Feasibility Study of Adaptive Radiotherapy for the Treatment of Locally-Advanced Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Summary

This is a 20 patient pilot study to examine the feasibility of dose-adapted radiation therapy for the treatment of locally advanced anal squamous cell cancer. The tumor and a patient's anatomy may change during radiation treatment and daily adaption of the radiation plan (i.e., a new daily plan based on the anatomy of the day) may help to maximize the dose to the tumor and minimize the radiation dose to the normal surrounding organs.

Detailed description

The standard treatment for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-positive locally advanced anal cancer (described as a tumor that is greater than 4 cm in size, or with positive lymph nodes) is 54 Gy of radiation treatment to the anal canal and primary tumor planning total volume (PTV), 50.4-54 Gy to positive nodal PTV and 45 Gy to elective lymph node PTV with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and mitomycin-C chemotherapy administered at the same time as radiation in 30 fraction (treatments) delivery. During the six week course of radiotherapy, there is often a notable decrease in volume of the tumor (both primary and regional nodes), as early as one week into treatment, detected on weekly on-board Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), which is a scan done on the treatment machine while patients receive radiation to ensure that the tumor is being treated and normal tissue is not. However, CT simulation (a CT scan used to plan radiation treatment) and re-planning of the treatment to account for the tumor shrinkage are not routinely performed due to time, patient inconvenience and staffing resources. As such, daily adaptive radiation, which can generate a new CT-based plan using the anatomy of the day, may be a time efficient method to both plan and treat the patient.

Arms & interventions

• RadiationArtificial Intelligence Guided Daily Radiotherapy Treatment Planning and Delivery

  Subjects will receive 54 Gy of radiation delivered 5 day a week for 6 weeks, 30 radiation treatments total. Intensity-Modulated photon radiation therapy will be delivered on a Varian Ethos linear accelerator. Daily image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is required. All treatments will have artificial-intelligence (AI) daily adaptations of the radiation plan to optimize the radiation dose to the targeted area and minimize radiation dose to the normal surrounding organs such as the bowel.

• DrugMitomycin-C

  As part of the subjects' treatment, 10 mg/meters squared of Mitomycin C will be administered intravenously (IV-into the vein) on Day 1 and Day 29.

• Drug5-Fluorouracil

  As part of the subjects' treatment, 1g/meters squared/day for 4 days of 5-Fluorouracil will be administered by continuous infusion on Days 1-4 (for 96 hours) and Days 29-32 (for 96 hours). 5-Fluorouracil or capecitabine will be administered per the physician's discretion.

• DrugCapecitabine

  As part of the subjects' treatment, 825 mg/meters squared per day, divided into 2 daily doses, will be taken on days of radiotherapy. Capecitabine or 5-FU will be administered per the physician's discretion.

Outcome measures

Eligibility criteria