Revue medicale de Liege最新文献

Prevention and early intervention in the field of mental health are recognized as key elements in minimizing the impact of any potentially serious mental health condition. However, early intervention in the field of young people's health is an objective that is underdeveloped. There are several possible avenues of prevention: selective preventive interventions for individuals whose risk of developing a mental disorder is significantly higher than the rest of the population, interventions for individuals who are no longer asymptomatic, secondary prevention strategies aimed at mitigating the onset of negative prognostic factors, and tertiary prevention strategies aimed at remedying resistance to treatment and psychosocial dysfunction. Epigenetics will undoubtedly be a promising area for the prevention of mental disorders in the future. Epigenetic processes, which can be modified by preventive measures such as physical activity, could lead to resilience to mental disorders. Finally, lifestyle factors (physical exercise, diet, smoking, lack of sleep) could also play a role in the emergence or prevention of mental illness.

Although rare, around 2 % of digestive tumours, anal canal tumours remain a pathology that should not be neglected. These are frequently underdiagnosed due to the affected region and the symptoms that can be confused with more common and benign pathologies such as haemorrhoids or anal fissures. The treatment of these tumours is mainly based on radio-chemotherapy to avoid heavy surgical treatment which remains the salvage option. This article aims to review the epidemiology, diagnosis, management, monitoring and future developments for these cancers.

Functional imaging, including positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (PET/CT), allows the evaluation of numerous biological properties that could be considered at all steps of the therapeutic management of patients treated with radiotherapy. Indeed, it enables better initial staging of the disease, and some parameters may also be used as predictive biomarkers for treatment response, allowing better selection of patients eligible for radiotherapy. It may also improve the definition of target volumes with the aim of dose escalations by dose-painting. Finally, it could be useful during the follow-up to assess response to treatment. In this review, we report how functional imaging is integrated at the present time during the radiotherapy procedure, and what are its potential future contributions.

Radiotherapy for non-tumoral disorders has a long history. Lack of high-level evidence, therapeutic alternatives and fear of side effects (particularly radiation-induced cancer) reduced some indications to a trickle during the second half of the 20th century. Others were logically abandoned. There are two exceptions to this trend. On the one hand, some Central European countries (Germany in particular) still use radiotherapy regularly for diseases such as osteoarthritis, plantar fasciitis, chronic tendinopathies, Dupuytren's disease, etc. On the other hand, the development of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy has opened up new indications, whether cerebral (arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neuralgia, obsessive-compulsive disorders) or cardiac (ventricular tachycardia). In this article, we present a non-exhaustive list of some indications (or rather possibilities) for radiotherapy in non-tumoral disorders in 2024.

Clinical research is summarizing scientific trials performed in human aiming to improve biological and medical knowledges. The management of such an activity has to be conducted in a secured environment in terms of expertise, competency and professionalism of involved actors. In the field of cancer, multidisciplinarity is key in the treatment of malignant disease and plays a major role sequentially or concomitantly. In the 90s, clinical research in radiation oncology obtained historical successes, which remain validated guidelines for national societies in a significant number of clinical situations. They concern not only technological improvements but also combined modality treatments with chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and potentially new targeted agents. Radiotherapy, in a palliative or in a curative setting, benefited from dramatic technological improvements aiming to address patient quality of life after radiation therapy. Actually, the emergence of artificial intelligence is willing to modify our current practice historically based on old concepts of clinical evaluation.

Cancer care poses a significant economic burden, challenging healthcare budgets to balance patient benefits with affordability. Radiotherapy takes up only a limited part of oncology budgets, but the cost is rarely clear-cut due to influential factors such as complexity of treatments, highly-trained personnel and technologies. Health-economic appraisal is complex and can be performed in several ways, balancing costs and outcomes, but not all approaches are equally suitable for assessment of radiotherapy interventions. The concept of «value-based healthcare» offers a broader perspective to health-economic appraisal, considering various outcomes and the cost of the total cycle of care, thus addressing some of the challenges in radiotherapy: the diversity of interventions, a broad range of outcomes (including organ preservation or local control) and challenges in evidence generation. However, as the existing value-based frameworks in oncology are aimed at systemic therapies, a tailored approach for radiotherapy interventions is necessary to enhance access to innovative care and optimize resource allocation. This article explores the economic aspects of radiotherapy, providing an overview of radiotherapy cost determinants and calculations, discussing different health-economic strategies and value-based healthcare, and how these can address the specific challenges in radiotherapy.

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Radiation therapy has many indications in veterinary oncology and allows a multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of canine and feline patients. Radiation therapy can be recommended as a sole therapy in case of radiosensitive tumors or can be associated to surgery and/or chemotherapy after marginal excision for example. It can also be recommended as a palliative treatment for patients with an inoperable or painful tumor or disseminated disease. Radiation therapy significantly improves the quality of life and survival time of treated animals and should be part of the therapeutic modalities in veterinary medicine. The University of Liège developed the first veterinary center of radiation therapy in Belgium and can therefore participate in improving therapeutic management of cancerous animal patients.

Radiation therapy is the use of radiation to treat cancer cells while preserving healthy tissue. More than half of cancer patients will receive radiation therapy at some point during their treatment. The implementation of a Quality Management System (QMS) in radiotherapy departments guarantees high quality care and optimal safety for patients. The QMS is a set of policies, procedures and processes aimed at ensuring effective management of the quality of treatments. It is crucial for planning, implementing, monitoring and continuously improving the care of radiotherapy patients. The benefits of the QMS for patients are multiple. It provides high quality support through specific protocols and deadlines. The security of processing is reinforced by the continuous training of personnel, the monitoring of incidents and the analysis of errors. Developing a culture of safety and continuous improvement also helps to minimize risk. In conclusion, the implementation of a QMS in radiotherapy departments guarantees quality care, secure and adapted to the individual needs of patients. This improves patient satisfaction while reducing the risk of errors.

To accept the toxic side effects of any treatment, whether medical, surgical or radiotherapeutic, cannot be avoided but implies to evaluate them taking into account the severity and prognosis of the disease that is concerned. Screening, preventing and treatment of these side effects are an integral aspect of the treatment of cancers. We will here review the contribution of the cardio-oncology, a recently emerged medical specialty. Cardiac irradiation cannot be avoided when treating several cancers, most frequently left sided breast cancer. As soon as radiotherapy is considered, it is of prime importance to evaluate each patient's risk factors and to handle them. If technical progresses have led to the complete disappearance of acute side effects of radiotherapy, this is not true for the delayed ones that may occur many years after the irradiation. Hence the need for «red flags» and for a systematic follow-up. Cardiac complications of left breast irradiation concern all aspects of cardiology: diseases of cardiac rhythm, valvulopathies, heart failure, coronary and pericardial disorders.