Background: Radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery includes irradiation of whole breast and regional lymphatic areas which is followed by a boost to the tumor bed. Several different techniques have been proposed for delineation of tumor bed for boost. The purpose of the study was to identify the best method for localizing the tumor bed. Methods: 21 patients with histologically proven stage I and II infiltating ductal carcinoma of breast who underwent breast conserving surgery were included in the study. We delineated the boost volumes using five different techniques viz., patients’ self-localization, surgeon’s localization, pre-op CT based, scar-based and surgical clips based. The surgical clips-based volume is taken as a standard volume and the other volumes were compared with it. The outcome measures studied were the mean overlap volumes, the mean volume of surgical clips based volume missed by the other PTVs, the mean volumes of breast tissue outside the clips based PTV that could have been irradiated by the other PTVs. Results: None of the PTV volumes had good concordance with the surgical clips-based volume (PTV1). The best volume overlap was with patient’s self-localization (PTV3) albeit only being 34%. The scar-based localization volume had the least overlap with PTV1 (23%). The patients’ self-localization volume (PTV3) had the highest amount of breast tissue included outside PTV1 (64cc) and preop CT based volume (PTV4) included the least (42cc). Conclusion: Delineation of boost volume using surgical clips augmented by the simulation CT should be the standard technique for boost bed irradiation.

Brain metastasis is seen in 10% to 20% of all adult cancer patients. One of the main modalities of treatment is stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Here, we describe the step by step procedure for stereotactic planning of brain metastasis by using a clinical scenario. The management of brain metastasis starts with the clinical evaluation of the patient followed by imaging and SRS treatment in the present case. The paper highlights the sequential process of radiation planning for SRS—starting from simulation, planning, evaluation of plan, and treatment.

No abstract

JOURNAL/crsat/04.03/02201859-202306020-00008/figure1/v/2023-08-03T140821Z/r/image-tiff JOURNAL/crsat/04.03/02201859-202306020-00008/figure2/v/2023-08-03T140821Z/r/image-tiff Background: Interruptions in radiation treatment are known to have a deleterious effect on oncologic outcomes,specifically, an increase in tumor recurrence and decrease in cancer cure rate. Objectives: Our primary aim was to determine the factors influencing radiotherapy interruptions and provide solutions to decrease these dropouts. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted between May 2009 and July 2010 at Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, a tertiary cancer center in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, on patients with histopathologically proven cancer, who were receiving radiation, either as definitive concurrent chemoradiation or in the adjuvant or palliative setting. Before the start and during treatment, patients were counseled by radiation oncologists, radiation coordinators, and radiation therapy technologists. During radiotherapy, an interruption of more than five consecutive days was considered a treatment interruption. Following a treatment interruption, patients were called on the telephone, counseling was done, and the cause of the treatment interruption was recorded and attempts were made to resolve the problem. Results: We enrolled 1200 patients in the study. There were more male (n = 724 [60.4%]) than female (n = 476 [39.6%]) patients. The cohort included 379 patients (31.6%) with carcinoma of the head-and-neck and 301 patients (25.1%) with gynecological malignancies. There were 100 (8.3%) treatment interruptions recorded during the study period. The common causes of radiation interruption were radiation-induced toxicity (n = 20 [20%]), patient death (n = 15 [15%]), financial (n = 15 [15%]), and social (n = 12 [12%]) issues. After counseling over the telephone, treatment could be restarted in 25 (25%) of the 100 patients who had interrupted and stopped radiotherapy. Conclusion: Treatment interruption is relatively common in our patients receiving radiotherapy. To prevent such dropouts and increase compliance to treatment, adequate and frequent counseling before and during radiation treatment is needed.