ESTRO 2023 - Abstract Book

S1285

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ESTRO 2023

Many patients suffer from anxiety and tension before and during radiotherapy (RT). According to a study by Elsner et. al., about 49 % of patients are affected and especially the days immediately before the start of therapy and the first RT sessions are associated with the greatest tension and stress reaction. It is known that both stress and anxiety can significantly influence the compliance during treatment but also the patients’ perception of the therapy and quality of life. Studies in interventional procedures have shown that relaxation techniques can significantly improve the tolerability of therapy. In RT, however, the use of relaxation techniques has not yet been an integral part of the therapy. Materials and Methods In order to assess the demand and acceptance of relaxation techniques among patients undergoing RT we conducted a survey at the Technical University of Munich starting from 06/2022. We included patients undergoing adjuvant RT for breast cancer or palliative RT. All patients give written consent to participate in this prospective study. 11 questions were included with questions about anxiety about therapy, use of and interest in relaxation exercises, and to what extent patients would be willing to spend time learning them. Results We present preliminary data of 75 patients that have been included in the study so far. 46 (61%) patients received RT for breast cancer and 29 (39%) patients for bone metastases. A total of 52 females and 23 males were interviewed with a median age of 64 years. 28% had already been irradiated previously in their lives. 60 patients (80%) would like to be actively involved in RT and contribute to the best possible success of the therapy, and 61 of the respondents (81%) would like to be guided by medical staff. The majority of patients (73%) did not use relaxation techniques. The large majority (75%) of those who already use relaxation exercises were female. Patients that were anxious prior to first RT (44%) showed more interest in relaxation techniques compared to patients that were not anxious (58% vs 24%). Half of these anxious patients were treated for breast cancer and half for palliative intention. Of those patients who would spend time to learn relaxation exercises, 70% would do exercises at home, 19% in the waiting room and 29% in the treatment room. Most patients (37%) were interested in breathing training more than in yoga (21,3%) or autogenic training (28%). Conclusion 80% of the participants in our trial with breast cancer or in palliative setting would like to actively contribute to therapy in order to achieve the best possible success. 44% of the patients were anxious before the first RT and 58% of them would spend additional time to learn relaxation techniques. Since the tolerance of a therapy can increase through the use of relaxation techniques and possibly even pain sensation can be reduced and the quality of life increased, an additional offer of selected relaxation techniques for interested patients undergoing RT is desirable. Purpose or Objective Surgery is the standard treatment for several primary abdominal tumors, including pancreatic and retroperitoneal sarcomas. Abdominal radiotherapy is often considered, either consolidative or as a non-surgical alternative when resection is not possible. Stereotactic hypofractionated radiation therapy (SFRT) offers logistical advantages in terms of both patient convenience but also ease of integration within a multimodality treatment strategy that seeks to minimize delays and interruptions in systemic therapy. In addition, there is a potential radiobiological advantage with respect to overcoming relative radioresistance. Applying SFRT to abdominal tumors, however, could be limited by the tolerance of normal surrounding organs. To analyze toxicity and clinical outcomes in patients treated with five fraction SFRT for non-surgical pancreatic tumours and retroperitoneal sarcomas. Materials and Methods This is a single institution retrospective review of pancreatic and sarcoma patients treated between 2011 and 2022 with five fractions SFRT to doses between 25 to 30Gy. Cases treated with exclusively palliative intent were excluded, as cases where the SFRT was part of a pre-operative strategy. Patients who were previously resected and/or received chemotherapy were included. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze demographic and disease characteristics. NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0 were used for toxicity grading. Kaplan-Meier method estimated the clinical outcomes. Results 49 cases, nine with sarcoma and 40 with pancreas cancer confirmed by pathology, were reviewed. The mean age was 68 years [range: 32-93]. The most common prescription dose was 30Gy (N=25) in five fractions typically delivered on non consecutive days. The majority of cases received previous chemotherapy (79%), and more than one-quarter (28.5%) had previous surgery for the primary disease. The mean of the tumors was 4.7cm and 43 had a single lesion. During planning, a 4DCT was done to assess for respiratory motion and generate an ITV. Among the 49 patients, 75.5% presented acute side effects. The most common acute side effect was fatigue (42.8%), followed by nausea (24.5%), and abdominal pain (22.4%), all low grade with one case of grade 3 acute abdominal pain. Chronic side effects were observed in 15 patients, abdominal pain being the most frequent. Bowel perforation (N=2) and cholangitis (N=3) were observed in the context of disease progression. At the time of analysis, 81.6% (N=40) of patients had died. Seven patients had no follow-up. Local control (figure 1)/ metastases free survival and OS (figure 3) at 6 months and 1 year: 62.8%/36.4%/61.4% and 42.5%/19.4%/38.3%, respectively. The median overall survival was 9 months. PO-1584 Toxicity and clinical outcomes to abdominal radiotherapy using 5 fractions for non-surgical patients R. ASSO 1 , F. Cury 1 , C. Freeman 1 , N. Kopek 1 1 McGill University Health Centre, Division of Radiation Oncology, Montreal, Canada