%0 Journal Article
%T The Existence of Symptomatic Localized Lesion(s) and ¡Ü4 Lesions Are Indications for Radiotherapy: Screening Computed Tomography Images of Patients with Metastatic/Recurrent/Inoperable Cancer in a Single Japanese Institution Observational Study
%A Shinsaku Yamaguchi
%A Yuichi Matsuki
%A Shinji Yotsumoto
%A Hiroaki Satou
%A Michiko Watanabe
%A Sachie Yotsumoto
%J International Journal of Medical Physics,Clinical Engineering and Radiation Oncology
%P 110-119
%@ 2168-5444
%D 2016
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ijmpcero.2016.51012
%X Background: To investigate the prevalence of indications for radiotherapy (RT) in patients with metastatic/recurrent/inoperable cancer. We also sought to analyze such patients¡¯ clinical and radiological characteristics for indications of radiotherapy in those patients who had either surveillance or an initial assessment done by computed tomography (CT). Methods: Two diagnostic radiologists and a radiation oncologist evaluated a total of 13,225 consecutive patients from January 2012 to December 2012 at a single Japanese institution. Patients with metastatic/recurrent/ inoperable cancer were selected for further study. After two diagnostic radiologists identified patients with a detectable cancerous lesion, a radiation oncologist subsequently investigated whether there was any indication for RT. The oncologist also evaluated the relationship between patients¡¯ clinical/radiological factors, and patients with or without indications for RT. Results: Two diagnostic radiologists selected 329 patients showing a detectable gross cancerous lesion. In this patient group, a radiation oncologist identified 196 patients with metastatic/recurrent/inoperable cancer, of which 96 patients (49%) showed an indication for RT. According to both univariate and multivariate analyses, ¡Ü4 lesions were significantly associated with patients who showed an indication for RT (P = 0.0002 and P < 0.0001, respectively). The existence of symptomatic, localized lesion(s) was also significantly associated with those who showed an indication for RT (P < 0.001 and P > 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: In screening CT images, approximately half of all patients with metastatic/recurrent/inoperable cancer showed an indication for RT. Moreover, ¡Ü4 lesions and/or the existence of a symptomatic, localized lesion were highly suggestive of an indication for RT. These findings would be of considerable interest to radiation oncologists planning appropriate treatments for cancer patients.
%K Surveillance CT
%K Radiation Oncologist
%K Indication for Radiotherapy
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=64037