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At least 1,783 records · Page 99

Patterns of Failure in Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma After Proton Therapy

Purpose: To report on the patterns of failure in children with rhabdomyosarcoma treated with proton therapy. Patients and Methods: Between February 2007 and November 2013, 66 children with a median age of 4.1 years (range, 0.6-15.3 years) diagnosed with nonmetastatic rhabdomyosarcoma were treated with proton therapy. Clinical target volume 1 was defined as the prechemotherapy tumor plus a 1-cm anatomically constrained margin. Clinical target volume 2 was defined as the postchemotherapy tumor (or tumor bed) plus a 0.5-cm anatomically constrained margin, further expanded to encompass potential pathways of spread, including soft tissue infiltrated with tumor at diagnosis. Results: Of the 66 children, 11 developed locally progressive disease at a median of 16 months (range, 14-32 months), for an actuarial 2-year local control rate of 88%. Among the children who progressed, median age and tumor size at diagnosis were 6.7 years (range, 0.6-16 years) and 6 cm (range, 2-8 cm), respectively. Of the recurrences, 64% and 36% were embryonal and alveolar, respectively. Disease progression was observed in 7 (64%) parameningeal, 2 (18%) head and neck (other), and 2 (18%) bladder/prostate subsites. At diagnosis, 8 of 11 patients who developed a recurrence were Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study stage 3, and all 11 were group III. Of the relapses, 100% (11 of 11) were confirmed as in-field within the composite 95% isodose line. One of the 11 patients (9%) developed a new simultaneous regional nodal recurrence outside of the previously treated radiation field. Conclusion: Early data suggest that the sharp dosimetric gradient associated with proton therapy is not associated with an increased risk of marginal failure. Routine use of a 0.5- to 1-cm clinical target volume 1/2 margin with highly conformal proton therapy does not compromise local control in children diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma with unfavorable risk features.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Patterns of Care in Proton Radiation Therapy for Pediatric Central Nervous System Malignancies

Purpose: Proton beam therapy (PBT) potentially allows for improved sparing of normal tissues, hopefully leading to decreased late side effects in children. Using a national registry, we sought to perform a patterns-of-care analysis for children receiving PBT for primary malignancies of the central nervous system (CNS). Methods and Materials: Using the National Cancer Data Base, we identified pediatric patients with primary CNS malignancies that were diagnosed between 2004 and 2012. We used a standard t test for comparison of means and χ{sup 2} testing to identify differences in demographic and clinical characteristics. Univariate and multivariate logistical regression was applied to identify predictors of PBT use. Results: We identified 4637 pediatric patients receiving radiation therapy from 2004 to 2012, including a subset of 267 patients treated with PBT. We found that PBT use increased with time from <1% in 2004 to 15% in 2012. In multivariate logistical regression, we found the following to be predictors of receipt of PBT: private insurance, the highest income bracket, younger age, living in a metropolitan area, and residing >200 miles from a radiation treatment facility (P<.05). Conclusions: We noted the proportion of children receiving PBT to be significantly increasing over time from <1% to 15% from 2004 to 2012. We also observed important disparities in receipt of PBT based on socioeconomic status. Children from higher-income households and with private insurance were more likely to use this expensive technology. As we continue to demonstrate the potential benefits of PBT in children, efforts are needed to expand the accessibility of PBT for children of all socioeconomic backgrounds and regions of the country.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Patterns of Care in Adjuvant Therapy for Resected Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Cancer in Elderly Patients

