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Purpose The widespread use of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for cervical cancer has been limited by internal target and normal tissue motion. Such motion increases the risk of underdosing the target, especially as planning margins are reduced in an effort to reduce toxicity. This study explored 2 adaptive strategies to mitigate this risk and proposes a new, automated method that minimizes replanning workload. Methods and Materials Thirty patients with cervical cancer participated in a prospective clinical study and underwent pretreatment and weekly magnetic resonance (MR) scans over a 5-week course of daily external beam radiation therapy. Target volumes and organs at risk (OARs) were contoured on each of the scans. Deformable image registration was used to model the accumulated dose (the real dose delivered to the target and OARs) for 2 adaptive replanning scenarios that assumed a very small PTV margin of only 3 mm to account for setup and internal interfractional motion: (1) a preprogrammed, anatomy-driven midtreatment replan (A-IMRT); and (2) a dosimetry-triggered replan driven by target dose accumulation over time (D-IMRT). Results Across all 30 patients, clinically relevant target dose thresholds failed for 8 patients (27%) if 3-mm margins were used without replanning. A-IMRT failed in only 3 patients and also yielded an additional small reduction in OAR doses at the cost of 30 replans. D-IMRT assured adequate target coverage in all patients, with only 23 replans in 16 patients. Conclusions A novel, dosimetry-triggered adaptive IMRT strategy for patients with cervical cancer can minimize the risk of target underdosing in the setting of very small margins and substantial interfractional motion while minimizing programmatic workload and cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The adoption of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) to treat cervical malignancies has been limited in part by complex organ and tumor motion during treatment. This study explores the limits of a highly adaptive, small-margin treatment scenario to accommodate this motion. In addition, the dosimetric consequences of organ and tumor motion are modeled using a combination of deformable registration and fractional dose accumulation techniques. Methods and Materials: Thirty-three cervix cancer patients had target volumes and organs-at-risk contoured on fused, pretreatment magnetic resonance–computed tomography images and weekly magnetic resonance scans taken during treatment. The dosimetric impact of interfraction organ and target motion was compared for two hypothetical treatment scenarios: a 3-mm margin plan with no replanning, and a 3-mm margin plan with an automated replan performed on the updated weekly patient geometry. Results: Of the 33 patients, 24 (73%) met clinically acceptable target coverage (98% of the clinical target volume receiving at least 95% of the prescription dose) using the 3-mm margin plan without replanning. The range in dose to 98% of the clinical target volume across all patients was 7.9% of the prescription dose if no replanning was performed. After weekly replanning, this range was tightened to 2.6% of the prescription dose and all patients met clinically acceptable target coverage while maintaining organ-at-risk dose sparing. Conclusions: The dosimetric impact of anatomical motion underscores the challenges of applying IMRT to treat cervix cancer. An appropriate adaptive strategy can ensure target coverage for small-margin IMRT treatments and maintain favorable organ-at-risk dose sparing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: Whole pelvic intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is increasingly being used to treat cervix cancer and other gynecologic tumors. However, tumor and normal organ movement during treatment can substantially detract from the benefits of this approach. This study explored the effect of internal anatomic changes on the dose delivered to the tumor and organs at risk using a strategy integrating deformable soft-tissue modeling with simulated dose accumulation. Methods and Materials: Twenty patients with cervix cancer underwent baseline and weekly pelvic magnetic resonance imaging during treatment. Interfraction organ motion and delivered (accumulated) dose was modeled for three treatment scenarios: four-field box, large-margin whole pelvic IMRT (20-mm planning target volume, but 10 mm inferiorly) and small-margin IMRT (5-mm planning target volume). Results: Individually, the planned dose was not the same as the simulated delivered dose; however, when taken as a group, this was not statistically significant for the four-field box and large-margin IMRT plans. The small-margin IMRT plans yielded adequate target coverage in most patients; however, significant target underdosing occurred in 1 patient who displayed excessive, unpredictable internal target movement. The delivered doses to the organs at risk were significantly reduced with the small-margin plan, although substantial variability was present among the patients. Conclusion: Simulated dose accumulation might provide a more accurate depiction of the target and organ at risk coverage during fractionated whole pelvic IMRT for cervical cancer. The adequacy of primary tumor coverage using 5-mm planning target volume margins is contingent on the use of daily image-guided setup. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]