ABSTRACT
A PENTEC analysis of published investigations of central nervous system (CNS) subsequent neoplasms (CNS-SN) in childhood cancer survivors who received radiation therapy (RT) to the brain was performed to estimate the effect of RT dose and gender on the risk of CNS-SN following RT. Through the PENTEC initiative, a systematic literature review was performed to identify published data on CNS-SN after prior cranial RT in childhood cancer survivors. Using the Covidence platform 2,156 studies were screened for potential inclusion. The incidences of CNS-SNs, RT dose, age, gender, primary cancer diagnosis, and latent time from primary diagnosis to CNS-SN were extracted, to assess the factors influencing risk for subsequent meningiomas or subsequent malignant CNS tumors (e.g., gliomas). The odds ratio for CNS-SNs in different dose intervals were calculated and excess odds ratio (EOR) per Gy of developing subsequent meningiomas or malignant tumors was estimated using inverse-variance weighted linear regression to model the risk for CNS-SN versus dose. Forty studies of independent patient cohorts provided information on 736 subsequent malignant tumors with average median latency 10.3 years, and 32 studies provided information on 1,035 subsequent meningiomas with average median latency 20.5 years. Dose-response was derived from 6 studies of 248 subsequent malignant tumors and 7 studies of 557 subsequent meningiomas. The pooled EOR/Gy was 0.45 (95% CI: 0.25, 0.66) for meningiomas and 0.16 (95% CI: 0.11, 0.20) for malignant CNS tumors. The average cumulative incidence of developing a meningioma or malignant CNS tumor at 15 years of follow-up was 2.4% (range, 1.2-6.3%) or 0.9% (range, 0.4-1.8%), respectively. Females had a higher risk of meningioma than males (OR=1.5, 95% CI: 1.2, 1.8;6 studies;50,346 patients) whereas no gender difference was seen in risk of malignant tumors (OR=0.9, 95% CI: 0.7, 1.2;4 studies;32,446 patients). This PENTEC systematic review shows a significant radiation dose-response relationship and higher risk among females for meningioma, akin to the general population, and a highly significant but somewhat less steep relationship for subsequent malignant tumors with no effect of gender. Further evaluation of the effect of age and chemotherapy in relation to dose and gender is necessary to elucidate the risk of CNS-SN after RT. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Background: Cancer patients experience significant distress throughout treatment and especially during transition back to normal life with greater burden on socially disadvantaged patients and those with medical comorbidities. Patient stressors can interfere with their ability to make reasoned and timely decisions about survivorship care and lead to poor quality of life and low physical and social functioning. This pilot effectiveness-implementation study examined the impact and feasibility of offering the Bright IDEAS system of Problem-Solving Skills Training (PSST) to adult cancer survivors to help them and their caregivers cope more successfully with decision making and distress. Methods: Patients with breast (21), prostate (9) or colorectal (20) cancer who completed their definitive cancer treatment within the last 6 months and had their cancer survivorship visit were recruited from two regional cancer centers and affiliated community oncology clinics. Patients with an NCCN distress level > 2 were randomly assigned to either care as usual (CAU) or 8 weekly PSST sessions provided by a trained therapist in person or remotely. Patients were invited but not required to include a supportive other (n = 17). Patient and caregiver assessments at baseline (T1), end of intervention/3 months (T2), and 3 months post intervention/6 months (T3) focused on problem-solving skills (SPSI-25), distress (HADS) and quality of life (FACT). We also collected healthcare utilization data. We compared outcome changes T1-T2 and T1-T3, by study arm, using t-tests. Multivariate regression analysis identified subgroups of patients with positive and negative responses to skills training. Results: Average age of the participants was 63 years (45 to 87) with racial and ethnic distributions representative of the local population (88% white). Two thirds were women (n = 32), one third of the patients were recruited and received therapy fully remotely due to COVID-19-related protocol changes. Patients who received PSST reported a reduction in dysfunctional problemsolving style and improvement in constructive style while problem-solving skills of CAU patients trended in the opposite direction. Patients in the PSST arm also reported significant reduction in anxiety and depression and improvement in cancer-specific quality of life (p < 0.05) that was sustained at 6 months. Patients in the PSST arm reported lower use of hospital and ED services compared to CAU patients (p = 0.07). Better improvement in outcomes was driven by lower problem-solving skills at baseline. Conclusions:Despite the logistical complexity of running a clinical trial during quarantine, patients and caregivers in the PSST arm demonstrated meaningful improvement in distress and quality of life. The evidence from this pilot study will help guide development of a future multi-site randomized clinical trial of the effect of PSST on cancer survivorship care and outcomes.