The impact of 3-D radiotherapy planning after a pneumonectomy compared to a conventional treatment set-up.
Three-dimensional radiotherapy planning (3-D RTP) is becoming more available in clinical practice, although so far there is little data showing its clinical advantage. The goal of this study was to compare 3-D RTP and dose delivery with conventional treatment planning in pneumonected lung cancer patients, receiving postoperative irradiation. Adjuvant radiotherapy in 20 pneumonected patients was planned with a 3-D system and patients were irradiated according to this plan. The resulting dose distribution was compared with the combination of a simulator and 2-D planned treatment to the same target volume. Dose volume histograms of the target, the lung and the heart of both treatment plans were analysed. A biophysical model was added to estimate the differences in the biological effect. 3-D RTP significantly reduced the mean dose to the lung in 14/20 patients and to the heart in 20/20 patients. The mean dose delivered to the target was equal in both planning methods. The early clinical results do not differ from published results in postoperatively treated lung cancer patients.
Department of Radiotherapy, University Heidelberg, Germany.
P
P
Schraube
M
M
von Kampen
D
D
Oetzel
G
G
Sroka
M
M
Wannenmacher
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006283:Health Physics; D006321:Heart / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000528:radiation effects; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011013:Pneumonectomy; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D011881:Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D015996:Survival Rate; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed