Piloting a language translation device for Mandarin-speaking patients presenting for radiotherapy treatment-assessing patient and radiation therapist perspectives.

PURPOSE: Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) cancer patients report unmet informational and emotional needs when receiving radiotherapy (RT). This feasibility study aimed to evaluate the clinical use of an instant translation device (ITD) to facilitate communication between Mandarin-speaking patients and radiation therapists (RTTs) within the Australian public RT setting. The primary aim was to assess the ability to convey information relating to daily patient care and build rapport using the device. METHODS: A single-arm prospective interventional trial was employed with patient and RTT participants. Eligible patient participants were aged 18 years or older, diagnosed with cancer, referred for RT with self-reported Mandarin as the primary language spoken at home. Patients who had previously received RT were excluded. Consenting patient participants completed a baseline assessment of health literacy (REALM-SF) and English proficiency (LexTALE). Surveys were administered to patients and consenting RTTs at the cessation of treatment, forming two distinct participant groups. Descriptive statistics were used to compare participant groups. RESULTS: Eleven patients and 36 RTTs were recruited to the study. Descriptive statistics demonstrated participant group agreement in conveying treatment instructions, though differing experiences were reported against general conversation. Although the reporting of technical difficulties was inconsistent, both groups recommended the application of the ITD within the RT domain. CONCLUSION: This feasibility study demonstrated encouraging accounts of patients and RTTs with regard to ITD use in the context of RT treatment. Expanded, multi-institutional recruitment is required to yield statistical significance, inform the impact of the device, and determine requisite training requirements. TRIAL REGISTRATION: HREC reference number: LNR/18/PMCC/115 (18/100L). HREC approval date: 10 July 2018.

Validation testing of a language translation device for suitability in assisting Australian radiation therapists to communicate with Mandarin-speaking patients.

Introduction: Clear, timely communication between practitioners and patients is key in ensuring equitable access to health services and optimal care. Australia's linguistically diverse population adds complexity to healthcare provision. This paper describes a validation study to assess clinical suitability of a language translation device, intended for use with Mandarin speaking patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT). Materials and methods: After a comprehensive device selection process, common phrases used in RT practice were curated within one clinical center and translated by interpreters. Phrases were categorized by conversation type and readability (according to Flesch-Kincaid and FORCAST scores). Validation of device performance was undertaken by purposely selected radiation therapists (RTTs) who tested and evaluated the device using a survey with 5-point Likert scale responses. Statistical analysis was undertaken on Excel using Pearson's chi-square, z-test, interrater reliability/agreement and linear regression analyses. Results: Six RTTs and two interpreters volunteered to participate in this study. 188 common phrases were spoken verbatim into the device and scored on a 5-point Likert scale, yielding an overall output accuracy of 66%. A z-test confirmed significance against prior comparative research and Linear regression analysis observed improved output between consecutive participants. 62.7% of interpreter scores were identical; a further 29.1% constituted a single point scoring variation. Poorer outcomes were observed with colloquial English and lower readability. Conclusions: This study found the device produced suitable translation accuracy and identified language styles that should be avoided with use. Further research could consider clinical application, expanded languages and/or health disciplines, and development of a national RTT phrase list.

Geographical miss of the prostate during image-guided radiotherapy with a 6-mm posterior expansion margin.

INTRODUCTION: Our department commonly uses a planning target volume (PTV) expansion of 6 mm posterior and 1 cm in all other directions when treating prostate cancer patients with image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT). This study aimed to test the adequacy of this PTV expansion by assessing geographical miss of the prostate on post-treatment cone-beam CT (CBCT) and identify those at risk of geographical miss. METHODS: Twenty-two prostate cancer patients receiving IGRT with implanted fiducial markers underwent daily pre-treatment orthogonal kV imaging followed by a post-treatment CBCT for a total of 432 fractions. The prostate was outlined on all CBCTs. For each imaging set, the volume of geographic miss was measured by subtracting the PTV from the planning CT and prostate volume on the post-treatment CBCT. RESULTS: The prostate volume moved outside the PTV by >0.01 cc in 9% of fractions (39/432). This occurred in 13 (59%) of 22 patients. Large prostates >40 cc and >50 cc had significantly more geographical miss events (both P < 0.001). Changes in rectal filling appear to be responsible for prostate motion/deformation in 82% (32/39) of fractions. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that, despite IGRT, prostate PTV margins are not adequate in some patients, particularly those with large prostates. PTV margins may be reduced in some other patients. Prostate rotation and deformation play an important role in setting margins and may not always be represented accurately by fiducial marker displacements. Individualised and adaptive margins for prostate cancer patients should be a priority for future research.

