Radiation Oncology
Expert insights on radiation treatment planning, techniques, toxicity management, and multimodal cancer care.
Recent Discussions
What is your preferred approach in a patient unable to fill their bladder during prostate radiotherapy?
If a patient is willing to do a penile clamp or foley, then sure, go for it. Some patients want to 'do everything' and either is reasonable. Whether or not they need to is another question. Most Grade 3+ GU toxicity is either hemorrhage or stricture. Unfortunately, there isn't great data for any con...
Would you deliver low dose radiotherapy to a patient with persistent knee pain after knee replacement?
I would not offer low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT) for persistent pain after total knee replacement, as the etiology is usually different (issues with arthrosis, neuropathic, or fibrosis, and not inflammation).
How do you treat non-small cell lung cancer presenting with SVC syndrome?
The following text is copied from the chapter on SVC syndrome in the 3rd edition of the "Essentials of Clinical Radiation Oncology" textbook, of which I am the senior editor. It provides a brief summary of the general approach to consider when addressing this syndrome. Please refer to the textbook i...
How are you using predictive tests such as DCISionRT (PreludeDx) or OncotypeDX DCIS in the management of DCIS?
Advantages: It's a relatively cheap, simple assay to better individualize risk of DCIS. Not only prognostic like Oncotype DCIS but also predictive of the absolute benefit of radiation. Supposed to be a better risk assessment tool than traditional clinical pathologic factors. Can identify those who ...
How do you sequence radiation and capecitabine in breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant capecitabine for residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy?
According to personal communication with Dr. Masakazu Toi (June 13, 2017), the corresponding author of the CREATE-X NEJM publication, radiotherapy was administered prior to capecitabine in the majority of cases on this study. It is worth noting that in CALGB 49907, a randomized trial comparing capec...
Is long term ADT now the standard of care with salvage prostate bed RT?
The dreaded hormone question...After 40 years of embarking on extremely well designed randomized trials, we still are confused about the who, what, when of ADT. Will RTOG 9601 create a new care standard? As @Dr. First Last said, I think we will see increased utilization. I have been using bicalutami...
Would you consider the thymus as an OAR during treatment planning for advanced NSCLC?
With any avoidance, the dose is pushed further somewhere else, with often unclear effects. You really can rob Peter to pay Paul. I reckon that, as automated, AI-guided OAR contouring occurs, many substructures can be feasibly and reliably drawn and then monitored for associated late effects. It is g...
When should you use single-fraction radiotherapy for spinal cord compression?
The SCORAD III trial is practice changing. But I do NOT plan to treat ALL patients with spinal cord compression with a single fraction of 8 Gy now. Here is why: SCORAD III is extremely important new study for the management of metastatic epidural spinal cord compression (MESCC) for patients with sho...
Do you constrain the dose to the oropharynx, parotids, or oral cavity when planning HA-WBRT?
On NRG CC001, there was no inter-arm difference in reported adverse events of oral mucositis (N=6 on conventional WBRT arm vs. N=4 on HA-WBRT arm), oral pain (N=3 on conventional WBRT arm vs. N=1 on HA-WBRT arm ), or dry mouth (N=19 on conventional WBRT arm vs. N=18 on HA-WBRT arm) (Brown et al., PM...
Are there any volumetric constraints associated with toxicity in the dose range that is moderately above prescription (i.e. 30-35 Gy range), when planning hippocampal-sparing whole brain radiation?
This is an important question worth some discussion. As the question mentions, clinical trials of HA-WBRT have permitted a hot spot of 133% of the prescription dose of 30 Gy (or 40 Gy) to D2% of the whole-brain parenchyma as an acceptable protocol variation. Importantly, none of these trials have de...