Image guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy versus volumetric modulated arc therapy for head and neck cancer: A comparative analysis of dosimetry for target volume and organs at risk
Article Category: Research Article
Published Online: Nov 12, 2018
Page range: 461 - 467
Received: Jun 19, 2018
Accepted: Oct 06, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2018-0042
© 2018 Hironori Akiyama, Csilla Pesznyák, Dalma Béla, Örs Ferenczi, Tibor Major, Csaba Polgár, Zoltán Takácsi-Nagy, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Background
The aim of the study was to present dosimetric comparison of image guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy (IGBT) with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for head and neck cancer regarding conformity of dose distribution to planning target volume (PTV) and doses to organs at risk (OARs).
Patients and methods
Thirty-eight consecutive patients with T1-4 mobile tongue, floor of mouth and base of tongue cancer treated with IGBT were selected. For these patients additional VMAT treatment plans were also prepared using identical computed tomography data. OARs and PTV related parameters (
Results
Mean V98 of the PTV was 90.2%
Conclusions
Both techniques showed excellent target coverage. With IGBT dose to normal tissues was lower than with VMAT. The results prove the superiority of IGBT in the protection of OARs and the important role of this invasive method in the era of new external beam techniques.