ASTRO Journals

Genitourinary Section Editor Alison Tree, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, hosts a discussion this month on genomic classifiers in prostate cancer. Guests are Paul Nguyen, Vice-Chair for Clinical Research and Genitourinary Disease Center Leader at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital's Department of Radiation Oncology and first author of "Analysis of a Biopsy-Based Genomic Classifier in High-Risk Prostate Cancer: Meta-Analysis of the NRG Oncology/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 9202, 9413, and 9902 Phase 3 Randomized Trials"; Neil Desai, Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and first author of "Passing the Kool-Aid Point: mRNA Expression-Based Risk Classifiers in Localized Prostate Cancer Treatment Decision Making"; and Simon Spohn, Resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University Medical Center Freiburg and first author of "Genomic Classifiers in Personalized Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy Approaches: A Systematic Review and Future Perspectives Based on International Consensus".

Deputy Editor Dr. Curtiland Deville, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at Johns Hopkins University and ASTRO HEDI Council Vice Chair, conducts a discussion this month on diversity and inclusion in professional selection and development. Guests include Dr. Rachel Jimenez, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School, President of the Association for Directors of Radiation Oncology Programs, and first author of an article in this month’s issue, "Using Holistic Residency Applicant Review and Selection in Radiation Oncology to Enhance Diversity and Inclusion-An ASTRO SCAROP-ADROP-ARRO Collaboration"; Dr. Iris Gibbs, ASTRO HEDI Council Chair, Professor of Radiation Oncology and Associate Dean of Admissions at Stanford University School of Medicine, and co-last author for this article with Dr. Deville; Dr. Sophia Kamran, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and first author on another article published this month, "Demographic Trends Among American Society for Radiation Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline Task Force Participants From 2010 to 2022"; and Dr. Alvin Cabrera, Radiation Oncologist at Kaiser Permanente Washington in Seattle and Chair of the ASTRO Guidelines Subcommittee.

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, discusses structured formats for delivering bad news to patients. The discussion begins with an explanation of the SPIKES protocol and a recent analysis identifying five behavior practices that enhance physician communication in clinical encounters. The discussion ends with review of a paper published in the May 2023 issue of PRO titled “Serious Illness Communication Training Among Radiation Oncology Residents” (2023, Issue 3, May/June, PMID: 36526246). This paper demonstrates the use of a highly sophisticated education program involving simulated patients, didactic lectures, and independent evaluators to create a structured curriculum to teach and evaluate serious illness communication skills of radiation oncology residents.

Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom hosts a discussion this month on geospatial health disparity analysis and Spanish language equity. Guests include Associate Section Editor Dr. Sara Alcorn, Vice Chair of Clinical Strategy in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Minnesota and the supervising author of Radiotherapy Deserts: Impact of Race, Poverty and the Rural-Urban Continuum on Density of Providers and Utilization of Radiotherapy in the United States. We also host Dr. Idalid “Ivy” Franco, Director of Equity, Access, and Inclusion and Attending Physician in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Mr. Santiago Avila, fourth-year medical student at the University of Chicago, co-first authors of Spanish Adaptation and Evaluation of Clinical Discussion Guides: Communicating the External Beam Radiotherapy Experience (CEBRE) en Español. We additionally welcome Dr. Pilar Ortega, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), Clinical Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and supervising author of this article.

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, discusses an Editorial published in the March 2023 issue of PRO titled “Nailing the Clavicular Head: Assuring Adequate Coverage of the Medial/Inferior Aspect of the Supraclavicular Space in Patients Receiving Regional Nodal Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer” (2023, Issue 2, March/April, PMID: 36748209). This paper compares dose coverage of the nodes behind the clavicular head when elective nodal irradiation is planned with historic 2D landmarks versus contours as directed by three consensus group atlases: RTOG, ECOG, and NRG/RADCOMP. The authors suggest that all three contouring atlases have features that risk underdosing high risk nodes in the supraclavicular area. The Editorial ends with three recommendations to decrease this risk.

Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom hosts a discussion this month on the status of radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) in radiation oncology. Guests include Dr. Jeff Michalski, President of ASTRO and Carlos Perez Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, and supervising author of an editorial we are publishing this month, "Radiation Oncology and Radiopharmaceuticals: Making our own history while learning from the past – An editorial response." We also host Dr. Paul Wallner, Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at GenesisCare USA and first author of another editorial this month, "Radiation Oncologists and Therapeutic Radiopharmaceuticals: Will History Repeat Itself?" We’ve also invited Dr. Thomas Boike, the US Chief Medical Officer for Theranostics for GenesisCare, to discuss with us the real-world experience of bringing RPT into radiation oncology practices.

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, discusses two Morbidity and Mortality Conference papers from the March issue of PRO: “Regional Recurrence after Carotid Sparing IMRT for Early Stage Glottic Cancer” (2023 Issue 2, PMID 36089251) and “Pneumothorax Associated with Deep Inspiration Breath Holding During Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer” (2023 Issue 2, PMID 36494031). Both these papers describe unanticipated negative consequences associated with innovative treatment techniques. It is never possible to be absolutely sure of a cause-and-effect relationship in a given situation, but these reports remind us that innovation often comes with risks that are not fully appreciated when they are initially evaluated.

Dr. Sue Yom, our Editor-in-Chief, hosts Dr. Meredith Giuliani, Thoracic Section Editor, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, and Associate Dean of Postgraduate Medical Education at the University of Toronto, practicing at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center; Dr. Sung-Ja Ahn, Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology of Chonnam National University Medical School and corresponding author for our new publication this month, "Randomized, Multicenter, Phase 3 Study of Accelerated Fraction Radiation Therapy With Concomitant Boost to the Gross Tumor Volume Compared With Conventional Fractionation in Concurrent Chemoradiation in Patients With Unresectable Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: The Korean Radiation Oncology Group 09-03 Trial"; and Dr. Megan Daly, Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of California Davis, Associate Section Editor at our Journal, and supervising author of an article publishing next month, "Four-Dimensional Computed Tomography Ventilation Image Guided Lung Functional Avoidance Radiation Therapy: A Single-Arm Prospective Pilot Clinical Trial". We also discuss another trial published this month, "STereotactic Ablative RadioTherapy in NEWly Diagnosed and Recurrent Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Unfit for ConcurrEnt RAdio-Chemotherapy: Early Analysis of the START-NEW-ERA Non-Randomised Phase II Trial".

Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, discusses radiation and chemotherapy programs to use prior to surgical resection of rectal cancer. The main reference for the podcast is a Topic Discussion paper published in the January 2023 issue of PRO titled “Neoadjuvant therapy in the post-German rectal trial era: making sense in the absence of consensus” (2023, Issue 1, January/February). The discussion explains the concepts driving the evolution of neoadjuvant therapy, recommended radiotherapy and chemotherapy programs, and situations where it is acceptable to observe without surgery.

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 anticipated future developments in ePROs.

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 and Residency Program Director of Radiation Oncology at Virginia Commonwealth University, who co-authored an editorial this month detailing principles of "The ASTRO Workforce Statement, on behalf of the ASTRO workforce subcommittee and also acted as the coordinating author on the ACGME milestones project along with Dr. Thomas.

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.”