Reply to T. Sio et al

RENORT: a project to analyze patterns of care in radiation oncology in Spain

PURPOSE

RENORT is an application (app) developed to assess the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer using the oncology information systems (OIS).

METHODS/PATIENTS

The RENORT app was used to analyze the data for all patients seen and/or treated at six radiation oncology departments in Spain in 2019. This app can be used to extract the demographic data, treatment sequence, disease status, and radiotherapy treatments from the ARIA and Mosaiq OIS.

RESULTS

A total of 6564 treatments were performed at these six centers in 2019. Most patients (56.9%) were males (females 43.1%). The mean patient age was 64.9 years. The most common treatment types and sites were as follows: metastases/palliative care (25.9%), followed by breast (19.0%), genitourinary (13.7%), lung (10.1%), head and neck (6.0%), rectal (6.0%), gynecological (4.9%), and other (< 4%) cancers. Distribution by disease stage was as follows: breast cancer: 75.5% early stage (stages 0, I, and II); lung: 63.1% advanced stage (III and IV); and head and neck: 72.1% advanced. Treatment intent was curative in 76.5% of cases and palliative in 23.5%. The most common techniques were intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) (41.4%), followed by three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) (39.2%); stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) (8.1%); brachytherapy (5.5%); radiosurgery (2.1%); fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy to the brain (1.4%); and intraoperative radiotherapy (1.4%). Hypofractionation was used in 62.3% of curative treatments (mean number of fractions = 16.5).

CONCLUSIONS

RENORT is a free app that is available for the two main oncology information systems used in most radiation oncology departments. This app has demonstrated the capacity to extract data from these systems, which in turns allows for a comprehensive analysis and better understanding of the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for central and ultracentral node-negative lung tumors

Advancements in imaging and radiotherapy (RT) techniques have allowed for remarkably precise delivery of high radiation dose per treatment fraction to intrathoracic targets. As a non-invasive therapeutic modality (compared to surgery), stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an attractive option for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancers and oligometastases, especially for older patients with significant comorbidities and pre-existing pulmonary dysfunction. However, the outcomes and side effect profile of SBRT are highly dependent on tumor location, especially if the tumor is located centrally (within 2 cm of the proximal bronchial tree (PBT)] or ultracentrally (touching or within 1 cm of the mediastinum, esophagus, and PBT). In this focused review, we will examine the contemporary practice and principles of using hypofractionated RT or SBRT for central and ultracentral thoracic tumors. We will identify future directions on how this practice may be incorporated into the increasingly complicated modern paradigm of lung cancer treatments which now include immunotherapy along with proton beam radiotherapy.