ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Lung Cancer Subcommittee of Korean Radiation Oncology Group (KROG) has recently launched a prospective clinical trial (KROG 17-06) of hippocampus-sparing whole brain radiotherapy (HS-WBRT) with simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) in treating multiple brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer. In order to improve trial quality, dummy run studies among the participating institutions were designed. This work reported the results of two-step dummy run procedures of the KROG 17-06 study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two steps tested hippocampus contouring variability and radiation therapy planning compliance. In the first step, the variation of the hippocampus delineation was investigated for two representative cases using the Dice similarity coefficients. In the second step, the participating institutions were requested to generate a HS-WBRT with SIB treatment plan for another representative case. The compliance of the treatment plans to the planning protocol was evaluated. RESULTS: In the first step, the median Dice similarity coefficients of the hippocampus contours for two other dummy run cases changed from 0.669 (range, 0.073 to 0.712) to 0.690 (range, 0.522 to 0.750) and from 0.291 (range, 0.219 to 0.522) to 0.412 (range, 0.264 to 0.598) after providing the hippocampus contouring feedback. In the second step, with providing additional plan priority and extended dose constraints to the target volumes and normal structures, we observed the improved compliance of the treatment plans to the planning protocol. CONCLUSION: The dummy run studies demonstrated the notable inter-institutional variability in delineating the hippocampus and treatment plan generation, which could be decreased through feedback from the trial center.
Subject(s)
Brain , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung , Compliance , Hippocampus , Lung Neoplasms , Neoplasm Metastasis , Prospective Studies , Radiation Oncology , RadiotherapyABSTRACT
Objective : This study aimed to investigate the changes in the functioning of users of visiting rehabilitation services and related factors. Methods: Among 107 users in 22 visiting rehabilitation centers, we analyzed the data of 80 who completed the 6-month study. Their Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Life-Space Assessment (LSA), and level of caregiver burden (J-ZBI_8) were compared at the commencement of this study, and at 3 and 6 months afterwards. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine the factors related to the variables, which changed over 6 months. Results : Over a period of 6 months from the commencement of the study, we found that FIM and LSA scores significantly improved from 82.4 to 87.3 (<i>p</i>=0.016) and from 9.9 to 12.3 (<i>p</i>=0.05), respectively, in the group who were still within 1 year from the time since onset/injury. A multiple regression analysis revealed that the period of time since onset/injury, independence degree of daily living for the demented elderly, and presence of goal setting for activities of daily living/domestic work significantly influenced changes in total FIM scores (<i>p</i>=0.001, <i>R</i><sup>2</sup>=0.32). Furthermore, the change in LSA scores was significantly influenced by gender, presence of cerebrovascular diseases, period of time since onset/injury, number of occupations involved in visiting rehabilitation services, and J-ZBI_8 scores (<i>p</i>=0.0001, <i>R</i><sup>2</sup>=0.36). Conclusion : Effective visiting rehabilitation requires having appropriate goals set for daily living activities and the establishment of interprofessional collaboration within visiting rehabilitation centers.