Palliative radiotherapy is an effective treatment for patients with painful bone metastases. Standard workflows often involve long waiting times or multiple visits. Fast palliation completed during a single clinic visit can be achieved by omitting a planning CT scan, and using available diagnostic imaging for treatment planning. The adaptive treatment platforms provides the possibility to adapt positions differences between the diagnostic CT and radiotherapy treatment of the target and organs at risk. In this study, the investigators will investigate the experiences of patients who have been treated with this fast-adaptive workflow (FAST-METS) using 2 questionnaires.
Palliative radiotherapy is an effective treatment for patients with painful bone metastases, and currently the investigators have clinically implemented the FAST-METS procedure at the department. All patients referred for palliative radiotherapy, in whom diagnostic imaging performed within 4 weeks is available, are eligible for this adaptive workflow. Consultation by telephone is done beforehand to verify whether the complaints correspond to the location of the metastasis. This single-institutional, explorative study will investigate the experiences and quality of life of patients who were treated with this workflow. Two study questionnaires are used, and informed consent will be obtained for both. The EQ-5D-5L questionnaire will be completed on the day of treatment, after 6 weeks and 3 months post-treatment. The other questionnaire used was developed for patients treated with adaptive radiotherapy. Two patients groups will be studied, namely those undergoing simple and complex palliative radiotherapy. Patients treated with complex palliative radiotherapy are defined as those referred for re-irradiation to the site of metastasis, patients undergoing concurrent systemic therapy, and patients treated with a single fraction radiation dose exceeding 8 Gy. In addition, the study will evaluate time spent on treatment preparation and delivery proces, and dosimetric aspects of the treatment.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
60
AmsterdamUMC, location VUmc
Amsterdam, Netherlands
RECRUITINGQuality of life of patients
Quality of life, with EQ-5D-5L questionnaires. The questionnaires comprises five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. Each dimension has 5 levels: no problems, slight problems, moderate problems, severe problems and extreme problems.
Time frame: 3 months
Satisfaction of patients
Measure the satisfaction of patients who are treated with FAST-METS workflow, using a patient questionnaire developed in-house, which is completed on the day of treatment. Each question has 5 levels: not satisfied at all, some satisfaction, reasonably satisfied, and very satisfied
Time frame: 1 week
Dosimetric data
Dosimetric data on treatment planning, containing volumes of gross tumor volume (GTV), planning target volume (PTV), coverage of GTV and PTV, dose to the organs at risk (OARs), technique of radiotherapy (IMRT/VMAT) and number of monitor units (MU). The data of the reference plan and the adapted plan will be collected and compared
Time frame: 1 week
Time spent on treatment preparation and delivery proces
The time spent in minutes at each step of the patient's treatment journey will be recorded, commencing from the start of clinical consultation until the patient leaves the radiotherapy department.
Time frame: 1 week
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