Evaluation of treatment plan quality for head and neck IMRT: a multicenter study
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Abstract
Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment planning for head and neck cancer is challenging and complex due to many organs at risk (OAR) in this region. The experience and skills of planners may result in substantial variability of treatment plan quality. This study assessed the performance of IMRT planning in Malaysia and observed plan quality variation among participating centers. The computed tomography dataset containing contoured target volumes and OAR was provided to participating centers. This is to control variations in contouring the target volumes and OARs by oncologists. The planner at each center was instructed to complete the treatment plan based on clinical practice with a given prescription, and the plan was analyzed against the planning goals provided. The quality of completed treatment plans was analyzed using the plan quality index (PQI), in which a score of 0 indicated that all dose objectives and constraints were achieved. A total of 23 plans were received from all participating centers comprising 14 VMAT, 7 IMRT, and 2 tomotherapy plans. The PQI indexes of these plans ranged from 0 to 0.65, indicating a wide variation of plan quality nationwide. Results also reported 5 out of 21 plans achieved all dose objectives and constraints showing more professional training is needed for planners in Malaysia. Understanding of treatment planning system and computational physics could also help in improving the quality of treatment plans for IMRT delivery. (C) 2021 American Association of Medical Dosimetrists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords
IMRT/VMAT audit, Plan quality, Plan complexity, Treatment planning, Dose distribution
Divisions
fac_med
Funders
Malaysian Oncological Society (PV030-2018),University of Malaya RU grant (RF005C-2018),Malaysian Oncological Society (MOS),Universiti Malaya
Publication Title
Medical Dosimetry
Volume
46
Issue
3
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher Location
STE 800, 230 PARK AVE, NEW YORK, NY 10169 USA