High-dose re-irradiation of intracranial lesions - Efficacy and safety including dosimetric analysis based on accumulated EQD2Gy dose EQD calculation

Introduction: The use of cranial re-irradiation is growing with improving overall survival and the advent of high-precision radiotherapy techniques. Still the value of re-irradiation needs careful evaluation regarding safety and efficacy. We analyzed dosimetric and clinical data of patients receiving cranial reirradiation using EQD2 sum plans. Methods and material: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 76 patients who received repeated cranial radiotherapy from 02/2013 to 09/2016. 34 patients suffered from recurrent primary brain tumors, 42 from brain metastases. Dosimetric analysis was performed accumulating EQD2 dose distributions based on rigid image registration. Clinical and radiological data was collected at follow-ups including toxicity, local control and overall survival. Results: In total 76 patients had at least 2 courses of intracranial radiotherapy. The median accumulated prescription EQD2 dose was 96.5 Gy(2) for all radiation courses combined. The median D(0.1 cc) of the brain for patients receiving more than 100 Gy(2) was 114 Gy(2) with a highest dose of 161.5 Gy(2). 74% of patients suffered from low grade (G1-G2) acute toxicity, only two high grade (>G3) toxicities were recorded. Median overall survival from the time of first re-irradiation was 57 weeks (range 4-186 weeks). The median time to local failure for patients with a primary brain tumor was not reached and 24 weeks (range 1-77 weeks) for patients with brain metastases. Conclusion: Repeated radiotherapy appears both safe and efficient in patients with recurrent primary or secondary brain tumors with doses to the brain up to 120 Gy(2) EQD2, doses below 100 Gy(2) for brainstem and doses below 75 Gy(2) EQD2 to chiasm and optic nerves. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology.

Automated summary

This study retrospectively analyzed clinical and dosimetric data of 76 patients who received cranial reirradiation, showing that repeated radiotherapy appears to be both safe and efficient in treating patients with recurrent primary or secondary brain tumors.