ASTRO Journals

Dr. Sue Yom, Editor in Chief, hosts guests Dr. Cristian Udovicich, a Fellow in Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto's Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, and Dr. Angela Jia, Assistant Professor and Assistant Residency Program Director at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, who were the first and second authors of "Evolving Paradigms in Prostate Cancer: The Integral Role of Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in Primary Staging and Therapeutic Decision-Making." In addition, we review long-term SBRT results with Dr. Andrew Loblaw, Full Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at Sunnybrook Health Science Center at the University of Toronto and supervising author of "Stereotactic Radiation Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer: 10-Year Outcomes From Three Prospective Trials," and Dr. Constantinos Zamboglou, Deputy Medical Director at the German Oncology Center in Limassol, Cyprus and first author of an accompanying editorial, "Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer is Getting Mature: 10-Year Outcomes From Three Prospective Trials."

This podcast discussed the topic of "Improving consistency and reducing human bias for physicians’ target contouring using AI auto-segmentation." Experts joining the discussion include Steve Jiang, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair in Department of Radiation Oncology at University of Texas Southwestern and Director of Medical Artificial Intelligence and Automation Lab, Nathan Yu, MD, Assistant Professor in Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic Arizona, and Yi Rong, PhD, Professor and Lead photon physicist in Department of Radiation Oncology at Mayo Clinic Arizona. This podcast focused on the utility of AI in automatic segmentation of medical imaging and the challenges related to physician variability in clinical practice. We discussed various strategies for addressing these challenges, including developing physician-style aware AI models and balancing standardization with personalization in AI tool development and deployment. The emphasis is on the feasibility and clinical utility of using AI to improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical image segmentation while respecting the art and personalization inherent in clinical medicine.

Editor in Chief Dr. Sue Yom and Associate Editor Dr. Neil Taunk, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chief of the Gynecologic Radiation Service at the University of Pennsylvania, co-host a podcast on "Biomarker expression and impact on clinical outcomes in an international study of chemoradiation and MRI-based image-guided brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer: BIOEMBRACE," with guests Dr. Supriya Chopra, Professor at Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai, India, and Dr. Remi Nout, Professor and Head of the Department of Radiotherapy of the Erasmus Medical Center, University Medical Center, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, who were the first and last authors and both principal investigators of the BIOEMBRACE study.

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD and Resident Physician, Daniela Martir, MD discuss Partially Ablative Body Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Unresectable Tumor. The discussion is based on a paper in PRO titled “Partially Ablative Body Radiotherapy (PABR): A Widely Applicable Planning Technique for Palliation of Locally Advanced Unresectable Tumors” (PMID 39393770).

Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom hosts Dr. Mai Anh Huynh, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital / Dana-Farber Cancer Center who wrote an editorial this month, "The Hidden Benefits of Palliative Radiotherapy: When Radiation of Metastatic Disease is Not "Just" Palliative," Dr. David Palma, a Radiation Oncologist at the London Health Sciences Centre who co-authored, "Ablative Radiation Therapy to Restrain Everything Safely Treatable (ARREST): A Phase I Study of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy for Poly-metastatic Disease", and Dr. Ethan Ludmir, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Gastrointestinal Radiation Oncology and Biostatistics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and supervising author of "Off-Protocol Radiotherapy in Phase III Metastatic Solid Tumor Trials." The group also discusses an article from this month's issue, "Is Local Ablative Stereotactic Radiation Therapy a Valuable Rescue Strategy for Time on Drug in Patients Enrolled in Phase I Trials?"

In this podcast, we discuss the The Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American Society for Radiation Oncology Updated Clinical Practice Guidelines on Multimodality Therapy for Locally Advanced Cancer of the Esophagus or Gastroesophageal Junction. Joining in the discussion are Dr. Stephanie Worrell, Associate Professor and Thoracic Section Chief in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and Dr. Karyn Goodman, Professor and Vice Chair for Research and Quality at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Associate Director for Clinical Research at The Tisch Cancer Institute, who served as chair and co-chair of the guideline panel, respectively. Together, we cover important updates and recommendations that incorporate surgical aspects into the multi-disciplinary management of this disease along with practical considerations for everyday practice. Additionally, we discuss in depth the recently presented ESOPEC trial presented at the 2024 ASCO annual meeting and how it has impacted the standard of care for esophageal cancers.

