The application of the simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy in the treatment of suspected positive lymph nodes in head and neck / 中国医师进修杂志

Objective:To explore the clinical effect and application value of simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy (SMART) in the suspicious positive lymph nodes of head and neck.Methods:From January 2017 to February 2019, 60 patients with suspected positive lymph nodes in the head and neck in the Hanzhong Central Hospital of Shaanxi Province were divided into experimental group and control group according to different treatment plans, and 30 patients in each group were included. In the experimental group, 63.36 to 66.66 Gy patients were treated with SMART, while in the control group, 54.12 to 60.06 Gy patients were treated with conventional neck prophylactic radiation. In order to evaluate the feasibility of the method, the change of the short diameter of the largest cross section of the suspicious positive lymph nodes in the two groups were observed, and the adverse reactions in the treatment of the two groups were analyzed.Results:There was no significant difference between the two groups before treatment ( P>0.05). After treatment, the size of short diameter of lymph nodes in the two groups was smaller than that before treatment. The maximum short diameter of the largest cross section of lymph nodes in the experimental group was smaller than that before treatment: (0.43 ± 0.07) cm vs. (0.72 ± 0.10) cm, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). In the control group, the maximum short diameter of the largest cross section of lymph node decreased after treatment, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). After treatment, the reduction of the short diameter in the experimental group was more obvious than that in the control group. The maximum short diameter of the largest cross section between the two groups: (0.43±0.07) cm vs. (0.66±0.08)cm was statistically significant ( t = 11.523, P<0.05). Before treatment, hemoglobin (HGB) levels of the two groups were in the normal physiological range, and there was no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05); the white blood cell (WBC) levels of the two groups at different time after treatment were compared: in the first week (7.83 ± 2.53) × 10 9/L vs. (8.26 ± 3.16) × 10 9/L, in the third week (7.14 ± 3.65) × 10 9/L vs. (7.08 ± 2.53) × 10 9/L, in the fifth week (5.47 ± 2.81) × 10 9/L vs. (6.41 ± 2.57) × 10 9/L, and in the seventh week (4.36 ± 2.59) × 10 9/L vs. (4.98 ± 1.64) × 10 9/L, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.05), which indicated that the WBC index levels of the two groups were gradually decreased during the treatment, and the decreased degree of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group. The levels of HGB and PLT were maintained in the normal physiological range before and after treatment, and there was no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05). The main complications in the treatment of the experimental group were xerostomia and stomatitis. The adverse reactions in the control group were pain in the target area of radiotherapy. There was no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The application of IMRT is an effective method for the treatment of occult lymph node metastasis, and it is also a therapeutic diagnostic method, which can provide evidence for the study of the law of lymph node metastasis in the head and neck. The safety and tissue tolerance of IMRT in the treatment of suspicious positive lymph nodes in the head and neck are good, which can be used for the suspicious lymph nodes in the head and neck. The treatment of positive lymph nodes and the evaluation of patients′ prognosis provide an effective way of clinical treatment.

Randomized controlled study comparing simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy versus simultaneous integrated boost intensity modulated radiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Comparison of two fractionation schedules of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for locally advanced head and neck cancer - simultaneous integrated boost (SIB-IMRT) and simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy (SMART) boost in terms of toxicity and survival end-point measures. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer were randomized in two treatment arms (SIB-IMRT [control arm] and SMART boost arm [study arm]). In the control arm, patients received 70, 63 and 56 Gy in 35 fractions to clinical target volumes (CTV) 1, 2 and 3, respectively. In the study arm, patients received 60 and 50 Gy to CTV 1 and CTV 3, respectively. Toxicities, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between both arms. RESULTS: Baseline patient-related characteristics were comparable between the arms except for primary site of tumour. No significant differences were noted in acute toxicities between the arms except for fatigue which was statistically higher for control arm. No significant differences in 2-year late toxicities were observed. The median follow-up duration was 25.5 (range, 1.8-39.9) months. The 2-year PFS was 53.3% and 80.0% (p = 0.028) for control and study arm, respectively. The 2-year OS was 60.0% and 86.7% (p = 0.020) in control and study arms, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed clinical stage and site to be significant predictors for OS and PFS, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The SMART boost technique can be a feasible alternative fractionation schedule that reduces the overall treatment time, maintaining comparable toxicity and survival compared with SIB-IMRT.

Clinical study on simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy for advanced cervical cancer / 国际肿瘤学杂志

