the comparison with intra-prostatic calcification-based match, direct visualization prostate match seems to be sufficiently reliable in assessing shifts > or =3 mm. CONCLUSIONS: HT offers excellent planning solutions for prostate cancer, showing to be highly efficient in a SIB scenario. Daily MVCT information showed evidence of a limited motion of the prostate in the context of rectal filling control obtained by instructing patients in self-administrating a rectal enema.