Purpose: The aim of the study is to present a new planning approach to provide better planning target volume (PTV) coverage and reduce bladder and rectum dose with hybrid Tomo-Helical (TH)/Tomo-Direct (TD) radiotherapy (RT) for localized prostate cancer (LPC).
Methods: Twenty-five LPC patients were included in this retrospective study. TH plans, TD plans, and hybrid TH/TD plans were created. Lateral beams were used for the hybrid TD plan and the prescribed dose was 70 Gy in 28 fractions (hybrid plans were combined 45 Gy/ 18 fxs for TH and 25 Gy/10 fxs for TD). Doses of PTV (D2%, D98%, D50%, homogeneity index (HI), conformity index (CI), coverage) and organs at risk (OARs) (V50%, V35%, V25%, V5%, and V95%) were analyzed. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze the difference in dosimetric parameters. p-Value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: TH plans showed better CI, and target coverage (p < 0.01) than TD and hybrid plans in all patient plan evaluations. However, TD plans D2%, D98%, and D50% doses were better than TH and hybrid plans. The HI values were similar between the three plans. Significant reductions in bladder and rectum V50%, V35%, and V25% doses (p < 0.001) were observed with hybrid plans compared to TH and TD. Penile bulb V95% and bowel V5% doses were better in the hybrid plans. Left and right femoral head V5% doses were higher in the hybrid plan compared to others (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Concurrently hybrid TH/TD RT plan can be a good option to reduce the doses of the rectum and bladder in the RT of LPC.
Keywords: Tomo-Direct; Tomo-Helical; hybrid radiotherapy; localized prostate cancer.
© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine.