Astro Journals

Practical Radiation Oncology associate section editor Jeffrey Brower, MD, PhD, hosts a conversation on the ASTRO clinical practice guideline for radiation therapy in Endometrial Cancer. Two of the guideline authors, Matthew Harkenrider, MD, and Paola Gehrig, MD, discuss the development of the updated guidelines and review specific questions related to the management of patients with endometrial cancer.

Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom discusses electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) with Dr. Kaitlyn Lapen, a radiation oncology resident at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who was first author of an article describing ePRO implementation in a November 2021 article, "Development and Pilot Implementation of a Remote Monitoring System for Acute Toxicity Using Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes for Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer"; and Dr. Patricia Holch, Reader in Applied Health Psychology from Leeds Beckett University and Dr. Galina Velikova, Professor of Psychosocial and Medical Oncology from Leeds University and the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, who first- and last-authored an article this month describing a randomized study of ePROs versus usual care among patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy, entitled "Online Symptom Monitoring During Pelvic Radiation Therapy: Randomized Pilot Trial of the eRAPID Intervention". We review major findings from these two publications and

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, discusses primary radiotherapy for early-stage Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma of Early Stage and Indolent Histology. The discussion begins with an explanation of lymphoma classification and then reviews two papers published in PRO: “Prognostic Effect of Systemic Therapy and Radiation Therapy in Stage I Nodal Marginal Zone Lymphoma” (2023, Issue 1, January/February) and “Underutilization of Radiation Therapy in Early-stage Marginal Zone Lymphoma Negatively Impacts Overall Survival” (2016, Issue 4, July/August).

Dr. Sue Yom, Editor in Chief, hosts Dr. Horatio "Tio" Thomas, who is completing radiation oncology residency at UCSF and is first author of an article describing an ACGME-led reform process in our January issue, "Milestones 2.0: Refining the Competency-Based Assessment of Radiation Oncology Medical Residents"; Dr. Neha Vapiwala, Professor and Vice Chair of Education in Radiation Oncology and Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who first-authored an article this month related to accreditation changes at the ACGME, entitled "The ACGME’s Recent Changes to Radiation Oncology Training Program Standards: Raising the Bar for Postgraduate Training Quality to Better Reflect Our Specialty and Better Serve Our Patients"; Dr. Anna Lee, Assistant Professor from the Department of Radiation Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, who first authored an article this month called, "Characteristics of the ARRO Educator of the Year Award Recipients"; and Dr. Emma Fields, Associate Professor

The James Cancer Hospital and Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center FLASH research team review ultra-high dose rate radiation delivery and measurement and share insight from developing a FLASH research program. Advances in Radiation Oncology associate section editor, Ashley Cetnar, PhD, leads a discussion with Arnab Chakravarti, MD, Nilendu Gupta, PhD, Ahmet Ayan, PhD, and Jessica Fleming PhD.

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, discussed two papers that were selected for review in the PROshot literature curation article published in the November/December 2022 issue of PRO. The title of the PROshot article is “PROshot: Borderline Resectable Pancreas SBRT, Surrogate Endpoints, Axillary Dissection, Genomic Classifiers, and Spine SBRT.” The two articles discussed in this podcast are: “Efficacy of Preoperative mFOLFIRINOX vs mFOLFIRINOX Plus Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Borderline Resectable Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas: The A021501 Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial” and “Mature Local Control and Reirradiation Rates Comparing Spine Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy with Conventional Palliative External Beam Radiation Therapy.”

Dr. Sue Yom, Editor in Chief, hosts Dr. Scott Soltys, Professor of Radiation Oncology from Stanford University and outgoing Section CNS Section Editor, along with Dr. Daniel Trifiletti, Associate Professor at Mayo Clinic Florida and CNS Associate Section Editor who first-authored this month’s OncoScan, entitled "Novel Applications of Stereotactic Radiosurgery Beyond Oncology: Prospective Trials in Functional Radiosurgery," and Dr. Valentina Pinzi, Senior Assistant in the Department of Neurosurgery Radiotherapy Unit of the Neurological Institute Carlo Besta in Milan, who is the lead author of an article in this month’s issue, "Hypofractionated Radiosurgery for Large or in Critical-Site Intracranial Meningioma: Results of a Phase 2 Prospective Study."

Practical Radiation Oncology section editor, Minsun Kim, Ph.D. of University of Washington, hosts a conversation on automated treatment planning to improve plan quality beyond human intuition. A senior author on the paper published in PRO: “Clinical acceptability of automated radiation treatment planning for head and neck cancer using the radiation planning assistant”, Beth Beedle, MD, of Stanford University and the chair of the AAPM TG 308: "Clinical implementation of data-driven quality control and automated treatment planning", of University of California, San Diego, Kevin Moore, Ph.D. discuss the current status and recommendations for automated treatment planning approaches to ensure patient safety.

Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom hosts Dr. Shankar Siva, Associate Professor and Radiation Oncologist from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia and the supervising author of "Cost-Effectiveness of Single- versus Multi-Fraction SABR for Pulmonary Oligometastases - The SAFRON II Trial"; Dr. David Sher, Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Red Journal's Methodology Section Editor who first-authored this month's OncoScan "The Cost-Effectiveness of Consolidative Radiation Therapy in Oligometastatic Disease: High-Value Proposition or Wishful Thinking?"; and Dr. Aisling Barry, Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology at University College Cork and Cork University Hospital, Ireland, who first-authored "The Impact of Disease Progression on Health-Related Quality of Life Outcomes in Patients with Oligo-Metastatic Disease at 12-Months post Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy."

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, reviews a paper published in the November/December 2022 issue of PRO that presents the latest guidelines on CTV definition with postoperative radiotherapy for bladder cancer: “International Consensus Guidelines for Adjuvant Radiation Therapy for Bladder Cancer After Radical Cystectomy: Update From an IBIS Workgroup.”

