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Radiation oncology is uniquely poised to benefit from the development of remote learning tools, given the need for mastery of often challenging basic science topics, as well as the interprogram heterogeneity of resident educational quality. Our team successfully created and disseminated 4 high-yield animated physics educational videos through the collaboration of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and a graphic design specialist. This is a unique process requiring significant intellectual, monetary, and time capital. In this article, we describe important lessons learned throughout this process, in hopes that others will learn from our experience, applying the following concepts to their own digital content creation. These lessons include (1) playing to your teammates' strengths and personalizing tasks, rather than equally dividing work; (2) anticipating animations before and during script writing; (3) developing multiple routes of communication and being open to which one works best for your team; and (4) discussing funding up front and collaborating within an affiliated institution or company for graphic design to alleviate the financial stress of such endeavors., (Copyright © 2023 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The quality of medical physics education is heterogenous across training programs, despite its importance in radiation oncology (RO) residency training. We present the results of a pilot series of free high-yield physics educational videos covering 4 topics chosen from the American Society for Radiation Oncology core curriculum., Methods and Materials: Scripting and storyboarding of videos were iterative processes performed by 2 ROs and 6 medical physicists, with animations created by a university broadcasting specialist. Current RO residents and those who had graduated after 2018 were recruited through social media and e-mail with an aim of 60 participants. Two validated surveys were adapted for use and were completed after each video as well as a final overall assessment. Content was released sequentially after completion of the survey instruments for each prior video. All videos were created and released within 1 year of project initiation with a duration of 9 to 11 minutes., Results: There were 169 enrollees for the pilot from across the world, 211% of the targeted cohort size. Of these, 154 met eligibility criteria and received the first video. One hundred eight enrollees initiated the series and 85 completed the pilot, resulting in a 78% completion rate. Participants reported improved understanding and confidence applying the knowledge learned in the videos (median score 4 out of 5). All participants reported that the use of graphic animation improved understanding across all videos. Ninety-three percent agreed with a need for additional resources geared specifically toward RO residents and 100% would recommend these videos to other residents. Use metrics revealed the average watch time was 7 minutes (range, 6:17-7:15)., Conclusions: The high-yield educational physics video pilot series was successful in developing videos that were effective in teaching RO physics concepts., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Purpose: Our purpose was to investigate the effect of physicist-patient consults on patient anxiety and patient satisfaction with a randomized prospective phase III clinical trial., Methods and Materials: Sixty-six patients were randomly assigned to the physics direct patient care (PDPC) arm or the control arm of the trial. Patients assigned to the PDPC arm received 2 physicist-patient consults to educate them on the technical aspects of their radiation therapy, while patients assigned to the control arm received the standard of care (ie, standard radiation therapy workflow without any additional physicist-patient consults). Questionnaires were administered to all patients at 4 time points (after enrollment, after the simulation, after the first treatment, and after the last treatment) to assess anxiety and satisfaction., Results: The decrease in anxiety for the PDPC arm, compared with the control arm, was statistically significant at the first treatment (P = .027) time point. The increase in technical satisfaction for the PDPC arm, compared with the control arm, was statistically significant at the simulation (P = .005), first treatment (P < .001), and last treatment (P = .002) time points. The increase in overall satisfaction for the PDPC arm, compared with the control arm, was statistically significant at the first treatment (P = .014) and last treatment (P = .001) time points., Conclusions: Physicist-patient consults improved the patient experience by decreasing anxiety and increasing satisfaction. Future work is needed to modify current radiation oncology workflows and medical physics responsibilities to allow all patients to benefit from this advancement in patient care., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Motion management of tumors within the lung and abdomen is challenging because it requires balancing tissue sparing with accuracy of hitting the target, while considering treatment delivery efficiency. Physicists can play an important role in analyzing four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) data to recommend the optimal respiratory gating parameters for a patient. The goal of this work was to develop a standardized procedure for making recommendations regarding gating parameters and planning margins for lung and gastrointestinal stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) treatments. In doing so, we hoped to simplify decision-making and analysis, and provide a tool for troubleshooting complex cases., Methods: Factors that impact gating decisions and planning target volume (PTV) margins were identified. The gating options included gating on exhale with approximately a 50% duty cycle (Gate3070), exhale gating with a reduced duty cycle (Gate4060), and treating for most of respiration, excluding only extreme inhales and exhales (Gate100). A standard operating procedure was developed, as well as a physics consult document to communicate motion management recommendations to other members of the treatment team. This procedure was implemented clinically for 1 year and results are reported below., Results: Identified factors that impact motion management included the magnitude of motion observed on 4DCT, the regularity of breathing and quality of 4DCT data, and ability to observe the target on fluoroscopy. These were collated into two decision tables-one specific to lung tumors and another for gastrointestinal tumors-such that a physicist could answer a series of questions to determine the optimal gating and PTV margin. The procedure was used clinically for 252 sites from 213 patients treated with respiratory-gated SBRT and standardized practice across our 12-member physics team., Conclusion: Implementation of a standardized procedure for respiratory gating had a positive impact in our clinic, improving efficiency and ease of 4DCT analysis and standardizing gating decision-making amongst physicists., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Purpose: Our purpose was to investigate the effect of automated knowledge-based planning (KBP) on real-world clinical workflow efficiency, assess whether manual refinement of KBP plans improves plan quality across multiple disease sites, and develop a data-driven method to periodically improve KBP automated planning routines., Methods and Materials: Using clinical knowledge-based automated planning routines for prostate, prostatic fossa, head and neck, and hypofractionated lung disease sites in a commercial KBP solution, workflow efficiency was compared in terms of planning time in a pre-KBP (n = 145 plans) and post-KBP (n = 503) patient cohort. Post-KBP, planning was initialized with KBP (KBP-only) and subsequently manually refined (KBP +human). Differences in planning time were tested for significance using a 2-tailed Mann-Whitney U test (P < .05, null hypothesis: planning time unchanged). Post-refinement plan quality was assessed using site-specific dosimetric parameters of the original KBP-only plan versus KBP +human; 2-tailed paired t test quantified statistical significance (Bonferroni-corrected P < .05, null hypothesis: no dosimetric difference after refinement). If KBP +human significantly improved plans across the cohort, optimization objectives were changed to create an updated KBP routine (KBP'). Patients were replanned with KBP' and plan quality was compared with KBP +human as described previously., Results: KBP significantly reduced planning time in all disease sites: prostate (median: 7.6 hrs → 2.1 hrs; P < .001), prostatic fossa (11.1 hrs → 3.7 hrs; P = .001), lung (9.9 hrs → 2.0 hrs; P < .001), and head and neck (12.9 hrs → 3.5 hrs; P <.001). In prostate, prostatic fossa, and lung disease sites, organ-at-risk dose changes in KBP +human versus KBP-only were minimal (<1% prescription dose). In head and neck, KBP +human did achieve clinically relevant dose reductions in some parameters. The head and neck routine was updated (KBP' HN ) to incorporate dose improvements from manual refinement. The only significant dosimetric differences to KBP +human after replanning with KBP' HN were in favor of the new routine., Conclusions: KBP increased clinical efficiency by significantly reducing planning time. On average, human refinement offered minimal dose improvements over KBP-only plans. In the single disease site where KBP +human was superior to KBP-only, differences were eliminated by adjusting optimization parameters in a revised KBP routine., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SAbR) is an emerging therapy for refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT). However, the current workflow is complicated, and the precision and safety in patients with significant cardiorespiratory motion and VT targets near the stomach may be suboptimal., Objective: We hypothesized that automated 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) mapping and respiratory-gated therapy may improve the ease and precision of SAbR planning and facilitate safe radiation delivery in patients with refractory VT., Methods: Consecutive patients with refractory VT were studied at 2 hospitals. VT exit sites were localized using a 3-D computational ECG algorithm noninvasively and compared to available prior invasive mapping. Radiotherapy (25 Gy) was delivered at end-expiration when cardiac respiratory motion was ≥0.6 cm or targets were ≤2 cm from the stomach., Results: In 6 patients (ejection fraction 29% ± 13%), 4.2 ± 2.3 VT morphologies per patient were mapped. Overall, 7 out of 7 computational ECG mappings (100%) colocalized to the identical cardiac segment when prior invasive electrophysiology study was available. Respiratory gating was associated with smaller planning target volumes compared to nongated volumes (71 ± 7 vs 153 ± 35 cc, P < .01). In 2 patients with inferior wall VT targets close to the stomach (6 mm proximity) or significant respiratory motion (22 mm excursion), no GI complications were observed at 9- and 12-month follow-up. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shocks decreased from 23 ± 12 shocks/patient to 0.67 ± 1.0 ( P < .001) post-SAbR at 6.0 ± 4.9 months follow-up., Conclusions: A workflow including computational ECG mapping and protocol-guided respiratory gating is feasible, is safe, and may improve the ease of SAbR planning. Studies to validate this workflow in larger populations are required.

