Author/Authors :
Pang, H Department of Oncology - The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China , Lin, S Department of Oncology - The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China , Yang, B Department of Oncology - The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China , Wu, J Department of Oncology - The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China , Sum, X Department of Oncology - The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
Abstract :
Background: To investigate a method for standardizing intensity modulated
radiation therapy (IMRT) optimization for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), in
order to reduce the influence of subjective factors. Materials and Methods: This
study is based on example IMRT plans for NPC, which were randomly divided into
data acquisition and data verification groups. Organs at risk (OARs) were analyzed
for various sub-organs. The data acquisition group was used for statistical
evaluations of the mean value of the normalized mean doses of sub-organs. The
data validation group was used to validate the findings. Results: Significant
negative correlations were observed between the normalized mean doses of
sub-organs for each OAR and the shortest distance between sub-organs and
the target region surface. For each OAR, there was no statistically significant
difference in the normalized mean doses of sub-organs between the data
acquisition and verification groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The influence of
subjective factors can be reduced by using the normalized mean doses of suborgans
for each OAR as the evaluation parameter for standardizing. This
method is relatively simple; a majority of radiotherapy centers can apply the
model for standardizing IMRT planning optimization based on the existing
planning system.
