The American Brachytherapy Society consensus statement for permanent implant brachytherapy using Yttrium-90 microsphere radioembolization for liver tumors.

PURPOSE: To develop a multidisciplinary consensus for high quality multidisciplinary implementation of brachytherapy using Yttrium-90 (90Y) microspheres transarterial radioembolization (90Y TARE) for primary and metastatic cancers in the liver. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Members of the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) and colleagues with multidisciplinary expertise in liver tumor therapy formulated guidelines for 90Y TARE for unresectable primary liver malignancies and unresectable metastatic cancer to the liver. The consensus is provided on the most recent literature and clinical experience. RESULTS: The ABS strongly recommends the use of 90Y microsphere brachytherapy for the definitive/palliative treatment of unresectable liver cancer when recommended by the multidisciplinary team. A quality management program must be implemented at the start of 90Y TARE program development and follow-up data should be tracked for efficacy and toxicity. Patient-specific dosimetry optimized for treatment intent is recommended when conducting 90Y TARE. Implementation in patients on systemic therapy should account for factors that may enhance treatment related toxicity without delaying treatment inappropriately. Further management and salvage therapy options including retreatment with 90Y TARE should be carefully considered. CONCLUSIONS: ABS consensus for implementing a safe 90Y TARE program for liver cancer in the multidisciplinary setting is presented. It builds on previous guidelines to include recommendations for appropriate implementation based on current literature and practices in experienced centers. Practitioners and cooperative groups are encouraged to use this document as a guide to formulate their clinical practices and to adopt the most recent dose reporting policies that are critical for a unified outcome analysis of future effectiveness studies.

Conditional Survival Analysis of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Living ≥24 Months: A Single Institutional Study.

OBJECTIVES: The survival of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) has been increasing over recent decades due to improvements in chemotherapy and surgery. There is a need to refine prognostic information to more accurately predict survival as patients survive for any given length of time to assist multidisciplinary cancer management teams in treatment decisions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a single center retrospective analysis of patients treated with metastatic CRC (unresectable and resectable) who survived >24 months between 2005 and 2015 (N=155). Patient tumor and treatment related variables were collected. Overall survival (OS) estimates conditional on surviving >24 months were compared with actuarial survival estimates of a cohort of patients (33,104 resected, 39,382 unresected) from the National Cancer Database (NCDB). RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 44.2 months, the median OS of resected patients (n=86) was not reached. The median OS of unresected patients was 75.9 months. The conditional survival probabilities of living 1, 2, or 3 years longer after 24 months of survival are 92%, 72%, and 52%, respectively, in unresectable patients and 98%, 92%, and 89% in patients who were resected. The corresponding NCDB 1, 2, and 3 year actuarial survival was 38%, 20%, and 11% for unresected patients and 68%, 46%, and 32% for resected. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that CRC patients who survive 24 months with metastatic colorectal cancer have an excellent prognosis and surgery may be appropriate in a subset of patients initially deemed unresectable.