Our goal was to develop a workflow to automatically evaluate delivered dose on daily cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in all breast cancer patients to assess dosimetric impact of anatomical changes and guide decision-making for offline plan adaptation.
The workflow automatically processes the daily CBCTs of all breast cancer patients receiving local and locoregional radiotherapy. The planning-CT is registered to the CBCT to create a synthetic CT and propagate contours. A forward dose calculation is performed, and DVH parameters are extracted and printed in a report. We evaluated the workflow on a group level and in a subset of 30 patients on a patient-specific level, including comparison to clinical evaluation on additional planning-CT in 10 patients.
7454 fractions in 647 patients were analyzed over a period of seven months. Median breast clinical target volume V95% was ≥ 95 % for 97 % of the patients. The workflow would have provided useful additional insights for decision-making for the requirement of plan adaptation, based on debatable disagreement with the clinical decision in half of the cases with an additional planning-CT. The workflow also identified cases with suboptimal coverage not identified in the clinical procedure.
We developed a fully automated workflow for dose evaluation on daily CBCT for local and locoregional breast radiotherapy. We have demonstrated its potential for aiding decision-making for plan adaptation in patients with changing anatomy and its capability to highlight patients that may receive suboptimal treatment and require closer clinical evaluation of treatment quality.
Oral cancer remains a significant global health concern and its early detection plays a crucial role in improving patient outcomes. Identifying reliable prognostic markers is essential to guide treatment decisions and enhance survival rates. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA), a glycolytic enzyme, has emerged as a promising candidate for prognostic assessment of oral cancer. This review highlights the role of FBA in tumorigenesis, its potential utility in predicting disease progression and patient survival, and its influence on response to radiotherapy. Recent studies have suggested that dysregulated metabolic pathways involving FBA may contribute to radiation resistance in oral cancer, emphasizing the need for further exploration of FBA-targeted therapeutic strategies. Understanding the role of FBA in oral cancer pathogenesis could pave the way for the development of personalized treatment strategies, including combined radiotherapy.
Early salvage radiotherapy (SRT) is the standard of care for biochemical recurrence post-prostatectomy but outcomes are heterogeneous.
To develop a risk scoring system based on relevant standard-of-care clinico-pathological prognostic factors for patients treated with SRT with and without hormonal therapy (HT).
The Intermediate Clinical Endpoints in Cancer of the Prostate (ICECaP) database included three randomized trials (Individual patients’ data from 1647 subjects) assessing SRT (GETUG-AFU-16; NRG/RTOG-9601, and a subset of EORTC-22911).
Outcomes were clinical progression (CP). metastasis free-survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS). Clinico-pathological factors, including pathological Gleason Score (GS), PSA at SRT start, margin status, persistent PSA post-RP and time from RP to SRT were evaluated by multivariable models stratified by type of treatment.
On multivariable analysis PSA ≥ 0.5 ng/mL at SRT start, GS ≥ 8 and negative margin status were the three strongest prognostic factors. Three prognostic groups defined by number of these risk features (high risk: 2 or 3; intermediate risk: 1 and low risk: 0) were strongly associated with OS, MFS and CP outcomes with SRT alone or with HT. This prognostic group definition was also relevant for patients with persistent PSA post RP and for patients treated < 1 year from RP to SRT and with and without HT.
A risk score for patients receiving SRT with or without HT, using three standard-of-care clinico-pathological risk factors provides refined prognostic information for individual patient counselling.
By using a composite score of pathology grading (Gleason Score), PSA at start of salvage radiation and margin status data, physicians can provide patients with more refined information on the risk of a second relapse after receiving radiation to the prostate bed after a prostatectomy for a rising or persistent PSA, both with and without hormonal therapy.
Overcoming radioresistance is a critical challenge in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Our study investigates the targeting of Cyclin-dependent kinase-1 (CDK1) through genetic and pharmaceutical inhibition to radiosensitize PDAC cells.
Mass spectrometry and phosphoproteomics were used to analyze engineered radiation-resistant PDAC cell lines (MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1) compared to parental controls. The TCGA PDAC database was queried for clinical outcomes and patients were dichotomized based on the median CDK1 mRNA expression. We generated a microRNA-based TET-on inducible shRNA to inhibit CDK1 expression in two PDAC cell lines. We used an orthotopic model of PDAC to test the radiation sensitivity of PDAC tumors with or without doxycycline treatment. We targeted CDK1 activation with a selective CDK1 inhibitor, RO-3306, followed by in vitro experiments employing immunoblotting, immunocytochemistry, and clonogenic assays.
Phosphoproteomics analysis revealed that phospho-CDK1 (Tyr15) was significantly elevated in the resistant clones. We found that high CDK1 expression was associated with worse OS in PDAC patients. Radiation exposure increased CDK1 phosphorylation. In MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1 cells, CDK1 inhibition synergized with radiation therapy to delay tumor growth in vivo. CDK1 inhibition via. RO-3306 resulted in a significant shift of cells into the G2/M phase and disrupted DNA repair after radiation exposure. In vitro, pre-treatment with RO-3306 led to enhanced radiosensitivity of PDAC cells.
