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Item Evidence-based methodology for obtaining commercial insurance coverage of stereotactic radiosurgery for intractable epilepsy(Elsevier, 2020) McClelland, Shearwood, III.; Verma, Vivek; Radiation Oncology, School of MedicineObjectives: The coverage policies of many commercial insurers in the United States do not include coverage of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for intractable epilepsy despite recent Level I evidence supporting its efficacy. We sought to assess the efficacy of an evidence-based methodology in obtaining coverage approval of SRS for intractable epilepsy. Patients and methods: The clinical policy guidelines from five of the largest United States commercial insurers were reviewed for their language regarding coverage of SRS for epilepsy. An evidence-based questionnaire was created for temporal lobe epilepsy and extratemporal lobe epilepsy based on recent evidence. Telephone interviewers of Insurers assessed the likelihood of SRS coverage for an epilepsy patient meeting the clinical inclusion criteria in the questionnaire. This likelihood was assessed numerically based on interviewee response (2 = yes, 1 = dependent on peer-to-peer, 0 = no). Results: Of the five policy guidelines, none included literature more recent than 2017. For TLE, 3/5 insurance companies indicated likely SRS coverage; 2/5 indicated peer-to-peer discussion dependence for patients meeting questionnaire criteria for a score of 8/10. For extratemporal TLE, 2/5 companies indicated likely SRS coverage and 3/5 indicated peer-to-peer discussion dependence for a total score of 7/10. Conclusion: Creation of an evidence-based methodology in approaching commercial insurers greatly increased the likelihood of SRS coverage for an indication (intractable epilepsy) widely perceived as investigational. These results should pave the way for epilepsy patients to receive coverage should they be appropriate SRS candidates.Item First report of pulmonary large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy(Elsevier, 2019-11) McClelland, Shearwood; Durm, Gregory A.; Birdas, Thomas J.; Musto, Paul M.; Lautenschlaeger, Tim; Medicine, School of MedicineIntroduction: Pulmonary large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) is a very rare disease, comprising approximately 3% of lung cancers. Even for Stage I disease, recurrence after resection is common, with a poor five-year overall survival. We present the first report of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for pulmonary LCNEC. Methods: A 54-year-old woman with a left upper lobe pulmonary nodule underwent a wedge resection with thoracoscopic mediastinal lymph node dissection, revealing a 2.3 cm pT1b N0 LCNEC. Approximately one year later, surveillance imaging demonstrated a new left upper lobe PET-avid nodule, resulting in completion left upper lobectomy revealing LCNEC, with 0/6 involved lymph nodes and negative staging studies. The patient subsequently chose surveillance over adjuvant chemotherapy; unfortunately 23 months later imaging revealed an enlarging 0.7 cm nodule adjacent to the previous resection site, despite the patient remaining in good health (KPS = 90). Subsequent restaging demonstrated no evidence of metastatic disease. Due to the morbidity of a third operation in this region, and based on the safety of SBRT for Stage I non small-cell lung cancer, the consensus decision from our thoracic oncology team was to proceed with SBRT as preferred management for presumptive second recurrence of LCNEC. The patient shortly thereafter underwent SBRT (50 Gy in 10 Gy/fraction) to this new nodule, 41 months following initial LCNEC diagnosis. Results: Four months following SBRT, the patient remains in excellent clinical condition (KPS 90), with no evidence of disease spread on surveillance studies. The nodule itself demonstrated no evidence of growth following SBRT. Conclusions: This first report of SBRT for pulmonary LCNEC demonstrates that SBRT is a feasible modality for this rare disease. A multidisciplinary thoracic oncology approach involving medical oncology, thoracic surgery, radiation oncology and pulmonology is strongly recommended to ensure proper patient selection for receipt of SBRT.Item Impact of Travel Distance on Radiation Treatment Modality for Central Nervous System Disease(Medknow Publications, 2019-10) McClelland III, Shearwood; Mitin, Timur; Jaboin, Jerry J.; Ciporen, Jeremy N.; Radiation Oncology, School of MedicineBackground Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has emerged as a popular alternative to conventional radiation therapy (RT) over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, the impact of patient distance from radiation treatment centers and utilization of SBRT versus conventional RT has been sparsely investigated. This report represents the first analysis of the impact of patient distance on radiation treatment modality for central nervous system (CNS) disease. Materials and Methods Since the inception of our RADIation oncology And Neuro-Surgery (RADIANS) multidisciplinary clinic at a community hospital in 2016, 27 patients have received either SBRT or conventional RT as their sole radiation treatment modality for CNS disease. Twenty-four (88.9%) presented with metastatic disease. Fisher’s exact test evaluated the relationship between patient residence from treatment (in miles) and radiation treatment modality received. Results Mean patient distance from our RADIANS clinic was 50.6 miles (median = 15.3). Twenty-one patients (77.8%) received SBRT; the remaining six received conventional RT. Mean patient distance from SBRT was 63.6 miles, and mean patient distance for conventional RT was 5.1 miles; this finding was statistically significant (p = 0.0433; 95% confidence interval = 1.9–115.1). Conclusion Our findings indicate that patients with CNS disease who receive SBRT over conventional RT are statistically more likely to reside further from treatment centers. This is similar to findings of national studies comparing proton versus photon treatment for pediatric solid malignancies. The results from our work have implications for neuro-oncology treatment and the development of community hospital-based clinic models similar to RADIANS in the future.Item Improving the Clinical Treatment of Vulnerable Populations in Radiation Oncology(Elsevier, 2020-08-06) McClelland, Shearwood, III.; Petereit, Daniel G.; Zeitlin, Ross; Takita, Cristiane; Suneja, Gita; Miller, Robert C.; Deville, Curtiland; Siker, Malika L.; Radiation Oncology, School of MedicineThe increasing role of radiation oncology in optimal cancer care treatment brings to mind the adage that power is never a gift, but a responsibility. A significant part of the responsibility we in radiation oncology bear is how to ensure optimal access to our services. This article summarizes the discussion initiated at the 2019 American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting educational panel entitled "Improving the Clinical Treatment of Vulnerable Populations in Radiation Oncology: Latin, African American, Native American, and Gender/Sexual Minority Communities." By bringing the discussion to the printed page, we hope to continue the conversation with a broader audience to better define the level of responsibility our field bears in optimizing cancer care to the most vulnerable patient populations within the United States.Item The need for dedicated time for medical physicists practice quality improvement efforts in radiation oncology department: A commentary(Wiley, 2022) Zellars, Richard; Njeh, Christopher; Marquette, Scott; Radiation Oncology, School of MedicineItem Orbital Metastases: A Systematic Review of Clinical Characteristics, Management Strategies, and Treatment Outcomes(MDPI, 2021-12-24) Palmisciano, Paolo; Ferini, Gianluca; Ogasawara, Christian; Wahood, Waseem; Alamer, Othman Bin; Gupta, Aditya D.; Scalia, Gianluca; Larsen, Alexandra M.G.; Yu, Kenny; Umana, Giuseppe E.; Cohen-Gadol, Aaron A.; El Ahmadieh, Tarek Y.; Haider, Ali S.; Neurological Surgery, School of MedicineBackground: Orbital metastases often lead to severe functional impairment. The role of resection, orbital exenteration, and complementary treatments is still debated. We systematically reviewed the literature on orbital metastases. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Web-of-Science, and Cochrane were searched upon PRISMA guidelines to identify studies on orbital metastases. Clinical characteristics, management strategies, and survival were analyzed. Results: We included 262 studies comprising 873 patients. Median age was 59 years. The most frequent primary tumors were breast (36.3%), melanoma (10.1%), and prostate (8.5%) cancers, with median time interval of 12 months (range, 0-420). The most common symptoms were proptosis (52.3%) and relative-afferent-pupillary-defect (38.7%). Most metastases showed a diffuse location within the orbit (19%), with preferential infiltration of orbital soft tissues (40.2%). In 47 cases (5.4%), tumors extended intracranially. Incisional biopsy (63.7%) was preferred over fine-needle aspiration (10.2%), with partial resection (16.6%) preferred over complete (9.5%). Orbital exenteration was pursued in 26 patients (3%). A total of 305 patients (39.4%) received chemotherapy, and 506 (58%) received orbital radiotherapy. Post-treatment symptom improvement was significantly superior after resection (p = 0.005) and orbital radiotherapy (p = 0.032). Mean follow-up was 14.3 months, and median overall survival was 6 months. Fifteen cases (1.7%) demonstrated recurrence with median local control of six months. Overall survival was statistically increased in patients with breast cancer (p < 0.001) and in patients undergoing resection (p = 0.024) but was not correlated with orbital location (p = 0.174), intracranial extension (p = 0.073), biopsy approach (p = 0.344), extent-of-resection (p = 0.429), or orbital exenteration (p = 0.153). Conclusions: Orbital metastases severely impair patient quality of life. Surgical resection safely provides symptom and survival benefit compared to biopsy, while orbital radiotherapy significantly improves symptoms compared to not receiving radiotherapy.Item Primary Skull Base Chondrosarcomas: A Systematic Review(MDPI, 2021-11-26) Palmisciano, Paolo; Haider, Ali S.; Sabahi, Mohammadmahdi; Nwagwu, Chibueze D.; Alamer, Othman Bin; Scalia, Gianluca; Umana, Giuseppe E.; Cohen-Gadol, Aaron A.; El Ahmadieh, Tarek Y.; Yu, Kenny; Pathmanaban, Omar N.; Neurological Surgery, School of MedicineBackground: Primary skull base chondrosarcomas (SBCs) can severely affect patients' quality of life. Surgical-resection and radiotherapy are feasible but may cause debilitating complications. We systematically reviewed the literature on primary SBCs. