Introduction: With the introduction of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) and the trend of reducing the number of fractions, the geometric accuracy of treatment delivery becomes critical... Show moreIntroduction: With the introduction of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) and the trend of reducing the number of fractions, the geometric accuracy of treatment delivery becomes critical. APBI patient setup is often based on fiducials, as the seroma is frequently not visible on pretreatment imaging. We assessed the motion of fiducials relative to the tumor bed between planning CT and treatment, and calculated margins to compensate for this motion. Methods: A cohort of seventy patients treated with APBI on a Cyberknife was included. Planning and in room pretreatment CT scans were registered on the tumor bed. Residual motion of the centers of mass of surgical clips and interstitial gold markers was calculated. We calculated the margins required per desired percentage of patients with 100% CTV coverage, and the systematic and random errors for fiducial motion. Results: For a single fraction treatment, a margin of 1.8 mm would ensure 100% CTV coverage in 90% of patients when using surgical clips for patient set-up. When using interstitial markers, the margin should be 2.2 mm. The systematic and random errors were 0.46 mm for surgical clip motion and 0.60 mm for interstitial marker motion. No clinical factors were found predictive for fiducial motion. Conclusions: Fiducial motion relative to the tumor bed between planning CT and APBI treatment is non negligible and should be included in the PTV margin calculation to prevent geographical miss. Systematic and random errors of fiducial motion were combined with other geometric uncertainties to calculate comprehensive PTV margins for different treatment techniques. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Radiotherapy and Oncology 163 (2021) 1-6 This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Show less
Improvements in the treatment of rectal cancer patients have led to increased survival. Therefore, long-term outcome has become an increasingly important factor. Both neoadjuvant (chemo... Show moreImprovements in the treatment of rectal cancer patients have led to increased survival. Therefore, long-term outcome has become an increasingly important factor. Both neoadjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy and total mesorectal excision surgery are associated with toxicity. As a result, research for rectal cancer treatment has focused on the reduction of radiation dose to healthy tissue and less extensive surgery or omission of surgery in selected patients. The work described in this thesis can be used to reduce uncertainties related to image-guided external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and high-dose-rate endorectal brachytherapy (HDREBT) of rectal cancer. By decreasing treatment related uncertainties, dose to surrounding healthy tissue can be reduced and/or a higher dose to the target volume can be delivered with an isotoxic effect. The MRI visibility of four types of fiducial markers as a surrogate for gross tumor volume (GTV) location was evaluated. In addition, it was found that the use of fiducial markers as a surrogate for GTV location in an EBRT GTV boost setting allows smaller treatment margins. For HDREBT, it was found that daily CT imaging should be the minimal standard to verify a correct applicator setup. In addition, we propose the use of an ultrashort echo time MRI sequence to visualize the applicator on MRI. Lastly, we determined the added value of a national study group meeting on the quality and variability of EBRT treatment plans for the introduction of a novel target volume that includes only the mesorectum. Show less
Fernandes, C.D.; Dinh, C.V.; Steggerda, M.J.; Beek, L.C. ter; Smolic, M.; Buuren, L.D. van; ... ; Heide, U.A. van der 2017
Purpose: To evaluate the effect of an antiflatulent dietary advice on the intrafraction prostate motion in patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer.Methods... Show morePurpose: To evaluate the effect of an antiflatulent dietary advice on the intrafraction prostate motion in patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer.Methods and Materials: Between February 2002 and December 2009, 977 patients received five-beam IMRT for prostate cancer to a dose of 76 Gy in 35 fractions combined with fiducial markers for position verification. In July 2008, the diet, consisting of dietary guidelines to obtain regular bowel movements and to reduce intestinal gas by avoiding certain foods and air swallowing, was introduced to reduce the prostate motion. The intrafraction prostate movement was determined from the portal images of the first segment of all five beams. Clinically relevant intrafraction motion was defined as >= 50% of the fractions with an intrafraction motion outside a range of 3 mm.Results: A total of 739 patients were treated without the diet and 105 patients were treated with radiotherapy after introduction of the diet. The median and interquartile range of the average intrafraction motion per patient was 2.53 mm (interquartile range, 2.2-3.0) without the diet and 3.00 mm (interquartile range, 2.4-3.5) with the diet (p < .0001). The percentage of patients with clinically relevant intrafraction motion increased statistically significant from 19.1% without diet to 42.9% with a diet (odds ratio, 3.18; 95% confidence interval, 2.07-4.88; p < .0001).Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that antiflatulent dietary advice for patients undergoing IMRT for prostate cancer does not reduce the intrafraction movement of the prostate. Therefore, antiflatulent dietary advice is not recommended in clinical practice for this purpose. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. Show less
