Dose-volume factors contributing to the incidence of radiation pneumonitis in non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy.

Purpose: To analyze acute lung toxicity data of non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy in terms of dosimetric variables, location of dose within subvolumes of the lungs, and models of normal-tissue complication probability (NTCP).

Methods And Materials: Dose distributions of 49 non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated in a dose escalation protocol between 1992 and 1999 were analyzed (dose range: 57.6-81 Gy).