title: The feasibility of evaluating radiation dose to the heart by integrating kilovoltage-cone beam computed tomography in stereotactic body radiotherapy of early non-small-cell lung cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the feasibility of contouring the planning risk organ volume (PRV) for the heart, and to determine the probability of evaluating radiation dose to the heart using kilovoltage-cone beam computed tomography (kV-CBCT) in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, who received stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT).
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen NSCLC patients who received SBRT (5Gy/f × 10f dose) were enrolled and subjected to CBCT and CT imaging analyses to plan treatment. Sequential planning CBCT images of individual patient's hearts were analyzed for reproducibility of heart contouring and volume. Comparative analyses were made between the planning CT- and CBCT-detected heart margins and dose-volume indices for treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The heart volume from planning CT images was significantly smaller than that from CBCT scans (p < 0.05), and the volumes based on the different series of CBCT images were similar (p > 0.05).The overlap of the heart region on the same anatomical section between the first series of CBCT scans and other scans reached 0.985 ± 0.020 without statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). The mean margins of the heart from planning CT and CBCT scans were 10.5 ± 2.8 mm in the left direction, 5.9 ± 2.8 mm in the right direction, 2.2 ± 1.6 mm in the direction of the head, 3.3 ± 2.2 mm in the direction of the foot, 6.7 ± 1.1 mm in the anterior direction, and 4.5 mm ± 2.5 mm in the posterior direction. All relative and absolute dose-volume indices obtained from CBCT images were significantly larger than those from planning CT scans (p < 0.05), with the exception of the volume in the 5Gy region.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PRV of heart contouring based on kV-CBCT is feasible with good reproducibility. More accurate and objective dose-volume indices may be obtained for NSCLC patients by using kV-CBCT, instead of CT, to plan SBRT.
authors.forename: Chengxin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Guanzhong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Tonghai
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong's Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, School of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Jinan and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan city, Shandong Province, China. yinyongsd@126.com.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*