Rectal complication probability from composite volumes derived from daily cone beam computed tomography in prostate cancer radiotherapy.

AIM: The aim of this study is to investigate the rectal complication probabilities for various rectum volumes with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) in patients undergoing prostate cancer radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen patients undergoing prostate cancer radiotherapy were consecutively selected for this study. All patients were treated with IMRT to a dose of 78 Gy in 39 fractions. Three different rectum volumes: (i) planned rectum (plan-rectum) (ii) Boolean sum of rectum volume based on the cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) for first five fractions (planning organ at risk volumes [PRV]-CBCT-5), (iii) Boolean sum of rectum volume from all the CBCTs (PRV-CBCT-All) in addition to an average rectal complication (PRV-CBCT-AV) were used for computing the probabilities of rectal complications. To assess the rectal complications with 3D-CRT, a five-field plan was generated for comparison with IMRT. The Lyman-Kutcher-Burman (LKB) normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) model was used to assess the rectal complications for all of the defined rectal volumes. RESULTS: The NTCPs for rectum as assessed from plan-rectum, PRV-CBCT-5, PRV-CBCT-All, and PRV-CBCT-AV with IMRT were 9.71% ±4.69%, 16.34% ±9.51%, 19.39% ±9.71%, and 12.81% ±7.22%, respectively. Similarly, with 3D-CRT, the NTCPs were 17.41% ±10.44%, 19.61% ±11.08%, 21.03% ±11.06%, and 17.72% ±10.29%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that the rectal complications are reduced significantly with IMRT as compared to 3D-CRT. As such, the analyses of NTCP with various defined composite rectum volumes indicate that IMRT requires image-guided adaptive radiotherapy as opposed to 3D-CRT.

Complementary therapy use in metropolitan and regional Australian radiotherapy centres; do patients report effective outcomes?

PURPOSE: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasingly used with radiotherapy treatment for cancer. This study aimed to explore patient expectations of concurrent CAM, positive/negative outcomes and any variation of use across regional and metropolitan demographics. METHODS: An ethics-approved survey was provided to radiotherapy outpatients in regional and metropolitan Victoria, Australia. The survey enquired about demographical details, CAM uptake, perceived benefits/effects, source of CAM information and disclosure of use. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-five patients were recruited across both sites. Patients reporting concurrent CAM use were 45 % (regional site, April-August 2012) and 47 % (metropolitan site, January-May 2013). More patients at the regional centre reported living away from home during treatment (35 vs 8 %) though this did not impact upon CAM uptake. For both sites, 60 % of CAM users felt they had been provided with sufficient CAM information with family/friends the most common source. The highest reported rationale for CAM use was the patient's choice (61 and 52 %). Only 19 % of patients at either site claimed the recommendation of a doctor was the reason for CAM use. 'Improving immune system' was the most common expectation of CAM at both sites (39 and 50 %). More than half of CAM users felt that it was effective (51 and 54 %). CONCLUSIONS: CAM use across regional and metropolitan Australia is equivalent, constitutes a substantial proportion of radiotherapy outpatients and is largely considered effective by CAM users. Healthcare professionals need to improve knowledge, communication, reporting and awareness of concurrent CAM in radiotherapy practice.

What benefit could be derived from on-line adaptive prostate radiotherapy using rectal diameter as a predictor of motion?

This study investigated a relationship between rectum diameter and prostate motion during treatment with a view to reducing planning target volume (PTV) margins for an adaptive protocol. One hundred and ninety-four cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 10 patients were used to relate rectum diameter on CBCT to prostate intrafraction displacement. A threshold rectum diameter was used to model the impact of an adaptive PTV margin on rectum and bladder dose. Potential dose escalation with a 6 mm uniform margin adaptive protocol was compared to a PTV margin of 10 mm expansion of the clinical target volume (CTV) except 6 mm posterior. Of 194 fractions, 104 had a maximum rectal diameter of ≤3.5 cm. The prostate displaced ≤4 mm in 102 of those fractions. Changing from a standard to an adaptive PTV margin reduced the volume of rectum receiving 25, 50, 60, and 70 Gy by around 12, 9, 10, and 16%, respectively and bladder by approximately 21, 27, 29, and 35%, respectively. An average dose escalation of 4.2 Gy may be possible with an adaptive prostate radiotherapy protocol. In conclusion, a relationship between the prostate motion and the diameter of the rectum on CBCT potentially could enable daily adaptive radiotherapy which can be implemented from the first fraction.

