Neoadjuvant Long-Course Chemoradiotherapy for Rectal Cancer: Does Time to Surgery Matter?

The objective of this paper was to evaluate whether delaying surgery following long-course chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer correlates with pathologic complete response. Pre-operative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is standard practice in the UK for the management of locally advanced rectal cancer. Optimal timing of surgery following CRT is still not clearly defined. All patients with a diagnosis of rectal cancer who had undergone long-course CRT prior to surgery between January 2008 and December 2011 were included. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata 11. Fifty-nine patients received long-course CRT prior to surgery in the selected period. Twenty-seven percent (16/59) of patients showed a complete histopathologic response and 59.3% (35/59) of patients had tumor down-staging from radiologically-assessed node positive to histologically-proven node negative disease. There was no statistically significant delay to surgery after completion of CRT in the 16 patients with complete response (CR) compared with the rest of the group [IR: incomplete response; CR group median: 74.5 days (IQR: 70-87.5) and IR group median: 72 days (IQR: 57-83), P = 0.470]. Although no statistically significant predictors of either complete response or tumor nodal status down-staging were identified in logistic regression analyses, a trend toward complete response was seen with longer delay to surgery following completion of long-course CRT.

Regional radiotherapy to axilla and supraclavicular fossa for adjuvant breast treatment: a comparison of four techniques.

PURPOSE: The three techniques commonly used to treat the axilla and supraclavicular nodes in adjuvant radiotherapy all have significant disadvantages, including underdosing the deeper nodes, excessively irradiating normal tissues, or producing undesirable hot spots. We assessed whether an anterior field with posterior boost field to the axilla with customized compensation of the anterior beam (APcomp-PAboost) would minimize these drawbacks. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The axillary and supraclavicular nodal volumes, planning target volume (PTV), irradiated volume, and brachial plexus were contoured for 10 patients. The plans for each technique-single anterior field (AP); anterior to posterior parallel pair (AP-PA); anterior field with posterior boost (AP-PAboost); and APcomp-PAboost-were then generated for each patient using CadPlan and compared. RESULTS: The AP plan gave poor PTV coverage in 60% of cases. The AP-PA provided good PTV coverage and minimal hot spots, but resulted in consistent unnecessary RT to the medial posterior neck. The skin and tissue of the medial posterior neck and chest wall (i.e., the tissue overlying the posterior half of the ribs and posterior to the latissimus dorsi muscle, which forms the posterior wall of the axilla) was incidentally included in the radiation fields of the AP-PA and the exit of the AP beam. No nodal tissue is present in this region, and, therefore, this tissue was unnecessarily irradiated to higher doses with the AP-PA technique. The AP-PAboost provided adequate PTV coverage and a limited dose to the medial posterior neck, but produced hot spots in excess of 120% in 90% of cases. The APcomp-PAboost provided good PTV coverage, a limited dose to the medial posterior neck, and hot spots to <120% in all cases. CONCLUSION: In most cases, the APcomp-PAboost technique offered the best compromise, but the AP-PA technique may be preferred if a less intense hot spot is sought.