Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33164596›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of radiation biology2021

The risk of induced cancer and ischemic heart disease following low dose lung irradiation for COVID-19: estimation based on a virtual case.

Gustavo Viani Arruda, Raissa Renata Dos Santos Weber, Alexandre Colello Bruno, Juliana Fernandes Pavoni

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of radiation biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Low-dose Radiation Therapy in the Management of COVID-19 Pneumonia (LOWRAD-Cov19). Final results of a prospective phase I-II trial.Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology · 2022
    Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Radiotherapy during the COVID-19: a review about management and treatment strategies.Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology · 2022
    Article
  7. COVID-19 and low-dose radiation therapy.Radiation medicine and protection · 2021
    Review
  8. In Regard to Shuryak et al.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2021
    Article
  9. Article
  10. In Regard to Papachristofilou et al.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2021
    Article
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Gustavo Viani ArrudaRadiotherapy Department, Ribeirão Preto Medical School Hospital and Clinics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-4337-7575
Raissa Renata Dos Santos WeberDepartment of Physics, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters at Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0001-8504-8422
Alexandre Colello BrunoRadiotherapy Department, Ribeirão Preto Medical School Hospital and Clinics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-0299-8404
Juliana Fernandes PavoniRadiotherapy Department, Ribeirão Preto Medical School Hospital and Clinics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-1647-8231
Universidade de São Paulo · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecently, low dose radiotherapy delivered to the whole lung has been proposed as treatment for the pneumonia due to COVID-19. Although there is biological plausibility for its use, the evidence supporting its effectiveness is scarce, and the risks associated with it may be significant. Thus, based on a virtual case simulation, we estimated the risks of radiation-induced cancer (RIC) and cardiac disease.

methodsLifetime attributable risks (LAR) of RIC were calculated for the lung, liver, esophagus, and breast of female patients. The cardiovascular risk of exposure-induced death (REID) due to ischemic heart disease was also calculated. The doses received by the organs involved in the treatment were obtained from a simulation of conformal radiotherapy (RT) treatment, delivering a dose of 0.5 Gy-1.5 Gy to the lungs. We considered a LAR and REID <1% as acceptable, 1-2% cautionary, and >2% unacceptable.

resultsThe lung was at the highest risk for RIC (absolute LAR below 5200 cases/100,000 and 2250 cases/100,000 for women and men, respectively). For women, the breast had the second-highest LAR, especially for young women. The liver and esophagus had LARs below 700/100,000 for both sexes, with a higher incidence of esophageal cancer in women and liver cancer in men. Regarding the LAR cutoff, we observed an unacceptable or cautionary LAR for lung cancer in all women and men <60 years with an RT dose >1 Gy. LAR for lung cancer with an RT dose of 1 Gy was cautionary for women >60 years of age and men <40 years of age. No LAR estimation was unacceptable for the RT dose ≤0.7 Gy in all groups irrespective of sex or age at exposure. Only 0.5 Gy had an acceptable REID.

conclusionsA RT dose ≤0.5 Gy provides an acceptable LAR estimate (≤1%) for RIC and REID, irrespective of sex and age. The current ongoing trials should initially use doses ≤0.5 Gy to maintain the risks at an acceptable level and include only patients who fail or do not have any other treatment option.

Indexed as

Radiation DosageCOVID-19FemaleHumansLungMyocardial IschemiaNeoplasms, Radiation-InducedOrgans at RiskRadiotherapy, ConformalRadiotherapy DosageRisk AssessmentUser-Computer Interfacecancer inductionCOVID-19radiotherapywhole lung irradiation

Identifiers

PMID33164596
PMCPMC7682378
OpenAlexW3105863017

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.