Utility of adjuvant whole abdominal radiation therapy in ovarian clear cell cancer (OCCC): a pragmatic cohort study of women with classic immuno-phenotypic signature

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the initial experience and clinical utility of first-line adjuvant intensity-modulated whole abdominal radiation therapy (WART) in women with ovarian clear cell cancer (OCCC) referred to an academic center. METHODS: Progression-free and overall survival was analyzed in a pragmatic observational cohort study of histologically pure OCCC patients over-expressing HNF-1ß treated between 2013 and end-December 2018. An in-house intensity-modulated WART program was developed from a published pre-clinical model. Radiation dose-volume data was curated to American Association of Physics in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group 263 recommendations. A dedicated database prospectively recorded presenting characteristics and outcomes in a standardized fashion. RESULTS: Five women with FIGO (2018) stage IA to IIIA2 OCCC were treated with first-line WART. Median age was 58 years (range 47–68 years). At diagnosis CA-125 was elevated in 4 cases (median 56 kU/L: range 18.4–370 kU/L) before primary de-bulking surgery. Severe premorbid endometriosis was documented in 3 patients. At a median follow-up of 77 months (range 16–83 mo.), all patients remain alive and progression-free on clinical, biochemical (CA-125), and (18)Fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT re-evaluation. Late radiation toxicity was significant (G3) in 1 case who required a limited bowel resection and chronic nutritional support at 9 months post-WART; 2 further patients had asymptomatic (G2) osteoporotic fragility fractures of axial skeleton at 12 months post-radiation treated with anti-resorptive agents (denosumab). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical utility of intensity-modulated WART in OCCC over-expressing HNF-1β was suggested in this small observational cohort study. The hypothesis that HNF-1β is a portent of platinum-resistance and an important predictive biomarker in OCCC needs further confirmation. Curating multi-institutional cohort studies utilizing WART by means of “Big Data” may improve OCCC care standards in the future.