Purpose: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has demonstrated encouraging local tumor control rates in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, yet we lack prospective clinical trials evaluating dose-escalation strategies among patients treated with 5-fraction SBRT. This phase 1 dose-escalation trial was conducted to determine the maximum tolerated dose of SBRT in patients with pancreatic cancer., Methods and Materials: Thirty patients with pancreatic cancer were enrolled and treated with 40, 45, or 50 Gy SBRT in 5 fractions with doses determined using a time-to-event continual reassessment method trial design. Systemic therapy was permitted before and after SBRT, but not mandated by the study protocol. Toxicity was the primary study endpoint, and any grade ≥3 acute or late toxicity potentially attributable to SBRT was considered a dose-limiting toxicity. Secondary endpoints included local progression, distant progression, and overall survival., Results: The median follow up from SBRT was 8.9 months (range, 1.7-62.6 months). Nineteen patients (63%) had locally advanced disease, 3 patients (10%) had metastatic disease, and 8 patients (27%) had medically unresectable disease. Three patients (10%) received 40 Gy, 16 patients (53%) received 45 Gy, and 11 patients (37%) received 50 Gy. Seven patients (23%) experienced grade ≤2 acute toxicity, and 2 patients (6.7%) experienced grade 4 to 5 late toxicity, both of which occurred in the 45 Gy group. Median survival time was 17.1 months from the time of diagnosis and 9.8 months from SBRT. The 1-year cumulative incidence of local progression was 14.2% (95% confidence interval, 4.2%-30%)., Conclusions: This dose-escalation trial evaluated high-dose SBRT delivered in 5 fractions, and overall demonstrated favorable local control and survival, but was associated with nontrivial rates of severe late gastrointestinal toxicity potentially attributable to radiation. Further prospective studies are needed to define the safety and efficacy of high-dose SBRT in patients with pancreatic cancer., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose This study aimed to perform a longitudinal analysis of linear accelerator (linac) technical faults reported with a cloud-based Machine Log system in use in a busy academic clinic and derive operational insights related to linac reliability, clinical utilization, and performance. Methods We queried the Machine Log system for the following parameters: linac type, number of reported technical faults, types of fault, number of faults where the linac was disabled, and estimated clinical downtime. The number of fractions treated and monitor units (MU) delivered were obtained from the record and verify system as metrics of linac utilization and to normalize the number of reported linac faults, facilitating inter-comparison. Two Varian TrueBeam C-arm linacs (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA), one Varian 21iX C-arm linac (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA), and one newly installed Varian Halcyon ring gantry linac (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA) were evaluated. The linacs were studied over a 30-month period from September 2017 to March 2020.  Results Over 30 months, comprising 677 clinical days, 1234 faults were reported from all linacs, including 153 "linac down" events requiring rescheduling or cancellation of treatments. The TrueBeam linacs reported nearly twice as many imaging, multileaf collimator (MLC), and beam generation faults per fraction, and MU as the Halcyon. Halcyon experienced fewer beam generation/steering, accessory, and cooling-related faults than the other linacs but reported more computer and networking issues. Although it employs a relatively new MLC design compared to the C-arm linacs and delivers primarily intensity-modulated treatments, Halcyon reported fewer MLC faults than the other linacs. The 21iX linac had the fewest software-related faults but was subject to the most cooling-related faults, which we attributed to extensive use of this linac for treatment techniques with extended beam-on times. Conclusions A longitudinal analysis of a cloud-based Machine Log system yielded operational insights into the utilization, performance, and technical reliability of the linacs in use at our institution. Several trends in linac sub-system reliability were identified and could be attributed to either age, design, clinical use, or operational demands. The results of this analysis will be used as a basis for designing linac quality assurance schedules that reflect actual linac usage and observed sub-system reliability. Such a practice may contribute to a clinic workflow subject to fewer disruptions from linac faults, ultimately improving efficiency and patient safety., Competing Interests: The authors have declared financial relationships, which are detailed in the next section., (Copyright © 2021, Hoisak et al.)

