Examination of conversion method of dose distribution of lung cancer IMRT using fluence reversible calculation function in O-ring type linac and C-type linac

Abstract

Generally, converting irradiation plans between C-arm linacs (C-linac) when the linac fails is possible without recalculating the dose distribution using a treatment planning system (TPS), because they have similar mechanical structure. However, the O-ring-type linac (O-linac) differs from the C-linac in forming the dose distribution. Therefore, if O-linac breaks down, it is necessary to formulate a treatment plan from scratch. In this study, we investigated a method for converting irradiation from an O-linac to a C-linac. Thirty patients with lung cancer who underwent volumetric-modulated arc therapy with an O-linac were included in this study. The O-linac dose distribution was converted into energy fluence by the function of the TPS. The alternative linac multi-leaf collimator (MLC) was then optimized to achieve energy fluence. The homogeneity index, conformity index, and planning treatment volume (D95%, D2%) of the converted plan were compared with the original plan. For organ at risk (OAR), the dose-volume histograms (DVHs) of the lung, esophagus, heart, and spinal cord were evaluated. Additionally, the shapes of the isodose curves were compared using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). There was no significant difference between the target and OARs (p > 0.05). The mean DSCs of 30% to 100% isodose curves of the prescribed dose and the isodose ≥ 105% and ≤ 20%were > 0.8 and < 0.8, respectively. Due to the structural differences of MLC, the dose-volume and generation positions were different in the dose range of ≥ 105% and ≤ 20%; hence, DSCs decreased. However, no statistically significant difference in the DVH was identified for either treatment plan. Based on this result, we propose a simple replanning method for performing MLC fitting after converting the dose to the energy fluence.