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Background and Purpose: Dose-escalation in rectal cancer (RCa) may result in an increased complete response rate and thereby enable omission of surgery and organ preservation. In order to implement dose-escalation, it is crucial to develop a technique that allows for accurate image-guided radiotherapy. The aim of the current study was to determine the performance of a novel liquid fiducial marker (BioXmark®) in RCa patients during the radiotherapy course by assessing its positional stability on daily cone-beam CT (CBCT), technical feasibility, visibility on different imaging modalities and safety., Materials and Methods: Prospective, non-randomized, single-arm feasibility trial with inclusion of twenty patients referred for neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced RCa. Primary study endpoint was positional stability on CBCT. Furthermore, technical aspects, safety and clinical performance of the marker, such as visibility on different imaging modalities, were evaluated., Results: Seventy-four markers from twenty patients were available for analysis. The marker was stable in 96% of the cases. One marker showed clinically relevant migration, one marker was lost before start of treatment and one marker was lost during treatment. Marker visibility was good on computed tomography (CT) and CBCT, and moderate on electronic portal imaging ( EPI ). Marker visibility on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was poor during response evaluation., Conclusion: The novel liquid fiducial marker demonstrated positional stability. We provide evidence of the feasibility of the novel fiducial marker for image-guided radiotherapy on daily cone beam CT for RCa patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Authors Berbée, Verhaegen and Van Limbergen hold a patent for a rectal brachytherapy applicator: “Endorectal probe device for effecting radiation treatment of colorectal cancerous tissue in the rectum of a human or animal subject.”, filed December 2016, F. Verhaegen, M. Bellezzo, E. van Limbergen, M. Berbée, B. Reniers, G. Fonseca, EP16204735. The patent has been licensed to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. The conduction of the trial was funded by Nanovi and the BioXmark® fiducials were provided without costs. Nanovi was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication., (© 2022 MAASTRO.)

Purpose: To issue consensus recommendations for contact X-Ray brachytherapy (CXB) for rectal cancer covering pre-treatment evaluation, treatment, dosimetric issues and follow-up. These recommendations cover CXB in the definitive and palliative setting., Methods: Members of GEC ESTRO with expertise in rectal CXB issued consensus-based recommendations for CXB based on literature review and clinical experience. Levels of evidence according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence based medicine guidance are presented where possible., Results: The GEC ESTRO ACROP consensus recommendations support the use of CXB to increase the chances of clinical complete remission and cure for patients who are elderly with high surgical risk, surgically unfit or refusing surgery. For palliative treatment, the use of CXB is recommended for symptomatic relief and disease control. The use of CXB in an organ-preservation setting in surgically fit patients is recommended within the setting of a clinical trial or registry., Conclusions: The GEC ESTRO ACROP recommendations for CXB are provided. Recommendations towards standardisation of reporting and prescription are given. Practitioners are encouraged to follow these recommendations and to develop further clinical trials to examine this treatment modality and increase the evidence base for its use. The routine collection of outcomes both clinical and patient-reported is also encouraged., Competing Interests: JP Gerard is the medical advisor of Ariane Medical Systems Company, Derby, UK F Verhaegen, M Berbee and EJ van Limbergen have submitted a patent on an endorectal probe device a patent for effecting radiation treatment of colorectal cancerous tissue in the rectum of a human or animal subject which is pending to Maastricht University. All other authors state they have no conflicts of interest, (© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology.)