Hemostatic radiotherapy in clinically significant tumor-related bleeding: excellent palliative results in a retrospective analysis of 77 patients.

BACKGROUND: Significant bleeding of tumor sites is a dreaded complication in oncological diseases and often results in clinical emergencies. Besides basic local and interventional procedures, an urgent radiotherapeutic approach can either achieve a bleeding reduction or a bleeding stop in a vast majority of patients. In spite of being used regularly in clinical practice, data reporting results to this therapy approach is still scarce. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 77 patients treated for significant tumor-related bleeding at our clinic between 2000 and 2021, evaluating treatment response rate, hemoglobin levels, hemoglobin transfusion necessity, administered radiotherapy dose and overall survival. RESULTS: Response rate in terms of bleeding stop was 88.3% (68/77) in all patients and 95.2% (60/63) in the subgroup, wherein radiotherapy (RT) was completed as intended. Hemoglobin transfusions decreased during treatment in a further subgroup analysis. Median overall survival (OS) was 3.3 months. Patients with primary tumors (PT) of the cervix (carcinoma of the cervix, CC) or endometrium (endometrioid carcinoma, EDC) and patients receiving the full intended RT dose showed statistically significant better OS in a multivariable cox regression model. Median administered dose was 39 Gy, treatment related acute toxicity was considerably low. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show an excellent response rate with a low toxicity profile when administering urgent radiotherapy for tumor related clinically significant bleeding complications. Nonetheless, treatment decisions should be highly individual due to the low median overall survival of this patient group.

Symptom relief, prognostic factors, and outcome in patients receiving urgent radiation therapy for superior vena cava syndrome : A single-center retrospective analysis of 21 years' practice.

PURPOSE: Superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) often results from external vessel compression due to tumor growth. Urgent symptom-guided radiotherapy (RT) remains a major treatment approach in histologically proven, rapidly progressive disease. Despite several publications, recent data concerning symptom relief and oncological outcome as well as potential confounders in treatment response are still scarce. METHODS: We performed a retrospective single-center analysis of patients receiving urgent RT between 2000 and 2021 at the University Medical Center Göttingen. Symptom relief was evaluated by CTCAE score during the RT course. Effects of variables on symptom relief were assessed by logistic regression. The impact of parameters on overall survival (OS) was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier plot along with the log-rank test and by Cox regression analyses. Statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) confounders were tested in multivariable analyses. RESULTS: A total of 79 patients were included. Symptom relief was achieved in 68.4%. Mean OS was 59 days, 7.6% (n = 6) of patients showed long-term survival (> 2 years). Applied RT dose > 39 Gy, clinical target volume (CTV) size < 387 ml, concomitant chemotherapy, and completion of the prescribed RT course were found to be statistically significant for OS; applied RT dose and completion of the prescribed RT course were found to be statistically significant for symptom relief. CONCLUSION: Symptom relief by urgent RT for SVCS was achieved in the majority of patients. RT dose and completion of the RT course were documented as predictors for OS and symptom relief, CTV < 387 ml and concomitant chemotherapy were predictive for OS.