RTOG To Present Record 20 Abstracts at 2001 ASTRO Meeting


Contact: Thomas Wudarski
(215) 574 3205
E-mail: tomw@acr.org

Philadelphia – This year, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) investigators will present a record 20 abstracts at the 2001 annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO). The meeting is scheduled for Nov. 4-8 in San Francisco.

"To have such a large number of abstracts presented at the ASTRO meeting is testimony to the continued importance of RTOG's research efforts," says RTOG Group Chair Walter Curran, M.D., of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.

Of the abstracts, 17 were accepted for oral presentation, and three were accepted for poster presentation, with one of these accepted for the plenary platform session. Among the highlights of the 20 cases:

  • RTOG 94-13: A phase III trial comparing whole-pelvic versus prostate-only radiotherapy and neoadjuvant versus adjuvant total androgen suppression. The trial was designed to determine whether total androgen suppression and whole-pelvic radiotherapy, followed by a boost to the prostate, results in a significant increase in progression-free survival compared to total androgen suppression and prostate-only radiotherapy. The results of this study will be presented at the plenary session.
  • RTOG 93-11: A phase I/II escalation study using three dimensional conformal radiation therapy in patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer. The study evaluated the acute toxicity from a multi-institutional three-dimensional radiation therapy dose escalation study for patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer. This abstract was accepted as an oral presentation.
  • RTOG 94-10: Do elderly patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer benefit from combined modality therapy? This phase III trial compared concurrent chemotherapy and thoracic radiotherapy to standard sequential chemotherapy and thoracic radiotherapy and evaluated the outcome in elderly versus younger patients. The results from this study will be presented in an oral session.
  • RTOG 97-09: A phase III study to test the efficacy of the prophylactic use of oral pilocarpine to reduce hyposalivation and mucositis associated with curative radiation therapy in head and neck cancer patients. The objective of the study was to determine whether the concomitant use of pilocarpines will preserve salivary flow in head and neck cancer patients receiving curative radiation therapy. This abstract was accepted as an oral presentation.
  • RTOG 94-06: Preliminary report of toxicity following three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy for prostate cancer. This phase I dose escalation study was conducted to determine the maximally tolerated radiation dose in males treated with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. This abstract was accepted as an oral presentation.

The RTOG was initially organized in 1968 as a national clinical cooperative group for the purpose of conducting radiation therapy research and cooperative clinical investigations. Since its inception, the RTOG has activated 300 protocols and accrued over 60,000 patients for its studies.