Oncological outcomes and organ preservation after brachytherapy for penile carcinoma: A multicentric retrospective study by the Brachytherapy Group of the French Society for Radiation Oncology.

Introduction: Penile cancer is a rare malignancy with significant implications for patients' quality of life due to the sensitivity of the affected organ. While partial or total penectomy remains the standard treatment, its functional and psychological sequelae are significant. Brachytherapy is an effective alternative to penectomy offering penile preservation and good local control.

ESGO-ESTRO-ESP guidelines for the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma: update 2025.

In 2023, based on advances in the understanding of the pathological and molecular features of endometrial carcinoma, an updated International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system was published, aiming to better define prognostic groups and identify relevant treatment subgroups by including factors reflecting tumour biology (histological subtypes, lymphovascular space invasion, and molecular classification) alongside refinements of anatomical factors (peritoneal carcinomatosis and lymph node metastasis). As part of its mission to improve the quality of care for people with gynaecological cancers, the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO), European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), and the European Society of Pathology (ESP) updated the ESGO-ESTRO-ESP evidence-based guidelines published in 2021 by incorporating this revised FIGO staging and the large body of new evidence addressing the management of endometrial carcinoma. The development process of these guidelines was based on a systematic literature review and critical appraisal process involving an international multidisciplinary development group consisting of 30 experts from relevant disciplines (gynaecological oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, and pathology).

Radiotherapy: Beyond cancer….

Radiotherapy, long established as a cornerstone of cancer care, has in recent years broadened its therapeutic reach to include a variety of benign and functional disorders. Advances in imaging, motion management, and highly conformal delivery have made it possible to treat non-malignant conditions with precision and minimal collateral damage. For example, stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation offers a noninvasive, single-session option for refractory ventricular tachycardia, markedly reducing arrhythmic burden and device interventions.

GAN-based standardization of MR images: a promising approach for the development of multicentre radiomic models.

Objective: Generative adversarial network (GAN) based methods for MRI standardization are compared to conventional prepro- cessing and a posteriori methods proposed in the literature.

Approach: T2w MR images from 30 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) were acquired prospectively (Cohort 1). For each patient, three images were taken sequentially on the same scanner with different values of repetition time (TR) and voxel size (VS).

[Cervical cancer: Guidelines for clinical practice].

Objectives: To establish clinical practice guidelines for the management of women with cervical cancer.

Methods: An organizing committee composed of a chair, two coordinators, and a methodologist defined the questions to be addressed and appointed a working group of 36 experts. Questions were formulated using the PICO format (Patients, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome).

Evaluation of 30-day mortality after palliative radiotherapy of 8Gy in a single fraction as a quality criteria of patient management in a university hospital.

Purpose: Palliative radiotherapy aims to relieve cancer-related complications (pain, bleeding, external compression) and improve patients' quality of life. The 8Gy single-fraction regimen is the most commonly used, as it is effective and convenient to patients. Given that the therapeutic effect of palliative radiotherapy may take several weeks to manifest, a 30-day mortality rate below 16 % is considered a quality criteria, since a higher mortality rate would indicate overtreatment of patients who would not benefit from radiotherapy.

Tailoring prostate cancer external beam radiotherapy for patients with lower urinary tract symptoms.

Background: This narrative review aims to examine the biological mechanisms of toxicity in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) receiving prostate cancer (PCa) external beam radiotherapy (RT), as well as possible strategies to prevent genitourinary (GU) toxicity following PCa RT in men with BPH, through the adaptation of both medical, surgical, and irradiation strategies.

Methods: A broad literature search was performed in November 2024 in the PubMed database with the terms "prostate cancer", "prostate epithelial cells", "prostate stromal cells", "radiation therapy", "lower urinary tract symptoms", "stereotactic body radiotherapy", "transurethral resection of the prostate", "enucleation".

Results: RT affects several pathophysiological contributors to LUTS, such as urothelial dysfunction, prostatic inflammation and bladder fibrosis.

Brachytherapy: Perspectives for combined treatments with immunotherapy.

Combining brachytherapy with immunotherapies, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), is a promising approach for potentiating both local control of the tumor and fully exploiting the synergies between pharmaceutic immunomodulation and radiotherapy. Compared to other radiotherapy techniques, BT has a potential to better spare lymphatic drainage areas and gut microbiota, thus reducing the immunosuppressive effects of radiation therapy. In addition, it delivers a broad range of doses due to inherent dose inhomogeneity within the implanted volume.

Implementation of 3D image-guided brachytherapy for penile cancer: Impact of urethral dose on long-term morbidity.

Purpose: Interstitial brachytherapy is a conservative treatment approach for localized penile glans cancer. We report our experience with pulse dose rate interstitial brachytherapy (PDR-BT) in the treatment of penile cancer and evaluated urethral dose-volume constraints for clinical practice.

Methods And Materials: Medical records of patients treated with PDR-BT for localized squamous cell carcinoma of the glans penis in our institution between July 2008 and February 2019 were reviewed.

