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Title: Radiobiologically optimized couch shift: A new localization paradigm using cone-beam CT for prostate radiotherapy

Journal Article · · Medical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4931450· OSTI ID:22482362
; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Henry Ford Health System, 2799 W Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan 48202 (United States)

Purpose: To present a novel positioning strategy which optimizes radiation delivery by utilizing radiobiological response knowledge and evaluate its use during prostate external beam radiotherapy. Methods: Five patients with low or intermediate risk prostate cancer were evaluated retrospectively in this IRB-approved study. For each patient, a VMAT plan with one 358° arc was generated on the planning CT (PCT) to deliver 78 Gy in 39 fractions. Five representative pretreatment cone beam CTs (CBCT) were selected for each patient. The CBCT images were registered to PCT by a human observer, which consisted of an initial automated registration with three degrees-of-freedom, followed by manual adjustment for agreement at the prostate/rectal wall interface. To determine the optimal treatment position for each CBCT, a search was performed centering on the observer-matched position (OM-position) utilizing a score function based on radiobiological and dosimetric indices (EUD{sub prostate}, D99{sub prostate}, NTCP{sub rectum}, and NTCP{sub bladder}) for the prostate, rectum, and bladder. We termed the optimal treatment position the radiobiologically optimized couch shift position (ROCS-position). Results: The dosimetric indices, averaged over the five patients’ treatment plans, were (mean ± SD) 79.5 ± 0.3 Gy (EUD{sub prostate}), 78.2 ± 0.4 Gy (D99{sub prostate}), 11.1% ± 2.7% (NTCP{sub rectum}), and 46.9% ± 7.6% (NTCP{sub bladder}). The corresponding values from CBCT at the OM-positions were 79.5 ± 0.6 Gy (EUD{sub prostate}), 77.8 ± 0.7 Gy (D99{sub prostate}), 12.1% ± 5.6% (NTCP{sub rectum}), and 51.6% ± 15.2% (NTCP{sub bladder}), respectively. In comparison, from CBCT at the ROCS-positions, the dosimetric indices were 79.5 ± 0.6 Gy (EUD{sub prostate}), 77.3 ± 0.6 Gy (D99{sub prostate}), 8.0% ± 3.3% (NTCP{sub rectum}), and 46.9% ± 15.7% (NTCP{sub bladder}). Excessive NTCP{sub rectum} was observed on Patient 5 (19.5% ± 6.6%) corresponding to localization at OM-position, compared to the planned value of 11.7%. This was mitigated with radiobiologically optimized localization, resulting in a reduced NTCP{sub rectum} value of 11.3% ± 3.5%. Overall, the treatment position optimization resulted in similar target dose coverage with reduced risk to rectum. Conclusions: These encouraging results illustrate the potential advantage of applying radiobiologically optimized correction for online image-guided radiotherapy of prostate patients.

OSTI ID:
22482362
Journal Information:
Medical Physics, Vol. 42, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2015 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-2405
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English