ASTRO Journals

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Dr. Jeffrey Olsen, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado and section editor of our gastrointestinal section, co-leads a discussion along with our Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom, with Dr. Nima Nabavizadeh, Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University, the supervising author of "Low Utilization of External Beam Radiation Therapy for Patients With Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Analysis of the United Network for Organ Sharing Database" and Dr. Michael Buckstein, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, also an editor at the Red Journal and the lead author of "Combination Transarterial Chemoembolization and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Unresectable Single Large Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Results From a Prospective Phase 2 Trial." We discuss indications for EBRT/SBRT for hepatocellular carcinoma in the contemporary context of collaborating and competing liver-directed therapies.

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Our Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom hosts a discussion of reimbursement and the application of alternative payment models to radiation oncology. Guests are Dr. Brian Baumann, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chief of the Genitourinary Service at Washington University in St. Louis, and Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. James Yu, Professor and Executive Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology at Columbia University, who specializes in genitourinary and brain malignancies and is an expert in population-based data and comparative effectiveness research. We discuss three articles, "Association of the Oncology Care Model with Value-Based Changes in Use of Radiation Therapy", "Decreases in Radiation Oncology Medicare Reimbursement over Time: Analysis by Billing Code", led by Dr. Baumann, and "The RO-APM: The Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem", written by Dr. Yu. We review the recent history of payment models for radiation oncology and what this new research tells us about the ability of these models to affect the value or quality of radiation oncology care.

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Practical Radiation Oncology deputy editor James B. Yu, MD, Columbia University Irvine Center hosts a conversation on ASTRO clinical practice guideline on radiation therapy for Brain Metastases. Eric Chang MD of the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Veronica Chiang, MD, of Yale University School of Medicine discuss the recommendations in the four key areas: what are the indications for radiosurgery alone for brain metastases, what should be done before or after surgical resection of brain metastases, when and how should we do whole brain radiation, and what are the risks of radionecrosis. Two of the guideline authors, Jona A. Hattangadi‐Gluth, MD of the University of California, San Diego and Vinai Gondi, MD of Northwestern Medicine Cancer Center and Proton Center discuss the development process of the guideline and the evidence for the recommendations.

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This month, Dr. Lucinda Morris, Consultant Radiation Oncologist at St George & The Sutherland Hospital in New South Wales, Australia and expert in geriatric cancer care, and our Education and Profession Section Editor Dr. Paris Ann Ingledew, Department Head at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada and expert in educational frameworks and curricula, join our Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sue Yom, to review a new article in this month’s issue led by Dr. Morris, "An International Expert Delphi Consensus to Develop Dedicated Geriatric Radiation Oncology Curriculum Learning Outcomes". We discuss the increasing importance of geriatric expertise in the practice of radiation oncology and potential solutions to the knowledge and education deficits in this area.

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Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, explains the group of six papers on radiopharmaceutical therapy published in the July/August issue of Practical Radiation Oncology. These papers summarize the information clinicians need to know to direct radiopharmaceutical therapy in their clinic. Two papers explain background information and four focus on patient selection and the details of administration when using Lutetium-177 DOTATATE for neuroendocrine cancer, and Lutetium-177 PSMA or Radium- 223 for prostate cancer.

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The latest podcast by Sue Yom, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics addresses the status of hypofractionation in radiation therapy for locoregonally advanced lung cancer. Articles discussed include Hoppe et al.’s article "Chemoradiation with Hypofractionated Proton Therapy in Stage II-III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Proton Collaborative Group Phase 2 Trial", Contreras et al.’s article "Phase I Study of Accelerated Hypofractionated Proton Therapy and Chemotherapy for Locally Advanced Non Small Cell Lung Cancer", and Brownstein and Salama’s editorial, "Moderately Hypofractionated Proton Beam Therapy for Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A New Way Forward for Dose Escalation?" which is available in the July 15, 2022 issue.

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Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, summarizes two essays from the Narrative Oncology section of recent issues of Practical Radiation Oncology. "The First Human Heart Transplant and Radiation Therapy" is published in the Jan/February issue and "The Gold Ring" in the May/June issue.

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July 1, 2022 RJ podcast: The Role of Radiation Therapy in Diffuse Large B-cell lymphoma. The latest podcast by Sue Yom, MD, Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics addresses the balance of local and systemic issues that condition the use of radiation therapy in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Articles discussed include Campbell et al.'s Oncology Scan entitled "Balancing the Therapeutic Ratio in DLBCL Requires Appropriate, Individualized Patient Selection Rather Than Broad Elimination of Radiation Therapy" and Ladbury et al.’s article "Role of Salvage Radiation Treatment of Relapses in Relapsed/Refractory Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma Post-Autologous Stem Cell Transplant."

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Editor-in-Chief, Robert Amdur, MD, reviews two papers that explain how to improve OAR sparing based on more demanding dosimetry goals. One article is published in the March/April issue of PRO titled "Clinical Use of A Priori Knowledge of OAR Sparing During Radiotherapy Treatment for Oropharyngeal Cancer: Dosimetric and Patient Reported Outcome Improvements". The other article is In Press at PRO and titled "Stricter Postoperative Oropharyngeal Cancer Radiotherapy Normal Tissue Dose Constraints Are Feasible".