In this podcast, we discuss the The Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American Society for Radiation Oncology Updated Clinical Practice Guidelines on Multimodality Therapy for Locally Advanced Cancer of the Esophagus or Gastroesophageal Junction. Joining in the discussion are Dr. Stephanie Worrell, Associate Professor and Thoracic Section Chief in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and Dr. Karyn Goodman, Professor and Vice Chair for Research and Quality at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Associate Director for Clinical Research at The Tisch Cancer Institute, who served as chair and co-chair of the guideline panel, respectively. Together, we cover important updates and recommendations that incorporate surgical aspects into the multi-disciplinary management of this disease along with practical considerations for everyday practice. Additionally, we discuss in depth the recently presented ESOPEC trial presented at the 2024 ASCO annual meeting and how it has impacted the standard of care for esophageal cancers.

Deputy Editor Salma Jabbour hosts Dr. Christopher Anker, Professor of Radiation Oncology and Program Co-Leader in the Cancer Host and Environment program at the University of Vermont Cancer Center, and Dr. Leila Tchelebi, Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, respectively the first and second authors of a guideline published in this issue, Executive Summary of the American Radium Society Appropriate Use Criteria for Non-Operative Management for Rectal Adenocarcinoma: Systematic Review and Guidelines

Editor in Chief Dr. Sue Yom co-hosts with Dr. Nicholas Zaorsky, an Associate Editor at the Journal and Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Case Western University Hospitals. We discuss three articles that are publishing rapid online for this meeting including Bladder Adjuvant RadioTherapy (BART): Acute and Late Toxicity from a Phase III Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial, with the Principal Investigator Dr. Vedang Murthy, Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai, and its accompanying editorial, Adjuvant Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Bladder Cancer: A Safe and Promising Emerging Treatment Option, with first author Dr. Brian Baumann, Radiation Oncologist at Springfield Clinic in Illinois. Relevant to this discussion is a paper appearing in this month's issue, The Value and Safety of Adjuvant Radiation Therapy After Radical Cystectomy in Locally Advanced Urothelial Bladder Cancer: A Controlled Randomized Study and its accompanying editorial, Is It Time to Reconsider the Place of Adjuvant Radiation Therapy After Radical Cystectomy? Finally, our third rapid online paper is Setting the Stage: Feasibility and Baseline Characteristics in the Prostate Advanced Radiation Technologies Investigating Quality of Life (PARTIQoL) Trial Comparing Proton Therapy vs. IMRT for Localized Prostate Cancer, with Principal Investigator Dr. Jason Efstathiou, Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Sue Yom, Editor in Chief, hosts Ms. Nina Levin, a Medical Physicist and PhD Candidate and Dr. Bjørn Grønberg, Professor and Consultant in medical oncology and radiotherapy, from the Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Dr. Megan Daly, Professor from the University of California Davis and an Associate Editor at our journal. We discuss Ms. Levin’s and Dr. Grønberg’s article, Evaluation of radiotherapy treatment plans in a randomized phase II trial comparing two schedules of twice-daily thoracic radiotherapy in limited stage small-cell lung cancer, and its accompanying editorial, Toward the Optimal Delivery of Twice-Daily Thoracic Chemoradiation in Limited-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer, as well as an article from the August 2024 issue, Long-Term Outcomes After Concurrent Once- or Twice-Daily Chemoradiation in Limited-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Brief Report From the CONVERT Trial.

Ronald Chen, MD, MPH, FASTRO, hosts a conversation on the background, methodology, primary recommendations, and implications of the updated External Beam Radiation Therapy for Palliation of Symptomatic Bone Metastases: An ASTRO Clinical Practice Guideline. Alongside Tracy Balboni, MD, MPH, and Sara Alcorn, MD, they discuss recent data and changes to practice patterns such as increased use of advanced treatment approaches (e.g., stereotactic radiation) and reirradiation. The guidelines address five key questions in this context, built upon a systematic review of the available literature and with assessment of evidence quality and recommendation strength.

Our Editor in Chief Sue Yom hosts a discussion of two related articles, "Diagnostic CT-Enabled Planning (DART): Results of a Randomized Trial in Palliative Radiation Therapy" and its accompanying editorial, "'Sim-free' Palliative Radiation Therapy Greatly Reduces Time Burden for Patients." Guests are Melissa O'Neil, MSc, MRT(T), an Advanced Practice Radiation Therapist and Leader of the Rapid Response Clinic at London Health Sciences Center in Canada, who was the first author of the DART trial publication, as well as Dr. Katrina Woodford, Lead Radiation Therapist Clinician Scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Monash University, and first author of the accompanying editorial.