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web-of-Science, and Cochrane were searched following the PRISMA guidelines to include studies of patients with primary SBCs. Clinical characteristics, management strategies, and treatment outcomes were analyzed. Results: We included 33 studies comprising 1307 patients. Primary SBCs mostly involved the middle-fossa (72.7%), infiltrating the cavernous-sinus in 42.4% of patients. Cranial-neuropathies were reported in 810 patients (62%). Surgical-resection (93.3%) was preferred over biopsy (6.6%). The most frequent open surgical approaches were frontotemporal-orbitozygomatic (17.6%) and pterional (11.9%), and 111 patients (21.3%) underwent endoscopic-endonasal resection. Post-surgical cerebrospinal-fluid leaks occurred in 36 patients (6.5%). Radiotherapy was delivered in 1018 patients (77.9%): photon-based (41.4%), proton-based (64.2%), and carbon-based (13.1%). Severe post-radiotherapy complications, mostly hypopituitarism (15.4%) and hearing loss (7.1%) were experienced by 251 patients (30.7%). Post-treatment symptom-improvement (46.7%) and reduced/stable tumor volumes (85.4%) showed no differences based on radiotherapy-protocols (p = 0.165; p = 0.062). Median follow-up was 67-months (range, 0.1-376). SBCs recurrences were reported in 211 cases (16.1%). The 5-year and 10-year progression-free survival rates were 84.3% and 67.4%, and overall survival rates were 94% and 84%. Conclusion: Surgical-resection and radiotherapy are effective treatments in primary SBCs, with acceptable complication rates and favorable local tumor control.Item Radiation oncology crossword: Genitourinary cancer(Elsevier, 2019-04-05) McClelland, Shearwood, III; Mitin, Timur; Thomas, Charles R., Jr.; Radiation Oncology, School of MedicineItem Radiation oncology should be a partner to medical oncology in end-of-life care(Elsevier, 2020) McClelland, Shearwood, III.; Mitin, Timur; Radiation Oncology, School of MedicineItem Three-Year Experience of a Multidisciplinary Central Nervous System Clinic Model for Radiation Oncology and Neurosurgery (RADIANS) in a Community Hospital Setting(Auctores, 2021) Paez, Wencesley; Gheewala, Rohi; McClelland, Shearwood, III.; Jaboin, Jerry J.; Thomas, Charles R., Jr.; Lucke-Wold, Brandon; Ciporen, Jeremy N.; Mitin, Timur; Radiation Oncology, School of MedicineBackground: As academic centers partner and establish healthcare systems with community hospitals, delivery of subspecialty, multidisciplinary care in community hospital settings remains a challenge. Improving outcomes for central nervous system (CNS) disease is related to integrated care between neurosurgery (NS) and radiation oncology (RadOnc) specialties. Our multidisciplinary community hospital-based clinic, RADIANS, previously reported high patient approval of simultaneous evaluation with NS and RadOnc physicians. Three-year experience is now reported. Methods: Prospectively collected clinical and demographic patient data over three years was done, and surveys administered. Descriptive statistics reported as mean and percentages for patient characteristics, diagnosis, treatment and outcomes. Results: Between August 2016 and August 2019, 101 patients were evaluated. Mean age and distanced traveled was 61.2 years, and 54.9 miles, respectively. Patient Satisfaction Score was 4.79 (0-5 Scale, 5-very satisfied). Most common referral source was medical oncologists. Seventy-two patients had malignant CNS disease (brain mets 28; spine mets 27; both 6; primary brain 9; primary spine 2), 29 had benign CNS disease. Post-evaluation treatment: radiation therapy (RT) only (n=29), neurosurgery (NS) only (n=16), both RT and NS (n=22), and no RT/NS intervention (n=34). Fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery was most common RT delivered; craniotomy with tumor resection was most common NS performed. Treatment outcomes: local control=61/67 (91%); radiation necrosis or radiation-induced myelitis=2/51 (3.9%). Conclusions: The RADIANS multidisciplinary community hospital-based CNS clinic model is first of its kind to be reported, continuing strong patient approval at extended follow-up. Data indicates the model serves as a regional referral center, delivering evidence-based treatment modalities for complex CNS disease in community hospital settings, yielding high rates of local control and low rates of grade 3 or 4 radiation-induced toxicity.