RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Inter-fractional variation in urinary bladder volumes during the course of radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer causes deviations between planned and delivered doses. This study compared planned versus daily cone-beam CT (CBCT)-based spatial bladder dose distributions, for prostate cancer patients receiving local prostate treatment (local treatment) versus prostate including pelvic lymph node irradiation (pelvic treatment). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-seven patients (N = 15 local treatment; N = 12 pelvic treatment) were treated using daily image-guided RT (1.8 Gy@43-45 fx), adhering to a full bladder/empty rectum protocol. For each patient, 9-10 CBCTs were registered to the planning CT, using the clinically applied translations. The urinary bladder was manually segmented on each CBCT, 3 mm inner shells were generated, and semi and quadrant sectors were created using axial/coronal cuts. Planned and delivered DVH metrics were compared across patients and between the two groups of treatment (t-test, p < .05; Holm-Bonferroni correction). Associations between bladder volume variations and the dose-volume histograms (DVH) of the bladder and its sectors were evaluated (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, rs). RESULTS: Bladder volumes varied considerably during RT (coefficient of variation: 16-58%). The population-averaged planned and delivered DVH metrics were not significantly different at any dose level. Larger treatment bladder volumes resulted in increased absolute volume of the posterior/inferior bladder sector receiving intermediate-high doses, in both groups. The superior bladder sector received less dose with larger bladder volumes for local treatments (rs ± SD: -0.47 ± 0.32), but larger doses for pelvic treatments (rs ± SD: 0.74 ± 0.24). CONCLUSIONS: Substantial bladder volume changes during the treatment course occurred even though patients were treated under a full bladder/daily image-guided protocol. Larger bladder volumes resulted in less bladder wall spared at the posterior-inferior sector, regardless the treatment received. Contrary, larger bladder volumes meant larger delivered doses to the superior bladder sector for pelvic RT but smaller doses for local treatments.
Assuntos
Pelve/patologia , Próstata/patologia , Neoplasias da Próstata/patologia , Planejamento da Radioterapia Assistida por Computador/métodos , Radioterapia Guiada por Imagem/métodos , Reto/patologia , Bexiga Urinária/patologia , Tomografia Computadorizada de Feixe Cônico/métodos , Humanos , Processamento de Imagem Assistida por Computador/métodos , Masculino , Órgãos em Risco/diagnóstico por imagem , Órgãos em Risco/patologia , Órgãos em Risco/efeitos da radiação , Pelve/diagnóstico por imagem , Pelve/efeitos da radiação , Próstata/diagnóstico por imagem , Próstata/efeitos da radiação , Neoplasias da Próstata/diagnóstico por imagem , Neoplasias da Próstata/radioterapia , Dosagem Radioterapêutica , Radioterapia de Intensidade Modulada/métodos , Reto/diagnóstico por imagem , Reto/efeitos da radiação , Bexiga Urinária/diagnóstico por imagem , Bexiga Urinária/efeitos da radiaçãoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Gastro-intestinal (GI) toxicity after radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer reduces patient's quality of life. In this study, we explored associations between spatial rectal dose/volume metrics and patient-reported GI symptoms after RT for localized prostate cancer, and compared these with those of dose-surface/volume histogram (DSH/DVH) metrics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Dose distributions and six GI symptoms (defecation urgency/emptying difficulties/fecal leakage, ≥Grade 2, median follow-up: 3.6 y) were extracted for 200 patients treated with image-guided RT in 2005-2007. Three hundred and nine metrics assessed from 2D rectal dose maps or DSHs/DVHs were subject to 50-times iterated five-fold cross-validated univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis (UVA, MVA). Performance of the most frequently selected MVA models was evaluated by the area under the receiving-operating characteristics curve (AUC). RESULTS: The AUC increased for dose-map compared to DSH/DVH-based models (mean SD: 0.64 ± 0.03 vs. 0.61 ± 0.01), and significant relations were found for six versus four symptoms. Defecation urgency and faecal leakage were explained by high doses at the central/upper and central areas, respectively; while emptying difficulties were explained by longitudinal extensions of intermediate doses. CONCLUSIONS: Predictability of patient-reported GI toxicity increased using spatial metrics compared to DSH/DVH metrics. Novel associations were particularly identified for emptying difficulties using both approaches in which intermediate doses were emphasized.