ESTRO 2023 - Abstract Book

S2036

Digital Posters

ESTRO 2023

1 Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Evidence, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; 2 Queen Margaret University, School of Health Sciences, Edinburgh, United Kingdom Purpose or Objective Currently the support needs and experiences of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) persons affected by cancer are an emerging area of research and new understandings are being formed. This piece of participatory research was underpinned with person-centred philosophy and worked in partnership with members of the LGB community to establish the following: What mattered to them during their cancer journeys, their experiences of care, and a practitioner guide to inform on practice. Materials and Methods This research followed a participatory research design, based on Heron and Reasons Cooperative Inquiry (1997). The researcher worked in-depth with nine LGB participants and their key support persons to explore the impact of cancer treatment on their long-term wellbeing and identity. Participants were supported through using methods such as art, drawing, timelines, sculpture, photography, artefacts, and collage as a means of exploration. These were used to facilitate reflection to establish their thoughts, perceptions and insights into their past experiences of care. Drawing on the themes participants outlined ideas for best practice guidelines and shared these with key stakeholders for further feedback and final publication in the form of a practitioner guide. Results Participants’ accounts revealed a broad range of issues that both corroborate and build on existing evidence. LGB persons in this research explored context specific disorienting dilemmas in their own care experience such as, focusing on coming to terms with their diagnosis, negative experiences of care, and coping with the effects of treatments. Participants reflected on the impact of their treatments which included negative attitudes towards being labelled, poor treatment by staff, reconciling relationships, and coming to terms with their sexual orientation and diagnosis. A practitioner guide aimed at supporting professionals to deliver inclusive care was devised as a means of addressing the issues that arose from the participant’s experiences of the oncology pathway. Conclusion LGB persons were found to have distinct care experiences and needs related to cancer across a variety of areas. The main findings of this research provide an evidence base for this assertion, and were used to develop a national practitioner guide with the participants and key stakeholders. The guide was aimed at raising awareness of the needs of LGB persons affected by cancer and improving the care experience. 1 National Cancer Centre Singapore, Division of Radiation Oncology, Singapore, Singapore; 2 Singapore Institute of Technology , Faculty of Health and Social Science, Singapore, Singapore Purpose or Objective Radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy (CCRT) are the primary treatment modality for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Accurate positioning and reproducibility are paramount in radiotherapy for NPC patients, due to its fairly large treatment field extending from nasopharynx to the neck region. Image matching at high dose region near the clivus are commonly prioritized over the neck nodal region due to its proximity to critical organs-at-risks (OARs). This study aims to assess the impact of weight loss on the deviation of lymph node planning target volume (LN-PTV) from the primary planning target volume (P-PTV) and the effectiveness of existing guidelines for repeated CT (re-CT). Materials and Methods This retrospective study recruited 44 locally advanced NPC patients with nodal involvements from October 2019 till December 2020. Among these patients, 16 had repeated CT scans midway through due to weight loss and contour changes. A total of 253 weekly cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images were reviewed offline. To determine the degree of setup errors without re-setup interventions, only the initial pre-corrected CBCT of the weekly treatment session was used for data analysis. Differences in the setup errors between the P-PTV and LN-PTV were assessed in six-degree of freedom; superior-inferior (SI), left-right (LR), anterior-posterior (AP), yaw (Y), pitch (P) and roll (R). Weight loss between the groups (without and with re-CT) were compared. Results Minimal difference in the mean setup errors were observed between the P-PTV and LN-PTV for patients with or without re- CT in the translational (<1mm) and rotational (<1 ⁰ ) planes (Table 1). There was a statistical difference in weight loss between patients without re-CT (4.6 ± 3.6kg, 6.6%) compared to those with re-CT (6.4 ± 2.1kg, 9.4%) (p<0.001). PO-2264 Assessment of weight loss and setup reproducibility in nasopharyngeal cancer patients. K.M. Lee 1 , S.Y. Goh 2 , N. Liu 1 , S.Y. Sin 1 , H.J.H. Tan 1 , E. Caluraud 1 , S.N. Chen 1 , S.M.M. Wong 1 , E.P.P. Pang 1

Conclusion