Volume 28 (2022): Edizione 2 (June 2022)

Introduction: The aim of this study was the evaluation of volume and dose differences in selected structures in patients with head and neck cancer during treatment on Helical TomoTherapy (HT) using a commercially available deformable image registration (DIR) tool. We attempted to identify anatomical and clinical predictive factors for significant volume changes probability.

Material and methods: According to our institutional protocol, we retrospectively evaluated the group of 20 H&N cancer patients treated with HT who received Adaptive Radiotherapy (ART) due to soft tissue alterations spotted on daily MVCT. We compared volumes on initial computed tomography (iCT) and replanning computed tomography (rCT) for clinical target volumes (CTV) – CTV1 (the primary tumor) and CTV2 (metastatic lymph nodes), parotid glands (PG) and body contour (B-body). To estimate the planned and delivered dose discrepancy, the dose from the original plan was registered and deformed to create a simulation of dose distribution on rCT (DIR-rCT).

Results: The decision to replan was made at the 4th week of RT (N = 6; 30%). The average volume reduction in parotid right PG[R] and left PG[L] was 4.37 cc (18.9%) (p < 0.001) and 3.77 cc (16.8%) (p = 0.004), respectively. In N = 13/20 cases, the delivered dose was greater than the planned dose for PG[R] of mean 3 Gy (p < 0.001), and in N = 6/20 patients for PG[L] the mean of 3.6 Gy (p = 0.031). Multivariate regression analysis showed a very strong predictor explaining 88% (R² = 0.88) and 83% (R² = 0.83) of the variance based on the mean dose of iPG[R] and iPG[L] (p < 0.001), respectively. No statistically significant correlation between volume changes and risk factors was found.

Conclusions: Dosimetric changes to the target demonstrated the validity of replanning. A DIR tool can be successfully used for dose deformation and ART qualification, significantly reducing the workload of radiotherapy centers. In addition, the mean dose for PG was a significant predictor that may indicate the need for a replan.

Introduction: Nanoparticles (NPs) have been proven to enhance radiotherapy doses as radiosensitizers. The introduction of coating materials such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) to NPs could impact the NPs’ biocompatibility and their effectiveness as radiosensitizers. Optimization of surface coating is a crucial element to ensure the successful application of NPs as a radiosensitizer in radiotherapy. This study aims to investigate the influence of bismuth oxide NPs (BiONPs) coated with PEG on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation on HeLa cervical cancer cell line.

Material and methods: Different PEG concentrations (0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 mM) were used in the synthesis of the NPs. The treated cells were irradiated with 6 and 12 MeV electron beams with a delivered dose of 3 Gy. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was measured immediately after and 3 hours after irradiation.

Results: The intracellular ROS generation was found to be slightly influenced by electron beam energy and independent of the PEG concentrations. Linear increments of ROS percentages over the 3 hours of incubation time were observed.

Conclusions: Finally, the PEG coating might not substantially affect the ROS generated and thus emphasizing the functionalized BiONPs application as the radiosensitizer for electron beam therapy.

Introduction: The current regulations in Poland in the field of interventional radiology only include diagnostic reference levels (DRL) for five procedures, containing only two for cardiological (hemodynamic) procedures, and only for adults. Given the insufficient number of DRLs, the need to introduce local levels based on the intervention procedures performed was identified. The purpose of this research was the evaluation of radiation doses (DRL, effective dose) received by patients in cardiological interventional procedures.

Material and methods: The DRL level was defined as the 75th percentile of the distribution of dosimetric parameters KAP and K_air,ref for each type of cardiological procedure. Data include three different X-ray units and 27 interventional cardiologists, derived from February 2019 to June 2019 and from August 2021 to December 2021. In order to estimate the effective dose, the appropriate conversion factors for cardiological procedures were used. The total number of analyzed procedures was 3818.

Results: The proposed local DRL levels were found to be mostly lower than data found in literature and in the current Polish national requirements (60%-70% lower for coronary angiography (CA) and percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PCI) procedures). Median equivalent doses for cardiological procedures were estimated at 2.66 mSv, 6.11 mSv and 7.22 mSv for CA, PCI and combined PCI with CA procedure, respectively.

Conclusions: The proposed local/institutional DRLs seem to be suitable for use and could be utilized by other centers for comparison purposes.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the new 2-Dimensional diode array SRS MapCHECK (SunNuclear, Melbourne, USA) with dedicated phantom StereoPHAN (SunNuclear, Melbourne, USA) for the pre-treatment verification of the stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT).

