We investigated, whether ¹⁸[18F]-FDG PET/CT-derived radiomics combined with sarcopenia measurements improves survival prognostication among patients with advanced, metastatic gastroesophageal cancer. In our study, 128 consecutive patients with advanced, metastatic esophageal and gastroesophageal cancer (n = 128; 26 females; 102 males; mean age 63.5 ± 11.7 years; age range: 29–91 years) undergoing ¹⁸[18F]-FDG PET/CT for staging between November 2008 and December 2019 were included. Segmentation of the primary tumor and radiomics analysis derived from PET and CT images was performed semi-automatically with a commonly used open-source software platform (LIFEX, Version 6.30, lifexsoft.org). Patients’ nutritional status was determined by measuring the skeletal muscle index (SMI) at the level of L3 on the CT component. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to establish a survival prediction model including radiomics, clinical data, and SMI score. Univariable Cox proportional hazards model revealed ECOG (<0.001) and bone metastasis (p = 0.028) to be significant clinical parameters for overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS). Age (p = 0.017) was an additional prognostic factor for OS. Multivariable analysis showed improved prognostication for overall and progression free survival when adding sarcopenic status, PET and CT radiomics to the model with clinical parameters only. PET and CT radiomics derived from hybrid ¹⁸[18F]-FDG PET/CT combined with sarcopenia measurements and clinical parameters may improve survival prediction among patients with advanced, metastatic gastroesophageal cancer.

Background: Virtual care (VC) visits (telephone or video) and email-based patient communication have been rapidly adopted to facilitate cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inequities in access and patient experience may arise as these digital health tools become prevalent. Objective: We aimed to characterize inequities in access and patient-reported experience following adoption of digital health tools at a tertiary cancer center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We designed a cross-sectional study of outpatients with visits from September to December 2020. Patient characteristics and responses to an email-based patient-experience survey were collated. Inequities in access were assessed across three pairs of comparison groups: (1) patients with VC and in-person visits, (2) patients with and without documented email addresses, and (3) responders and nonresponders to the survey. Inequities in patient-reported experience were assessed among survey responders. Demographics were mapped to area-level averages from national census data. Socioeconomic status was mapped to area-level dimensions of the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation. Covariate balance between comparison groups was assessed using standardized mean differences (SMDs), with SMD≥0.2 indicating differences between groups. Associations between patient experience satisfaction scores and covariates were assessed using multivariable analyses, with P<.05 indicating statistical significance. Results: Among the 42,194 patients who had outpatient visits, 62.65% (n=26,435) had at least one VC visit and 31.15% (n=13,144) were emailable. Access to VC and email was similar across demographic and socioeconomic indices (SMD<0.2). Among emailable patients, 21.84% (2870/13,144) responded to the survey. Survey responsiveness was similar across indices, aside from a small difference by age (SMD=0.24). Among responders, 24.4% received VC and were similar to in-person responders across indices (SMD.05). Regardless of visit type, patients had variable satisfaction with care domains across demographic and socioeconomic indices. Patients with higher ethnocultural composition scores were less satisfied with the cultural appropriateness of their care (odds ratio [OR] 0.70, 95% CI 0.57-0.86). Patients with higher situational vulnerability scores were less satisfied with discussion of physical symptoms (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.48-0.93). Patients with higher residential instability scores were less satisfied with discussion of both physical (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.97) and emotional (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.77-0.96) symptoms, and also with the duration of their visit (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.74-0.98; P=.02). Male patients were more satisfied with how their health care provider had listened to them (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.11-2.44; P=.01). Conclusions: Adoption of VC and email can equitably maintain access and patient-reported experience in cancer care across demographics and socioeconomic indices. Existing health inequities among structurally marginalized patients must continue to be addressed to improve their care experience.

Background: The role for radiotherapy or surgery in the upfront management of brain metastases (BrM) in epidermal growth factor receptor mutant (EGFRm) or anaplastic lymphoma kinase translocation positive (ALK+) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is uncertain because of a lack of prospective evidence supporting tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) monotherapy. Further understanding of practice heterogeneity is necessary to guide collaborative efforts in establishing guideline recommendations. Methods: We conducted an international survey among medical (MO), clinical (CO), and radiation oncologists (RO), as well as neurosurgeons (NS), of treatment recommendations for asymptomatic BrM (in non-eloquent regions) EGFRm or ALK+ NSCLC patients according to specific clinical scenarios. We grouped and compared treatment recommendations according to specialty. Responses were summarized using counts and percentages and analyzed using the Fisher exact test. Results: A total of 449 surveys were included in the final analysis: 48 CO, 85 MO, 60 NS, and 256 RO. MO and CO were significantly more likely than RO and NS to recommend first-line TKI monotherapy, regardless of the number and/or size of asymptomatic BrM (in non-eloquent regions). Radiotherapy in addition to TKI as first-line management was preferred by all specialties for patients with ≥4 BrM. NS recommended surgical resection more often than other specialties for BrM measuring >2 cm. Conclusions: Recommendations for the management of BrM from EGFRm or ALK+ NSCLC vary significantly according to oncology sub-specialties. Development of multidisciplinary guidelines and further research on establishing optimal treatment strategies is warranted.

Purpose: We aim determine the value of PET and CT radiomic parameters on survival with serial follow-up PET/CT in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) for which curative intent therapy is undertaken. Methods: Patients with NPC and available pre-treatment as well as follow up PET/CT were included from 2005 to 2006 and were followed to 2021. Baseline demographic, radiological and outcome data were collected. Univariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate features from baseline and follow-up time points, and landmark analyses were performed for each time point. Results: Sixty patients were enrolled, and two-hundred and seventy-eight (278) PET/CT were at baseline and during follow-up. Thirty-eight percent (38%) were female, and sixty-two patients were male. All patients underwent curative radiation or chemoradiation therapy. The median follow-up was 11.72 years (1.26–14.86). Five-year and ten-year overall survivals (OSs) were 80.0% and 66.2%, and progression-free survival (PFS) was 90.0% and 74.4%. Time-dependent modelling suggested that, among others, PET gray-level zone length matrix (GLZLM) gray-level non-uniformity (GLNU) (HR 2.74 95% CI 1.06, 7.05) was significantly associated with OS. Landmark analyses suggested that CT parameters were most predictive at 15 month, whereas PET parameters were most predictive at time points 3, 6, 9 and 15 month. Conclusions: This study with long-term follow up data on NPC suggests that mainly PET-derived radiomic features are predictive for OS but not PFS in a time-dependent evaluation. Furthermore, CT radiomic measures may predict OS and PFS best at initial and long-term follow-up time points and PET measures may be more predictive in the interval. These modalities are commonly used in NPC surveillance, and prospective validation should be considered.