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, explains the 2021 World Health Organization Classification of Adult Brain Gliomas and then comments on the guideline paper published in the September/October 2022 issue of PRO: “Radiation Therapy for IDH-Mutant Grade 2 and Grade 3 Diffuse Glioma: An ASTRO Clinical Practice Guideline.”

Deputy Editor Dr. Salma Jabbour, Vice Chair of Clinical Research and Faculty Development and Clinical Chief in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, hosts Dr. Matthias Guckenberger, Chairman and Professor of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, discussing a new article from his European team, "Completeness of reporting oligometastatic disease characteristics in the literature and influence on oligometastatic disease classification using the ESTRO/EORTC nomenclature," and Dr. David Palma, Clinician Scientist II at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Radiation Oncologist at the London Health Sciences Center, and Associate Professor at Western University, who was the supervising author on the 5-year update of the SABR-COMET trial, " Stereotactic Radiation for the Comprehensive Treatment of Oligometastases (SABR-COMET) – Extended Long-Term Outcomes."

Dr. Jeffrey Olsen, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado and section editor of our gastrointestinal section, co-leads a discussion along with our Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom hosts Dr. Sara Alcorn, Associate Editor and Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Minnesota, who first-authored this month’s Oncology Scan, Toxicity and Timing of Breast Radiotherapy with Overlapping Systemic Therapies and Dr. Jennifer Bellon, Section Editor for breast cancers. Director of Breast Radiation Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and first author of a Red Journal paper from May 2022 called Local Therapy Outcomes and Toxicity From the ATEMPT Trial (TBCRC 033), a Phase II Randomized Trial of Adjuvant T-DM1 vs. TH in Women With Stage I HER2 Positive Breast Cancer, as well as Dr. Jeffrey Cao, Provincial Breast Tumour Team Lead for Alberta Health Services and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Calgary, wh

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, reviews a Topic Discussion paper from the September/October issue of PRO, "Variation in Routine Use of a 60-63 Gy Intermediate Dose CTV with Primary Radiotherapy for Mucosal Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck." This paper summarizes major published guidelines on the use of an intermediate risk target volume and the current practice of four clinicians that specialize in head and neck radiotherapy.

Practical Radiation Oncology associate section editor Debra Nana Yeboa, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, hosts a conversation on ASTRO clinical practice guideline on radiation therapy for IDH-Mutant Grade 2 and Grade 3 Diffuse Glioma. Two of the guideline authors, Lia M. Halasz, MD, of University of Washington and Helen A. Shih, MD, MS, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital discuss the development process of the guideline and the evidence for the recommendations.

Dr. Jeffrey Olsen, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado and section editor of our gastrointestinal section, co-leads a discussion along with our Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom, with Dr. Nima Nabavizadeh, Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University, the supervising author of "Low Utilization of External Beam Radiation Therapy for Patients With Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Analysis of the United Network for Organ Sharing Database" and Dr. Michael Buckstein, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, also an editor at the Red Journal and the lead author of "Combination Transarterial Chemoembolization and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Unresectable Single Large Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Results From a Prospective Phase 2 Trial." We discuss indications for EBRT/SBRT for hepatocellular carcinoma in the contemporary context of collaborating and competing liver-directed therapies.

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, reviews two PRO papers that discuss the risk of serious esophageal damage from Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy to a vertebral body. One article is a Morbidity and Mortality Conference paper titled : “Esophageal Damage from Thoracic Spine SBRT” and the other is a Technical Report titled “Efficacy of an Esophageal Spacer for Spine Radiosurgery: First Experience”. Additional article: A Story of Hypofractionation and the Table on the Wall!

Our Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom hosts a discussion of reimbursement and the application of alternative payment models to radiation oncology. Guests are Dr. Brian Baumann, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chief of the Genitourinary Service at Washington University in St. Louis, and Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. James Yu, Professor and Executive Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology at Columbia University, who specializes in genitourinary and brain malignancies and is an expert in population-based data and comparative effectiveness research. We discuss three articles, "Association of the Oncology Care Model with Value-Based Changes in Use of Radiation Therapy", "Decreases in Radiation Oncology Medicare Reimbursement over Time: Analysis by Billing Code", led by Dr. Baumann, and "The RO-APM: The Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem", written by Dr. Yu. We review the recent history of payment models for radiation oncology and what this n

Practical Radiation Oncology deputy editor James B. Yu, MD, Columbia University Irvine Center hosts a conversation on ASTRO clinical practice guideline on radiation therapy for Brain Metastases. Eric Chang MD of the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Veronica Chiang, MD, of Yale University School of Medicine discuss the recommendations in the four key areas: what are the indications for radiosurgery alone for brain metastases, what should be done before or after surgical resection of brain metastases, when and how should we do whole brain radiation, and what are the risks of radionecrosis. Two of the guideline authors, Jona A. Hattangadi‐Gluth, MD of the University of California, San Diego and Vinai Gondi, MD of Northwestern Medicine Cancer Center and Proton Center discuss the development process of the guideline and the evidence for the recommendations.

This month, Dr. Lucinda Morris, Consultant Radiation Oncologist at St George & The Sutherland Hospital in New South Wales, Australia and expert in geriatric cancer care, and our Education and Profession Section Editor Dr. Paris Ann Ingledew, Department Head at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada and expert in educational frameworks and curricula, join our Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom, to review a new article in this month’s issue led by Dr. Morris, "An International Expert Delphi Consensus to Develop Dedicated Geriatric Radiation Oncology Curriculum Learning Outcomes". We discuss the increasing importance of geriatric expertise in the practice of radiation oncology and potential solutions to the knowledge and education deficits in this area.