Simulated computed tomography-guided stereotactic adaptive radiotherapy (CT-STAR) for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Background And Purpose: We conducted a prospective, in silico imaging clinical trial to evaluate the feasibility and potential dosimetric benefits of computed tomography-guided stereotactic adaptive radiotherapy (CT-STAR) for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).

Materials And Methods: Eight patients with LAPC received five additional CBCTs on the ETHOS system before or after their standard of care radiotherapy treatment. Initial plans were created based on their initial simulation anatomy (P) and emulated adaptive plans were created based on their anatomy-of-the-day (P).

Technical Report: Development and Implementation of an Open Source Template Interpretation Class Library for Automated Treatment Planning.

Purpose: Widespread implementation of automated treatment planning in radiation therapy remains elusive owing to variability in clinic and physician preferences, making it difficult to ensure consistent plan parameters. We have developed an open-source class library with the aim to improve efficiency and consistency for automated treatment planning in radiation therapy.

Methods And Materials: An open-source class library has been developed that interprets clinical templates within a commercial treatment planning system into a treatment plan for automated planning.

Prostate deformation from inflatable rectal probe cover and dosimetric effects in prostate seed implant brachytherapy.

Purpose: Prostate brachytherapy is an important treatment technique for patients with localized prostate cancer. An inflatable rectal ultrasound probe cover is frequently utilized during the procedure to adjust for unfavorable prostate position relative to the implant grid. However, the inflated cover causes prostate deformation, which is not accounted for during dosimetric planning.

A scintillator-based approach to monitor secondary neutron production during proton therapy.

Purpose: The primary objective of this work is to measure the secondary neutron field produced by an uncollimated proton pencil beam impinging on different tissue-equivalent phantom materials using organic scintillation detectors. Additionally, the Monte Carlo code mcnpx-PoliMi was used to simulate the detector response for comparison to the measured data. Comparison of the measured and simulated data will validate this approach for monitoring secondary neutron dose during proton therapy.