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Neutron irradiation of human pelvic tissues yields a steep dose-response function for late sequelae
L Cohen1, K R Saroja, F R Hendrickson
1Midwest Institute for Neutron Therapy at Fermilab, Batavia, IL 60510, USA.
Purpose:
Analysis of the dose-response function in normal tissues following pelvic irradiation for carcinoma of the prostate.
Methods And Materials:
A homogeneous group of 136 patients with locally advanced carcinoma of the prostate were treated with the Fermilab high-energy neutron beam at three dose levels: 19, 20.4, and 21 Gy, using the same treatment plan and fractionation scheme for all patients.
Results:
Tumor control rates were about 83% at the three dose levels studied. However, the normal tissue complication rate (late sequelae) varied with dose: 0 out of 5 at 19 Gy, 5 out of 58 (8.6%) at 20.4 Gy, and 9 out of 73 (12.3%) at 21 Gy.
Conclusions:
Neutron therapy to the pelvis reveals a steep dose-response function for late effects with a coefficient of variation of only 11%. This is lower than that usually observed with photons or with less uniform clinical data sets, and may be characteristic for well-planned high-LET radiotherapy.
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