Biological treatment evaluation in thermoradiotherapy: application in cervical cancer patients

Hyperthermia treatment quality is usually evaluated by thermal (dose) parameters, though hyperthermic radiosensitization effects are also influenced by the time interval between the two modalities. This work applies biological modelling for clinical treatment evaluation of cervical cancer patients treated with radiotherapy plus hyperthermia by calculating the equivalent radiation dose (EQD_RT, i.e., the dose needed for the same effect with radiation alone). Subsequent analyses evaluate the impact of logistics.

Biological treatment evaluation was performed for 58 patients treated with 23-28 fractions of 1.8-2 Gy plus 4-5 weekly hyperthermia sessions. Measured temperatures (T50) and recorded time intervals between the radiotherapy and hyperthermia sessions were used to calculate the EQD_RT using an extended linear quadratic (LQ) model with hyperthermic LQ parameters based on extensive experimental data. Next, the impact of a 30-min time interval (optimized logistics) as well as a 4‑h time interval (suboptimal logistics) was evaluated.

Median average measured T50 and recorded time intervals were 41.2 °C (range 39.7-42.5 °C) and 79 min (range 34-125 min), respectively, resulting in a median total dose enhancement (D50) of 5.5 Gy (interquartile range [IQR] 4.0-6.6 Gy). For 30-min time intervals, the enhancement would increase by ~30% to 7.1 Gy (IQR 5.5-8.1 Gy; p < 0.001). In case of 4‑h time intervals, an ~ 40% decrease in dose enhancement could be expected: 3.2 Gy (IQR 2.3-3.8 Gy; p < 0.001). Normal tissue enhancement was negligible (< 0.3 Gy), even for short time intervals.

Biological treatment evaluation is a useful addition to standard thermal (dose) evaluation of hyperthermia treatments. Optimizing logistics to shorten time intervals seems worthwhile to improve treatment efficacy.