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Guberina M, Guberina N, Hoffmann C, Gogishvili A, Freisleben F, Herz A, Hlouschek J, Gauler T, Lang S, Stähr K, Höing B, Pöttgen C, Indenkämpen F, Santiago A, Khouya A, Mattheis S, Stuschke M. Prospects for online adaptive radiation therapy (ART) for head and neck cancer. Radiat Oncol 2024; 19:4. [PMID: 38191400 PMCID: PMC10775598 DOI: 10.1186/s13014-023-02390-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The aim of the present study is to examine the impact of kV-CBCT-based online adaptive radiation therapy (ART) on dosimetric parameters in comparison to image-guided-radiotherapy (IGRT) in consecutive patients with tumors in the head and neck region from a prospective registry. METHODS The study comprises all consecutive patients with tumors in the head and neck area who were treated with kV-CBCT-based online ART or IGRT-modus at the linear-accelerator ETHOS™. As a measure of effectiveness, the equivalent-uniform-dose was calculated for the CTV (EUDCTV) and organs-at-risk (EUDOAR) and normalized to the prescribed dose. As an important determinant for the need of ART the interfractional shifts of anatomic landmarks related to the tongue were analyzed and compared to the intrafractional shifts. The latter determine the performance of the adapted dose distribution on the verification CBCT2 postadaptation. RESULTS Altogether 59 consecutive patients with tumors in the head-and-neck-area were treated from 01.12.2021 to 31.01.2023. Ten of all 59 patients (10/59; 16.9%) received at least one phase within a treatment course with ART. Of 46 fractions in the adaptive mode, irradiation was conducted in 65.2% of fractions with the adaptive-plan, the scheduled-plan in the remaining. The dispersion of the distributions of EUDCTV-values from the 46 dose fractions differed significantly between the scheduled and adaptive plans (Ansari-Bradley-Test, p = 0.0158). Thus, the 2.5th percentile of the EUDCTV-values by the adaptive plans amounted 97.1% (95% CI 96.6-99.5%) and by the scheduled plans 78.1% (95% CI 61.8-88.7%). While the EUDCTV for the accumulated dose distributions stayed above 95% at PTV-margins of ≥ 3 mm for all 8 analyzed treatment phases the scheduled plans did for margins ≥ 5 mm. The intrafractional anatomic shifts of all 8 measured anatomic landmarks were smaller than the interfractional with overall median values of 8.5 mm and 5.5 mm (p < 0.0001 for five and p < 0.05 for all parameters, pairwise comparisons, signed-rank-test). The EUDOAR-values for the larynx and the parotid gland were significantly lower for the adaptive compared with the scheduled plans (Wilcoxon-test, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The mobile tongue and tongue base showed considerable interfractional variations. While PTV-margins of 5 mm were sufficient for IGRT, ART showed the potential of decreasing PTV-margins and spare dose to the organs-at-risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja Guberina
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Nika Guberina
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany.
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
| | - C Hoffmann
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - A Gogishvili
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - F Freisleben
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - A Herz
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - J Hlouschek
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - T Gauler
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - S Lang
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - K Stähr
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - B Höing
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - C Pöttgen
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - F Indenkämpen
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - A Santiago
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - A Khouya
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - S Mattheis
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - M Stuschke
- Department of Radiotherapy, West German Cancer Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
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Tomatis S, Mancosu P, Reggiori G, Lobefalo F, Gallo P, Lambri N, Paganini L, La Fauci F, Bresolin A, Parabicoli S, Pelizzoli M, Navarria P, Franzese C, Lenoci D, Scorsetti M. Twenty Years of Advancements in a Radiotherapy Facility: Clinical Protocols, Technology, and Management. Curr Oncol 2023; 30:7031-7042. [PMID: 37504370 PMCID: PMC10378035 DOI: 10.3390/curroncol30070510] [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: 05/22/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hypo-fractionation can be an effective strategy to lower costs and save time, increasing patient access to advanced radiation therapy. To demonstrate this potential in practice within the context of temporal evolution, a twenty-year analysis of a representative radiation therapy facility from 2003 to 2022 was conducted. This analysis utilized comprehensive data to quantitatively evaluate the connections between advanced clinical protocols and technological improvements. The findings provide valuable insights to the management team, helping them ensure the delivery of high-quality treatments in a sustainable manner. METHODS Several parameters related to treatment technique, patient positioning, dose prescription, fractionation, equipment technology content, machine workload and throughput, therapy times and patients access counts were extracted from departmental database and analyzed on a yearly basis by means of linear regression. RESULTS Patients increased by 121 ± 6 new per year (NPY). Since 2010, the incidence of hypo-fractionation protocols grew thanks to increasing Linac technology. In seven years, both the average number of fractions and daily machine workload decreased by -0.84 ± 0.12 fractions/year and -1.61 ± 0.35 patients/year, respectively. The implementation of advanced dose delivery techniques, image guidance and high dose rate beams for high fraction doses, currently systematically used, has increased the complexity and reduced daily treatment throughput since 2010 from 40 to 32 patients per 8 h work shift (WS8). Thanks to hypo-fractionation, such an efficiency drop did not affect NPY, estimating 693 ± 28 NPY/WS8, regardless of the evaluation time. Each newly installed machine was shown to add 540 NPY, while absorbing 0.78 ± 0.04 WS8. The COVID-19 pandemic brought an overall reduction of 3.7% of patients and a reduction of 0.8 fractions/patient, to mitigate patient crowding in the department. CONCLUSIONS The evolution of therapy protocols towards hypo-fractionation was supported by the use of proper technology. The characteristics of this process were quantified considering time progression and organizational aspects. This strategy optimized resources while enabling broader access to advanced radiation therapy. To truly value the benefit of hypo-fractionation, a reimbursement policy should focus on the patient rather than individual treatment fractionation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Tomatis
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Pietro Mancosu
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Giacomo Reggiori
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Francesca Lobefalo
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Pasqualina Gallo
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Nicola Lambri
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Lucia Paganini
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Francesco La Fauci
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Bresolin
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Sara Parabicoli
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Pelizzoli
- Medical Physics Service, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Pierina Navarria
- Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Ciro Franzese
- Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, 20090 Milan, Italy
| | - Domenico Lenoci
- Development Strategic Initiatives Unit, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Marta Scorsetti
- Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, 20090 Milan, Italy
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