Impact of different beam set-up methods on quality of intensity modulated radiation therapy in nonsmall cell lung cancer / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate whether the change of beam set-up methods will influence the dosimetric quality of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods Twenty-one stage Ⅰ-Ⅲ NSCLC patients were selected for this study.The technique of step and shoot was used and three different beam set-up methods were chosen for IMRT planning,including IMRT-7 with nine equal-spaced beams angled 0°,51°,102°,153°,204°,255°and 306°; IMRT-5 with five equal-spaced beams angled 0°,72°,144°,216°and 288°; and IMRT-5m which was created from IMRT-7 but excluded 2 fields (51°and 102° were omitted if there was lesion in the right lung,while 255°and 306° were excluded if there was lesion in the left lung).The dose constrains ofnormal lungs for IMRT were set according to V5-V60 of normal lungs obtained from the same patient's actually treated 3D-CRT dose volume histogram.The prescription dose for IMRT started from 65 Gy,and then escalated or decreased step by step by 2 Gy once a time until the best plan was obtained.Results For normal lung dose,IMRT-5m had lower V5-V25 than the other two groups; but there was no significant difference in V30-V40.IMRT-5 was the worst for V45-V60; and mean lung dose was lowest in IMRT-5m.Dose parameters of esophagus and spinal cord,target conformity index,and total monitor units were all similar among difference plans.IMRT-5m had lowest heart V40 compared to the other two groups.For target heterogeneity index,IMRT-5 was higher than IMRT-7,but there were no significant differences among IMRT-5m,IMRT-5 and IMRT-7.Compared to 3D-CRT,the prescription dose could be increased by (5.1 ±4.6) Gy for IMRT-7,(3.1 ±5.3) Gy for IMRT-5,and (5.5 ±4.8)Gy for IMRT-5m.Conclusion Fewer beams and modified beam angles could result in similar,even better plan quality.