Use of a Modified Hemi-body Irradiation Technique for Metastatic Carcinoma of the Prostate: Report of a 10-year Experience

Guidelines for preclinical and early phase clinical assessment of novel radiosensitisers

“…In the majority of situations, RT is a highly localised treatment that targets defined volumes of tissue that are known (or suspected) to contain cancer cells. Wide-field hemi-body (Bashir et al , 2008) or total body (Adkins and DiPersio, 2008) irradiation techniques are used rarely in very specific indications, such as metastatic bone disease or ‘conditioning' before transplantation in haematological malignancies, respectively. In addition, the latest developments in stereotactic body RT (SBRT) techniques have also resulted in protocols that aim to treat oligometastatic disease spread through an organ (or more than one organ) with very precisely delivered RT fields and ablative doses (Benedict et al , 2010).…”

Side Effects of Palliative Radiotherapy

“…Up to 80% of patients undergoing RT describe fatigue, the causes of which are poorly understood [19,20] . RT -related fatigue may be exacerbated by Increased intracranial pressure • Dexamethasone 4 -16mg/day in divided doses [21] anemia, sleep disorders, psychologic issues, chemotherapy, or hormonal disturbances [19] .…”

“…Even after hemi -body irradiation (HBI), pancytopenia is transient and not of clinical signifi cance. Thrombocytopenia, leucopenia, and anemia reach a nadir at day 10, but counts can remain low for weeks [20] . Approximately 1/4 of patients will require transfusion support after HBI.…”

“…Approximately 1/4 of patients will require transfusion support after HBI. Blood counts should be monitored until recovery, however, as patients will be at risk of neutropenic sepsis until the end of that time frame [20] .…”

“…Malaise and anorexia are very common, affecting up to three -quarters of patients receiving gastric RT [7] . Approximately one -third of patients experience some degree of nausea, especially with large RT volumes [20] . Prophylactic oral anti -emetics (e.g.…”