Abstract
Purpose:To investigate the feasibility of using RapidArc (RA) treatment planning to reduce irradiation volume of normal lung and other organs at risk (OARs) in the treatment of inoperable non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.Methods:A retrospective treatment planning and delivery study was performed to compare target coverage and the volumes of the normal lung, spinal cord, heart and esophagus on 4D‐CT scan above their dose tolerances delivered by RA vs. IMRT for ten inoperable NSCLC patients (Stage I‐IIIB). RA plans consisted of either one‐full or two‐partial co‐planar arcs used to treat 95% of the planning target volume (PTV) with 6MV beam to a prescription of 66Gy in 33 fractions. IMRT plans were generated using 5–7 co‐planar fields with 6MV beam. PTV coverage, dose‐volume histograms, homogeneity/conformity indices (CI), total number of monitor units(MUs), beam‐on time and delivery accuracy were compared between the two treatment plans.Results:Similar target coverage was obtained between the two techniques. RA (CI=1.02) provided more conformal plans without loss of homogeneity compared to IMRT plans (CI=1.12). Compared to IMRT, RA achieved a significant median dose reduction in V10 (3%), V20 (8%), and mean lung dose (3%) on average, respectively. On average, V5 was comparable between the two treatment plans. RA reduced mean esophagus (6%), mean heart (18%), and maximum spinal cord dose (7%), on average, respectively. Total number of MUs and beam‐on time were each reduced almost by a factor of 2 when compared to IMRT‐patient comfort, reduced intra‐fraction‐motion and leakage dose. The average IMRT and RA QA pass rate was about 98% for both types of plans for 3%/3mm criterion.Conclusion:Compared to IMRT plans, RA provided not only comparable target coverage, but also improved conformity, treatment time, and significant reduction in irradiation of OARs. This may potentially allow for target dose escalation without increase in normal tissue toxicity.
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