TY - JOUR A1 - Klement, Rainer J. A1 - Popp, Ilinca A1 - Kaul, David A1 - Ehret, Felix A1 - Grosu, Anca L. A1 - Polat, Bülent A1 - Sweeney, Reinhart A. A1 - Lewitzki, Victor T1 - Accelerated hyper-versus normofractionated radiochemotherapy with temozolomide in patients with glioblastoma: a multicenter retrospective analysis JF - Journal of Neuro-Oncology N2 - Background and Purpose The standard treatment of glioblastoma patients consists of surgery followed by normofractionated radiotherapy (NFRT) with concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide chemotherapy. Whether accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) yields comparable results to NFRT in combination with temozolomide has only sparsely been investigated. The objective of this study was to compare NFRT with HFRT in a multicenter analysis. Materials and Methods A total of 484 glioblastoma patients from four centers were retrospectively pooled and analyzed. Three-hundred-ten and 174 patients had been treated with NFRT (30 × 1.8 Gy or 30 × 2 Gy) and HFRT (37 × 1.6 Gy or 30 × 1.8 Gy twice/day), respectively. The primary outcome of interest was overall survival (OS) which was correlated with patient-, tumor- and treatment-related variables via univariable and multivariable Cox frailty models. For multivariable modeling, missing covariates were imputed using multiple imputation by chained equations, and a sensitivity analysis was performed on the complete-cases-only dataset. Results After a median follow-up of 15.7 months (range 0.8-88.6 months), median OS was 16.9 months (15.0-18.7 months) in the NFRT group and 14.9 months (13.2-17.3 months) in the HFRT group (p = 0.26). In multivariable frailty regression, better performance status, gross-total versus not gross-total resection, MGMT hypermethylation, IDH mutation, smaller planning target volume and salvage therapy were significantly associated with longer OS (all p < 0.01). Treatment differences (HFRT versus NFRT) had no significant effect on OS in either univariable or multivariable analysis. Conclusions Since HFRT with temozolomide was not associated with worse OS, we assume HFRT to be a potential option for patients wishing to shorten their treatment time. KW - temozolomide KW - accelerated hyperfractionation KW - altered fractionation KW - glioblastoma KW - radiotherapy Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269806 SN - 1573-7373 VL - 156 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zimmermann, Marcus A1 - Richter, Anne A1 - Weick, Stefan A1 - Exner, Florian A1 - Mantel, Frederick A1 - Diefenhardt, Markus A1 - Fokas, Emmanouil A1 - Kosmala, Rebekka A1 - Flentje, Michael A1 - Polat, Bülent T1 - Acute toxicities of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer treated with intensified chemoradiotherapy within the CAO/ARO/AIO-12 trial: comparing conventional versus VMAT planning at a single center JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is regarded as standard treatment. We assessed acute toxicities in patients receiving conventional 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-RT) and correlated them with dosimetric parameters after re-planning with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Patients were randomized within the multicenter CAO/ARO/AIO-12 trial and received 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions and simultaneous chemotherapy with fluorouracil and oxaliplatin. Organs at risk (OAR) were contoured in a standardized approach. Acute toxicities and dose volume histogram parameters of 3D-RT plans were compared to retrospectively calculated VMAT plans. From 08/2015 to 01/2018, 35 patients with LARC were treated at one study center. Thirty-four patients were analyzed of whom 1 (3%) was UICC stage II and 33 (97%) patients were UICC stage III. Grade 3 acute toxicities occurred in 5 patients (15%). Patients with acute grade 1 cystitis (n = 9) had significantly higher D\(_{mean}\) values for bladder (29.4 Gy vs. 25.2 Gy, p < 0.01) compared to patients without bladder toxicities. Acute diarrhea was associated with small bowel volume (grade 2: 870.1 ccm vs. grade 0–1: 647.3 ccm; p < 0.01) and with the irradiated volumes V5 to V50. Using VMAT planning, we could reduce mean doses and irradiated volumes for all OAR: D\(_{mean}\) bladder (21.9 Gy vs. 26.3 Gy, p < 0.01), small bowel volumes V5–V45 (p < 0.01), D\(_{mean}\) anal sphincter (34.6 Gy vs. 35.6 Gy, p < 0.01) and D\(_{mean}\) femoral heads (right 11.4 Gy vs. 25.9 Gy, left 12.5 Gy vs. 26.6 Gy, p < 0.01). Acute small bowel and bladder toxicities were dose and volume dependent. Dose and volume sparing for all OAR could be achieved through VMAT planning and might result in less acute toxicities. KW - radiotherapy KW - rectal cancer Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301255 