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Objective:To evaluate the effect of rotational errors (antero-posterior) on dosimetric parameters of positive lymph nodes in the long target volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plan for advanced cervical cancer and investigate its coping strategies.Methods:Clinical data of patients with cervical cancer complicated with para-aortic or inguinal lymph node metastasis admitted to Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College were randomly selected and retrospectively analyzed. The target areas of the lymph nodes at different distances from the center of the plan were outlined according to the requirements. After designing the VMAT plan on the CT images of each case, the rotational errors (antero-posterior) were introduced by changing the parameters of the treatment couch, and the dose distribution was reconstructed by dose calculation with other parameters unchanged. Then, the external boundary of the original lymph node target was added according to d=2πr(α/360) ( r is the distance from the center of the lymph node to the plan center), re-planned, and the changes of dosimetric parameters in the target area of the original lymph node were analyzed after the corresponding rotational errors were introduced. Results:When the distance between the lymph node target area and the plan center was 6 cm with an error of 3°, the distance was 9 cm and 12 cm with an error of 2.5°, the distance was 15 cm with an error of 2°, and the distance was 18 cm with an error of 1.5°, the mean change of D 95% was more than 5%. When the rotational errors were ≤1°, the mean change of D 95% in lymph node target area was less than 5%, and when the lymph node was 18 cm away from the treatment plan center, the mean change was more than 3%, reaching 3.75%. When the rotational errors were 0.5° and the distance from the plan center was 18 cm (0.5°, 18 cm), the dose change of lymph node target was more than 5%, reaching 5.58%. At (1°, 15 cm), the V 100% change reached 8.96%, and at (1°, 18 cm), the V 100% change was 14.5%. The D 95% and V 100% parameters of the original lymph node target were changed by less than 1% after adding the external boundary of the original lymph node target and introducing corresponding rotational errors. Conclusions:In the long target area radiotherapy of cervical cancer, the variation of dosimetric parameters of lymph node target was increased with the increase of rotational errors and with the increase of distance from the plan center. It is recommended to increase the efferent boundary of lymph nodes in different positions to avoid underdose by d=2πr(α/360).
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Objective To compare the dosimetry and toxicities between postoperative fixed-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy (FF-IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy/volumetric modulated arc therapy (IGRT-VMAT) for cervical cancer.Methods A total of seventy patients with stage I b-Ⅱa postoperative cervical cancer who had high risk factors,were divided into FF-IMRT (FF-IMRT group,n =35)and IGRT-VMAT (IGRT-VMAT group,n =35),to compare the difference of target dose and adverse reaction between the two groups.Results In the IGRT-VMAT group,the interfractional setup errors in the x,y,and z axes were (0.25±0.14) cm,(0.26±0.16) cm,and (0.24±0.18) cm,respectively;the intrafractional setup errors in the x,y,and z axes were (0.1±0.09) cm,(0.12±0.09) cm,and (0.11±0.09) cm,respectively;the margins in the x,y,and z axes were 0.75 cm,0.84 cm,and 0.78 cm,respectively.Under the same dosimetric conditions,the IGRT-VMAT group was superior to the FF-IMRT group in terms of conformity index,treatment time,and number of monitor units (P=0.000).The Dmean and volume receiving high-dose irradiation for the bladder,rectum,and small intestine were significantly lower in the IGRT-VMAT group than in the FF-IMRT group (P=0.000).Compared with the FF-IMRT group,the IGRT-VMAT group had a significantly reduced incidence of acute and chronic gastrointestinal,urinary,and hematologic toxicities (P＜ 0.05).Conclusions IGRT-VMAT can correct setup error online,shorten the treatment time,reduce the dose to organs at risk,and alleviate acute and chronic toxicities,and is especially suitable for patients with postoperative small bowel position changes.
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Objective To investigate the dosimetric characteristics of hippocampal?avoidance prophylactic cranial irradiation ( HA?PCI ) in fixed?field intensity?modulated radiotherapy ( IMRT ) and volumetric modulated arc therapy ( VMAT) and the feasibility and risks of hippocampal avoidance. Methods Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) was performed for 16 patients with localized small cell lung cancer ( SCLC) who were treated in our hospital from January to August, 2014, and achieved complete response ( CR) after chemoradiotherapy, with a prescribed dose of 25 Gy in 10 fractions. CT localization image was fused with brain MRI image to contour the hippocampus on the fused image, and the boundary of the hippocampus was extended 5 mm outward to form the area for reduced dose. IMRT and VMAT plans with hippocampal avoidance were developed separately, and the dose distribution in the whole brain, the hippocampus, and the 5?mm area outside the hippocampus was evaluated for these two plans. Independent?samples t test was applied to evaluate the difference between the two groups. Results The mean hippocampal volume in the 16 patients was 2. 76 cm3 ( range 2. 56 ?3. 01 cm3 ) . The mean radiation dose ( Dmean ) in the hippocampus during IMRT and VMAT was 9. 04± 0. 20 Gy and 10. 32± 0. 28 Gy, respectively, reduced by 66. 0% and 61. 2%, respectively, compared with the prescribed dose ( P=0. 55);Dmean in the area for reduced dose during IMRT and VMAT was 13. 57± 0. 90 Gy and 14. 86± 0. 60 Gy, respectively, reduced by 49. 0% and 44. 1%, respectively, compared with the prescribed dose (P=0. 88). Conclusions HA?PCI in IMRT and VMAT meets the clinical requirements, and can reduce the dose in the hippocampus while ensuring the whole?brain radiation dose, and therefore can be applied in PCI and provide a technical support to protect the patient’ s neurocognitive function.