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of a training program designed to teach medical physicists how to communicate with patients effectively in the clinical environment., Methods and Materials: The training program was offered 3 times between 2016 and 2019. Participants were asked to rank their level of confidence in 5 categories relevant to patient communication on a 5-point Likert scale at 3 separate time points over the course of the training program. Participants were also asked to provide written responses to 5 common questions from patients at 2 separate time points, and these responses were numerically scored using the Constant Comparative Method. Competency in patient communication was assessed during simulated patient consults using a 9-element clinical competency assessment form. Changes in participants' stated level of confidence over the course of the training program and differences between faculty and residents were analyzed using the Student t test, and participants' scored responses to common questions were analyzed using analysis of variance., Results: Fifteen medical physicists participated in the training program: 6 resident physicists (4 first year and 2 second year) and 9 faculty physicists. Mean participant-stated level of confidence increased significantly across all categories (P < .05) between the first and second training intervention and between the second and third training intervention. There was no significant difference in mean participant-stated level of confidence between faculty and resident medical physicists. We observed statistically significant improvements in scored responses to common patient questions between the 2 assessment time points (P < .05). Of the 15 participants, 14 met competency assessment goals during simulated patient consults., Conclusions: The patient communication skills training program increases medical physicists' level of confidence across 5 patient communication categories and improves their responses to common questions from patients. In addition, the program can discern differences in communication competency between physicists., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To provide insight into the types of questions asked to medical physicists by patients during one-on-one physicist-patient consults at one institution., Materials and Methods: Medical physicists trained in patient communication techniques met with patients to provide an overview of the treatment planning and delivery processes, discuss the patient's treatment plan, and answer any technical questions. From August 2016 to December 2019, 152 physicist-patient consults were conducted. In the initial months of the study (August 2016-December 2017), following each physicist-patient consult, all patient questions were documented by the physicists. For the remaining time period (January 2018-December 2019), any newly encountered questions were periodically added to the list. The questions were compiled into a comprehensive list and organized into categories., Results: There were a total of 88 unique patient questions. These questions fit into four topical categories. Fifty-four questions (61.4%) were in the "Treatment Planning and Delivery Questions" category, 15 questions (17.1%) were in the "General Radiation Questions or Concerns" category, 13 questions (14.8%) were in the "Safety and Quality Assurance Questions" category, and 6 questions (6.8%) were in the "Medical Questions" category. Overall, patients were primarily concerned about how radiation works, the treatment planning and delivery processes, and what is being done to keep them safe throughout their treatment., Conclusion: Physicist-patient consults provided an opportunity to address the technical aspects of radiation therapy with patients in greater detail. The fact that patient questions could be conveniently grouped into only four topical categories indicates that it may be straightforward for other medical physicists to prepare for effectively addressing technical questions during physicist-patient consults., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Purpose: To evaluate whether automated knowledge-based planning (KBP) (a) is noninferior to human-driven planning across multiple disease sites and (b) systematically affects dosimetric plan quality and variability., Methods and Materials: Clinical KBP automated planning routines were developed for prostate, prostatic fossa, hypofractionated lung, and head and neck. Clinical implementation consisted of independent generation of human-generated and KBP plans (145 cases across all sites), followed by blinded plan selection. Reviewing physicians were prompted to select a single plan; when plan equivalence was volunteered, this scored as KBP selection. Plan selection analysis used a noninferiority framework testing the hypothesis that KBP is not worse than human-driven planning (threshold: lower 95% confidence interval [CI] > 0.45 = noninferiority; > 0.5 = superiority). Target and organ-at-risk metrics were compared by dose differencing: ΔDx = Dx, human-Dx, KBP (2-tailed paired t test, Bonferroni-corrected P < .05 significance threshold). To evaluate the aggregated effect of KBP on planning performance, we examined post-KBP dosimetric parameters against 183 plans generated just before KBP implementation (2-tailed unpaired t test, Bonferroni-corrected P < .05)., Results: Across all disease sites, the KBP success rate (physician preferred + equivalent) was noninferior compared with human-driven planning (83 of 145 = 57.2%; range, 