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kämmerer, Peer W. A1 - Tribius, Silke A1 - Cohrs, Lena A1 - Engler, Gabriel A1 - Ettl, Tobias A1 - Freier, Kolja A1 - Frerich, Bernhard A1 - Ghanaati, Shahram A1 - Gosau, Martin A1 - Haim, Dominik A1 - Hartmann, Stefan A1 - Heiland, Max A1 - Herbst, Manuel A1 - Hoefert, Sebastian A1 - Hoffmann, Jürgen A1 - Hölzle, Frank A1 - Howaldt, Hans-Peter A1 - Kreutzer, Kilian A1 - Leonhardt, Henry A1 - Lutz, Rainer A1 - Moergel, Maximilian A1 - Modabber, Ali A1 - Neff, Andreas A1 - Pietzka, Sebastian A1 - Rau, Andrea A1 - Reichert, Torsten E. A1 - Smeets, Ralf A1 - Sproll, Christoph A1 - Steller, Daniel A1 - Wiltfang, Jörg A1 - Wolff, Klaus-Dietrich A1 - Kronfeld, Kai A1 - Al-Nawas, Bilal T1 - Adjuvant radiotherapy in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity or oropharynx and solitary ipsilateral lymph node metastasis (pN1) — a prospective multicentric cohort study JF - Cancers N2 - (1) Background: Evaluation of impact of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity/oropharynx (OSCC) of up to 4 cm (pT1/pT2) and solitary ipsilateral lymph node metastasis (pN1). A non-irradiated group with clinical follow-up was chosen for control, and survival and quality of life (QL) were compared; (2) Methods: This prospective multicentric comprehensive cohort study included patients with resected OSCC (pT1/pT2, pN1, and cM0) who were allocated into adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) or observation. The primary endpoint was overall survival. Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival and QL after surgery; (3) Results: Out of 27 centers, 209 patients were enrolled with a median follow-up of 3.4 years. An amount of 137 patients were in the observation arm, and 72 received adjuvant irradiation. Overall survival did not differ between groups (hazard ratio (HR) 0.98 [0.55–1.73], p = 0.94). There were fewer neck metastases (HR 0.34 [0.15–0.77]; p = 0.01), as well as fewer local recurrences (HR 0.41 [0.19–0.89]; p = 0.02) under adjuvant RT. For QL, irradiated patients showed higher values for the symptom scale pain after 0.5, two, and three years (all p < 0.05). After six months and three years, irradiated patients reported higher symptom burdens (impaired swallowing, speech, as well as teeth-related problems (all p < 0.05)). Patients in the RT group had significantly more problems with mouth opening after six months, one, and two years (p < 0.05); (4) Conclusions: Adjuvant RT in patients with early SCC of the oral cavity and oropharynx does not seem to influence overall survival, but it positively affects progression-free survival. However, irradiated patients report a significantly decreased QL up to three years after therapy compared to the observation group. KW - oral squamous cell carcinoma KW - oropharyngeal carcinoma KW - surgery KW - resection KW - radiotherapy KW - survival KW - progression-free survival KW - quality of life KW - prospective KW - multicentric KW - lymph node KW - pN1 Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-311024 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 15 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bratengeier, Klaus A1 - Holubyev, Kostyantyn T1 - Anisotropy of dose contributions-an instrument to upgrade real time IMRT and VMAT adaptation? JF - Medical Physics N2 - Purpose: To suggest a definition of dose deposition anisotropy for the purpose of ad hoc adaptation of intensity modulated arc therapy (IMRT) and volumetric arc therapy (VMAT), particularly in the vicinity of important organs at risk (OAR), also for large deformations. Methods: Beam's-eye-view (BEV) based fluence warping is a standard adaptation method with disadvantages for strongly varying OAR shapes. 2-Step-adaptation overcomes these difficulties by a deeper analysis of the 3D properties of adaptation processes, but requires separate arcs for every OAR to spare, which makes it impractical for cases with multiple OARs. The authors aim to extend the 2-Step method to arbitrary intensity modulated plan by analyzing the anisotropy of dose contributions. Anisotropy was defined as a second term of Fourier transformation of gantry angle dependent dose contributions. For a cylindrical planning target volume (PTV) surrounding an OAR of varying diameter, the anisotropy and the dose-normalized anisotropy were analyzed for several scenarios of optimized fluence distributions. 2-Step adaptation to decreasing and increasing OAR diameter was performed, and compared to a usual fluence based adaptation method. For two clinical cases, prostate and neck, the VMAT was generated and the behavior of anisotropy was qualitatively explored for deformed organs at risk. # Results: Dose contribution anisotropy in the PTV peaks around nearby OARs. The thickness of the "anisotropy wall" around OAR increases for increasing OAR radius, as also does the width of 2-Step dose saturating fluence peak adjacent to the OAR K. Bratengeier et al., "A comparison between 2-Step IMRT and conventional IMRT planning," Radiother. Oncol. 