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ObjectiveTo compare planning quality,treatment efficiency and delivery accuracy for initial treated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with step & shoot intensity modulated radiation therapy (ssIMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).These results will help make a clinic choice of the therapeutical technique.MethodsTwenty-six NPC cases were planned with the same dose prescription and objective constrains by means of 9-field ss-IMRT and VMAT respectively.Compare:( 1 ) plan dosimetric distribution,conformity index and homogeneity index of the targets,the average dose,maximum dose and interested dose-volume histograms of organs at risk (OAR) et al;(2) delivery times of the therapy plans ;(3) the accuracy of treatment plans dose verification.ResultsBoth therapeutical plans can achieve the clinic dosimetric demands.Compared to ss-IMRT,VMAT had less inferior target coverage.The CI and HI of the PGTV was 0.57 and 0.08 ( ss-IMRT),0.48 and 0.12 (VMAT) respectively ( t =-4.52,- 8.33,P =0.000,0.000).Except of brain stem,VMAT had higher mean dose and maximum dose of OARs than ss-IMRT (t=-9.57 - -3.71,P=0.000 -0.001).The spinal cord D1cc and parotids D50％ were increased by 11.9％ and 6.5％ averagely.The treatment times of ss-IMRT and VMAT were 803.7 s and 389.3 s respectively (t =24.12,P =0.000),while V MAT decreasing by 51.6％.The pass ratios of γ (3mm,3％ ) from the dose verification were 99.4％ (ss-IMRT) and 98.0％ (VMAT) respectively ( t =5.19,P =0.000).ConclusionsThe dose distribution of VMAT for initial treated nasopharyngeal carcinoma can achieve the clinic demands,but slightly worse than 9-field ss-IMRT.VMAT has the advantage of high efficiency and dosimetric accuracy.
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Objective To compare the dosimetry characteristics of volumetric intensity-modulated arc therapy (VIMAT) and fixed field intensity-modulated radiation therapy (FF-IMRT) for cervix cancer.Methods CT images of 13 patients with cervix uteri cancer were transferred into Eclipse planning system.FF-IMRT and VIMAT plans were optimized on an Eclipse treatment planning system using beam data generated for Varian trilogy linear accelerator.Planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk were evaluated with dose-volume histogram.To appraise the difference between the techniques,the paired t-test was applied.Results Compared with the FF-IMRT plans,PTV95％ coverage of VIMAT plan group increased (t =9.84,P =0.000),PTV110％ became lower (t =-3.72,P =0.003),Dmax decreased (t =-3.51,P=0.005),and CI became worser (t=5.39,P=0.000).PTV105％,Dmean,and HI had no difference (t =-0.02,-0.60,1.13,P =0.842,0.560,0.283).V30 of the bladder was reduced by about 10％ (t =-4.99,P =0.000),and Dmean and Dmax were 1.4 Gy and 1.5 Gy lower respectively (t =-3.65,-18.03,P =0.004,0.000) ;V40 of the rectum was reduced by about 10％ (t =-2.99,P =0.012),and Dmean and Dmax were reduced by 0.6 Gy,0.8 Gy respectively (t =-2.98,-4.05,P =0.013,0.002) ;V30,V40 and V50 of the small intestine were reduced by 16％,10％ and 11％ (t =-10.85,-4.74,-8.66,P =0.000,0.001,0.000),and Dmax was reduced by 0.8 Gy (t =-9.45,P =0.000) ; V30,V40 and V50 of the bone marrow were reduced by 26％,19％ and 16％ (t =-22.10,-10.19,-4.04,P =0.000,0.000,0.002),and Dmean reduced by 1.9 Gy (t =-16.21,P =0.000) ; D5 of the left and right femoral heads were reduced by 1.6 Gy and 2.7 Gy (t =-2.89,-6.22,P =0.015,0.000).Dmax of the caudate equine was reduced by 1.5 Gy (t=-4.80,P=0.001).V20,V30,V40 and V50 of the body were reduced by 18％,18％,4％ and3％(t=-7.52,-11.75,-6.26,-6.94,P=0.000,0.000,0.000,0.000).Dmean and Dmax of the body decreased by 1.0 Gy and 0.4 Gy (t=-3.72,-3.51,P=0.000,0.005).Average machine unit (MU) decreased by 57％ (t =-40.54,P =0.000).Conclusions cervical cancer Patients with VIMAT technology can get equivalent or superior dose distribution compared with the FF-IMRT technology.And VIMAT technology could reduce MU.But the efficacy needs further clinical evaluation