Material and methods: For the system, the short and mid-long stability, dose linearity with MU, angular dependence, and field size dependence (ratio of relative output factor) were measured. The results of verification for 15 pre-treatment cancer patients (5 brains, 5 lungs, and 5 livers) performed with SRS MapCHECK and EBT3 Gafchromic films were compared. All the SBRT plans were optimized with the Eclipse (v. 15.6, Varian, Palo Alto, USA) treatment planning system (TPS) using the Acuros XB (Varian, Palo Alto, USA) dose calculation algorithm and were delivered to the Varian EDGE® (Varian, Palo Alto, USA) accelerator equipped with a high-definition multileaf collimator. The 6MV flattening-filter-free beam (FFF) was used.

Results: Short and mid-long stability of SRS MapCHECK was very good (0.1%-0.2%), dose linearity with MU and dependence of the response of the detector on field size results were also acceptable (for dose linearity R² = 1 and 6% difference between microDiamond and SRS MapCHECK response for the smallest field of 1 × 1 cm²). The angular dependence was very good except for the angles close to 90° and 270°. For pre-treatment plan verification, the gamma method was used with the criteria of 3% dose difference and 3 mm distance to agreement (3%/3 mm), and 2%/2 mm, 1%/1 mm, 3%/1 mm, and 2%/1 mm. The highest passing rate for all criteria was observed on the SRS MapCHECK system.

Conclusions: It is concluded that SRS MapCHECK with StereoPHAN has sufficient potential for pre-treatment verification of the SBRT plans, so that verification of stereotactic plans can be significantly accelerated.

Introduction: In radiotherapy, a computerized treatment planning system (TPS) is used for performing treatment planning to estimate the dose distribution within a patient. To simplify the dose calculation, mathematical algorithms are employed. TG43 formalism is widely used for brachytherapy. Before the implementation of a particular dose calculation algorithm in clinical practice, it is imperative to acknowledge the limitations and uncertainties associated with the algorithm. Regarding this, outputs of the algorithm are compared to measurements or dose calculation approaches using simple source placement geometries. The manual dose calculation method has to be robust, straightforward, and devoid of complexities to reduce the likelihood of committing errors in the dose calculation process. A lot of manual dose calculation approaches have been proposed for Brachytherapy sources, but one needs to ascertain their reliability.

Material and methods: Considering this, the output of an HDRplus treatment planning system dedicated to brachytherapy treatment planning and using the TG43 formalism to calculate the dose distribution around a BEBIG Co-60 source was validated with Sievert integral dose calculation approach. Simple source placement geometries were created with the TPS using the universal applicator, LLA1200-20, selected from the applicator library, and doses at various equidistant points from the applicator calculated with the TPS and the Sievert integral. Various steps to enhance the efficacy of the Sievert integral approach have been outlined.

Results: The doses compared favourably well with deviations ranging from 0.03 – 10.51% (mean of 3.13%), and 0.03 – 5.63% (mean of 2.55%) for angles along the perpendicular bisector of the source, ranging from 0° < θ < 70° and 0° < θ < 48°, respectively.

Conclusions: The Sievert integral breaks down at angles: θ ≥ 60°, and therefore, neglecting large angles, the Sievert integral would be an efficient, effective, and valid tool for quality control of the HDRplus TPS for the Co-60 source.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the best normal tissue objective (NTO) values based on the dose distribution from brain tumor radiation therapy.

Material and methods: The NTO is a constraint provided by Eclipse to limit the dose to normal tissues by steepening the dose gradient. The multitude of NTO setting combinations necessitates optimal NTO settings. The Eclipse supports manual and automatic NTOs. Fifteen patients were re-planned using NTO priorities of 1, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 500 in combination with dose fall-offs of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 1 and 5 mm^-1. NTO distance to planning target volume (PTV), start dose, and end dose were 1 mm, 105%, and 60%, respectively, for all plans. In addition, planning without the NTO was arranged to find out its effect on planning. The prescription dose covered 95% of the PTV. Planning was evaluated using several indices: conformity index (CI), homogeneity index (HI), gradient index (GI), modified gradient index (mGI), comprehensive quality index (CQI), and monitor unit (MU). Differences among automatic NTO, manual NTO, and without NTO were evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Results: Comparisons obtained without and with manual NTO were: CI of 0.77 vs. 0.96 (p = 0.002), GI of 4.52 vs. 4.69 (p = 0.233), mGI of 4.93 vs. 3.95 (p = 0.001), HI of 1.10 vs. 1.10 (p = 0.330), and MU/cGy of 3.44 vs. 3.42 (p = 0.460). Planning without NTO produced a poor conformity index. Comparisons of automatic and manual NTOs were: CI of 0.92 vs. 0.96 (p = 0.035), GI of 5.25 vs. 4.69 (p = 0.253), mGI of 4.46 vs. 3.95 (p = 0.001), HI of 1.09 vs. 1.10 (p = 0.004), MU/cGy of 3.31 vs. 3.42 (p = 0.041).

Conclusions: Based on these results, manual NTO with a priority of 100 and dose fall-off 0.5 mm^-1 was optimal, as indicated by the high dose reduction in normal tissue.