AUTHOR=Sayan Mutlay , Serbez Ilkay , Teymur Bilgehan , Gur Gokhan , Zoto Mustafayev Teuta , Gungor Gorkem , Atalar Banu , Ozyar Enis 

TITLE=Patient-Reported Tolerance of Magnetic Resonance-Guided Radiation Therapy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.01782

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2020.01782

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=Purpose: Magnetic resonance-guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) has been incorporated into a growing number of clinical practices world-wide, however, there is limited data on patient experiences with MRgRT. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate patient tolerance of MRgRT using patient reported outcome questionnaires (PRO-Q).
Methods: Ninety patients were enrolled in this prospective observational study and treated with MRgRT (MRIdian Linac System, ViewRay Inc. Oakwood Village, OH) between September 2018 and September 2019. Breath-hold-gated dose delivery with audiovisual feedback was completed as needed. Patients completed an in-house developed PRO-Q after the first and last fraction of MRgRT. 
Results: The most commonly treated anatomic sites were the abdomen (47%) and pelvis (33%). Respiratory gating was utilized in 62% of the patients. Patients rated their experience as positive or at least tolerable with mean scores of 1.0 – 2.8. The most common complaint was the temperature in the room (61%) followed by paresthesias (57%). The degree of anxiety reported by 45% of the patients significantly decreased at the completion of treatment (mean score 1.54 vs. 1.36, p = 0.01). Forty-three percent of the patients reported some degree of disturbing noise which was improved considerably by use of music. All patients appreciated their active role during the treatment.
Conclusions: This evaluation of PROs indicates that MRgRT was well-tolerated by our patients. Patients’ experience may further improve with adjustment of room temperature and noise reduction.