Macroscopic locoregional relapse from prostate cancer: which role for salvage radiotherapy?

INTRODUCTION: Salvage radiotherapy (SRT) after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer (PCa) is recommended as soon as PSA rises above 0.20 ng/ml, but many patients (pts) still experience local macroscopic relapse. The aim of this multicentric retrospective analysis was to evaluate the role of SRT in pts with macroscopic relapse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2001 to 2016, 105 consecutive pts with macroscopic PCa relapse underwent SRT ± androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Mean age was 72 years. At time of relapse, 29 pts had a PSA value < 1.0 ng/mL, 50 from 1.1 to 5, and 25 pts > 5. Before SRT, 23 pts had undergone 18F-choline PET and 15 pts pelvic MRI. Ninety-four pts had prostatic bed relapse only, and four nodal involvement. Fifty-one pts were previously submitted to first-line ADT, while 6 pts received ≥ 2 lines. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 52 months, 89 pts were alive, while 16 were dead. Total RT dose to macroscopic lesions was > 70 Gy in 58 pts, 66-70 Gy in 43, and < 66 Gy in 4 pts. In 72 pts, target volume encompassed only the prostatic bed with sequential boost to macroscopic site; 33 pts received prophylactic pelvic RT. Ten-year overall survival was 76.1%, while distant metastasis-free survival was 73.3%. No grade 4-5 toxicities were found. CONCLUSIONS: SRT ± ADT for macroscopic relapse showed a favorable oncological outcome supporting its important role in this scenario. Data from this series suggest that SRT may either postpone ADT or improve results over ADT alone in appropriately selected pts.

Diagnosis of latex allergy: the importance of hev B 11.

We present the cases of 5 patients with a positive clinical history of cutaneous symptoms due to contact with latex products. A latex allergological assessment was made through skin prick tests (SPTs) both with commercial latex extracts and extemporaneous glove extracts, and serum-specific IgE to latex and glove-use tests. In addition, serum-specific IgE to recombinant allergens for Hevea brasiliensis was dosed. Molecular diagnostics in association with the glove-use test and, to a lesser extent, the SPTs with glove eluate are useful diagnostic tests to confirm the diagnosis of latex allergy in patients with mucocutaneous symptoms.

A feasibility study of percutaneous Radiofrequency Ablation followed by Radiotherapy in the management of painful osteolytic bone metastases.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) followed by Radiotherapy (RT) (RFA-RT) produces better palliation in terms of pain than RT alone in patients with osteolytic bone metastases. METHODS: Patients with solitary bone metastases and a pain score of least 5 or more on the VAS scale were selected. Fifteen patients were treated with RFA-RT (20 Gy delivered in 5 fractions of 4 Gy over 1 week) and were compared with a matched group (30 subjects) treated by RT. RESULTS: A complete response in terms of pain relief at 12 weeks was documented in 16.6% (5/30) and 53.3% (8/15) of the subjects treated by RT or RFA-RT, respectively (p = 0.027). The overall response rate at 12 weeks was 93.3% (14 patients) in the group treated by RFA-RT and 59.9% (18 patients) in the group treated by RT (p = 0.048). Although recurrent pain was documented more frequently after RT (26.6%) than after RFA-RT (6.7%) the difference did not reach statistical significance. The morbidity related to RT did not significantly differ when this treatment was associated with RFA. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that RFA-RT is safe and more effective than RT. The findings described here should serve as a framework around which to design future clinical trials.

The impact of conventional or hypofractionated radiotherapy on voice quality and oncological outcome in patients with early glottic cancer.

The hypothesis being tested in this study is that hypofractionated radiotherapy is well tolerated and not lower in terms of oncological outcome than conventional radiotherapy. Forty patients with histologically proven glottic cancer were included in the analysis. Twenty-two were treated by hypofractionated radiotherapy (3D-HFRT) (25 fractions of 2.4 Gy delivered daily to a total dose of 60 Gy). This group was retrospectively compared to 18 subjects who met the same inclusion criteria and who were treated with conventional radiotherapy (3D-CRT) (33 fractions of 2 Gy delivered daily to a total dose of 66 Gy). One year after RT treatment in 10 patients (5 in the arm-1 and 5 in the arm-2) mild dysphonia persisted. The other patients achieved a complete recovery of the overall quality of voice with no significant difference documented between the two groups. At 3 years the local control rate was 100% for the patients treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy and 96% for the patients treated with conventional regimen. The statistical analysis did not show any significant difference in local control between the two groups (p=0.45). No significant acute and late toxicity was documented in both groups. Subjects with early glottic cancer seem to experience comparable levels of morbidity irrespective whether they were treated by hypofractionated or conventional conformal therapy without any worsening of the tumor local control. Thus, we provide clinical evidence to justify trends already emerging toward hypofractionated regimens in early glottic cancer.

Subjective and objective measures of late genitourinary morbidity following hypofractionated radiotherapy in men with prostate cancer.

To value the late genitourinary (GU) morbidity in men treated with a hypofractionated radiotherapy regimen for prostate cancer. Patients with intermediate risk factors according to D'Amico's criteria were selected. The hypofractionated schedule consisted of 15 fractions of 3.63 Gy delivered three times per week for a total dose of 54.3 Gy. Significant changes in storage-symptoms were not found. A significant transient worsening in the score of late effects of normal tissue late effects normal tissue task force (LENT)-subjective, objective, management, analytic (SOMA) urinary-function domain was observed at 12 months with subsequent improvement at 28 months. The assessment of voiding-symptoms and maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) showed that no significant difference was measurable at 12 and 28 months. For PVR, a transient increase at 12 months with a subsequent decrease at 28 months was measured. No significant increase in alpha-blockers usage and in the percentage of men with pathological nonintubated uroflowmetry (NIF) was observed at 12 and 28 months. Finally, patients did not perceive any clinical worsening in their quality of life (QoL) as attested by the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS)-QoL. Our study seems to suggest that our hypofractionated radiotherapy schedule for the treatment of prostate cancer is safe in terms of late urinary morbidity. Further study will be required to confirm our results.

The time factor in oncology: consequences on tumour volume and therapeutic planning.

The rules that govern tumour treatment depend largely on clinical stage (tumour volume, localization and/or metastasis presence). These rules are applied assuming that tumor growth is relatively static without considering the time factor, the number of clonogenic cells in the tumour or the volume reduction following initial cytotoxic therapy. Time and neoplastic growth (with a subsequent change in volume) are generally not considered in 90% of clinical trials, where chemotherapy is administered on the first and eighth day and radiotherapy is carried out five days a week with different schedules. In the clinical situation, however, a tumour has more complex growth times that should be appropriately assessed to improve the treatment results (1). The aim of this paper is to stress the influence of the time factor to optimize the schedule of the cytotoxic therapies, based on different mathematical models developed to describe the tumour growth. To better understand the role of the neoplastic growth at its different clinical stages and the subsequent response to cytotoxic therapies, several elements concerning such growth should be thoroughly analyzed.