49.2%-65.3%) but did not cross the threshold for superiority. The KBP success rate in respective disease sites was superior with head and neck ([22 + 2]/36 = 66.7%; 95% CI, 51%-82%) and noninferior for lung stereotactic body radiation therapy ([21 + 2]/36 = 63.9%; 95% CI, 48%-80%) but did not meet noninferiority criteria with prostate ([16 + 3]/41 = 46.3%; 95% CI, 31%-62%) or prostatic fossa ([17 + 0]/32 = 53.1%; 95% CI, 36%-70%). Prostate, prostatic fossa, and head and neck showed significant differences in KBP-selected plans versus human-selected plans, with KBP generally exhibiting greater organ-at-risk sparing and human plans exhibiting better target homogeneity. Analysis of plan quality pre- and post-KBP showed some reductions in organ doses and quality metric variability in prostate and head and neck., Conclusions: Fully automated KBP was noninferior to human-driven plan optimization across multiple disease sites. Dosimetric analysis of treatment plans before and after KBP implementation showed a systematic shift to higher plan quality and lower variability with the introduction of KBP., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Auto-segmentation represents an efficient tool to segment organs on CT imaging. Primarily used in clinical setting, auto-segmentation plays an increasing role in research, particularly when analyzing thousands of images in the "big data" era. In this study we evaluate the accuracy of cardiac dosimetric endpoints derived from atlas based auto-segmentation compared to gold standard manual segmentation., Material and Methods: Heart and cardiac substructures were manually delineated on 54 breast cancer patients. Twenty-seven patients were used to build the auto-segmentation atlas, the other 27 to validate performance. We evaluated accuracy of the auto-segmented contours with standard geometric indices and assessed dosimetric endpoints., Results: Auto-segmented contours overlapped geometrically with manual contours of the heart and chambers with Dice-similarity coefficients of 0.93 ± 0.02 (mean ± standard deviation) and 0.79 ± 0.07 respectively. Similarly, there was a strong link between dosimetric parameters derived from auto-segmented and manual contours (R 2  = 0.955-1.000). On the other hand, the left anterior descending artery had little geometric overlap (Dice-similarity coefficient 0.09 ± 0.07), though acceptable representation of dosimetric parameters (R 2  = 0.646-0.992)., Conclusions: The atlas based auto-segmentation approach delineates heart structures with sufficient accuracy for research purposes. Our results indicate that quality of auto-segmented contours cannot be determined by geometric values only., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Purpose: To investigate a new clinical role for medical physicists in direct patient care with a prospective phase 2 clinical trial., Materials and Methods: Medical physicists participated in the Physics Direct Patient Care (PDPC) protocol, establishing independent professional relationships with radiation oncology patients. After attending a dedicated patient communication training program, medical physicists routinely met with patients for 2 physicist-patient consults to explain the treatment planning and delivery process, review the patient's treatment plan, and answer all technical questions. The first physicist-patient consult took place immediately before the computed tomography simulation, and the second took place immediately before the first treatment. Questionnaires were administered to each patient on the PDPC protocol at 3 time points to assess both anxiety and satisfaction. The first questionnaire was given shortly after the first physicist-patient consult, the second questionnaire was given shortly after the second physicist-patient consult, and the third questionnaire was given after the last treatment appointment, with no associated physicist-patient consult., Results: The mean patient anxiety score was considered to be low at all questionnaire time points. There was a statistically significant decrease (P < .0001) in anxiety from the simulation time point to the first treatment time point. The mean patient technical satisfaction score was considered to be high at all measurement time points. There was a statistically significant increase (P = .0012) in technical satisfaction from the simulation time point to the first treatment time point. There was a statistically significant decrease (P < .023) in technical satisfaction from the first treatment time point to the last treatment time point., Conclusions: Establishing a new clinical role for medical physicists and investigating its effects on patient anxiety and satisfaction have created the foundation for future studies. Based on the results of this trial, the PDPC protocol will be expanded to a larger group of medical physicists, radiation oncologists, and patient disease sites and investigated with a randomized phase 3 clinical trial., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To develop a training program designed to meet the specific needs of medical physicists as they transition into a clinical role with direct patient care responsibilities., Materials and Methods: The training program was designed in collaboration with the faculty at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and incorporates training techniques that have been shown to be effective in improving communication skills. The program emphasizes experiential, practice-based learning over didactic presentations., Results: The training program is comprised