Vugts CAJM, Terhaard CHJ, Philippens MEP, Pameijer FA, Kasperts N, Raaijmakers CPJ. Consequences of tumor planning target volume reduction in treatment of T2-T4 laryngeal cancer.
Radiat Oncol 2014;
9:195. [PMID:
25190181 PMCID:
PMC4261247 DOI:
10.1186/1748-717x-9-195]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2013] [Accepted: 07/11/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and purpose
Since lymph nodes volumes are generally four times the volume of the primary PTV, the advantage of using tight margins around the primary PTV is not clear. Therefore treatment margins of T2-T4 laryngeal carcinoma for IMRT are generally chosen in such a way that the PTV is comparable to that in conventional radiotherapy. The aim of this study is to quantify the effect of volume reduction of the primary PTV of T2-T4 laryngeal carcinoma with regard to late toxicity despite elective irradiation of lymph node levels II to IV.
Methods
Two treatment plans based on conservative (GTV-PTV = 15 mm and 20 mm cranial), and on evidence-based tight margins (GTV-PTV = 8 mm) were calculated for 16 patients. Toxicity effects were estimated based on the dose distributions.
Results
Compared to conservative margins, using tight margins resulted in: 1) significant reduction of the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) for swallowing muscles and submandibular glands, 2) significant reduction of the mean dose in all organs at risk (OAR), 3) a mean dose smaller than 60 Gy for all OARs except for the laryngeal cartilages. When the lymph node levels II to IV were prescribed with an elective dose, an NTCP reduction of 53% for the swallowing muscles and of 23% for the submandibular glands was found by using tight instead of conservative margins. When positive nodes were present, NTCP reduction amounted to 29% and 15%, respectively.
Conclusions
There is a potential benefit in realizing evidence-based tight margins for laryngeal cancer patients despite elective irradiation of lymph node levels II to IV.
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