Impact of Self-Reported Exercise on Recounted Levels of Fatigue and Anxiety in Early-Stage Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy Patients.

PURPOSE: Exercise may be an alternative strategy to helping early-stage breast cancer (ESBC) patients manage their cancer-related fatigue and anxiety during radiation therapy. This observational study aims to investigate the impact of self-reported exercise on fatigue and anxiety levels pre (T0), mid (T1), and post (T2) radiation therapy in patients with ESBC. METHODS: Following informed consent, subjects completed three standardized questionnaires measuring physical activity, fatigue/quality of life, and anxiety at T0, T1, and T2. RESULTS: A total of 58 female patients (57 ± 9 years) completed this study. Mean activity level at T0 was 2548 (3292) metabolic equivalent units (METs), T1 was 3072 (3974) METs, and T2 was 2963 (2442) METs. There was no significant change between the three time points with measures of physical activity. Many patients moved from the moderately active group at T0 to the active group at T1. The mean T0 score using the quality of life questionnaire was 38.97 (11.30), T1 was 36.93 (11.69), and T2 was 35.36 (11.18). There was no significant change between the three time points with measures of quality of life (P = .211). There was statistical significance at P = .025 at T1 for lower quality of life compared to T0 across all exercise types. There was also statistical significance at P = .026 at T1 for the active group with higher quality of life compared to the inactive one. All three physical activity categories showed a decline in quality of life scores over time. Anxiety decreased between the three time point measurements. Mean T0 score for anxiety was 47.33 (5.95), T1 was 43.16 (6.49), and T2 was 38.48 (8.46). The interaction of exercise level and time is not significant for anxiety (P = .91). There was statistical significance (P = .015) for anxiety at T2 compared to T1 across exercise types. DISCUSSION: This study demonstrated that ESBC patients showed signs of fatigue and anxiety while undergoing radiation therapy regardless of self-reported exercise measured by a physical activity questionnaire. Several trends were observed that showed improved outcomes for patients consistent with previously published studies. The present study highlights a nonsignificant change in fatigue. As fatigue is one of the main side effects from radiation, it may be difficult to demonstrate significance. There are some studies in the field that demonstrate significance between fatigue and exercise with larger sample sizes. The results also highlight a decrease in anxiety from the baseline to the end of treatment. It is postulated that patients become less anxious as treatment progresses due to familiarity of a routine. The present study is limited by several factors including sample size and the study not being a randomized controlled one. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise may reduce anxiety during radiation treatment for ESBC patients. Further investigation is required to assess the impact of fatigue.

Tumour-Targeted Treatment Intensification for Prostate Cancer Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging Guidance.

INTRODUCTION: Local control in prostate cancer may be improved with targeted dose escalation to regions with high tumour burden. Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) combined with MRI-guided biopsies may aid in defining tumour-dense regions before radiation therapy. Deformable registration techniques may be used to map these tumour regions onto the radiotherapy planning MRI. Radiation therapy delivery techniques such as volumetric modulated arc therapy and high-dose-rate brachytherapy may allow for highly conformal dose escalation, and when coupled with image-guided radiation delivery (ie, cone beam computed technology and fiducial markers), may allow high-precision dose-escalated treatment. METHODS: Eligible prostate cancer patients were enrolled on a prospective trial of tumour dose escalation. Two strategies were investigated: (1) an integrated boost to external beam radiation for a total tumour dose of 95 Gy in 38 fractions or (2) a focal high-dose-rate boost of 10 Gy before 76 Gy in 38 fractions external beam radiation. Patients underwent MRI-guided biopsy with fiducial marker placement before therapy. mpMRI was acquired and used in conjunction with a non-endorectal coil T2 MRI and computed technology simulation images to define the gross tumour volume via a deformable registration approach for intraprostatic tumour dose escalation. RESULTS: A case example for each dose escalation strategy illustrates the tumour-targeted approach using MRI guidance. CONCLUSIONS: Combining mpMRI sequences with a deformable registration approach may aid in more accurate and reproducible definition of tumour-dense regions. This novel process coupled with daily image guidance may allow high-precision dose-escalated tumour-targeted radiotherapy for prostate cancer.