Practical Radiation Oncology associate editor Laura Dover, MD, MSPH of Birmingham, Alabama hosts a conversation on the recent past, the realized present and the aspirational future of the American Board of Radiology (ABR) certifying exams for Radiation Oncology. Her guests are the Radiation Oncology Associate Executive Director at the ABR Michael Yunes, MD and the Director of Communications for the ABR David Laszakovits, MBA.

Sue Yom, our Editor in Chief, hosts a discussion of two related articles, Temporal Evolution and Diagnostic Diversification of Patients Receiving Proton Therapy in the United States: A Ten-Year Trend Analysis (2012-21) from the National Association for Proton Therapy and Improving Access to Proton Therapy in the United States and Around the World, from the July 15, 2024 issue. Guests are first authors Dr. William Hartsell, former Medical Director of the Northwestern Medicine Proton Center, now practicing in the Advocate and Alexian systems in the Chicago area, and Dr. Derek Tsang, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and Clinician Investigator in the Radiation Medicine Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, discusses lymph node management in patients with vulvar cancer. The foundation for this discussion is a paper published in the May 2024 issue of PRO titled "Navigating the Complexities of Lymph Node Management in Vulvar Cancer: Insights and Perspectives." (2024, Issue 3, May/June, PMID: 38336276). This paper is a Topic Discussion that summarizes key studies and then explains the authors current policy regarding radiotherapy to the regional lymphatics in operable and inoperable cases. Related articles Contouring Inguinal and Femoral Nodes; How Much Margin is Needed Around the Vessels? Consensus Recommendations for Radiation Therapy Contouring and Treatment of Vulvar Carcinoma

Editor in Chief Sue Yom hosts a discussion of An Economic Analysis of SC.24: A Randomized Study of SBRT Compared with Conventional Palliative RT for Spinal Metastases. Guests are first and second author Dr. Marc Kerba, clinical associate professor in the Department of Oncology at the University of Calgary and radiation oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, and Dr. Richard De Abreu Lourenco, Professor with the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation at the University of Technology Sydney.

Practical Radiation Oncology associate editor Majid Al-Othman, MD, of Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare hosts a conversation on Summary of Cardiac Computed Tomographic Imaging in Cardio-Oncology: An Expert Consensus Document of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Two of the authors, Sarah A. Milgrom, MD, of University of Colorado and Jean L. Wright, MD, Johns Hopkins University to highlight the practical aspects of the paper for clinicians and recommendations that are relevant to radiation oncology.

Sue Yom, our Editor in Chief, leads a discussion of Overview and Recommendations for Prospective Multi-institutional Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy Clinical Trials, a critical review from AAPM and NRG Oncology. Guests are first author Dr. Heng Li, Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and Chief Proton Physicist of the Johns Hopkins National Proton Center, supervising author Dr. Stanley Benedict, Professor and Vice Chair of Clinical Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of California Davis, and co-author Dr. Nina Mayr, Professor in the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University.

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, discusses using SBRT dose schedules to re-irradiate large volume recurrences of locally advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer that has progressed following high-dose radiotherapy with conventional fractionation. The discussion is based on a paper published in the May 2024 issue of PRO titled "Thoracic Reirradiation with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for Recurrent Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)" (2024, Issue 3, May/June, PMID 38387781).

Editor-in-Chief Sue Yom hosts Dr. Ralph Ermoian, Associate Professor from the University of Washington and Dr. Kilian Salerno, Associate Research Physician from the National Cancer Institute, our two successive Pediatric/Sarcoma Section Editors who supervised the PEdiatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic (PENTEC) peer review process for our journal. We also welcome two representatives from the PENTEC group, Dr. Louis Constine, Professor of Radiation Oncology and Pediatrics and Vice Chair in Radiation Oncology from the University of Rochester and Dr. Soren Bentzen, Professor and Division Director of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics in Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland. We discuss several papers from this landmark 12-year effort, including Comparison of Risks of Late Effects from Radiotherapy in Children versus Adults: Insights from the QUANTEC, HyTEC and PENTEC Efforts; Neurocognitive Effects and Necrosis in Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated with Radiotherapy: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review; Risks of Spinal Abnormalities and Growth Impairment After Radiation to the Spine in Childhood Cancer Survivors: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review; and Risk of Subsequent Neoplasms in Childhood Cancer Survivors after Radiation Therapy: A Comprehensive PENTEC Review.