A feasibility study of using conventional jaws to deliver complex IMRT plans for head and neck cancer

Previous studies have demonstrated that simple intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans can be produced with a series of rectangular segments formed by conventional jaws. This study investigates whether complex IMRT plans for head and neck cancer can be delivered with the conventional jaws efficiently. Six nasopharyngeal cancer patients, previously treated with multi-leaf collimator (MLC)-IMRT plans, were re-planned using conventional jaw delivery options. All IMRT plans were subject to the plan acceptance criteria of the RTOG-0225 protocol. For a selected patient, the maximum number of segments varied from five to nine per beam, and was tested for both jaws-only IMRT (JO-IMRT) plans and MLC-IMRT plans. Subsequently, JO-IMRT plans and MLC-IMRT on the same treatment planning system were attempted for all patients with identical beams. The dose distribution, dose volume histograms (DVH), the conformal index (COIN), the uniformity index and delivery efficiency were compared between the MLC-IMRT and JO-IMRT plans. All JO-IMRT plans met the RTOG-0225 criteria for tumor coverage and sensitive structures sparing. The corresponding MLC-IMRT and JO-IMRT plans show comparable conformality and uniformity, with average COINs of the planning gross tumor volume(pGTV) 37.7% +/- 18.7% versus 37.9% +/- 18.1%, and the average uniformity index 82.8% +/- 2.5% versus 83.6% +/- 3.1%, respectively. The average monitor unit for JO-IMRT plans was about twice that of MLC-IMRT plans. In conclusion, conventional jaws can be used solely to deliver complex IMRT plans for patients with nasopharyngeal cancer yet still within a practical delivery time.