3rd ESTRO Forum 2015 S45 organs-at-risk toxicity.This study was performed to assess the best dosimetric predictor of urethra strictures.Materials and Methods: Patients treated between 2001 and 2013 at a single institution with HDRB were retrospectively analysed.The patients were all reviewed 6, 12, 18, 24 months and then every year until 10 years after the treatment and data collected in a database.Clinical, demographic, dosimetric and urethral stricture factors were captured.We used urethra Dose Volume Histograms (DVH) metrics: D10% (Gy), D5%(Gy) and D30%(Gy).We converted doses from 3 different fractionation regimes (18 Gy in 3, 19 Gy in 2 and 18 Gy in 2 fractions) into Biological Effective Dose (BED) with α/β = 5 Gy.Univariate and Multivariate logistic regression were used to evaluate factors predictive of urethral stricture after HDRB. Results:We analysed data from 249 patients, with a median follow-up of 7 years (1.4-13.4years).Urethra strictures were present in 25/249 (10%) patients, and the median time to onset stricture was about 1.5 years (1 month-7 years).On univariate analysis, BED10%(Gy) (OR = 1.05, p= 0.01), BED30%(Gy) (OR = 1.05, p= 0.02), and BED5%(Gy) (OR=1.05,p= 0.01) were significantly correlated to urethra stricture.The AUC of the resulting model was 0.62 in all cases, however calibration was always suboptimal.Calibration showed improvement when the dosimetric factors were associated to clinical factors despite their lower significance, such as use of neoadjuvant androgen deprivation (OR=0.5, protective factor) which was present in 232 patients (Figure 1).Conclusions: Urethra DVH metrics are related to stricture, particularly the dose to small urethra volumes (D10%).However androgen deprivation acts as an important dose response modifier, pointing out the importance of integrating dosimetric and clinical information in order to have a better identification of the subgroup of patients at high risk of developing severe urinary toxicity after HDRB.
Los sistemas SPECT de animal pequeno alcanzan una resolucion espacial inferior al milimetro. Para conseguirlo, es necesario utilizar colimadores pinhole, ya que la imagen del objeto proyectada en la gammacamara a traves del pequeno orificio del colimador puede estar ampliada respecto al objeto. Con el fin de optimizar el proceso de reconstruccion y obtener resoluciones submilimetricas utilizando equipos de pequeno formato equipados con un colimador pinhole, es necesario utilizar metodos de reconstruccion iterativos. Estos algoritmos ofrecen una calidad de imagen superior y una mejor exactitud en la cuantificacion que los metodos de reconstruccion analiticos, al poder corregir las diferentes degradaciones sufridas en el proceso de formacion de la imagen. A continuacion se detalla el trabajo desarrollado y los principales resultados obtenidos para conseguir este objetivo: 1. Implementacion de un programa de calibracion para calcular los parametros geometricos que describen la adquisicion de un equipo SPECT equipado con colimador pinhole. 2. Desarrollo de un algoritmo de reconstruccion iterativa OSEM para la reconstruccion de estudios SPECT con colimador pinhole. 3. Adaptacion el algoritmo de reconstruccion y el programa de calibracion a un equipo SPECT con colimador pinhole de pequeno formato desarrollado en nuestro centro. La resolucion tomografica del equipo fue de 1 mm para radios de adquisicion pequenos. Las imagenes reconstruidas de estudios en ratones muestran la viabilidad del equipo para su utilizacion con pequenos animales. 4. Incorporacion en la matriz de transicion del sistema la geometria del sistema, la penetracion septal a traves del colimador y la respuesta del detector. La resolucion, el contraste y los coeficientes de recuperacion mejoran al incorporar la penetracion septal respecto a la modelizacion geometrica, aunque la mejora mas importante se obtuvo al incluir la respuesta del detector. El numero de iteraciones utilizadas en la reconstruccion debe limitarse para evitar la aparicion de artefactos de anillo. Estos artefactos son de mayor importancia cuando la modelizacion del sistema incorpora la geometria, la penetracion septal y la respuesta del detector. 5. Comparacion del algoritmo de reconstruccion desarrollado con un algoritmo de reconstruccion que calcula la matriz de transicion con tecnicas de Monte Carlo. El tiempo de calculo de la matriz de transicion del sistema con la aproximacion analitica fue tres ordenes de magnitud inferior al de la aproximacion por Monte Carlo. La resolucion y el contraste de las imagenes reconstruidas mediante ambas aproximaciones fueron similares. Las imagenes reconstruidas con el modelo Monte Carlo presentaban una relacion senal/ruido sensiblemente mas baja, posiblemente asociada a problemas de precision en el calculo de los elementos de matriz por la utilizacion de un numero insuficiente de historias de fotones en el calculo.
Abstract The present document includes consensus-based recommendations from the Brachytherapy Group (GEB) of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR) and the Spanish Society of Medical Physics (SEFM) for interstitial high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT) for gynaecologic malignancies. A nine-item survey—which included questions on experience with interstitial BT; indications and technique; applicator type; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based planning; dose; fractionation schedule; and treatment planning—was sent to all radiation oncology departments ( n = 174) in Spain in 2021. Responses were received from 36 centres (50% of all centres [ n = 72] with a BT unit). The consensus-based recommendations presented here are based on a review of the available literature, professional experience among the group of experts, and in-person discussions held during the annual meeting of these two societies. We describe the results of the survey and the following: indications; contraindications; patient selection; description of applicators; role of imaging in planning; contouring; dose prescription; dosimetric reconstruction; optimisation; and dose indications for cancers of the cervix, vagina, and vulva. The various clinical scenarios in which interstitial BT is used in the treatment of gynaecological tumours are described in detail, including cervix intracavitary/interstitial hybrid HDR-BT; cervix perineal templates/freehand implants; primary vaginal malignancies/vaginal recurrences; and vulvar interstitial implants.
This document presents the report of the Brachytherapy Task Group of the Spanish Society of Medical Physics. It is dedicated to the radiation protection aspects involved in brachytherapy. The aim of this work is to include the more relevant aspects related to radiation protection issues that appear in clinical practice, and for the current equipment in Spain. Basically this report focuses on the typical contents associated with high dose rate brachytherapy with Ir-192 and Co-60 sources, and permanent seed implants with I-125, Pd-103 and Cs-131, which are the most current and widespread modalities. Ophthalmic brachytherapy (COMS with I-125, Ru-106, Sr-90) is also included due to its availability in a significant number of spanish hospitals. The purpose of this report is to assist to the medical physicist community in establishing a radiation protection program for brachytherapy procedures, trying to solve some ambiguities in the application of legal requirements and recommendations in clinical practice.