ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S5268

Radiobiology - Normal tissue radiobiology

ESTRO 2024

Conclusion:

Our exploratory study identified several single-nucleotide variants potentially associated with late dysphagia after RT of HNSCC. Confirmation of these results in a prospective, independent cohort will be necessary to confirm these results.

Keywords: whole-exome sequencing, head/neck cancer, toxicity

1632

Digital Poster

Biomarkers of Radiotherapy-Associated Toxicities in Head and Neck Cancer – A Systematic Review

Alexander Koch 1 , Philipp Reinhardt 1 , Olgun Elicin 1 , Daniel M Aebersold 1 , Daniel H Schanne 1,2

1 Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Department of Radiation Oncology, Bern, Switzerland. 2 University of Bern, Graduate School for Health Sciences, Bern, Switzerland

Purpose/Objective:

A significant share of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) undergoes radiotherapy (RT) during the course of their disease. While being an effective treatment, RT often leads to both acute and chronic side effects. Major types of toxicity include mucositis, dermatitis, xerostomia and dysphagia. Recent years have seen increased interest in personalizing treatments to better spare organs at risk or adapt supportive treatment during RT. One way to achieve this is by prediction of toxicities based on biomarkers measured before or during early therapy. The goal of this study was to systematically summarize the current literature on this topic to provide an overview of the field and guidance for future research.

Material/Methods:

We searched Pubmed and EMBASE for available literature on biomarkers in HNSCC. Inclusion criteria were: all studies including ³10 patients published between 01/10 – 02/23, assessment of biomarkers prior RT, patients with HNSCC or other tumors of the head and neck region, patients treated with (chemo)radiotherapy (min. 95% receiving RT), toxicity assessment according to an established grading system. Excluded were reviews and case reports, as well as studies only reporting radiomic measurements or HPV status as biomarker. The Quality in Prognostic Studies (QUIPS) tool was adopted for bias assessment.

Results:

A total of 2550 abstracts were screened for in- and exclusion criteria. Of the 121 included, 69 manuscripts were left for full-text evaluation to extract data. Among those, 44 (69%) were prospective studies, 18 (28%) retrospective and 2 (3%) a mixture of both. The total number of included patients was 14532, 75% of which were male and 25% female. Nasopharynx (31%) was the most common primary tumor site, followed by oropharynx (25%), larynx (16%) and oral cavity (9%). AJCC/UICC tumor stage was unavailable in 57% of cases; among the remaining share, 15% were early stage (I-II) and 85% late stage (III-IV) tumors. Systemic therapy was administered concomitantly in 64%