In Silico Trial Estimates Personalized Radiation Therapy Dose in Head and Neck Cancer

Dr. Mohammad Zahid, Postdoctoral Fellow in Moffitt's Integrated Mathematical Oncology program presented his poster at the 2021 Annual AACR meeting, on an in silico trial to determine optimal personalized RT dose for head and neck cancer patients in order to minimize excess dose with the objective of minimizing toxicity and improving QOL without sacrificing tumor control. Current radiation doses for these patients were initially developed in the HPV-negative context. Since many patients are now HPV-positive there has been increasing interest in de-escalating radiation dose. 

"The big takeaway is that this allows us identify a large subset of patients that would be safe to de-escalate the total radiation dose," said Dr. Zahid. "At the same time we identified the subset of patients that actually required dose escalation." 

By means of this unique in silico trial, we demonstrate a potential method to use historical clinical observations in conjunction with patient-specific measurements from early on in a treatment course to determine a personalized minimum dose to achieve locoregional control. Such estimates early on during an RT treatment course may allow radiation oncologists to identify candidates for dose de-escalation and candidates who may be better suited for concurrent or alternative treatment options.

View the poster for more information about this study. 

Learn more about Integrated Mathematical Oncology.