Peng Hao, Deng Jie, Jiang Steve, Timmerman Robert
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.
Medical Artificial Intelligence and Automation Laboratory, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.
Front Oncol. 2024 Mar 20;14:1357790. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1357790. eCollection 2024.
Fractionated radiotherapy was established in the 1920s based upon two principles: (1) delivering daily treatments of equal quantity, unless the clinical situation requires adjustment, and (2) defining a specific treatment period to deliver a total dosage. Modern fractionated radiotherapy continues to adhere to these century-old principles, despite significant advancements in our understanding of radiobiology. At UT Southwestern, we are exploring a novel treatment approach called PULSAR (Personalized Ultra-Fractionated Stereotactic Adaptive Radiotherapy). This method involves administering tumoricidal doses in a pulse mode with extended intervals, typically spanning weeks or even a month. Extended intervals permit substantial recovery of normal tissues and afford the tumor and tumor microenvironment ample time to undergo significant changes, enabling more meaningful adaptation in response to the evolving characteristics of the tumor. The notion of dose painting in the realm of radiation therapy has long been a subject of contention. The debate primarily revolves around its clinical effectiveness and optimal methods of implementation. In this perspective, we discuss two facets concerning the potential integration of dose painting with PULSAR, along with several practical considerations. If successful, the combination of the two may not only provide another level of personal adaptation ("adaptive dose painting"), but also contribute to the establishment of a timely feedback loop throughout the treatment process. To substantiate our perspective, we conducted a fundamental modeling study focusing on PET-guided dose painting, incorporating tumor heterogeneity and tumor control probability (TCP).
分次放射治疗于20世纪20年代基于两个原则确立:(1)除非临床情况需要调整,否则每天给予等量治疗;(2)确定一个特定的治疗期以给予总剂量。现代分次放射治疗尽管我们对放射生物学的理解有了显著进步,但仍继续遵循这些百年原则。在德克萨斯大学西南医学中心,我们正在探索一种名为PULSAR(个性化超分割立体定向自适应放射治疗)的新型治疗方法。这种方法涉及以脉冲模式给予杀肿瘤剂量,间隔时间延长,通常为数周甚至一个月。延长的间隔时间允许正常组织大量恢复,并为肿瘤和肿瘤微环境提供足够的时间发生显著变化,从而能够根据肿瘤不断演变的特征进行更有意义的适应。放射治疗领域中的剂量描绘概念长期以来一直是争论的主题。争论主要围绕其临床有效性和最佳实施方法。从这个角度出发,我们讨论了关于剂量描绘与PULSAR潜在整合的两个方面,以及一些实际考虑因素。如果成功,两者的结合不仅可能提供另一个层面的个性化适应(“自适应剂量描绘”),还可能有助于在整个治疗过程中建立及时的反馈回路。为了证实我们的观点,我们进行了一项基础建模研究,重点是PET引导的剂量描绘,纳入了肿瘤异质性和肿瘤控制概率(TCP)。