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Patients receiving postoperative irradiation for uterine cervical cancer might not be able to eat during radiation therapy because of the effects of concurrent chemo-radiotherapy; this may lead to changes in the patient’s body shape during treatment. When performing image-guided radiotherapy, it is necessary to determine immediately whether treatment can be performed on the day or whether re-planning is required. The purpose of this study was to determine indicators for re-planning by examining the effects of changing body contours on radiation therapy dose. The original body contour was reduced by 1 cm in the front portion (structure-set 1). Based on the original dose distribution, the dose recalculation was performed with a structure set created using the body contour of structure-set 1. The difference between the original and recalculated dose distributions of structure-set 1 was evaluated through gamma analysis (GA). In the GA results for dose distribution obtained via recalculation with structure-set 1, a pass rate of 90% or more was obtained for a criterion of 2 mm/2% in all cases. The results suggest that dose re-planning is rarely required when the body shape is reduced by only 1 cm in the front.

The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of multi-leaf collimators (MLCs) with different leaf widths on the planning of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Toward this objective, dose transmission through a high-definition 120-leaf MLC (HD120MLC) and 120-leaf Millennium MLC (M120MLC) was investigated, using it with a test case and clinical case studies. In test case, studies with IMRT and VMAT plans, the difference in MLC leaf width had a limited effect on planning target volumes (PTVs). Organs at risk (OARs) were more affected by a reduction in dose transmission through the MLC than by a reduction in MLC leaf width. The results of the test case studies and clinical case studies were mostly similar. In the latter, the different MLCs had no effect on the PTV regardless of the treatment method; however, the HD120MLC plans achieved dose reductions to OARs similar to or larger than the dose reduction of the M120MLC plans. The similar results of the test case and clinical case studies showed that despite a limitation of the irradiation field size, the HD120MLC plans were superior.

The aim of this study was to evaluate distortion of the tabletop in a diagnostic positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) system to determine its suitability for planning radiotherapy positioning.Distortion of the tabletop was compared among PET-CT, lineac CT, and CT simulator systems. A phantom or angiography catheter was fixed to the tabletop and imaged after iron plate weight loading. The acquired images were analyzed using radiotherapy planning software. Distortion of the tabletop was measured based on the displayed coordinates.Sinking represented the greatest distortion of the tabletop in all systems. Using the same baseline, the maximum sinking were -0.4, -0.2, and +0.4 cm, respectively. The distortion of the tabletop in the PET-CT system was more similar to that in the lineac CT than in the CT simulator system.Distortion of the tabletop in a diagnostic PET-CT system may be within the acceptable range to allow its use for planning radiotherapy positioning.

In this study, we compared the dose impact of the heterogeneity caused by rectal gas using two methods of treatment planning for intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT). In addition to the structure set used for the standard treatment plan, we created a structure set for evaluation for each patient. These sets were transferred to the same isocenter as the respective treatment plans for IMRT and VMAT that were to become the standard. Values were then recalculated. During the standard prostatic IMRT and VMAT treatment planning, all study participants met dose restrictions in place at our hospital. Dose restrictions were fulfilled in treatment plans for evaluation, excluding those with a clinical target volume (CTV) of V 100 % and planning target volume (PTV) of D 95 when the rectum was excluded. However, in treatment plans for evaluation, IMRT was shown to have a higher concordance rate with standard treatment plans than VMAT. If rectal gas is present during either IMRT or VMAT, a dose decrease will occur in relation to CTV and PTV, suggesting that a plan does not eliminate adverse effects on organs at risk.