Emergency radiation therapy in modern-day practice: Now or never, or never again ?
Support Care Cancer
; 32(2): 114, 2024 Jan 19.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38240886
ABSTRACT
Radiation therapy plays a fundamental role in oncological emergencies such as superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) and metastatic epidural spinal cord compression (MESCC). These are two examples of critical complications of metastatic cancer in terms of pain and functional impact (respiratory and/or neurological). The aim of this review is to explore the current indications, treatment options and outcomes for emergency radiotherapy regarding to these complications.Regarding SVCS, studies are mostly retrospective and unanimously demonstrated a beneficial effect of radiotherapy on symptom relief. Spinal cord compression remains an indication for urgent radiotherapy, and should be combined with surgery when possible. The innovative stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) showed promising results, however this technique requires small volumes and more time preparation and therefore is often unsuitable for SVCS and MESCC emergencies.This review concluded that radiotherapy has a central role to play within a multimodal approach for SVCS and MESCC treatment. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of radiation and establish the criteria for selecting patients to benefit from this treatment option.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Spinal Cord Compression
/
Spinal Neoplasms
/
Superior Vena Cava Syndrome
/
Neoplasms
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Support Care Cancer
Journal subject:
NEOPLASIAS
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Year:
2024
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
France