Aim This study presents an analysis (efficacy and toxicity) of outcomes in patients with skull-base chordomas or chondrosarcomas treated with a fixed horizontal pencil proton beam. Background Chordomas (CAs) and chondrosarcomas (CSAs) are rare tumours that are usually located near the base of the skull and very close to the brain's most critical structures. Proton therapy (PT) is often considered the best radiation treatment for these diseases, but it is still a limited resource. Active scanning PT delivered via a fixed pencil beamline might be a promising option. Methods This is a single-centre experience describing the results of proton therapy for 31 patients with CA (n = 23) or CSA (n = 8) located near the base of the skull. Proton therapy was utilized by a fixed pencil beamline with a chair to position the patient between May 2016 and November 2020. Ten patients underwent resection (32.2%), 15 patients (48.4%) underwent R2 resection, and 6 patients had unresectable tumours (19.4%). In 4 cases, the tumours had been previously irradiated. The median PT dose was 70 GyRBE (relative biological efficacy, 1.1) [range, 60 to 74] with 2.0 GyRBE per fraction. The mean GTV volume was 25.6 cm3 [range, 4.2–115.6]. Patient demographics, pathology, treatment parameters, and toxicity were collected and analysed. Radiation-induced reactions were assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v 4.0. Results The median follow-up time was 21 months [range, 4 to 52]. The median overall survival (OS) was 40 months. The 1- and 2-year OS was 100%, and the 3-year OS was 66.3%. Four patients died due to non-cancer-related reasons, 1 patient died due to tumour progression, and 1 patient died due to treatment-related injuries. The 1-year local control (LC) rate was 100%, the 2-year LC rate was 93.7%, and the 3-year LC rate was 85.3%. Two patients with CSA exhibited progression in the neck lymph nodes and lungs. All patients tolerated PT well without any treatment interruptions. We observed 2 cases of ≥ grade 3 toxicity, with 1 case of grade 3 myelitis and 1 case of grade 5 brainstem injury. Conclusion Treatment with a fixed proton beam shows promising disease control and an acceptable toxicity rate, even the difficult-to-treat subpopulation of patients with skull-base chordomas or chondrosarcomas requiring dose escalation.
Orbital hemangiopericytomas (HPCs) are rare mesenchymal tumors with a high tendency to recur. Treatment options are quite limited in case of a relapse, but re-irradiation can be useful. Most of the available data limit the possibility of re-irradiation, while novel techniques (e.g., pencil beam proton therapy [PT]) open new approaches for the safe repeating of treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first well-documented case of multi-times (>3) irradiation of tumors located intracranially. The case reported here describes orbital HPCs with proton irradiation performed two times since 1999 in a 30-year-old woman with a medical history as well as surgery followed by conventional radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy, and two times stereotactic RT (in 2009 and 2013).In 2016 the patient came to our hospital with the 3rd relapse of the tumor, located in the left orbit, with an intracranial part, involving cavernous sinus, which was close to the temporal lobe. The 4th course of irradiation was done in May to June 2016 by pencil beam PT. Radiation necrosis occurred after 2 years and was treated with bevacizumab (BVZ). Three years later, another relapse was treated with PT and BVZ. The 9-month follow-up showed complete tumor response without signs of brain toxicity. The patient died due to a brain abscess 1 year after the 5th irradiation. This case shows a possibility of irradiation, applied 5 times to the same location, with promising results and manageable toxicity.
Recently, there has been a growing interest in the use of active beam scanning proton therapy for re-irradiation of CNS tumors. Although this treatment option for recurrent intracranial tumors is considered effective, however, it is rarely used because of severe radiation-induced neurologic complications. We present 3 case reports of using active beam scanning proton therapy for re-irradiation of intracranial tumors. In the first case, the patient with high-grade glioma was treated with proton beam therapy 1.5 years after the previous conventional external beam radiation therapy. Tumor regression lasting 18 months was achieved. In the second case, the patient received repeated proton beam therapy for recurrent esthesioneuroblastoma. After 1.5 years of follow-up, no evidence of recurrence and late toxicity was observed. The third case was unique, since the patient with recurrent hemangiopericitoma of the orbit received 4 courses of radiotherapy to the same area. A significant regression with no evidence of radiation-induced damage was also seen 12 months after the completion of radiation treatment. Conclusion. Recent advances in proton therapy allow for re-irradiation of CNS tumors in effective total doses, while reducing exposure to surrounding normal tissues. The use of PET-CT for contouring the target allows the localization and volume of the metabolically active tumor tissue to be precisely determined.
The purpose of the study was to compare the efficacy and toxicity of hypofractionated versus hyperfractionated radiotherapy in patients with inoperable lung cancer.Material and Methods. Patients with inoperable lung cancer, who were treated between 2014 and 2017, were assigned to undergo radiotherapy in two arms: accelerated hypofractionated conformal radiotherapy arm with 70 patients (60 Gy in 25 fractions, with 2.4 Gy per fraction) and accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy with 49 patients (60–70 Gy with 1–1.5 Gy per fraction). At the same time, platinum-based chemotherapy was applied.Results. The rates of partial response, complete response, stable disease and progressive disease were 44.3, 7.2, 38.5 and 10.0 %, respectively in patients with hypofractionated conformal radiotherapy arm. The corresponding values were 71.4, 6.1, 16.4 and 6.1 %, respectively in patients with hyperfractionated radiotherapy arm. The 2-year overall survival rate was 62.8 % for the hypofractionated group and 58.1 % for the hyperfractionated group. Esophagitis III grade was observed in 4 (5.7 %) patients of the hypofractionated group and in 3 (6.5 %) patients of the hypofractionated group. Pneumonitis III grade was reported in 2 (2.9 %) patients in the hypofractionated radiotherapy arm and in 4 (8.7 %) patients in the hyperfractionated radiotherapy arm.Conclusion. Results of the study showed that 3D-conformal hypofractionated radiotherapy combined with concurrent chemotherapy resulted no in severe radiation-induced complications, and demonstrated satisfactory short-and long-term treatment outcomes.
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