AI Article Synopsis
- Sparing the parotid glands is essential in radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, as overlapping the treatment area with these glands can hinder effective preservation.
- A new formula was developed to predict the radiation dose to the parotid glands based on how much the treatment area overlaps with them, which was tested on 44 patients from two different institutions.
- The results showed a small margin of error in the predictions (5.3 Gy), suggesting that this method could streamline treatment planning and enhance the likelihood of achieving better parotid gland sparing on the first attempt.
Article Abstract
Sparing one or both parotid glands is a key goal when planning head and neck cancer radiation treatment. If the planning target volume (PTV) overlaps one or both parotid glands substantially, it may not be possible to achieve adequate gland sparing. This finding results in physicians revising their PTV contours after an intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plan has been run and reduces workflow efficiency. We devised a simple formula for predicting mean parotid gland dose from the overlap of the parotid gland and isotropically expanded PTV contours. We tested the tool using 44 patients from 2 institutions and found agreement between predicted and actual parotid gland doses (mean absolute error = 5.3 Gy). This simple method could increase treatment planning efficiency by improving the chance that the first plan presented to the physician will have optimal parotid gland sparing.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2015.01.002 | DOI Listing |
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