Expert consensus on re-irradiation for recurrent glioma

Andra Krauze, Albert Attia, Steve Braunstein, Michael Chan, Stephanie Combs, Rainer Fietkau, John Fiveash, John Flickinger, Anca Grosu, Steven Howard, Carsten Nieder, Maximilian Niyazi, Lindsay Rowe, Dee Dee Smart, Christina Tsien, Kevin Camphausen

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    29 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Purpose: To investigate radiation oncologists' opinions on important considerations to offering re-irradiation (re-RT) as a treatment option for recurrent glioma. Materials and methods: A survey was conducted with 13 radiation oncologists involved in the care of central nervous system tumor patients. The survey was comprised of 49 questions divided into 2 domains: a demographic section (10 questions) and a case section (5 re-RT cases with 5 to 6 questions representing one or several re-RT treatment dilemmas as may be encountered in the clinic). Respondents were asked to rate the relevance of various factors to offering re-RT, respond to the cases with a decision to offer re-RT vs. not, volume to be treated, margins to be employed, dose/fractionation suggested and any additional comments with respect to rationale in each scenario. Results: Sixty nine percent of responders have been practicing for greater than 10years and 61% have re-RT 20 to 100 patients to date, with 54% seeing 2-5 re-RT cases per month and retreating 1-2 patients per month. Recurrent tumor volume, time since previous radiation therapy, previously administered dose to organs at risk and patient performance status were rated by the majority of responders (85%, 92%, 77%, and 69% respectively) as extremely relevant or very relevant to offering re-RT as an option. Conclusion: The experts' practice of re-RT is still heterogeneous, reflecting the paucity of high-quality prospective data available for decision-making. Nevertheless, practicing radiation oncologists can support own decisions by referring to the cases found suitable for re-RT in this survey.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number194
    JournalRadiation Oncology
    Volume12
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Dec 1 2017

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Expert consensus on re-irradiation for recurrent glioma'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this