BIOPLAN: software for the biological evaluation of. Radiotherapy treatment plans

Distributions of absorbed dose do not provide information on the biological response of tissues (either tumor or organs at risk [OAR]) to irradiation. BIOPLAN (BiOlogical evaluation of PLANs) has been conceived and developed as a PC-based user-friendly software that allows the user to evaluate a treatment plan from the (more objective) point of view of the biological response of the irradiated tissues, and at the same time, provides flexibility in the use of models and parameters. It requires information on dose-volume histograms (DVHs) and can accept a number of different formats (including DVH files from commercial treatment planning systems). BIOPLAN provides a variety of tools, such as tumor control probability (TCP) calculations (using the Poisson model), normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) calculations (using either the Lyman-Kutcher-Burman or the relative seriality models), the ATCP method, DVH subtraction, plots of NTCP/TCP as a function of prescription dose, tumor and OAR dose statistics, equivalent uniform dose (EUD), individualized dose prescription, and parametric sensitivity analysis of the TCP/NTCP models employed.