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Title: High-Dose Spatially Fractionated GRID Radiation Therapy (SFGRT): A Comparison of Treatment Outcomes With Cerrobend vs. MLC SFGRT

Journal Article · · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]; ;  [1]
  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (United States)
  2. Northwest Radiation Oncology and University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX (United States)
  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States)
  4. Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD (United States)
  5. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California (United States)

Purpose: Spatially fractionated GRID radiotherapy (SFGRT) using a customized Cerrobend block has been used to improve response rates in patients with bulky tumors. The clinical efficacy of our own multileaf collimator (MLC) technique is unknown. We undertook a retrospective analysis to compare clinical response rates attained using these two techniques. Methods and Materials: Seventy-nine patients with bulky tumors (median diameter, 7.6 cm; range, 4-30 cm) treated with SFGRT were reviewed. Between 2003 and late 2005, the Cerrobend block technique (n = 39) was used. Between late 2005 and 2008, SFGRT was delivered using MLC-shaped fields (n = 40). Dose was prescribed to dmax (depth of maximum dose) and was typically 15 Gy. Eighty percent of patients in both groups received external beam radiotherapy in addition to SFGRT. The two-sided Fisher-Freeman-Halton test was used to compare pain and mass effect response rates between the two groups. Results: Sixty-one patients (77%) were treated for palliative intent and 18 (23%) for curative intent. The majority of patients had either lung or head-and-neck primaries in both groups; the most frequent site of SFGRT application was the neck. The majority of patients complained of either pain (65%) or mass effect (58%) at intake. Overall response rates for pain and mass response were no different between the Cerrobend and MLC groups: pain, 75% and 74%, respectively (p = 0.50), and mass effect, 67% and 73%, respectively (p = 0.85). The majority of toxicities were Grade 1 or 2, and only 3 patients had late Grade 3-4 toxicities. Conclusions: MLC-based and Cerrobend-based SFGRT have comparable and encouraging response rates when used either in the palliative or curative setting. MLC-based SGFRT should allow clinics to more easily adopt this novel treatment approach for the treatment of bulky tumors.

OSTI ID:
22056208
Journal Information:
International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 5; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0360-3016
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English