DOSIMETRIC VERIFICATION OF INTENSITY MODULATED RADIOTHERAPY (IMRT) TREATMENT PLANS FOR PROSTATE CANCER PATIENTS

Area of Science:

• Radiation Oncology
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is a standard for localized prostate cancer.
• Transitioning to IMRT necessitates rigorous dose delivery verification.
• Conformal radiotherapy (3D CRT) preceded the adoption of IMRT.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the clinical workflow for patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) in IMRT for prostate cancer.
• To evaluate the accuracy of dose delivery in IMRT for prostate cancer patients.
• To assess the safety and compliance of IMRT treatments with established tolerance limits.

Main Methods:

• Utilized step-and-shoot IMRT for 40 prostate cancer patients.
• Performed dosimetric verification using a rotational phantom and Octavius 4D detector system.
• Conducted a three-dimensional comparison of calculated and delivered radiation dose distributions.

Main Results:

• All patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) procedures demonstrated compliance with universal tolerance limits.
• The implemented IMRT workflow ensures safe and accurate radiation dose delivery.
• Results support the potential for implementing stricter quality assurance constraints in the future.

Conclusions:

• Patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) is crucial for verifying IMRT accuracy in prostate cancer treatment.
• The study confirms the safety and reliability of the IMRT technique for prostate cancer.
• Findings pave the way for refining quality assurance protocols and potentially adopting more stringent dose delivery criteria.