Has anyone gone through the 30gy DART therapy, what is recovery like?

Have not been through it because it wasn't offered but it was offered I would definitely
choose the Dart over the out of date "standard of care" for HPV pos. related tonsil cancer.

This from Mayo clinic:
Benefits
Reduced Toxicity: DART has shown significantly lower rates of severe side effects. For example, the cumulative rate of grade 3 or higher toxicity was only 3% with DART, compared to 11% with standard therapy.
Improved Quality of Life: Patients undergoing DART reported better swallowing function and overall quality of life compared to those receiving standard treatment.
Clinical Outcomes
Survival Rates
Overall Survival: The two-year overall survival rate for patients treated with DART is approximately 96.9%.
Progression-Free Survival: The two-year progression-free survival rate is about 88.2%.

Hello @jagsromp. I did not have this therapy, but traditional 70 gy plus chemo 13 years ago due to dirty margins postop. Plenty of side effects but all livable. Still new issues even now. But I was an unlucky one who has developed metastatic SCC starting 18 mos after surgery. In dealing with 4 mets over the years I can tell you that you want to do everything you can initially when your chances are best to clear the cancer completely. You may have a dry mouth or swallowing issues, taste changes, etc, but all will be less with this abbreviated protocol with very good odds of being cancer free. I am grateful to be alive thanks to Mayo Clinic cancer care and the new normal may be annoying at times, but better than the alternative. Be strong. You will get through it.

First post after joining the forum today. I hope my experiences can be helpful.

I am enrolled in DART 2.0 and had TORS surgery at St. Mary's mid November. I completed the two week (2xday) chemoradiation regimen a little over four weeks ago. I am very happy I did it and have high hopes I don't experience recurrence.

* The first week was fairly easy with minimal symptoms of any kind. I am not claustrophobic but having the positioning mask clamped down on my face/chest really gave me some anxiety. I managed with Ativan 30min prior to treatment and I was able to manage it from there.

* By the end of the second week I began to develop some serious mouth ulcers, fatigue, and definite changes in my ability to taste food or having altered taste. I also experienced the ropey, thick saliva they told me to expect.

* I was sent home with a fentanyl transdermal patch x nine days to control pain which worked well. I did not use the additional opioids or lidocaine gargle rinse, and found I was able to swallow water and soft food / shakes despite moderate pain.

* I am a little over four weeks out from end of treatment and I am doing spin classes, normal house chores, eat anything I chose to (taste is only 25%).

I wouldn't even consider not doing the chemoradiation therapy prescribed in the study. It sucked going through it (for a relatively short time), but I deal with the neck dissection surgical complications much more. I am incredibly grateful to be included in the study and am doing EVERYTHING they told me to do to give myself the best odds of a cancer free life full of vitality.

I wish you all the best!

@woodsy1
What exact study /name of study is this, please

Thank you for sharing your experience. It gives me insight as to what to expect. I too will probably need some relaxing meditation prior to treatment. Surprising that not a lot of studies or testimonies that describe what to expect. There are a lot about standard treatment. Thanks again and I wish you a speedy recovery and would love to hear how you proceed going forward.

@justwow
It is DART trial, de escalated adjuvant radiotherapy

@justwow
It’s a 2 week course of chemo/radiation. Chemo drug is docetaxel on day 1 & 8, and 2 session of radiation daily M-F for 2 weeks. 20 sessions total and 30 gy dose of radiation.

I finished DART 2.0 treatment three months ago. Heading back to Mayo for my followup PET scan next week.

I had HPV-16 positive, T2N1M0 SCC of the tonsil, with large masses in my left left nodes. Was able to end treatment early when the blood test came back at zero, which was great because I was becoming quite distressed about the side effects at that point (not to mention being away from home and family for six weeks).

Side effects were exactly what they told me to expect, on precisely the timeframe they gave. Should be the same for you.

Highly recommend participating in the DART 2.0 study if you qualify, and cannot recommend Mayo’s proton beam therapy strongly enough. Outstanding people and technology.

It isn’t easy but you’ll get through it and the chances for an actual curative result are strong. Good luck!

@jfh1970
Hi ,
Could you tell us a little more please ?
How many chemo cycles and how many radiation treatments did you end up having ?
Was the blood test the NavDx test from Nevaris which detects circulating tumor DNA ?
Curious because I am in treatment now with the same T2N1M0 P16+ tonsil diagnosis and
have now had 2 chemo cycles and 16 radiation sessions, thinking hard about stopping treatments this week.
Thanks !

@woodsy1
Two weeks Cisplatin, then four more weeks of CarboTaxol (the former was damaging my hearing so we switched)

28 total proton beam sessions for a total of 56 Gy.

Yes, NavDX test prior to treatment and then again at about 4.5 weeks. Came back at zero allowing me to stop treatment at six weeks of proton/chemo instead of the standard eight (per the DART 2.0 trial design).

I did not have surgery first as my lymph node spread was extensive and up against my carotid artery.

Strongly suggest you continue treatment as long as possible. Best to go through this only once. Also, if it spreads to your lungs (as this diagnosis typically does) it will be considered incurable and further treatment will only be to extend life. We are lucky that P-16+ SCC is exceptionally sensitive to this method of treatment.

Again, good luck. Hang in there!