Evolving Clinical Cancer Radiotherapy: Concerns Regarding Normal Tissue Protection and Quality Assurance.

Radiotherapy, which is one of three major cancer treatment methods in modern medicine, has continued to develop for a long period, more than a century. The development of radiotherapy means allowing the administration of higher doses to tumors to improve tumor control rates while minimizing the radiation doses absorbed by surrounding normal tissues through which radiation passes for administration to tumors, thereby reducing or removing the incidence of side effects. Such development of radiotherapy was accomplished by the development of clinical radiation oncology, the development of computers and machine engineering, the introduction of cutting-edge imaging technology, a deepened understanding of biological studies on the effects of radiation on human bodies, and the development of quality assurance (QA) programs in medical physics. The development of radiotherapy over the last two decades has been quite dazzling. Due to continuous improvements in cancer treatment, the average five-year survival rate of cancer patients has been close to 70%. The increases in cancer patients' complete cure rates and survival periods are making patients' quality of life during or after treatment a vitally important issue. Radiotherapy is implemented in approximately 1/3 to 2/3s of all cancer patients; and has improved the quality of life of cancer patients in the present age. Over the last century, as a noninvasive treatment, radiotherapy has unceasingly enhanced complete tumor cure rates and the side effects of radiotherapy have been gradually decreasing, resulting in a tremendous improvement in the quality of life of cancer patients.

Evidence on effectiveness of intensity-modulated radiotherapy versus 2-dimensional radiotherapy in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Meta-analysis and a systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Current management of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) uses radiotherapy (RT) as the curative treatment modality. Radiation delivery techniques for NPC can be achieved using 2D conventional RT or intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of IMRT versus 2D conventional RT in primary treatment of NPC. RESULTS: IMRT showed better results than 2D conventional RT in terms of local control, regional control, and overall survival, but when stratified, only in T4, N2, and stage III were the differences that were seen. Objective saliva measurements and physician-graded xerostomia were better in IMRT. However, patient-reported xerostomia showed minimal improvement only in IMRT. The evidence of superiority of IMRT over 2D conventional RT is not clear. CONCLUSION: In the absence of more clinical data demonstrating the superiority of IMRT in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, 2D conventional RT seems to be a reasonable treatment option, especially in limited resource settings. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E2130-E2142, 2016.

Evolving Clinical Cancer Radiotherapy: Concerns Regarding Normal Tissue Protection and Quality Assurance

Radiotherapy, which is one of three major cancer treatment methods in modern medicine, has continued to develop for a long period, more than a century. The development of radiotherapy means allowing the administration of higher doses to tumors to improve tumor control rates while minimizing the radiation doses absorbed by surrounding normal tissues through which radiation passes for administration to tumors, thereby reducing or removing the incidence of side effects. Such development of radiotherapy was accomplished by the development of clinical radiation oncology, the development of computers and machine engineering, the introduction of cutting-edge imaging technology, a deepened understanding of biological studies on the effects of radiation on human bodies, and the development of quality assurance (QA) programs in medical physics. The development of radiotherapy over the last two decades has been quite dazzling. Due to continuous improvements in cancer treatment, the average five-year survival rate of cancer patients has been close to 70%. The increases in cancer patients' complete cure rates and survival periods are making patients' quality of life during or after treatment a vitally important issue. Radiotherapy is implemented in approximately 1/3 to 2/3s of all cancer patients; and has improved the quality of life of cancer patients in the present age. Over the last century, as a noninvasive treatment, radiotherapy has unceasingly enhanced complete tumor cure rates and the side effects of radiotherapy have been gradually decreasing, resulting in a tremendous improvement in the quality of life of cancer patients.

Radiotherapy concurrently with weekly cisplatin, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, for N2-3 nasopharyngeal cancer: a multicenter trial of the Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of radiotherapy concurrently with weekly cisplatin, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, for the treatment of N2-3 nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) in Asian countries, especially regions of South and Southeast Asian countries where NPC is endemic. Between 2005 and 2009, 121 patients with NPC (T1-4 N2-3 M0) were registered from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, China and Bangladesh. Patients were treated with 2D radiotherapy concurrently with weekly cisplatin (30 mg/m (2)), followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, consisting of cisplatin (80 mg/m(2) on Day 1) and fluorouracil (800 mg/m(2) on Days 1-5) for 3 cycles. Of the 121 patients, 56 patients (46%) required interruption of RT. The reasons for interruption of RT were acute non-hematological toxicities such as mucositis, pain and dermatitis in 35 patients, hematological toxicities in 11 patients, machine break-down in 3 patients, poor general condition in 2 patients, and others in 8 patients. Of the patients, 93% completed at least 4 cycles of weekly cisplatin during radiotherapy, and 82% completed at least 2 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy. With a median follow-up time of 46 months for the surviving 77 patients, the 3-year locoregional control, distant metastasis-free survival and overall survival rates were 89%, 74% and 66%, respectively. No treatment-related deaths occurred. Grade 3-4 toxicities of mucositis, nausea/vomiting and leukopenia were observed in 34%, 4% and 4% of the patients, respectively. In conclusion, further improvement in survival and locoregional control is necessary, although our regimen showed acceptable toxicities.