of 5 components: 1) a 1-day Clinician-Patient Communication Workshop run by the UC San Diego School of Medicine, 2) Communication Strategies for Radiation Oncology, which consists of two, 2-hour sessions designed to provide trainees with patient communication skills that are specific to patient interactions in radiation oncology, 3) Simulated Patient Interactions, in which trainees perform mock physicist-patient consults with trained patient actors, 4) Faculty-Observed Patient Consults, and 5) a Case-Based Treatment Toxicity Course. A competency assessment mechanism was also developed to provide a clear set of objectives and to guide trainer feedback. [Correction added after first online publication on November 7, 2018: The phrase ", which consists of two, 2-hour" was added above.] CONCLUSIONS: The training program that we have developed incorporates an array of established education techniques and provides a comprehensive, accessible, means of improving medical physicists' patient communication skills., (© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Halcyon™ is a single-energy (6 MV-FFF), bore-enclosed linear accelerator. Patient setup is performed by first aligning to external lasers mounted to the front of the bore, and then loading to isocenter through pre-defined couch shifts. There is no light field, optical distance indicator or front pointer mechanism, so positioning is verified through MV imaging with kV imaging scheduled to become available in the future. TG-51 reference dosimetry was successfully performed for Halcyon™ in this imaging-based setup paradigm. The beam quality conversion factor, k Q , was determined by measuring %dd(10) x three ways: (a) using a Farmer chamber with lead filtering, (b) using a Farmer chamber without lead filtering, and (c) using a PinPoint chamber without lead filtering. Values of k Q were determined to be 0.995, 0.996, and 0.996 by each measurement technique, respectively. Halcyon™'s 6 MV-FFF beam was found to be broader than other FFF beams produced by Varian accelerators, and profile measurements at d max showed the beam to vary less than 0.5% over the dimensions of our Farmer chamber's active volume. Reference dosimetry can be performed for the Halcyon™ accelerator simply, without specialized equipment or lead filtering with minimal dosimetric impact. This simplicity will prove advantageous in clinics with limited resources or physics support., (© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Purpose: Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) improves dyspnea and other outcomes in selected patients with severe emphysema, but many have excessive surgical risk for LVRS. We analyzed the dose-volume relationship for lobar volume reduction after stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) of lung tumors, hypothesizing that SABR could achieve therapeutic volume reduction if applied in emphysema., Methods and Materials: We retrospectively identified patients treated from 2007 to 2011 who had SABR for 1 lung tumor, pre-SABR pulmonary function testing, and ≥6 months computed tomographic (CT) imaging follow-up. We contoured the treated lobe and untreated adjacent lobe(s) on CT before and after SABR and calculated their volume changes relative to the contoured total (bilateral) lung volume (TLV). We correlated lobar volume reduction with the volume receiving high biologically effective doses (BED, α/β = 3)., Results: 27 patients met the inclusion criteria, with a median CT follow-up time of 14 months. There was no grade ≥3 toxicity. The median volume reduction of the treated lobe was 4.4% of TLV (range, -0.4%-10.8%); the median expansion of the untreated adjacent lobe was 2.6% of TLV (range, -3.9%-11.6%). The volume reduction of the treated lobe was positively correlated with the volume receiving BED ≥60 Gy (r(2)=0.45, P=.0001). This persisted in subgroups determined by high versus low pre-SABR forced expiratory volume in 1 second, treated lobe CT emphysema score, number of fractions, follow-up CT time, central versus peripheral location, and upper versus lower lobe location, with no significant differences in effect size between subgroups. Volume expansion of the untreated adjacent lobe(s) was positively correlated with volume reduction of the treated lobe (r(2)=0.47, P<.0001)., Conclusions: We identified a dose-volume response for treated lobe volume reduction and adjacent lobe compensatory expansion after lung tumor SABR, consistent across multiple clinical parameters. These data serve to inform our ongoing prospective trial of stereotactic ablative volume reduction (SAVR) for severe emphysema in poor candidates for LVRS., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Radiation-induced gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity can be a major source of morbidity and mortality after radiation exposure. There is an unmet need for effective preventative or mitigative treatments against the potentially fatal diarrhea and water loss induced by radiation damage to the GI tract. We report that prolyl hydroxylase inhibition by genetic knockout or pharmacologic inhibition of all PHD (prolyl hydroxylase domain) isoforms by the small-molecule dimethyloxallyl glycine (DMOG) increases hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) expression, improves epithelial integrity, reduces apoptosis, and increases intestinal angiogenesis, all of which are essential for radioprotection. HIF2, but not HIF1, is both necessary and sufficient to prevent radiation-induced GI toxicity and death. Increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression contributes to the protective effects of HIF2, because inhibition of VEGF function reversed the radioprotection and radiomitigation afforded by DMOG. Additionally, mortality from abdominal or total body irradiation was reduced even when DMOG was given 24 hours after exposure. Thus, prolyl hydroxylase inhibition represents a treatment strategy to protect against and mitigate GI toxicity from both therapeutic radiation and potentially lethal radiation exposures., (Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

