Acute toxicity profile of radiotherapy in 690 children and adolescents: RiSK data.
OBJECTIVE
The "Registry for the evaluation of side effects after radiation in childhood and adolescence" (risk) was introduced to characterize adverse effects of radiotherapy in childhood and adolescence prospectively. The aim of this analysis was to characterize the pattern of acute side effects.


METHODS
Since 2001, patients receiving radiotherapy in one of the German pediatric therapy trials have been registered in RiSK with detailed information regarding radiation doses to organs at risk and characterization of acute toxicities.


RESULTS
From 2001 to May 2009, 690 patients have been characterized for acute toxicity in primary therapy. Acute toxicity ≥ grade 1 was observed in 506 patients. In patients irradiated in their lung and liver, patients with grade 1 or 2 acute toxicities showed higher organ volumes exposed to radiation doses <20 Gray (Gy) compared to patients without toxicities. For the salivary glands, there was a positive correlation between the acute toxicity grade and the maximum radiation dose to the organ; the lower GI tract showed a similar trend. The impact of different chemotherapy regimens on these acute side effects remains unclear. Age did not have any impact on side effects.


CONCLUSIONS
This analysis gives a comprehensive overview of the acute toxicities of radiotherapy in children and adolescents. With prolongation of follow-up, detailed analyses regarding late toxicities will be possible with the characterization of dose-volume-effect relationships.
Selo
Nadja
N
Department of Radiotherapy, University Hospital of Münster, Münster, Germany.
Bölling
Tobias
T
Ernst
Iris
I
Pape
Hildegard
H
Martini
Carmen
C
Rübe
Christian
C
Timmermann
Beate
B
Fischedick
Karin
K
Kortmann
Rolf-Dieter
RD
Gerss
Joachim
J
Koch
Raphael
R
Willich
Normann
N
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012042:Registries; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric