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Soo Park, MD
Soo Park, MD
Posted: Thursday, November 7, 2024
Hypofractionated vs standard fractionation radiotherapy for Merkel cell carcinoma had similar outcomes in the curative-intent setting, according to Noah S. Kalman, MD, MBA, of Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida, and colleagues. These early results from a retrospective study, which were published in the journal Radiation Oncology, appeared to be consistent with previous reports.
“The equivalence of hypofractionated treatment regimens to standard fractionation regimens… has [also] been shown for common cutaneous malignancies, such as basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas,” the investigators remarked.
The investigators conducted a retrospective review of 24 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma of multiple body parts, including the head and neck, lower extremity, upper extremity, and trunk. They collectively were administered 29 courses of radiotherapy in the initial or recurrent setting. A total of 13, 10, and 6 of the courses involved standard fractionation with curative intent (2 Gy/day in 25–30 fractions), hypofractionated radiotherapy with curative intent (4 Gy/day in 10 fractions), and single-fraction palliative radiation (8 Gy), respectively. More than half (51.7%; n = 15) of the treatment courses were delivered to the head and neck.
A subset of patients who were treated adjuvantly with curative intent included equal numbers receiving standard fractionation and hypofractionated radiotherapy (both n = 8). Both local and/or distant failure and overall survival did not appear to significantly differ between these groups.
“In our limited patient sample, hypofractionated radiation treatment achieved similar results with similar toxicity and fewer treatments,” the investigators concluded. “Further analysis of a larger patient population with longer follow-up is needed to confirm treatment tolerability and efficacy.”
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
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