Helical tomotherapy delivery of an IMRT boost in lieu of interstitial brachytherapy in the setting of gynecologic malignancy: feasibility and dosimetric comparison.

Interstitial brachytherapy is an important means by which to improve local control in gynecologic malignancy when intracavitary brachytherapy is untenable. Patients unable to receive brachytherapy have traditionally received conventional external beam radiation alone with modest results. We investigated the ability of Tomotherapy (Tomotherapy Inc., Madison, WI) to replace interstitial brachytherapy. Six patients were selected. The planning CT of each patient was contoured with the planning target volume (PTV), bladder, rectum, femoral heads, and bowel. Identical contour sets were exported to Tomotherapy and Nucletron PLATO (Nucletron B.V., Veenendaal, The Netherlands). With Tomotherapy, the PTV was prescribed 31 Gy in 5 fractions to 90% of the volume. With PLATO, 600 cGy × 5 fractions was prescribed to the surface of the PTV. Dose delivered was normalized to 2 Gy fractions (EQD2) and added to a hypothetical homogenous 45-Gy pelvic dose. Tomotherapy achieved a D90 of 87 Gy EQD2 versus 86 Gy with brachytherapy. PTV dose was more homogeneous with tomotherapy. The dose to the most at-risk 2 mL of bladder and rectum with Tomotherapy was of 78 and 71 Gy EQD2 versus 81 and 75 Gy with brachytherapy. Tomotherapy delivered more dose to the femoral heads (mean 1.23 Gy per fraction) and bowel. Tomotherapy was capable of replicating the peripheral dose achieved with brachytherapy, without the PTV hotspots inherent to interstitial brachytherapy. Similar maximum doses to bowel and bladder were achieved with both methods. Excessive small bowel and femoral head toxicity may result if previous pelvic irradiation is not planned accordingly. Significant challenges related to interfraction and intrafraction motion must be overcome if treatment of this nature is to be contemplated.

Helical tomotherapy and larynx sparing in advanced oropharyngeal carcinoma: a dosimetric study.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is gaining acceptance as a standard treatment technique for advanced squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oropharynx. Dose to the uninvolved larynx and surrounding structures can pose a problem in patients with significant neck disease, potentially compromising laryngeal function and quality of life. Tomotherapy may allow greater laryngeal sparing. Seven patients with stage IV SCC of the oropharynx were replanned using Tomotherapy version 3.1. All contours/planning target volumes (PTVs) from the original plans were preserved, with the exception of the larynx, which was drawn to include all soft tissue encompassed by the thyroid/cricoid cartilage. A simultaneous integrated boost technique was used with PTV 1, 2, and 3 receiving 69.96, 59.40, and 54.00 Gy, respectively in 33 fractions. Dosimetry was evaluated via the Pinnacle treatment planning system (TPS). Equivalent uniform dose (EUD) was calculated from the dose volume histogram (DVH) using the general method with "a" = 5.0. Mean larynx dose for all patients was 24.4 Gy. Mean EUD to the larynx was 34.2 Gy. Homogeneity was adequate; average maximum dose was 109.7% of the highest prescription. All other organs at risk (OAR) were adequately spared. Tomotherapy can spare the uninvolved larynx in the setting of advanced SCC of the oropharynx to levels that are similar to or better than those reported with other techniques. Sparing is achieved without compromising target coverage or other OAR sparing. The clinical benefit of this sparing remains to be determined in a prospective study.