Radiotherapy for Growing Vestibular Schwannomas.

Importance: In the literature, there is a lack of data reporting tumor control rates after radiotherapy in actively growing vestibular schwannomas (VS). Data for this rarely studied population are needed.

Objective: To estimate tumor control rates in radiologically growing VS treated with first-line radiotherapy.

Ideas for mentorship in oncology for medical students and early career doctors: insights from a UK-wide oncology mentorship scheme.

Background: Early mentorship in oncology increases interest in the field and benefits mentees and mentors both personally and professionally. The British Oncology Network for Undergraduate Societies (BONUS) Mentorship Scheme enables UK-wide pairing of students and early career doctors with trainee and consultant oncologists. Little is known about the content of the sessions.

Associations Between Radiation Oncologist Demographic Factors and Segmentation Similarity Benchmarks: Insights From a Crowd-Sourced Challenge Using Bayesian Estimation.

Purpose: The quality of radiotherapy auto-segmentation training data, primarily derived from clinician observers, is of utmost importance. However, the factors influencing the quality of clinician-derived segmentations are poorly understood; our study aims to quantify these factors.

Methods: Organ at risk (OAR) and tumor-related segmentations provided by radiation oncologists from the Contouring Collaborative for Consensus in Radiation Oncology data set were used.

Intra-operative extracorporeal irradiation of tumour-invaded craniotomy bone flap in meningioma: a case series.

Background: Extracorporeal irradiation of tumorous calvaria (EITC) can be performed to restore function and form of the skull after resection of bone-invasive meningioma. We sought to examine the rate of tumour recurrence and other selected outcomes in patients undergoing meningioma resection and EITC.

Methods: Retrospective single-centre study of adult patients undergoing meningioma resection and EITC between January 2015 and November 2022 at a tertiary neurosurgical centre.

Determining The Role Of Radiation Oncologist Demographic Factors On Segmentation Quality: Insights From A Crowd-Sourced Challenge Using Bayesian Estimation.

Background: Medical image auto-segmentation is poised to revolutionize radiotherapy workflows. The quality of auto-segmentation training data, primarily derived from clinician observers, is of utmost importance. However, the factors influencing the quality of these clinician-derived segmentations have yet to be fully understood or quantified.

Large scale crowdsourced radiotherapy segmentations across a variety of cancer anatomic sites.

Clinician generated segmentation of tumor and healthy tissue regions of interest (ROIs) on medical images is crucial for radiotherapy. However, interobserver segmentation variability has long been considered a significant detriment to the implementation of high-quality and consistent radiotherapy dose delivery. This has prompted the increasing development of automated segmentation approaches.

prospective acceptability benchmarking from the Contouring Collaborative for Consensus in Radiation Oncology crowdsourced initiative for multiobserver segmentation.

Purpose: Contouring Collaborative for Consensus in Radiation Oncology (C3RO) is a crowdsourced challenge engaging radiation oncologists across various expertise levels in segmentation. An obstacle to artificial intelligence (AI) development is the paucity of multiexpert datasets; consequently, we sought to characterize whether aggregate segmentations generated from multiple nonexperts could meet or exceed recognized expert agreement.

Approach: Participants who contoured region of interest (ROI) for the breast, sarcoma, head and neck (H&N), gynecologic (GYN), or gastrointestinal (GI) cases were identified as a nonexpert or recognized expert.

Usability: An introduction to and literature review of usability testing for educational resources in radiation oncology.

Usability, or the ease with which something can be used, is a key aspect in ensuring end-users can achieve the best possible outcomes from a given educational resource. Ideally usability testing should take place iteratively throughout the design of the resource, and there are several approaches for undertaking usability testing described in the wider literature. Within radiation oncology education, the extent to which usability testing occurs remains unclear.

Metrics to evaluate the performance of auto-segmentation for radiation treatment planning: A critical review.

Advances in artificial intelligence-based methods have led to the development and publication of numerous systems for auto-segmentation in radiotherapy. These systems have the potential to decrease contour variability, which has been associated with poor clinical outcomes and increased efficiency in the treatment planning workflow. However, there are no uniform standards for evaluating auto-segmentation platforms to assess their efficacy at meeting these goals.

Education and training for image-guided adaptive brachytherapy for cervix cancer-The (GEC)-ESTRO/EMBRACE perspective.

Image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) has been shown to improve local/regional control and survival for cervix cancer patients while reducing morbidity. However, the technique is complex involving several conceptual, methodological, and technical innovations compared to conventional brachytherapy. The delivery of high-quality IGABT which will translate into improved outcomes is therefore critically dependent on effective education and training of all health professionals involved in the brachytherapy treatment process.

Implementing an online radiotherapy quality assurance programme with supporting continuous medical education - report from the EMBRACE-II evaluation of cervix cancer IMRT contouring.

Background And Purpose: EMBRACE-II is an international prospective study of IMRT and MRI-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) in locally advanced cervix cancer. An online radiotherapy quality assurance (RTQA) programme with minimal data transfer and supporting continuing medical education (CME) was implemented for IMRT contouring.

Materials And Methods: Participant contours for six volumes-of-interest (VOIs) on one benchmark case were scored (2 = excellent, 1 = fair, 0 = revision required) against a consensus reference contour.

Challenges for Quality Assurance of Target Volume Delineation in Clinical Trials.

In recent years, new radiotherapy techniques have emerged that aim to improve treatment outcome and reduce toxicity. The standard method of evaluating such techniques is to conduct large scale multicenter clinical trials, often across continents. A major challenge for such trials is quality assurance to ensure consistency of treatment across all participating centers.

The Cambridge post-mastectomy radiotherapy (C-PMRT) index: a practical tool for patient selection.

Background And Purpose: Post mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) reduces loco-regional recurrence (LRR) and has been associated with survival benefit. It is recommended for patients with T3/T4 tumours and/or ⩾ 4 positive lymph nodes (LN). The role of PMRT in 1-3 positive LN and LN negative patients is contentious.

Anal cancer: are we making progress?

Anal cancer is an uncommon malignancy. There have been some intriguing developments in the past 3 years, in terms of our understanding of the molecular biology and processes that lead to anal cancer. There have also been some notable successes in prevention, imaging and treatment.

Finding needles in a haystack: annual low-dose computed tomography screening reduces lung cancer mortality in a high-risk group.

Lung cancer is a global health issue. Compared with other common malignancies, the prognosis is poor as many patients present with advanced disease. The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) aimed to identify and treat early lung cancers using annual low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening in a high-risk group.