Purpose: To characterize the patterns of care and potential barriers to access to care for elderly patients with oral cavity cancer in the adjuvant setting. Methods and Materials: We performed a retrospective cohort study using the National Cancer Data Base and identified patients with resected oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed between 2004 and 2012, who survived for ≥3 months after surgery. We used logistic regression models to assess the association between age (<70, 70-79, and ≥80 years) and the receipt of adjuvant therapy within 3 months of surgery. We additionally assessed the association between patient and tumor characteristics and the receipt of adjuvant therapy among those aged ≥70 years. Results: A total of 25,829 patients were included in the study. Compared with those aged <70 years, older patients were more likely to have no neck dissection or have fewer lymph nodes dissected and were less likely to receive adjuvant therapy than younger patients. Among our cohort, 11,361 patients (44%) had pathologic T3-T4 disease or N2-N3 disease, and 4185 patients (16%) had extracapsular nodal extension or positive surgical margins. In multivariate analyses controlling for comorbidity and demographic characteristics, older age was independently associated with lower odds of receiving adjuvant radiation therapy in the subgroup with T3 or T4 disease or N2 or N3 disease and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy in the positive extracapsular nodal extension or positive surgical margin subgroup. Among elderly patients, both greater patient distance from reporting facility and older age were associated with lower odds of receiving both adjuvant radiation therapy (odds ratio 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.55-0.81) and chemoradiation therapy (odds ratio 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.79). Conclusions: In a national hospital-based cohort of patients with oral cavity cancer, elderly patients were less likely to receive adjuvant radiation or chemoradiation therapy. Greater patient distance from reporting facility, in addition to older age, was associated with lower odds of receiving both adjuvant radiation therapy and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Prognostic Factors and Patterns of Locoregional Failure After Surgical Resection in Patients With Cholangiocarcinoma Without Adjuvant Radiation Therapy: Optimal Field Design for Adjuvant Radiation Therapy

Purpose: To identify prognostic factors and patterns of local failure in patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), after surgical resection in the absence of adjuvant radiation, for optimal definition of target volumes encompassing the majority of local recurrences. Methods and Materials: A chart review was performed in patients who underwent resection for primary CCA (intrahepatic, hilar, and distal) between 1999 and 2014. Local failure was defined as recurrence in a theoretical reasonable postoperative radiation volume. This includes the cut surface of liver, biliary anastomosis, hilum, portal nodes, celiac nodes, peri-pancreatic nodes, gastro-hepatic nodes, and retroperitoneal nodes. Patients who received adjuvant radiation were excluded. Results: A total of 189 patients underwent surgical resection for CCA, of whom 145 patients had sufficient follow-up. Median follow-up was 41.6 months (95% confidence interval 35.4-48.7 months). Of the 145 cases, 102 were intrahepatic and 43 were hilar/distal CCA. Adjuvant chemotherapy was given in 38 cases (26%), of which 20 (54%) were gemcitabine-based. Eighty-six patients (59%) had a documented recurrence, of whom 44 (51%) had a locoregional component. Among patients who had a recurrence, 23 (27%) had a recurrence at the biliary anastomosis and/or cut liver surface. Twenty-eight patients (32.6%) had a recurrence in the regional lymph nodes, most prevalent in the portal (16.3%) and retroperitoneal (17.4%) lymph nodes. Univariable analysis identified tumor size, any vascular invasion, presence of satellites, stage/nodal status, and receipt of chemotherapy as significant prognostic factors of overall recurrence among intrahepatic patients. Presence of satellites, and stage 3/Nx status remained statistically significant in multivariable modeling. Conclusions: The areas at highest risk for locoregional recurrence after surgical resection for primary CCA are the biliary anastomosis/cut liver surface, portal lymph nodes, and retroperitoneal lymph nodes. Although these results need to be validated, adjuvant radiation should possibly cover these areas to maximize locoregional control.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Patterns of Failure in Patients With Double Hit or Double Expressor Lymphomas: Implications for Radiation Therapy

Lymphomas with MYC and either BLC2 or BCL6 rearrangements or MYC and BCL-2 protein overexpression, classified as double-hit (DHL) or double-expressor (DEL) lymphomas, respectively, are associated with poorer response to standard immunochemotherapy. Optimal therapy is not clear, and little information exists on the contribution of consolidative radiation therapy in these patients. This study describes the patterns of failure of DHL/DEL in relation to initial sites of disease and indications for radiation therapy in unselected diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Patterns and Predictors of Failure in Recurrent or Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphomas After Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy is capable of eliciting durable responses in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) lymphomas. However, most treated patients relapse. Patterns of failure after CAR T have not been previously characterized, and may provide insights into the mechanisms of resistance guiding future treatment strategies.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Patterns of Initial Relapse from a Phase 3 Study of Response-Based Therapy for High-Risk Hodgkin Lymphoma (AHOD0831): A Report from the Children's Oncology Group

