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Objective Women with endometrial or cervical cancer at risk for recurrence receive postoperative radiation therapy (RT). A patient reported outcomes (PRO) instrument to assess bowel and urinary toxicities is the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC), which has been validated in men with prostate cancer. As this instrument specifically measures bowel toxicity and the degree to which this is a problem, it was used in NRG Oncology/RTOG 1203 to compare intensity modulated RT (IMRT) to standard RT. This paper reports on the expanded validation of EPIC for use in women receiving pelvic RT. Methods In addition to the EPIC bowel domain, urinary toxicity (EPIC urinary domain), patient reported bowel toxicities (PRO-CTCAE) and quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT)) were completed before, during and after treatment. Sensitivity, reliability and concurrent validity were assessed. Results Mean bowel and urinary scores among 278 women enrolled were significantly worse during treatment and differed between groups. Acceptable to good reliability for bowel and urinary domain scores were obtained at all time points with the exception of one at baseline. Correlations between function and bother scores within the bowel and urinary domains were consistently stronger than those across domains. Correlations between bowel domain scores and PRO-CTCAE during treatment were stronger than those with the FACT. Conclusion Correlations within and among the instruments indicate EPIC bowel and urinary domains are measuring conceptually discrete components of health. These EPIC domains are valid, reliable and sensitive instruments to measure PRO among women undergoing pelvic radiation.

Purpose: Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a common problem following surgical repair of traumatic acetabular fracture (TAF), potentially causing severe pain and decreased range of motion. This report analyzes the role of radiation therapy for prevention of HO in TAF. Methods and Materials: The charts of all patients who received RT to the hip following TAF repair between July 1988 and January 1998 were reviewed. Sixty-six patients were identified. RT was given in 5 fractions of 2 Gy in 45 patients, 1 fraction of 8 Gy in 17 patients, and other doses in 4 patients. Treatment fields encompassed periacetabular tissues at highest risk for HO. Time to RT was ≤ 24 hours for 46 patients. Results: Radiographic follow-up at least 6 months following RT was available in 47/66 (71%) patients to permit Brooker classification, revealing 6 cases (13%) of Grade III HO, compared to historical incidence in this population of 50%. No Grade IV HO was found. Mean follow-up was 18 months. Four of the Grade III patients had received 10 Gy/5 fractions, and 2 received 8 Gy/1 fraction. Postoperative wound infection occurred in 6 patients, and osteonecrosis of the femoral head was found in 13. Conclusions: RT following surgical repair of TAF provides effective prophylaxis against formation of clinically significant HO. We recommend a single fraction of 7–8 Gy within 24 hours of surgery to prevent HO formation and minimize patient discomfort.

The effects of the salience of the target stimulus on the nature of stimulus control acquired by the feature cue in operant feature positive discrimination learning were examined in two experiments. Each rat was trained with two discriminations, XA + /A − and YB + /B−, with a different response reinforced in each discrimination. When the feature (X) was trained with a target (A) of low salience, transfer test responding in the presence of an XB compound was of the type reinforced during XA in training, regardless of the salience of B. In addition. nonreinforced presentations of X alone after discrimination training eliminated responding in the preesence of XA and XB. In contrast, when the feature (X) was trained with a target (A) of relatively high salience, transfer to an XB compound depended on the salience of B. If B was of low salience, XB exerted little or no control over the rats′ responding, but if B were of high salience, XB controlled the response that had been reinforced during YB in training. Furthermore, nonreinforced presentations of X had no effect on responding during XA or XB. The results were discussed in terms of occasion setting and configural conditioning.