Radiation Oncology
Expert insights on radiation treatment planning, techniques, toxicity management, and multimodal cancer care.
Recent Discussions
What is an acceptable upper limit for ipsilateral lung V8 Gy when using the FAST-Forward regimen with high tangents to cover limited axillary disease?
I would say ipsilateral V8 is more for the ALARA principle and not based on risk of Pneumonitis, and thus would accept a higher number to cover low axillary if needed.
In what situations would you treat a rectal mass as cancer despite negative biopsies?
It is not uncommon to see a patient with rectal mass highly suspicious for malignancy by endoscopic evaluation but has a negative biopsy. Usually, this is due to superficial biopsy specimens. In our clinic, we usually get repeated endoscopic evaluation with biopsy as our first step. However, a small...
What are your top takeaways in Breast Cancer from ESMO 2025?
ASCENT-03: At ASCO, the results of ASCENT-04 already showed an improvement of PFS (11.2 months vs. 7.8 months) in first-line setting for PD-L1 positive advanced triple negative breast cancer patients treated with sacituzumab plus pembrolizumab compared to chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab. The ASCEN...
Can symptomatic radiation pneumonitis ever improve spontaneously without corticosteroids?
As “pneumonitis” has always been difficult to pinpoint, and relies on “inflammatory radiologic findings” confined to XRT portals, fever, cough without positive bacterial cultures, and shortness of breath, the diagnosis is even more difficult with 3D-directed and multiple portals or mostly IMRT-deliv...
What is the current role for genetic profile testing (e.g. DecisionDx-SCC) in the treatment paradigm for cutaneous malignancies?
This is a very cool test that has a lot of potential to help us make decisions in practice (full disclosure, I advise Castle and get research support from them, but am not directly compensated by them). The data published thus far shows that it is prognostic to predict nodal or distant mets. However...
Will you extrapolate EORTC 1333/PEACE-3 (enzalutamide + Rad223) to any other ARPIs for mCRPC?
PEACE-3 was a cooperative group study of radium-223 plus enzalutamide versus enzalutamide alone in men with mCRPC. There was a significant improvement in OS (38 months vs 32 months). Most patients in the trial were previously treated with ADT monotherapy instead of intensified therapy (i.e., ADT + A...
What dose constraints do you use for RCC/Kidney SBRT?
As is often the case, there is no single answer to this question, and the ALARA principle should always be kept in mind. A good starting place to determine your OAR constraints for a given case is to consider the clinical context. Ultimately, in deciding on allowable OAR constraints, one has to cons...
How does neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy impact your decision on hypofractionation/dose fractionation for locally advanced NSCLC, now getting RT alone?
If a patient has already received 3-4 months of a platinum-doublet chemotherapy during the chemo-immunotherapy phase, then it's always my preference to omit further chemotherapy and recommend RT alone. The rationale for this recommendation is that we don't administer additional chemotherapy to patie...
When treating prostate cancer with moderate hypo-fractionation, what urethral dose constraints do you consider when boosting the dominate intraprostatic lesion?
As Dr. @Dr. First Last mentions, the FLAME protocol did not utilize a urethral constraint; however, in a post hoc analysis, they did suggest a constraint of D0.01cc ≤ 80 Gy in 35 fractions (Groen et al., PMID 34968470). It is hard to know how to apply this given the uncertainty regarding the appropr...
How are you integrating Prostox into your practice for prostate patients deciding between SBRT and hypofractionation?
Curious how people are using this test?