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Background/aim: The purpose of this study was to assess patients' use of a crowdfunding platform to raise funds for radiation treatment and to better understand the direct and indirect costs associated with treatments., Materials and Methods: The GoFundMe crowdfunding database was queried for four unique categories related to radiation treatment campaigns. Covariates identified included clinical and demographic variables, and associations between amount raised and these predictors were analyzed using a generalized linear model., Results: While 56% percent of campaigns cited direct costs associated with treatment, 73.4% of campaigns cited indirect costs related to treatment. Indirect expenses related to travel (31.7%) as well as living expenses (29.2%) were cited most often across all four treatment categories., Conclusion: This study enhances understanding regarding patients use of crowdfunding for radiation treatment. Increased focus should be placed on discussing the indirect costs of care with patients and their families., (Copyright © 2021 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

• Many head/neck squamous cell cancer patients develop recurrence or second primary. • Re-irradiation is a curative treatment option for these patients. • However, it is associated with significant risk of toxicity. • Pulsed Reduced Dose Rate radiation may reduce re-irradiation toxicity. Pulsed reduced dose rate (PRDR) radiation (RT) is a re-irradiation (Re-RT) technique that potentially overcomes dose/volume constraints in the setting of previous RT. There is minimal data for its use for recurrent or secondary primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In this study, we report preliminary data from our institution of a consecutive cohort of HNSCC patients who received PRDR Re-RT. Nine patients received PRDR Re-RT from August 2020 to January 2023 and had analyzable data. Intensity modulated RT was used for treatment delivery and a wait time between 20 cGy arc/helical deliveries was used to achieve the effective low dose rate. Data collected included patient demographic information, prior interventions, diagnosis, radiation therapy dose and fractionation, progression free survival, overall survival, and toxicity rates. The median time to PRDR-RT from completion of initial RT was 13 months (range, 6–50 months). All but one patient underwent salvage surgery prior to PRDR-RT. The median follow-up after Re-RT was 7 months. The median OS from PRDR-RT was 7 months (range, 1–32 months). Median PFS was 7 months (range, 1–32 months). One patient (11.1 %) had acute grade 3 toxicity, and two patients (22.2 %) had late grade 3 toxicities. There were no grade 4+ toxicities. PRDR Re-RT is a feasible treatment strategy for patients with recurrent or second primary HNSCC. Initial findings from this retrospective review suggest reasonable survival outcomes and potentially improved toxicity; prospective data is needed to establish the safety and efficacy of this technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]