Dirk De Ruysscher

..To review the literature on techniques used in high-dose radiotherapy of lung cancer in order to develop recommendations for clinical practice and for use in research protocols...

..Data on the role of PET scans for radiotherapy planning for limited stage small-cell lung cancer is limited, although the incorporation of FDG-PET positive regions would appear to be reasonable...

..As Radiation-Induced Lung Toxicity (RILT) is dose-limiting for radiotherapy (RT) of lung cancer and current parameters are only moderately associated with RILT, we sought for novel parameters associated with RILT...

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..Individualised, isotoxic, accelerated radiotherapy (INDAR) allows the delivery of high biological radiation doses, but the long-term survival associated with this approach is unknown...

..A strong association between neutropenia and oesophagitis was previously shown, but external validation and further elucidation of the possible mechanisms are lacking...

..In our view, the aim should be to build enough proton therapy facilities with interest in research to further improve the treatment and to run the needed clinical trials...

..However, care must be taken to avoid a variety of technical pitfalls and specific education is necessary, for clinicians and physicists alike...

..We therefore identified factors associated with the occurrence of acute dysphagia in lung cancer patients receiving radiotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy...

..To determine what the influence is of dyspnea (CTCAE3.0) before high-dose radiotherapy (RT) on the incidence and severity of subsequent lung toxicity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..Early results of INDAR with concurrent chemotherapy or with cetuximab are promising...

..Improved local tumor control (LC) improves survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We estimated the capability of surgical and non-surgical options to improve LC further in this disease...

..None of the endpoints differed significantly between both groups. However, due to the limited number of patients, no definitive conclusions can be drawn...

..To determine the feasibility of high-dose continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy in patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..With this treatment, 5-year survival rates of 25% can be achieved in patients with LD-SCLC...

..To evaluate the patterns of recurrence when elective node irradiation was omitted in patients with limited disease small cell lung cancer (LD-SCLC)...

..g., know patterns of tumor spread according to pathological studies, knowledge of endoscopic findings, and other tumor and patient factors) to come to target volume definitions that have proven their clinical efficacy...

..In limited-disease small cell lung cancer, the role of FDG-PET is emerging...

..To derive recommendations for routine practice and clinical trials for techniques used in high-dose, high-precision thoracic radiotherapy for lung cancer...

..The purpose of this prospective study was to get insight in what proportion of patients with locally advanced lung cancer would be suitable for concurrent chemoradiation...

..To evaluate the patterns of recurrence when selective mediastinal node irradiation based on FDG-PET scan data is used in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..Identifying the most radiosensitive patient group would have huge clinical implications...

..To investigate the effect of radiotherapy planning with a dedicated combined PET-CT simulator of patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer...

..We undertook a systematic review and literature-based meta-analysis to determine whether the timing of chest radiotherapy may influence the survival of patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC)...

..To identify time factors for combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy predictive for long-term survival of patients with limited-disease small-cell lung cancer (LD-SCLC)...

..To evaluate the results of selective nodal irradiation on basis of (18)F-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) scans in patients with limited-disease small-cell lung cancer (LD-SCLC) on isolated nodal failure...

..This study describes the time trends in nodal computed tomography (CT) volume and motion for patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..The purpose of this study was to prospectively investigate metabolic changes of rectal tumors after 1 week of treatment of either radiochemotherapy (28 x 1.8 Gy+Capecitabine) (RCT) or hypofractionated radiotherapy (5 x 5 Gy) alone (RT)...

..Because the accuracy of (18)FDG-PET-CT is superior to CT, we hypothesised that FDG-PET-CT scans 3 months post-treatment could lead to early detection of progressive disease (PD) amenable for radical treatment...

..The purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether CT or FDG metabolic response early after the start of chemotherapy, but before the beginning of chest RT, is predictive for survival in SCLC...

..We hypothesized that areas within the tumour with a high pre-radiation (18)F-deoxyglucose (FDG) uptake, could identify residual metabolic-active areas, ultimately enabling selective-boosting of tumour sub-volumes...

..The results of this modeling study support clinical trials investigating incorporation of FDG-PET information in CT-based radiotherapy planning...

..The objective of this study was to develop and validate a prediction model for survival of NSCLC patients, treated with chemoradiotherapy...

..Here, we report on the economic evaluation of this study...

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..To investigate the influence of selective irradiation of 18FDG-PET positive mediastinal nodes on radiation fields and normal tissue exposure in limited disease small cell lung cancer (LD-SCLC)...

..The relationship between pretreatment [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([(18)F]FDG) uptake in the lungs (as a surrogate for inflammation) and the delivered radiation dose and radiation-induced lung toxicity (RILT) was investigated...

..We report first results of a prospective feasibility trial...

..The hypothesis is that proton radiotherapy decreases the dose and the volume of irradiated normal tissues even when escalating to the maximum tolerable dose of one or more of the organs at risk (OAR)...

..To characterize the relationship between pre-radiotherapy (18)Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in a tumour voxel, radiation dose and the probability to achieve metabolic control in the tumour voxel after radiotherapy...

..We investigated changes in FDG uptake during fractionated radiotherapy in relation to metabolic response with the ultimate aim to adapt treatment according to early response...

