Dose painting by numbers based on retrospectively determined recurrence probabilities

• Background and purpose: The aim of this study is to derive "dose painting by numbers" prescriptions from retrospectively observed recurrence volumes in a patient group treated with conventional radiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and methods: The spatial relation between retrospectively observed recurrence volumes and pre-treatment standardized uptake values (SUV) from fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging was determined. Based on this information we derived SUV driven dose-response functions and used these to optimize ideal dose redistributions under the constraint of equal average dose to the tumor volumes as for a conventional treatment. The response functions were also implemented into a treatment planning system for realistic dose optimization. Results: The calculated tumor control probabilities (TCP) increased between 0.1-14.6% by the ideal dose redistributions for all included patients, where patients with larger and more heterogeneous tumors got greater increases than smaller and more homogeneous tumors. Conclusions: Dose painting prescriptions can be derived from retrospectively observed recurrence volumes spatial relation to pre-treatment FDG-PET image data. The ideal dose redistributions could significantly increase the TCP for patients with large tumor volumes and large spread in SUV from FDG-PET. The results yield a basis for prospective studies to determine the clinical value for dose painting of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Cancer och onkologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Cancer and Oncology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Radiologi och bildbehandling (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Dose painting

Dose painting by numbers

Dose painting optimization

Head and neck cancer

FDG-PET/CT

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)