Automatic tracking of gold seed markers from CBCT image projections in lung and prostate radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: To construct a method and software to track gold seed implants in prostate and lung patients undergoing radiotherapy using CBCT image projections. METHODS: A mathematical model was developed in the MatLab (Mathworks, Natick, USA) environment which uses a combination of discreet cosine transforms and filtering to enhance several edge detection methods for identifying and tracking gold seed fiducial markers in images obtained from Varian (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, USA) and Elekta (Kungstensgatan, Sweden) CBCT projections. RESULTS: Organ motion was captured for 16 prostate patients and 1 lung patient. CONCLUSION: Image enhancement and edge detection is capable of automatically tracking markers for up to 98% (Varian) and 79% (Elekta) of CBCT projections for prostate and lung markers however inclusion of excessive bony anatomy (LT and RT LAT) inhibit the ability of the model to accurate determine marker location.

A study on planning organ at risk volume for the rectum using cone beam computed tomography in the treatment of prostate cancer.

In this study, we analyzed planning organ at risk volume (PRV) for the rectum using a series of cone beam computed tomographies (CBCTs) acquired during the treatment of prostate cancer and evaluated the dosimetric effect of different PRV definitions. Overall, 21 patients with prostate cancer were treated radically with 78Gy in 39 fractions had in total 418 CBCTs, each acquired at the end of the first 5 fractions and then every alternate fraction. The PRV was generated from the Boolean sum volume of the rectum obtained from first 5 fractions (PRV-CBCT-5) and from all CBCTs (PRV-CBCT-All). The PRV margin was compared at the superior, middle, and inferior slices of the contoured rectum to compare PRV-CBCT-5 and PRV-CBCT-All. We also compared the dose received by the planned rectum (Rectum-computed tomography [CT]), PRV-CBCT-5, PRV-CBCT-All, and average rectum (CBCT-AV-dose-volume histogram [DVH]) at critical dose levels. The average measured rectal volume for all 21 patients for Rectum-CT, PRV-CBCT-5, and PRV-CBCT-All was 44.3 ± 15.0, 92.8 ± 40.40, and 121.5 ± 36.7cm(3), respectively. For PRV-CBCT-All, the mean ± standard deviation displacement in the anterior, posterior, right, and left lateral directions in centimeters was 2.1 ± 1.1, 0.9 ± 0.5, 0.9 ± 0.8, and 1.1 ± 0.7 for the superior rectum; 0.8 ± 0.5, 1.1 ± 0.5, 1.0 ± 0.5, and 1.0 ± 0.5 for the middle rectum; and 0.3 ± 0.3; 0.9 ± 0.5; 0.4 ± 0.2, and 0.5 ± 0.3 for the inferior rectum, respectively. The first 5 CBCTs did not predict the PRV for individual patients. Our study shows that the PRV margin is different for superior, middle, and the inferior parts of the rectum, it is wider superiorly and narrower inferiorly. A uniform PRV margin does not represent the actual rectal variations during treatment for all treatment fractions. The large variation in interpatient rectal size implies a potential role for adaptive radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Complementary and alternative medicine use and disclosure amongst Australian radiotherapy patients.

PURPOSE: Information on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in Australian radiotherapy patients is sparse. This study investigated the type and prevalence of CAM amongst an Australian regional radiotherapy patient cohort and the disclosure of information to the consultant radiation oncologist. METHODS: A single hardcopy questionnaire survey was provided to patients regarding the use of CAM and discussion with the treating medical practitioner. The National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) classification was used to group responses. The study was open for a period of 4 months, and all patients on treatment during this period were approached. RESULTS: A total of 170 questionnaires were distributed to eligible patients, and 152 patients returned a completed questionnaire (89.4 % response rate). Sixty-nine of the 152 patients (45.4 %) reported active CAM use. Of the 69 patients who used CAM, mind-body medicine (n = 54, 78.3 %) and biological-based therapies (n = 54, 78.3 %) were the commonest NCCAM group, whilst manipulative/body-based therapies (n = 44, 63.8 %), whole medical systems (n = 7, 10.1 %) and energy therapies (n = 5, 7.2 %) were the least common. The most common therapies were vitamins and mineral supplementation (n = 33, 47.8 %) and massage therapy (n = 18, 26.1 %). Of note, only 29 participants stated that they had discussed CAM therapies with their radiation oncologist. CONCLUSIONS: CAM use was prevalent amongst cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy, but frequently not discussed with the treating radiation oncologist. Considering the high prevalence of CAM, further resources could be justifiably directed at providing this service for cancer patients to foster a more holistic approach to their care.