1
|
Badiu V, Trier Taasti V, Defraene G, van Elmpt W, Sterpin E. Balancing robustness and adaptation rate for proton therapy of lung cancer patients. Radiother Oncol 2024; 196:110290. [PMID: 38643807 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2024.110290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2024] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION An increase in plan robustness leads to a higher dose to organs-at-risk (OARs), and an increased chance of post-treatment toxicities. In contrast, more conformal plans lead to sparing of healthy surrounding tissue at the expense of a higher sensitivity to anatomical changes, requiring costly adaptations. In this study, we assess the trade-off and impact of treatment plan robustness on the adaptation rate. METHOD Treatment planning was performed for 40 lung cancer patients, each having a planning 4DCT and up to eight weekly repeated 4DCTs (reCTs). For each patient, plans were made with three different levels of robustness based on setup uncertainty of 3, 6 and 9 mm. These plans were robustly re-evaluated on all reCTs to assess whether the clinical constraints were met. RESULTS For the 3, 6 and 9 mm robustness levels, adaptation rates of 87.5 %, 70.0 % and 57.5 %, respectively, were observed. A mean absolute normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) gain of 2.9 percentage points (pp) was calculated for pneumonitis grade ≥ 2 when transitioning from 9 mm plans to 3 mm plans, 7.6 pp for esophagitis grade ≥ 2, and 2.5 pp for mortality risk 2 years post-treatment. CONCLUSION The lowered risk of post treatment toxicities at lower robustness levels is clinically relevant but comes at the expense of more treatment adaptations, particularly in cases where meeting our clinical goals is not compromised by having a dose that is more conformal to the target. The trade-off between workload and reduced NTCP needs to be individually assessed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vlad Badiu
- KU Leuven, Department of Oncology, Laboratory of Experimental Radiotherapy, Leuven, Belgium; UZ Leuven, Particle Therapy Interuniversity Center Leuven - PARTICLE, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Vicki Trier Taasti
- Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Gilles Defraene
- KU Leuven, Department of Oncology, Laboratory of Experimental Radiotherapy, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Wouter van Elmpt
- Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Edmond Sterpin
- KU Leuven, Department of Oncology, Laboratory of Experimental Radiotherapy, Leuven, Belgium; UZ Leuven, Particle Therapy Interuniversity Center Leuven - PARTICLE, Leuven, Belgium; Université Catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Center of Molecular Imaging, Radiotherapy and Oncology (MIRO), Brussels, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Canters R, van der Klugt K, Trier Taasti V, Buijsen J, Ta B, Steenbakkers I, Houben R, Vilches-Freixas G, Berbee M. Robustness of intensity modulated proton treatment of esophageal cancer for anatomical changes and breathing motion. Radiother Oncol 2024; 198:110409. [PMID: 38917884 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2024.110409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2024] [Revised: 05/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In this study, we assessed the robustness of intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) in esophageal cancer for anatomical variations during treatment. METHODS The first sixty esophageal cancer patients, treated clinically with chemoradiotherapy were included. The treatment planning strategy was based on an internal target volume (ITV) approach, where the ITV was created from the clinical target volumes (CTVs) delineated on all phases of a 4DCT. For optimization, a 3 mm isotropic margin was added to the ITV, combined with robust optimization using 5 mm setup and 3 % range uncertainty. Each patient received weekly repeat CTs (reCTs). Robust plan re-evaluation on all reCTs, and a robust dose summation was performed. To assess the factors influencing ITV coverage, a multivariate linear regression analysis was performed. Additionally, clinical adaptations were evaluated. RESULTS The target coverage was adequate (ITV V94%>98 % on the robust voxel-wise minimum dose) on most reCTs (91 %), and on the summed dose in 92 % of patients. Significant predictors for ITV coverage in the multivariate analysis were diaphragm baseline shift and water equivalent depth (WED) of the ITV in the beam direction. Underdosage of the ITV mainly occurred in week 1 and 4, leading to treatment adaptation of eight patients, all on the first reCT. CONCLUSION Our IMPT treatment of esophageal cancer is robust for anatomical variations. Adaptation appears to be most effective in the first week of treatment. Diaphragm baseline shifts and WED are predictive factors for ITV underdosage, and should be incorporated in an adaptation protocol.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Richard Canters
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
| | - Kim van der Klugt
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Vicki Trier Taasti
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Aarhus University, Danish Centre for Particle Therapy, Denmark
| | - Jeroen Buijsen
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Bastiaan Ta
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Inge Steenbakkers
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Ruud Houben
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Gloria Vilches-Freixas
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Maaike Berbee
- Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sterpin E, Widesott L, Poels K, Hoogeman M, Korevaar EW, Lowe M, Molinelli S, Fracchiolla F. Robustness evaluation of pencil beam scanning proton therapy treatment planning: A systematic review. Radiother Oncol 2024; 197:110365. [PMID: 38830538 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2024.110365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Compared to conventional radiotherapy using X-rays, proton therapy, in principle, allows better conformity of the dose distribution to target volumes, at the cost of greater sensitivity to physical, anatomical, and positioning uncertainties. Robust planning, both in terms of plan optimization and evaluation, has gained high visibility in publications on the subject and is part of clinical practice in many centers. However, there is currently no consensus on the methods and parameters to be used for robust optimization or robustness evaluation. We propose to overcome this deficiency by following the modified Delphi consensus method. This method first requires a systematic review of the literature. We performed this review using the PubMed and Web Of Science databases, via two different experts. Potential conflicts were resolved by a third expert. We then explored the different methods before focusing on clinical studies that evaluate robustness on a significant number of patients. Many robustness assessment methods are proposed in the literature. Some are more successful than others and their implementation varies between centers. Moreover, they are not all statistically or mathematically equivalent. The most sophisticated and rigorous methods have seen more limited application due to the difficulty of their implementation and their lack of widespread availability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- E Sterpin
- KU Leuven - Department of Oncology, Laboratory of Experimental Radiotherapy, Leuven, Belgium; UCLouvain - Institution de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Center of Molecular Imaging Radiotherapy and Oncology (MIRO), Brussels, Belgium; Particle Therapy Interuniversity Center Leuven - PARTICLE, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - L Widesott
- Proton Therapy Center - UO Fisica Sanitaria, Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari (APSS), Trento, Italy
| | - K Poels
- Particle Therapy Interuniversity Center Leuven - PARTICLE, Leuven, Belgium; UZ Leuven, Department of Radiation Oncology, Leuven, Belgium
| | - M Hoogeman
- Erasmus Medical Center, Cancer Institute, Department of Radiotherapy, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; HollandPTC, Delft, the Netherlands
| | - E W Korevaar
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - M Lowe
- Christie Medical Physics and Engineering, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
| | - S Molinelli
- Fondazione CNAO - Medical Physics Unit, Pavia, Italy
| | - F Fracchiolla
- Proton Therapy Center - UO Fisica Sanitaria, Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari (APSS), Trento, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Knäusl B, Belotti G, Bertholet J, Daartz J, Flampouri S, Hoogeman M, Knopf AC, Lin H, Moerman A, Paganelli C, Rucinski A, Schulte R, Shimizu S, Stützer K, Zhang X, Zhang Y, Czerska K. A review of the clinical introduction of 4D particle therapy research concepts. Phys Imaging Radiat Oncol 2024; 29:100535. [PMID: 38298885 PMCID: PMC10828898 DOI: 10.1016/j.phro.2024.100535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Background and purpose Many 4D particle therapy research concepts have been recently translated into clinics, however, remaining substantial differences depend on the indication and institute-related aspects. This work aims to summarise current state-of-the-art 4D particle therapy technology and outline a roadmap for future research and developments. Material and methods This review focused on the clinical implementation of 4D approaches for imaging, treatment planning, delivery and evaluation based on the 2021 and 2022 4D Treatment Workshops for Particle Therapy as well as a review of the most recent surveys, guidelines and scientific papers dedicated to this topic. Results Available technological capabilities for motion surveillance and compensation determined the course of each 4D particle treatment. 4D motion management, delivery techniques and strategies including imaging were diverse and depended on many factors. These included aspects of motion amplitude, tumour location, as well as accelerator technology driving the necessity of centre-specific dosimetric validation. Novel methodologies for X-ray based image processing and MRI for real-time tumour tracking and motion management were shown to have a large potential for online and offline adaptation schemes compensating for potential anatomical changes over the treatment course. The latest research developments were dominated by particle imaging, artificial intelligence methods and FLASH adding another level of complexity but also opportunities in the context of 4D treatments. Conclusion This review showed that the rapid technological advances in radiation oncology together with the available intrafractional motion management and adaptive strategies paved the way towards clinical implementation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Knäusl
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gabriele Belotti
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Jenny Bertholet
- Division of Medical Radiation Physics and Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Juliane Daartz
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Mischa Hoogeman
- Department of Medical Physics & Informatics, HollandPTC, Delft, The Netherlands
- Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Department of Radiotherapy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Antje C Knopf
- Institut für Medizintechnik und Medizininformatik Hochschule für Life Sciences FHNW, Muttenz, Switzerland
| | - Haibo Lin
- New York Proton Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Astrid Moerman
- Department of Medical Physics & Informatics, HollandPTC, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Chiara Paganelli
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Antoni Rucinski
- Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences, PL-31342 Krakow, Poland
| | - Reinhard Schulte
- Division of Biomedical Engineering Sciences, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University
| | - Shing Shimizu
- Department of Carbon Ion Radiotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| | - Kristin Stützer
- OncoRay – National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden – Rossendorf, Institute of Radiooncology – OncoRay, Dresden, Germany
| | - Xiaodong Zhang
- Department of Radiation Physics, Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ye Zhang
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Katarzyna Czerska