..In this study, we investigated the prognostic value of tumor volume and N status, assessed by using fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (PET)...

..For this purpose we used an ex-vivo model. The procedure was feasible in all operated patients. We have shown that this method is suitable for correlating intra-tumour heterogeneity in tracer uptake with histology...

..The aim of this study was to investigate the change in tumor volume, motion, and breathing frequency during a course of radiotherapy, for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer...

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..There is little data on the survival of elderly patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..Evaluation of the dose distribution for lung cancer patients using a patient setup procedure based on the bony anatomy or the primary tumor...

..Besides for staging purposes, FDG-PET is not recommended for routine radiotherapy delineation purposes. It should be emphasized that using PET is only safe when adhering to strictly standardized protocols...

..Therefore, we have developed and validated a nomogram to predict this side-effect. In addition, clinical usefulness was assessed by comparing model predictions to physicians' predictions...

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..We investigated the theoretical gain in the estimated tumor control probability (TCP) using an individualized maximal tolerable dose (MTD) prescription, for both conventional and accelerated fractionation schemes...

..In this study, the EQ-5D was used to assess HRQoL in survivors of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The influence of tumour stage, adverse events, initial treatment and presence of recurrence was examined...

..Therefore, a pre-radiotherapy FDG-PET-CT scan can potentially be used for radiotherapy dose redistribution...

..We investigated the predictive value of patient characteristics in combination with established dosimetric parameters...

..The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the positional and volumetric changes in primary tumors and the involved LN during (chemo)radiotherapy treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer patients...

..We therefore performed a phase II trial (clinicaltrials.gov; NCT00572325) investigating the same strategy in concurrent chemo-radiation in stage III NSCLC...

..In most other tumour sites not enough data are currently available to draw definitive conclusions about the role of PET in radiation treatment planning...

..The hypothesis of this prospective study was that blood biomarkers related to hypoxia, inflammation, and tumor load would have an added prognostic value for predicting survival...

..So far, MRI and CT have failed to provide such information. Therefore, the value of a combined FDG-PET/CT in predicting tumor clearance of the mesorectal fascia (MRF) was determined...

..9% versus 62.5%, p=0.025), than tumours with a low SUV(max). No significant difference was found in the expression of CAIX, Ki-67 and GLUT-3. This study supports preclinical data that hypoxia is associated with a higher uptake of FDG...

..In this phase I trial, we aimed to determine the toxicity of [(18)F]HX4, a member of the 2-nitroimidazole family, at different dose levels. The secondary aim was to analyse image quality related to the HX4 dose and the timing of imaging...

..To integrate PET-CT scans from different hospitals into radiotherapy treatment planning...

..Tracers other than (18)FDG are promising for treatment response assessment and the visualization of intra-tumor heterogeneity, but more research is needed before they can be clinically implemented...

..To determine the additional value of FDG-PET-CT as compared to conventional staging (CS) in high-risk breast cancer patients...

..To determine which method of internal target volume (ITV) definition based on a respiration correlated CT (RCCT) allows optimal tumor coverage...

..The purpose of this study was to investigate the evolution of quality of life (QoL) in patients with lung cancer, selected for curative radiotherapy (RT) or chemo-RT...

..The reproducibility of the sitting position was high and all ten patients preferred this position over lying down. In selected patients who are unable to lie down, palliative irradiation in a sitting position may be an option...

..To do this, it is critical to know whether the location of these high FDG uptake patterns within the tumor remain stable during radiotherapy (RT)...

..In this review, we searched for clinical evidence to justify implementation of particle therapy as standard treatment in lung cancer...

..We investigated the added value of a new respiratory amplitude-based PET reconstruction method called optimal gating (OG) with the aim of providing accurate image quantification in lung cancer...

..To provide a comparison between radiotherapy with photons, protons and carbon-ions in the treatment of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), performing a meta-analysis of observational studies...

..To implement a 3D dose verification procedure, based on in-room cone-beam CT imaging and portal dosimetry, for lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT)...

..The purpose of this review is to evaluate the methodology used in published phase I radiotherapy (RT) dose escalation trials. A specific emphasis was placed on the frequency of reporting late complications as endpoint...

..The administration of these complicated dose distributions requires a quality assurance procedure that can evaluate the treatment delivery and, if necessary, adapt the treatment plan during radiotherapy...

..Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility of citrulline as a marker for radiation-induced small-intestinal mucosal atrophy in patients during and after abdominal fractionated radiotherapy...

..We undertook a systematic review and literature-based meta-analysis to determine whether the timing of chest radiotherapy may influence the survival of patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC)...

..We report on the development of a pre-treatment prediction model for metabolic response using patient, tumor and treatment factors...

..Here, we report the mature results of a prospective, single-arm study that used this individualized tolerable dose approach...

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..To improve treatment planning in radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer by including Respiratory Correlated-Computed Tomography (RC-CT) information in tumour delineation and dose planning...

..All toxicities were reversible, with only two of ten patients experiencing grade 3 oesophagitis, no treatment-related deaths and no serious late effects...

..In view of the continued increase in the number of hadron (i.e. neutron, proton and light or heavy ion) therapy (HT) centres we performed a systematic literature review to identify reports of the efficacy of HT...