Pelvic bone marrow dose-volume predictors of late lymphopenia following pelvic lymph node radiation therapy for prostate cancer

The interest concerning radiation-induced hematological toxicity (HT) increased in the last years [1 –7]. The occurrence of severe decrease of blood counts is a well assessed side-effect experienced by many patients undergoing radiochemotherapy [1,6,8–10] and several investigations showed clear association between the incidence and severity of HT and the extent of bone marrow (BM) and of body i rradiated, as well as the delivered dose and fractionation [1,11–14]. On the other hand, the interest in quantifying these effects induced by radiation only (i.e.: without chemotherapy) is equally high, aiming to estimate the impact of this “Radiotherapy-only”-induced sequela [15–23].
Source: Radiotherapy and Oncology - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research