Methods for monitor-unit-preserving adaptation of intensity modulated arc therapy techniques to the daily target-A simple comparison.

PURPOSE: For fast adaptation of step and shoot intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans, monitor units (MU)-preserving methods which modify only the segment shapes have been proposed in the literature. In this work, two such adaptation methods are applied to intensity modulated arc therapy (IMAT) and their results are compared to that of a newly optimized IMAT plan. METHODS: In a simplified cylindrically symmetric model, the organ at risk (OAR) is surrounded by the planning target volume (PTV). For the initial plan, a steep dose gradient is produced by variants of double arc (IMAT) plans. To simulate situations which require adaptation, the OAR radius and the inner PTV radius have been varied. One adaptation method (Warp) is based on a mesh spanned over structures identified within the beam's eye view (BEV). Changes to the structure projections warp the mesh. For the adaptation, the segment shapes are fixed to the mesh. The other method (2-Step) uses geometrical 3D information from the computed tomography (CT). For comparison, the objective function representing the dose to the PTV as well as the mean and the maximum dose to the OAR is used. RESULTS: For the narrow segments that compensate the underdosage in the PTV areas proximate to the OAR, the Warp method suggests contrary adaptation rules compared to the 2-Step method. In contrast to Warp, the 2-Step method approximates the behavior of a newly optimized plan and leads to better dose homogeneity in the clinical target volume (CTV) and the PTV, whilst simultaneously sparing the OAR. CONCLUSIONS: For minor changes associated with less steep dose gradients, both Warp and 2-Step methods are suitable. However, the 2-Step method should be preferred for more challenging cases, where steep dose gradients between the OAR and the concave PTV are needed. For considerable interfractional reductions of the gap between the OAR and the PTV, where especially steep dose gradients have to be generated, MU-preserving adaptation techniques are not adequate. In this case, narrower segments in the initial plan can be used to facilitate the adaptation. Otherwise, non-MU-preserving adaptation methods have to be applied. Further work is needed to include clinical cases with more complex geometries and expand the methods to IMRT techniques.