Hypofractionated preoperative radiotherapy for high risk soft tissue sarcomas in a geriatric patient population
Article Category: Research Article
Publicado en línea: 19 nov 2021
Páginas: 459 - 466
Recibido: 18 may 2021
Aceptado: 17 ago 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2021-0038
© 2021 Vlatko Potkrajcic, Frank Traub, Barbara Hermes, Marcus Scharpf, Jonas Kolbenschlag, Daniel Zips, Frank Paulsen, Franziska Eckert, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Background
Standard therapy for localised, resectable high risk soft tissue sarcomas consists of wide excision and radiotherapy over several weeks. This treatment schedule is hardly feasible in geriatric and frail patients. In order not to withhold radiotherapy from these patients, hypofractionated radiotherapy with 25 Gy in 5 fractions was evaluated in a geriatric patient population.
Patients and methods
A retrospective analysis was performed of 18 geriatric patients with resectable high risk soft tissue sarcomas of extremities and thoracic wall. Wound healing and short term oncologic outcome were analysed. In addition, dose constraints for radiotherapy of the extremities were transferred from normofractionated to hypofractionated radiotherapy regimens.
Results
Feasibility was good with 17/18 patients completing treatment as planned. Wound healing complication rate was in the range of published data. Two patients developed local and distant recurrence, two patients isolated distant recurrences. No isolated local recurrences were observed. Keeping the constraints was possible in all cases without compromising the coverage of the target volume.
Conclusions
Hypofractionated radiotherapy and surgery was well tolerated even in this specific patient population. With feasibility concerning early wound healing problems and adapted constraints, which allow for the treatment of most resectable extremity tumours, the concept warrants further evaluation in patients unfit for standard radiotherapy.