The Children's Oncology Group protocol AHOD0831, for pediatric patients with high-risk classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), used response-adapted radiation fields, rather than larger involved-field radiation therapy (IFRT) that were historically used. This retrospective analysis of patterns of relapse among patients enrolled in the study was conducted to study the potential effect of a reduction in RT exposure.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Effects of geometric factors and shear band patterns on notch sensitivity in bulk metallic glasses

Our recent experiments in notched bulk metallic glasses have found reduced, or insensitive, or improved strengths, while in many of these cases the ductile strain prior to final failure is enhanced. First, although the inverse notch effect is explained by a shift from shear localization to cavitation failure, it is suggested in this work that the synergistic effect between cohesive fracture at the notched area and shear bands emanating from the notch roots may extend the parametric space for the notch insensitive behavior. Second, the dependence of shear band patterns on notch geometric factors is determined by the Rudnicki-Rice theory and the free-volume-based finite element simulations. Our results suggest conditions for shear band multiplication to take place and for the shear-localization-induced failure to be delayed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Certified dual-corrected radiation patterns of phased antenna arrays by offline–online order reduction of finite-element models

This paper presents a fast numerical method for computing certified far-field patterns of phased antenna arrays over broad frequency bands as well as wide ranges of steering and look angles. The proposed scheme combines finite-element analysis, dual-corrected model-order reduction, and empirical interpolation. To assure the reliability of the results, improved a posteriori error bounds for the radiated power and directive gain are derived. Both the reduced-order model and the error-bounds algorithm feature offline–online decomposition. A real-world example is provided to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the suggested approach.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Non-planar growth of high Al-mole-fraction AlGaN on patterned GaN platforms for mitigating strain-induced cracks beyond the critical layer thickness

Non-planar growth of Al x Ga 1-x N epitaxial layers with an average alloy composition up to Al-mole-fraction of x ~ 0.21 was performed on patterned c-plane GaN on (0001) sapphire substrates with stripe-shaped mesa structures. This approach successfully realized the growth of crack-free AlGaN layers on the top of mesas with layer thicknesses greater than the expected critical layer thickness by relaxing the in-plane stress on the top of the mesa. The effectiveness of the relaxation strongly depends on the width and depth of the stripe mesa. In conclusion, the relaxation of in-plane stress and resultant suppression of cracks in AlGaN layer are qualitatively discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Image-Guided Radiotherapy in Paediatrics: A Survey of International Patterns of Practice

Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is widely used in the treatment of various tumour types in both adult and paediatric patients. However, there are no international guidelines on its optimal use in paediatric radiotherapy. This study proposes to evaluate the current patterns of practice regarding IGRT policy in paediatric patients compared with adult patients through an international survey.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Comparison of Expert Vocabulary Usage Patterns Between Mental Health and Nonmental Health Clinicians When Diagnosing Pediatric Anxiety Disorders

Objective: To compare the utilization patterns of expert vocabulary (EVo) in diagnosing pediatric anxiety between mental health and non-mental health clinical notes from electronic health records to understand the role of Evo in informing classification and decision-making in anxiety diagnoses. Study design: We conducted a retrospective study using a cohort less than age 25 from Cincinnati Children's Hospital including 897 685 patients with 61 586 446 notes. We analyzed EVo, collected from mental health clinicians, in both mental and nonmental health notes. We compared classification accuracy using EVo-based patient-level embedding from all clinical notes, mental-health notes, and nonmental health notes for 2 tasks: 1) pre-vs postdiagnosis anxiety patients, and 2) prediagnosis anxiety vs nonanxiety patients. Results: EVo usage was highest in prediagnosis anxiety, lower in nonanxiety, and lowest in post-diagnosis. Classification models using EVo features from all, mental-health, and non-mental health notes showed similar F1 scores for prediagnosis anxiety (0.70 ± 0.2 for 2 categories). For anxiety vs nonanxiety classification, all clinical and nonmental health notes had better F1 scores than mental-health notes (above 0.90 for 3 categories). There was a notable difference in class-wise performance across both tasks. Conclusions: There are significant differences in anxiety EVo use between mental health and nonmental health clinicians. Despite less anxiety-specific terminology, non-mental health notes still captured key aspects of patient presentations, emphasizing the importance of including all clinicians' notes in analysis. EVo's utility for anxiety classification is most effective in prediagnostic phases, suggesting the need for a dedicated diagnostic lexicon and further study before incorporating EVo into classification models.

feature engineering↗