84, 298-306 (2007)]. Different optimized beam fluence profiles resulted in comparable radial dependence of normalized anisotropy. As predicted, even for patient cases, anisotropy was inflated even more than increasing diameters of OAR. Conclusions: For cylindrically symmetric cases, the dose distribution anisotropy defined in the present work implicitly contains adaptation-relevant information about 3D relationships between PTV and OAR and degree of OAR sparing. For more complex realistic cases, it shows the predicted behavior qualitatively. The authors claim to have found a first component for advancing a 2-Step adaptation to a universal adaptation algorithm based on the BEV projection of the dose anisotropy. Further planning studies to explore the potential of anisotropy for adaptation algorithms using phantoms and clinical cases of differing complexity will follow. KW - modulated arc therapy KW - 2-step IMRT KW - radiation-therapy KW - online adaption KW - prostate-cancer KW - plans KW - IMAT KW - tracking KW - radiotherapy KW - adaption KW - IMRT KW - VMAT Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-186833 VL - 43 IS - 11 ER - TY - THES A1 - Popp, Karoline T1 - Die Lagevariabilität des Ring-Stift-Applikators bei der Brachytherapie zur Primärbehandlung des Zervix-Karzinoms T1 - Variability of the pelvic position of a Tandem-Applicator-System in multiple HDR-brachytherapy fractions for primary treatment of cervical cancer N2 - Die primäre Strahlentherapie des Zervix-Karzinoms unter kurativer Absicht besteht immer aus einer Kombination aus Tele- und Brachytherapie. Aus strahlenbiologischen Gründen ist dabei die Ausblendung des Brachytherapie-Volumens zeitlich vor Beginn oder zumindest vor Abschluß der intrauterinen Bestrahlung erforderlich. Aus diesem Grund ist die prospektive Kenntnis der möglichen Variabilität der Applikatorlage und damit der räumlichen Dosisverteilung von großer Bedeutung. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde daher die Applikatorlage und ihre Variabilität bei 92 Patientinnen mit jeweils fünf intrauterinen Bestrahlungen retrospektiv untersucht. Mit Hilfe orthogonaler Röntgenaufnahmen von ventral und seitlich wurde die Applikatorlage relativ zu knöchernen Referenzstrukturen des Beckens bestimmt. Der Applikatorursprung lag im Mittel 14mm kaudal der Hüftpfannenebene (55mm kaudal bis 23mm kranial, SD 14mm), 1mm rechts der Beckenmitte (27mm links bis 23mm rechts, SD 6mm) und 26mm dorsal der Hüftkopfmitte (6-53mm dorsal, SD 8mm). Daraus resultierte eine interindividuelle Lagevariabilität von 78mm in kraniokaudaler Richtung, 50mm in lateraler Richtung und 47mm in ventrodorsaler Richtung. Insgesamt betrug die intraindividuelle Variabilität der Applikatorlage unabhängig von einer bestimmten Applikation im Mittel 14mm (2-36mm, SD 6mm) in kraniokaudaler Richtung, 6mm (2-23mm, SD 3mm) in lateraler Richtung und 10mm (2-34mm, SD 6mm) in ventrodorsaler Richtung. Die erste Brachytherapie-Applikation sollte demnach kurz vor der geplanten Ausblendung des Brachytherapie-Volumens aus dem der Teletherapie erfolgen. Die Größe des Blockes richtet sich dann nach der Referenzisodose des Applikatorsystems mit einem Sicherheitsabstand von 2 SD in jeder Richtung, d.h. 24mm in kraniokaudaler und 12mm in lateraler Richtung. N2 - The introduction of 3-D treatment planning in combined tele-brachytherapy for cancer of the uterine cervix allows optimisation of matching the dose distributions. Brachytherapy volume has to be shielded from percutaneous irradiation. As dose distribution is strongly related to the applicator, applicator position was analysed in 92 patients with 5 insertions relative to bony landmarks. The applicator position was located at mean 14 mm caudal (-55 /23 mm SD 14mm), 1mm right (-27/23mm; SD 6mm) and 26 mm dorsal (6/53mm,SD 9mm) of the bony reference system. Consecutively the maximum interindividual variability was 78 mm in longitudinal, 50 mm in lateral and 47 mm in anterior-posterior direction. The intraindividual variability between 5 insertions at mean was 14 mm (2-36mm, SD 6mm) in longitudinal, 6 mm (2-23mm, SD 3mm) in lateral and 10 mm (2-34mm, SD 6mm) in ap direction. Therefore information of applicator position of the first insertion increases prediction of applicator position to a significant amount. If precise dose matching of tele- and brachytherapy is intended, applicator position of the first insertion should be known. KW - Zervixkarzinom KW - Bestrahlung KW - Brachytherapie