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Populaire P, Defraene G, Nafteux P, Depypere L, Moons J, Isebaert S, Haustermans K. Clinical implications of dose to functional lung volumes in the trimodality treatment of esophageal cancer. Acta Oncol 2023; 62:1488-1495. [PMID: 37643135 DOI: 10.1080/0284186x.2023.2251091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trimodality treatment, i.e., neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) followed by surgery, for locally advanced esophageal cancer (EC) improves overall survival but also increases the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Here, we tried to identify a relation between dose to functional lung volumes (FLV) as determined by 4D-CT scans in EC patients and treatment-related lung toxicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS All patients with EC undergoing trimodality treatment between 2017 and 2022 in UZ Leuven and scanned with 4D-CT-simulation were selected. FLVs were determined based on Jacobian determinants of deformable image registration between maximum inspiration and expiration phases. Dose/volume parameters of the anatomical lung volume (ALV) and FLV were compared between patients with versus without postoperative pulmonary complications. Results of pre- and post-nCRT pulmonary function tests (PFTs) were collected and compared in relation to radiation dose. RESULTS Twelve out of 51 EC patients developed postoperative pulmonary complications. ALV was smaller while FLV10Gy and FLV20Gy were larger in patients with complications (respectively 3141 ± 858mL vs 3601 ± 635mL, p = 0.025; 360 ± 216mL vs 264 ± 139mL, p = 0.038; 166 ± 106mL vs 118 ± 63mL, p = 0.030). No differences in ALV dose-volume parameters were detected. Baseline FEV1 and TLC were significantly lower in patients with complications (respectively 90 ± 17%pred vs 102 ± 20%pred, p = 0.033 and 93 ± 17%pred vs 110 ± 13%pred, p = 0.001), though no other PFTs were significantly different between both groups. DLCO was the only PFT that had a meaningful decrease after nCRT (85 ± 17%pred vs 68 ± 15%pred, p < 0.001) but was not related to dose to ALV/FLV. CONCLUSION Small ALV and increasing FLV exposed to intermediate (10 to 20 Gy) dose are associated to postoperative pulmonary complications. Changes of DLCO occur during nCRT but do not seem to be related to radiation dose to ALV or FLV. This information could attribute towards toxicity risk prediction and reduction strategies for EC.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pieter Populaire
- Department of Radiation Oncology, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Philippe Nafteux
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism (CHROMETA), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lieven Depypere
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism (CHROMETA), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Johnny Moons
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sofie Isebaert
- Department of Radiation Oncology, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Karin Haustermans
- Department of Radiation Oncology, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Taasti VT, Hattu D, Peeters S, van der Salm A, van Loon J, de Ruysscher D, Nilsson R, Andersson S, Engwall E, Unipan M, Canters R. Clinical evaluation of synthetic computed tomography methods in adaptive proton therapy of lung cancer patients. Phys Imaging Radiat Oncol 2023; 27:100459. [PMID: 37397874 PMCID: PMC10314284 DOI: 10.1016/j.phro.2023.100459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and purpose Efficient workflows for adaptive proton therapy are of high importance. This study evaluated the possibility to replace repeat-CTs (reCTs) with synthetic CTs (sCTs), created based on cone-beam CTs (CBCTs), for flagging the need of plan adaptations in intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) treatment of lung cancer patients. Materials and methods Forty-two IMPT patients were retrospectively included. For each patient, one CBCT and a same-day reCT were included. Two commercial sCT methods were applied; one based on CBCT number correction (Cor-sCT), and one based on deformable image registration (DIR-sCT). The clinical reCT workflow (deformable contour propagation and robust dose re-computation) was performed on the reCT as well as the two sCTs. The deformed target contours on the reCT/sCTs were checked by radiation oncologists and edited if needed. A dose-volume-histogram triggered plan adaptation method was compared between the reCT and the sCTs; patients needing a plan adaptation on the reCT but not on the sCT were denoted false negatives. As secondary evaluation, dose-volume-histogram comparison and gamma analysis (2%/2mm) were performed between the reCT and sCTs. Results There were five false negatives, two for Cor-sCT and three for DIR-sCT. However, three of these were only minor, and one was caused by tumour position differences between the reCT and CBCT and not by sCT quality issues. An average gamma pass rate of 93% was obtained for both sCT methods. Conclusion Both sCT methods were judged to be of clinical quality and valuable for reducing the amount of reCT acquisitions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vicki Trier Taasti
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Djoya Hattu
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Stephanie Peeters
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Anke van der Salm
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Judith van Loon
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Dirk de Ruysscher
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | | | | | | | - Mirko Unipan
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Richard Canters
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Georg D, Aznar MC, van der Heide U, Thwaites D. Radiotherapy dosimetry at multiple levels to improve precision, development and understanding of treatment. Radiother Oncol 2023; 182:109601. [PMID: 36889596 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2023.109601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Dietmar Georg
- Division Medical Radiation Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; MedAustron Ion Therapy Center, Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
| | - Marianne C Aznar
- Division of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom; The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
| | - Uulke van der Heide
- Department of Radiation Oncology, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiation Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - David Thwaites
- Institute of Medical Physics, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Australia; Radiotherapy Research Group, St James's Hospital and University of Leeds, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|