« Augmented radiotherapy » in the management of high-risk prostate cancer (PCa): A systematic review.

Background: In patients with high-risk (HR) prostate cancer (PCa) treated with radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), intensification with androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) improves overall survival (OS), at the cost of significant side-effects. We hypothesized that "augmented RT" schedules (defined as either dose-escalation on the prostate gland over 78 Gy and/or addition of whole pelvic radiotherapy (WPRT)), combined with long-term ADT can reach excellent prostate cancer specific survival (PCSS) in this population with little detrimental impact on quality of life.

Methods: We searched Pubmed database until February 8, 2024.

Prediction of the need of enteral nutrition during radiation therapy for head and neck cancers.

Introduction: Patients with a head and neck (HN) cancer undergoing radiotherapy risk critical weight loss and oral intake reduction leading to enteral nutrition. We developed a predictive model for the need for enteral nutrition during radiotherapy in this setting. Its performances were reported on a real-world multicentric cohort.

Correlation Between Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes and Biological Markers of Key Parameters in Acute Radiation Cystitis Among Patients With Prostate Cancer (RABBIO): Prospective Observational Study.

Background: Despite advances in radiation techniques, radiation cystitis (RC) remains a significant cause of morbidity from pelvic radiotherapy, which may affect patients' quality of life (QoL). The pathophysiology of RC is not well understood, which limits the development of effective treatments.

Objective: The Radiotoxicity Bladder Biomarkers study aims to investigate the correlation between blood and urinary biomarkers and the intensity of acute RC symptoms and QoL in patients undergoing localized prostate cancer radiotherapy.

Transformative clinical trials in gynaecologic radiation oncology in 2023-2024: Shaping modern treatment practices.

The field of gynaecologic oncology has evolved rapidly in recent years, largely driven by advances in both radiotherapy and systemic therapies. These innovations have reshaped the management of key gynaecologic cancers, including cervical, endometrial, vaginal, and vulvar cancers, leading to more personalized and effective treatment approaches. This review explores pivotal clinical trials conducted between 2023 and 2024 that have potentially modified current practices.

Personalized strategies for brachytherapy of cervix cancer.

Among most tailored approaches in radiation oncology, the development of brachytherapy for the treatment of cervical cancer patients has benefited from various technological innovations. The development of 3D image-guided treatments was the first step for treatment personalization. This breakthrough preceded practice homogenization and validation of predictive dose and volume parameters and prognostic factors.

Image-Guided Brachytherapy for Pediatric Bladder and/or Prostate Rhabdomyosarcoma: Toward an Increased Personalization of Treatment.

Purpose: Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue cancer in children. Around 15% of RMS involve the bladder and/or prostate (BP). Overall survival is around 85%.

Association Between the Regular Use of Vaginal Dilators and/or Sexual Activity and Vaginal Morbidity in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Survivors: An EMBRACE-I Study Report.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide risk estimations for vaginal morbidity with regard to vaginal dilation (summarizing the use of dilators and/or sexual activity) in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer treated with definitive radiochemotherapy and image guided adaptive brachytherapy within the prospective, multi-institutional EMBRACE-I study.

Methods And Materials: Physician-assessed vaginal morbidity (National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0), use of vaginal dilators, and patient-reported sexual activity (EORTC-CX24) were prospectively assessed at baseline and during regular follow-ups.

Gynecological brachytherapy hybrid training: The Tata Memorial Centre and BrachyAcademy experience.

Purpose: The lack of training is a significant barrier to practicing brachytherapy (BT). Tata Memorial Centre, alongside international BT experts and BrachyAcademy, developed a hybrid gynecological BT training module. This study outlines the preparation, organization, and execution of the 2022-2023 Mumbai training, evaluates its effectiveness, and highlights areas for improvement.

Localized incompletely resected standard risk rhabdomyosarcoma in children and adolescents: Results from the European Paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group RMS 2005 trial.

Background: The authors report the prospective evaluation of reduced dose alkylator chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy for European Pediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group (EpSSG) standard risk nonalveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (NA-RMS).

Patients And Methods: Localized node negative Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS) II/III NA-RMS at favorable sites (subgroup C), <25 years old, received five cycles of ifosfamide, vincristine, and dactinomycin (IVA) chemotherapy (30 g/m ifosfamide) and four cycles of vincristine and dactinomycin (if receiving radiotherapy), or nine cycles of IVA (54 g/m ifosfamide) ± radiotherapy. Delayed primary tumor excision was considered for IRS III tumors.

Preoperative brachytherapy of early-stage cervical cancer: A multicenter study by the SFRO brachytherapy group.

Objective: To report the results of a multicenter cohort of preoperative brachytherapy (PBT) for treatment of early-stage cervical cancer (ESCC).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted among five French comprehensive cancer centers on behalf of the SFRO Brachytherapy Group to examine the outcome of patients with ESCC who received PBT between 2001 and 2019 because of adverse prognostic factors (tumor size >2 cm, presence of lymphovascular invasion, adenocarcinoma).Brachytherapy was followed 4-8 weeks later by surgery.