ESTRO 2023 - Abstract Book

S865

Digital Posters

ESTRO 2023

Malnutrition and weight loss frequent affect cancer patients and can represent an obstacle to radiotherapy treatment, involving: need for re-simulations and re-planning because of modification of the target volumes, risk of interruption for asthenia or for the worsening of the patient's quality of life. Screening and nutritional interventions can support patients with eating disorders. Therefore, UPMC Villa Maria Radiotherapy Cancer Center has introduced a nutritional pathway, with the aim of improve patient’s quality life and optimize compliance with treatments. Materials and Methods 725 patients treated between January 2019 and December 2021 were analyzed. Some of those patients received a resimulation during treatment course: out of 86 total re-simulations, 19 are attributable to weight loss (about 22%). For the activation of the nutritional clinical pathway, a new protocol has been established from March 2022, which provides: - an alert system to identify patients at risk, implemented mainly by radiation oncologist and nurses during the first visit and on treatment visits (OTVs), and by radiotherapy therapists, performing the daily patient’s imaging; - consultation with the nutritionist, administrating the EORTC QLQ-C30 test and drafting of a personalized nutritional plan; the specialist also establishes the objective of the treatment path as weight loss or maintenance or weight gain, depending on the case; - monitoring of nutritional status during OTVs and follow-ups (FUPs), in which the EORTC QLQ-C30 test is repeated, to be compared with the previous ones. Since the start of the nutritional support pathway to October 2022, 15 patients at risk of malnutrition have been selected, to collect data from tests carried out, on the weights and on the MUST indicator (Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool). Results In 92% of the cases analyzed, the MUST was maintained at a score >2. Out of 25 resimulations carried out from March to October 2022, only one is due to weight loss (4%), with a significantly lower trend than the pre-implementation reference (Table 1). The results are: - an improvement of patient satisfaction; - an incisive optimization of human and economic resources, and materials involved. Conclusion From our experience, having a nutrition clinical pathway during radiotherapy curses is necessary to guarantee the best treatment conditions to the patient, and improve his quality of life. The new nutrition protocol was welcomed by all the staff of our cancer center with enthusiasm, thanks to the synergistic work daily performed by the various professionals involved. Furthermore, by comparing the results of the EORTC QLQ-C30 tests and the MUST indicators detected at the FUPs with the previous ones, it will be possible to evaluate the impact of the nutritional path carried out by the patient over time. Our future purpose of the study is to improve the results obtained. C. Mariucci 1 , E. Galofaro 1 , E. Arena 1 , C. Di Carlo 1 , V. Panni 1 , M.V. Agbaje Olufemi 1 , M. di Benedetto 1 , L. Vicenzi 1 , M. Montisci 1 , V.E. Morabito 2 , F. Cucciarelli 1 , F. Fenu 1 , M. Valenti 2 , G. Mantello 1 1 Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Radiotherapy Department, Ancona, Italy; 2 Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Medical Physics, Ancona, Italy Purpose or Objective In the 2020, COVID-19 pandemic had an indirect impact on all hospital services, as well as oncology activities. This impact, particularly in the early months of 2020, posed a problem for radiation oncology departments because medical staff were often unprepared to face COVID -19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to evaluate the indirect impact of COVID-19 on all activities in our radiation oncology department. Materials and Methods We retrospectively compared the development of clinical activities in the following periods: January-December 2019, January-December 2020, and January-December 2021. Data related to clinical visits (first evaluation, follow-up), planning CT and PET /CT, treatment planning, and radiotherapy sessions at our 4 LINACs were examined. Results The results are shown in Table 1. In 2019 and 2020, the first clinical visits were 2022 and 1890, respectively, representing a 5.6% increase in 2021. Planning CT and PET/CT in 2020 was 1680, similar to 2019 (n=1675), whereas in 2021 we recorded 1739 CT and PET/CT. Treatment plans generated in 2020 were 1608 (compared with 1585 in 2019, +1.45%) and reached 1643 in 2021 (+2.2%). As shown in Figure 1, follow-up decreased rapidly in March and April 2020 (n=1324 in 2020 vs 1757 in 2019, -24.6%), while follow-up in 2021 was similar to pre-pandemic levels (1660, +25.4%). During COVID -19 first (March, April 2020) and second (October, November 2020) peak follow-up visits were conducted via tele-visits (n=628); no tele visits were conducted in 2021. The total number of treatment sessions was 21880 in 2020 compared with 24341 in 2019 (- 10.1%); in 2021, there was a 16.1% increase in treatment sessions (25402). Hypofractionated regimens were preferred to PO-1081 Impact of COVID-19 pandemic to radiotherapy activities: a monoinstitutional evaluation