KW - Applikatorposition KW - cervical cancer KW - radiotherapy KW - brachytherapy KW - position of applicator Y1 - 2003 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-4947 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kroeber, Jana A1 - Wenger, Barbara A1 - Schwegler, Manuela A1 - Daniel, Christoph A1 - Schmidt, Manfred A1 - Djuzenova, Cholpon S A1 - Polat, Bülent A1 - Flentje, Michael A1 - Fietkau, Rainer A1 - Distel, Luitpold V. T1 - Distinct increased outliers among 136 rectal cancer patients assessed by \(\gamma\)H2AX JF - Radiation Oncology N2 - Background: In recent years attention has focused on \(\gamma\)H2AX as a very sensitive double strand break indicator. It has been suggested that \(\gamma\)H2AX might be able to predict individual radiosensitivity. Our aim was to study the induction and repair of DNA double strand breaks labelled by \(\gamma\)H2AX in a large cohort. Methods: In a prospective study lymphocytes of 136 rectal cancer (RC) patients and 59 healthy individuals were ex vivo irradiated (IR) and initial DNA damage was compared to remaining DNA damage after 2 Gy and 24 hours repair time and preexisting DNA damage in unirradiated lymphocytes. Lymphocytes were immunostained with anti-\(\gamma\)H2AX antibodies and microscopic images with an extended depth of field were acquired. \(\gamma\)H2AX foci counting was performed using a semi-automatic image analysis software. Results: Distinct increased values of preexisting and remaining \(\gamma\)H2AX foci in the group of RC patients were found compared to the healthy individuals. Additionally there are clear differences within the groups and there are outliers in about 12% of the RC patients after ex vivo IR. Conclusions: The \(\gamma\)H2AX assay has the capability to identify a group of outliers which are most probably patients with increased radiosensitivity having the highest risk of suffering radiotherapy-related late sequelae. KW - histone H2AX KW - blood lymphocytes KW - in vivo KW - foci KW - individual radiosensitivity KW - rectal cancer KW - radiotherapy KW - DNA double strand breaks KW - phosphorylation KW - neck cancer KW - oral mucositis KW - DNA damage KW - radiosensitivity KW - repair KW - \(\gamma\)h2ax Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-144085 VL - 10 IS - 36 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kläsner, Benjamin A1 - Buchmann, Niels A1 - Gempt, Jens A1 - Ringel, Florian A1 - Lapa, Constantin A1 - Krause, Bernd Joachim T1 - Early [\(^{18}\)F]FET-PET in Gliomas after Surgical Resection: Comparison with MRI and Histopathology JF - PLoS One N2 - Background The precise definition of the post-operative resection status in high-grade gliomas (HGG) is crucial for further management. We aimed to assess the feasibility of assessment of the resection status with early post-operative positron emission tomography (PET) using [\(^{18}\)F]O-(2-[\(^{18}\)F]-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine ([\(^{18}\)F]FET). Methods 25 patients with the suspicion of primary HGG were enrolled. All patients underwent preoperative [\(^{18}\)F]FET-PET and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Intra-operatively, resection status was assessed using 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA). Imaging was repeated within 72h after neurosurgery. Post-operative [\(^{18}\)F]FET-PET was compared with MRI, intra-operative assessment and clinical follow-up. Results [\(^{18}\)F]FET-PET, MRI and intra-operative assessment consistently revealed complete resection in 12/25 (48%) patients and incomplete resection in 6/25 cases (24%). In 7 patients, PET revealed discordant findings. One patient was re-resected. 3/7 experienced tumor recurrence, 3/7 died shortly after brain surgery. Conclusion Early assessment of the resection status in HGG with [\(^{18}\)F]FET-PET seems to be feasible. KW - glioblastoma multiforme KW - brain tumors KW - C-11-methionine pet KW - positron-emission-tomography KW - improves KW - survival KW - delineation KW - radiotherapy KW - methionine pet KW - cerebral gliomas Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-139549 VL - 10 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Henke, Erik A1 - Nandigama, Rajender A1 - Ergün, Süleyman T1 - Extracellular matrix in the tumor microenvironment and its impact on cancer therapy JF - Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences N2 - Solid tumors are complex organ-like structures that consist not only of tumor cells but also of vasculature, extracellular matrix (ECM), stromal, and immune cells. Often, this tumor microenvironment (TME) comprises the larger part of the overall tumor mass. Like the other components of the TME, the ECM in solid tumors differs significantly from that in normal organs. Intratumoral