A low gradient junction technique of craniospinal irradiation using volumetric-modulated arc therapy and its advantages over the conventional therapy

Abstract

A technique using volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) fields for craniospinal irradiation with low dose gradients at the field junction was tested for its sensitivity to positional inaccuracy. It was compared against the conventional three-dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy in terms of dose uniformity at the junction. Treatment plans generated for ten patients who received craniospinal irradiation (35Gy in 21 fractions) by VMAT technique at our centre were included in this study. For these patients, 3D conformal radiotherapy plans were also generated in addition to the VMAT treatment plans. Intentional shifting of the cranial field in the superior and then in the inferior directions was done, creating a gap or overlap between the fields. Consequent changes in dose distributions in these two plans to positional inaccuracies were studied. The 3D conformal radiotherapy plans showed large dose variations at the junction due to positional shifts as compared to the VMAT plans. With a 5mm superior shift of the cranial field isocentre creating a gap between the cranial and spinal fields, the magnitudes of under-dosing were 13.9±3.6Gy and 4.8±2.0Gy for 3D conformal radiotherapy and VMAT respectively. When the cranial field was moved by 5mm inferiorly creating an overlap between the fields, overdose to the effects of 10.3±4.0Gy and 4.9±1.3Gy were observed for the 3D conformal radiotherapy plans and VMAT plans respectively. The VMAT technique is insensitive to longitudinal setup errors (1–3mm) in patients because of the existence of low dose gradients at the junction between fields. This is unlike the 3D conformal radiotherapy plans which have steep dose gradients at the field edges and thus are highly sensitive to setup errors. Such an advantage for VMAT circumvents the need for dose feathering often practiced with the 3D conformal radiotherapy technique and makes the technique simpler to follow.