Objective To study the clinical efficiency and adverse reactions of simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy (SMART)and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)in advanced cervical cancer. Methods Sixty patients with advanced cervical cancer were collected from April 2011 to April 2017 in our hospital. The 60 patients were randomly divided into experimental group (30 cases)and control group (30 cases)by using stratified randomization method. The two groups were given intracavitary irradiation and concur-rent chemotherapy. The patients in experimental group were treated with SMART and the patients in control group were treated with IMRT. 95％ planned target volume was 50. 4 Gy/ 28 F in the two groups and the dose for IMRT with simultaneous integrated boost was 64. 4 Gy/ 28 F to the planning target volume. Disease progres-sion,survival time and adverse reactions of the two groups were compared. Results At the end of radiothe-rapy,the experimental group had 23 patients with complete response (CR),4 patients with partial response (PR),2 patients with unaltered stable disease (SD),1 patient with progressive disease (PD),and the control group had 22 patients with CR,3 patients with PR,3 patients with SD,2 patients with PD. The overall effi-ciency of the experimental group was slightly higher than that of the control group (90. 0％ vs. 83. 3％),but the difference was not statistically significant (χ2 = 0. 144,P = 0. 704). After 3 months of radiotherapy,the experimental group had 28 patients with CR,1 patient with PR,1 patient with PD,and the control group had 22 patients with CR,2 patients with PR,3 patients with SD,3 patients with PD. The overall efficiency of the experimental group (96. 7％)was higher than that of the control group (96. 7％ vs. 80. 0％),but the diffe-rence was not statistically significant (χ2 = 2. 588,P = 0. 108). The median overall survival time of the experi-mental group and control group were 43 months and 38 months,and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 7. 087,P = 0. 008). The 1-year survival rates of the two groups were 96. 6％ and 85. 7％,and the 3-year survival rates were 86. 2％ and 60. 7％,respectively. There were no significant differences in the inci-dences of gastrointestinal reaction (66. 7％ vs. 63. 3％,χ2 = 0. 073,P = 0. 787),urinary system reaction (33. 3％ vs. 30. 0％,χ2 = 0. 077,P = 0. 781)and bone marrow suppression (83. 3％ vs. 86. 7％,χ2 =0. 000,P = 1. 000)between the two groups. Conclusion The efficiency of advanced cervical cancer patient treated with SMART is better than IMRT,and the adverse reactions are tolerable,which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Efficacy and safety of simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy plus chemotherapy in treatment of local advanced cervical cancer / 肿瘤

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy (SMART) in patients with locally metaphase or advanced cervical cancer. Methods: Total of 92 patients with locally metaphase or advanced cervical cancer treated in First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University from January 2012 to January 2014 were collected and the clinical medical records were retrospectively analyzed. Of 92 patients, 68 patients who received SMART combined with weekly paclitaxel liposome and lobaplatin chemotherapy were designated into study group, and 24 patients who received threedimensional conformal radiotherapy combined with weekly paclitaxel liposome and lobaplatin chemotherapy were designated into control group. The clinical efficacy, survival and the safety were compared between the two groups. Results: The overall response rate of study group was 85.29%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (58.33%, P = 0.022). The median survival time of the study group was 31 months, which was significantly longer than that of the control group (25 months). The incidence rate of marrow suppression in study group was lower than that in the control group (P = 0.041). The incidence rate of gastrointestinal reaction had no significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.704). The incidence rates of radiation-induced rectitis and cystitis were both lower than those in the control group (P = 0.001, P = 0.018). Conclusion: The efficacy of SMART combined with weekly paclitaxel liposome and lobaplatin chemotherapy is remarkable with tolerable adverse reactions. It is worth of further clinical application.

Radiation dose escalation by simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy for esophageal cancer: a phase II study.

The outcomes for patients with esophageal cancer (EC) underwent standard-dose radical radiotherapy were still disappointing. This phase II study investigated the feasibility, safety and efficacy of radiation dose escalation using simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy (SMART) combined with chemotherapy in 60 EC patients. Radiotherapy consisted of 66Gy at 2.2 Gy/fraction to the gross tumor and 54Gy at 1.8 Gy/fraction to subclinical diseases simultaneously. Chemotherapy including cisplatin and 5fluorouracil were administered to all patients during and after radiotherapy. The data showed that the majority of patients (98.3%) completed the whole course of radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy. The most common ≥ grade 3 acute toxicities were neutropenia (16.7%), followed by esophagitis (6.7%) and thrombopenia (5.0%). With a median follow-up of 24 months (5-38) for all patients and 30 months (18-38) for those still alive, 11 patients (18.3%) developed ≥ Grade 3 late toxicities and 2 (3.3%) of them died subsequently due to esophageal hemorrhage. The 1- and 2-year local-regional control, distant metastasis-free survival, disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 87.6% and 78.6%, 86.0% and 80.5%, 75.6% and 64.4%, 86.7% and 72.7%, respectively. SMART combined with concurrent chemotherapy is feasible in EC patients with tolerable acute toxicities. They showed a trend of significant improvements in local-regional control and overall survival. Further follow-up is needed to evaluate the late toxicities.

Analysis of simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy (SMART) for nasopharyngeal carcinomas.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical outcomes of simultaneous modulated accelerated radiotherapy (SMART) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 97 patients who underwent SMART for NPC between August 2005 and November 2011 were evaluated. The prescribed dose was 69.9 Gy/30 fractions at 2.33 Gy/fraction to the primary gross tumor volume (PGTV) including the nasopharynx gross target volume and the positive neck lymph nodes, and 60 Gy/30 fraction at 2.0 Gy/fraction to the PCTV1; 54 Gy/30 fractions at 1.8 Gy/fraction was given to the PCTV2. Among 59 patients with local advanced disease, 31 patients received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (chemo-RT) with a regimen consisting of 135 mg/m(2) paclitaxel on Day 1 and 25 mg/m(2) cisplatin on Days 1-3. The median follow-up period was 42 months. The local control rate (LCR), distant metastases-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 93.3%, 90.3% and 91.6% at 3 years, and 87.6%, 87.9% and 85.7% at 5 years, respectively. There was no significant difference in outcome with respect to these three indicators for Stage III and IV disease treated with/without concurrent chemoradiotherapy (P > 0.05). Acute toxicities included Grade 3 mucositis, skin desquamation, and leucopenia, which occurred in 78 (80.4%), 8 (8.2%), and 45 (46.4%) patients, respectively. No patient had a Grade 3-4 late toxicity. SMART was associated with a favorable outcome for NPC with acceptable toxicity. The local-regional control was excellent but distant metastasis remains the main risk. The combination of SMART and chemotherapy needs to be optimized through further studies to enhance outcomes for locally advanced diseases.