signaling, transport mechanisms, metabolisms, oxygenation, and immunogenicity are strongly affected if not controlled by the ECM. Exerting this regulatory control, the ECM does not only influence malignancy and growth of the tumor but also its response toward therapy. Understanding the particularities of the ECM in solid tumor is necessary to develop approaches to interfere with its negative effect. In this review, we will also highlight the current understanding of the physical, cellular, and molecular mechanisms by which the pathological tumor ECM affects the efficiency of radio-, chemo-, and immunotherapy. Finally, we will discuss the various strategies to target and modify the tumor ECM and how they could be utilized to improve response to therapy. KW - extracellular matrix KW - cancer therapy KW - drug transport KW - immunotherapy KW - chemotherapy (CH) KW - radiotherapy KW - tumor microenvironment KW - ECM Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-199341 SN - 2296-889X VL - 6 IS - 160 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bratengeier, Klaus A1 - Herzog, Barbara A1 - Wegener, Sonja A1 - Holubyev, Kostyantyn T1 - Finer leaf resolution and steeper beam edges using a virtual isocentre in concurrence to PTV-shaped collimators in standard distance – a planning study JF - Radiation Oncology N2 - Purpose: Investigation of a reduced source to target distance to improve organ at risk sparing during stereotactic irradiation (STX). Methods: The authors present a planning study with perfectly target-volume adapted collimator compared with multi-leaf collimator (MLC) at reduced source to virtual isocentre distance (SVID) in contrast to normal source to isocentre distance (SID) for stereotactic applications. The role of MLC leaf width and 20–80% penumbra was examined concerning the healthy tissue sparing. Several prescription schemes and target diameters are considered. Results: Paddick’s gradient index (GI) as well as comparison of the mean doses to spherical shells at several distances to the target is evaluated. Both emphasize the same results: the healthy tissue sparing in the high dose area around the planning target volume (PTV) is improved at reduced SVID ≤ 70 cm. The effect can be attributed more to steeper penumbra than to finer leaf resolution. Comparing circular collimators at different SVID just as MLC-shaped collimators, always the GI was reduced. Even MLC-shaped collimator at SVID 70 cm had better healthy tissue sparing than an optimal shaped circular collimator at SID 100 cm. Regarding penumbra changes due to varying SVID, the results of the planning study are underlined by film dosimetry measurements with Agility™ MLC. Conclusion: Penumbra requires more attention in comparing studies, especially studies using different planning systems. Reduced SVID probably allows usage of conventional MLC for STX-like irradiations. KW - radiotherapy KW - multi-leaf collimator KW - stereotactic irradiation KW - robotic table motion KW - planning study KW - virtual isocentre Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-157543 VL - 12 IS - 88 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lisowski, Dominik A1 - Trömel, Jannik A1 - Lutyj, Paul A1 - Lewitzki, Victor A1 - Hartrampf, Philipp E. A1 - Polat, Bülent A1 - Flentje, Michael A1 - Tamihardja, Jörg T1 - Health-related quality of life and clinical outcome after radiotherapy of patients with intracranial meningioma JF - Scientific Reports N2 - This retrospective, single-institutional study investigated long-term outcome, toxicity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in meningioma patients after radiotherapy. We analyzed the data of 119 patients who received radiotherapy at our department from 1997 to 2014 for intracranial WHO grade I-III meningioma. Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT), intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) or radiosurgery radiation was applied. The EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BN20 questionnaires were completed for assessment of HRQoL. Overall survival (OS) for the entire study group was 89.6% at 5 years and 75.9% at 10 years. Local control (LC) at 5 and 10 years was 82.4% and 73.4%, respectively. Local recurrence was observed in 22 patients (18.5%). Higher grade acute and chronic toxicities were observed in seven patients (5.9%) and five patients (4.2%), respectively. Global health status was rated with a mean of 59.9 points (SD 22.3) on QLQ-C30. In conclusion, radiotherapy resulted in very good long-term survival and tumor control rates with low rates of severe toxicities but with a deterioration of long-term HRQoL. KW - CNS cancer KW - outcomes research KW - radiotherapy Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301233 VL - 12 ER -