CDK1 plays a crucial role in PDAC radioresistance. Targeting CDK1 with radiotherapy holds promise for further investigation in PDAC treatment.
Patients with rectal cancer are often treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, followed by a waiting period and surgical resection. Good or complete response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy might enable organ preservation, which highlights the need to increase response rates. Pre-clinical studies suggest that physical activity during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy may improve tumor downstaging.
To investigate whether physical activity and physical functioning of patients with rectal cancer at diagnosis are associated with tumor downstaging after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.
Patients were included if they participated in the Dutch Prospective ColoRectal Cancer Cohort, a nationwide cohort providing an infrastructure for scientific research, and received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer. Tumor downstaging was dichotomized into good/complete or moderate/poor downstaging. Physical activity (total physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and Dutch physical activity guideline adherence) and physical functioning were assessed using questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations of physical activity and physical functioning with tumor downstaging, adjusted for relevant confounders.
268 patients (aged 62 ± 11 years, 33 % female) with rectal cancer were included. Patients with moderate (OR = 2.07; 95%CI = 1.07 – 4.07; p = 0.03) or high (OR = 2.05; 95%CI = 1.05 – 4.07; p = 0.04) levels of MVPA were more likely to have good/complete tumor downstaging than patients with low levels. No significant associations with tumor downstaging were found for total physical activity, Dutch physical activity guideline adherence, and physical functioning.
We found augmented tumor downstaging in patients with rectal cancer with moderate or high levels of self-reported MVPA before the start of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy compared to patients with low levels.
The aim of this study is to establish dosimetric constraints for the brachial plexus at risk of developing grade ≥ 2 brachial plexopathy in the context of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).
Individual patient data from 349 patients with 356 apical lung malignancies who underwent SBRT were extracted from 5 articles. The anatomical brachial plexus was delineated following the guidelines provided in the atlases developed by Hall, et al. and Kong, et al.. Patient characteristics, pertinent SBRT dosimetric parameters, and brachial plexopathy grades (according to CTCAE 4.0 or 5.0) were obtained. Normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models were used to estimate the risk of developing grade ≥ 2 brachial plexopathy through maximum likelihood parameter fitting.
The prescription dose/fractionation schedules for SBRT ranged from 27 to 60 Gy in 1 to 8 fractions. During a follow-up period spanning from 6 to 113 months, 22 patients (6.3 %) developed grade ≥2 brachial plexopathy (4.3 % grade 2, 2.0 % grade 3); the median time to symptoms onset after SBRT was 8 months (ranged, 3–54 months). NTCP models estimated a 10 % risk of grade ≥2 brachial plexopathy with an anatomic brachial plexus maximum dose (Dmax) of 20.7 Gy, 34.2 Gy, and 42.7 Gy in one, three, and five fractions, respectively. Similarly, the NTCP model estimates the risks of grade ≥2 brachial plexopathy as 10 % for BED Dmax at 192.3 Gy and EQD2 Dmax at 115.4 Gy with an α/β ratio of 3, respectively. Symptom persisted after treatment in nearly half of patients diagnosed with grade ≥2 brachial plexopathy (11/22, 50 %).
This study establishes dosimetric constraints ranging from 20.7 to 42.7 Gy across 1–5 fractions, aimed at mitigating the risk of developing grade ≥2 brachial plexopathy following SBRT. These findings provide valuable guidance for future ablative SBRT in apical lung malignancies.
Radioresistance is a significant challenge in the radiotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to investigate the role of R-spondin 3 (RSPO3) in regulating NSCLC radioresistance.
RNA sequencing was performed to analyze genes that are differentially expressed in radioresistant NSCLC cell lines. RSPO3 overexpression and knockdown experiments were conducted to assess its impact on radiosensitivity. The involvement of the β-catenin-NF-κB signaling pathway and the NLRP3 inflammasome in RSPO3-mediated radiosensitivity was also evaluated. In vivo experiments were conducted using a clinical-grade anti-RSPO3 antibody (OMP-131R10/rosmantuzumab) to assess its impact on radiation-induced pyroptosis and subsequent anti-tumor immunity.
RSPO3 expression was downregulated in radioresistant NSCLC cells. Overexpression of RSPO3 increased NSCLC radiosensitivity through the induction of pyroptosis, which was mediated by the β-catenin-NF-κB signaling pathway and the NLRP3 inflammasome. The anti-RSPO3 antibody effectively blocked radiation-induced pyroptosis and anti-tumor immunity in vivo. Conversely, upregulation of RSPO3 enhanced NSCLC tumor radiosensitivity.
The findings demonstrated that RSPO3 plays a crucial role in regulating NSCLC radioresistance via NLRP3 mediated pyroptosis. Targeting the RSPO3-NLRP3 inflammasome axis may offer a potential therapeutic strategy to enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy for NSCLC patients.