Purpose: To determine how the respiratory phase impacts dose to normal organs during stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for pancreatic cancer., Methods and Materials: Eighteen consecutive patients with locally advanced, unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with SBRT were included in this study. On the treatment planning 4-dimensional computed tomography (CT) scan, the planning target volume (PTV), defined as the gross tumor volume plus 3-mm margin, the duodenum, and the stomach were contoured on the end-expiration (CTexp) and end-inspiration (CTinsp) phases for each patient. A separate treatment plan was constructed for both phases with the dose prescription of 33 Gy in 5 fractions with 95% coverage of the PTV by the 100% isodose line. The dose-volume histogram (DVH) endpoints, volume of duodenum that received 20 Gy (V20), V25, and V30 and maximum dose to 5 cc of contoured organ (D5cc), D1cc, and D0.1cc, were evaluated., Results: Dosimetric parameters for the duodenum, including V25, V30, D1cc, and D0.1cc improved by planning on the CTexp compared to those on the CTinsp. There was a statistically significant overlap of the PTV with the duodenum but not the stomach during the CTinsp compared to the CTexp (0.38 ± 0.17 cc vs 0.01 ± 0.01 cc, P=.048). A larger expansion of the PTV, in accordance with a Danish phase 2 trial, showed even more overlapping volume of duodenum on the CTinsp compared to that on the CTexp (5.5 ± 0.9 cc vs 3.0 ± 0.8 cc, P=.0003) but no statistical difference for any stomach dosimetric DVH parameter., Conclusions: Dose to the duodenum was higher when treating on the inspiratory than on the expiratory phase. These data suggest that expiratory gating may be preferable to inspiratory breath-hold and free breathing strategies for minimizing risk of toxicity., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To investigate the radiotherapy dose perturbations caused by esophageal stents in patients undergoing external beam treatments for esophageal cancer., Methods and Materials: Four esophageal stents were examined (three metallic stents: WallFlex, Ultraflex, and Alveolus; one nonmetallic stent with limited radiopaque markers for visualization: Polyflex). All experiments were performed in a liquid water phantom with a custom acrylic stent holder. Radiochromic film was used to measure the dose distributions adjacent to the stents at locations proximal and distal to the radiation source. The stents were placed in an air-filled cavity to simulate the esophagus. Treatment plans were created and delivered for photon energies of 6 and 15 MV, and data analysis was performed on uniform regions of interest, according to the size and geometric placement of the films, to quantify the dose perturbations., Results: The three metallic stents produced the largest dose perturbations with distinct patterns of "hot" spots (increased dose) measured proximal to the radiation source (up to 15.4%) and both "cold" (decreased dose) and hot spots measured distal to the radiation source (range, -6.1%-5.8%). The polymeric Polyflex stent produced similar dose perturbations when the radiopaque markers were examined (range, -7.6%-15.4%). However, when the radiopaque markers were excluded from the analysis, the Polyflex stent produced significantly smaller dose perturbations, with maximum hot spots of 7.3% and cold spots of -3.2%., Conclusions: The dose perturbations caused by esophageal stents during the treatment of esophageal cancer using external beam radiotherapy should be understood. These perturbations will result in hot and cold spots in the esophageal mucosa, with varying magnitudes depending on the stent. The nonmetallic Polyflex stent appears to be the most suitable for patients undergoing radiotherapy, but further studies are necessary to determine the clinical significance of the dose perturbations., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery is capable of providing small, high gradient dose distributions to a target with a high level of precision, which makes it an excellent choice for studies of focal irradiations with small animals. However, the Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery process makes use of a human-sized fiducial marker system that requires a field of view of at least 200 mm(2) to relate computed tomography and magnetic resonance images to the Gamma Knife treatment planning software. Thus the Gamma Knife fiducial marker system is five to six times larger than a typical small animal subject. The required large field of view limits the spatial resolution and structural detail available in the animal treatment planning image set. In response to this challenge we have developed a custom-designed stereotactic jig and miniature fiducial marking system that allow small bore high-resolution micro-imaging techniques, such as 7T MR and micro-CT, to be used for treatment planning of Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery focal irradiation of small animals.