What is plan quality in radiotherapy? The importance of evaluating dose metrics, complexity, and robustness of treatment plans


Por: Hernandez, V, Hansen, CR, Widesott, L, Back, A, Canters, R, Fusella, M, Gotstedt, J, Jurado-Bruggeman, D, Mukumoto, N, Kaplan, LP, Koniarova, I, Piotrowski, T, Placidi, L, Vaniqui, A, Jornet, N

Publicada: 1 dic 2020
Resumen:
Plan evaluation is a key step in the radiotherapy treatment workflow. Central to this step is the assessment of treatment plan quality. Hence, it is important to agree on what we mean by plan quality and to be fully aware of which parameters it depends on. We understand plan quality in radiotherapy as the clinical suitability of the delivered dose distribution that can be realistically expected from a treatment plan. Plan quality is commonly assessed by evaluating the dose distribution calculated by the treatment planning system (TPS). Evaluating the 3D dose distribution is not easy, however; it is hard to fully evaluate its spatial characteristics and we still lack the knowledge for personalising the prediction of the clinical outcome based on individual patient characteristics. This advocates for standardisation and systematic collection of clinical data and outcomes after radiotherapy. Additionally, the calculated dose distribution is not exactly the dose delivered to the patient due to uncertainties in the dose calculation and the treatment delivery, including variations in the patient set-up and anatomy. Consequently, plan quality also depends on the robustness and complexity of the treatment plan. We believe that future work and consensus on the best metrics for quality indices are required. Better tools are needed in TPSs for the evaluation of dose distributions, for the robust evaluation and optimisation of treatment plans, and for controlling and reporting plan complexity. Implementation of such tools and a better understanding of these concepts will facilitate the handling of these characteristics in clinical practice and be helpful to increase the overall quality of treatment plans in radiotherapy. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Filiaciones:
Hernandez, V:
 Hosp St Joan de Reus, IISPV, Dept Med Phys, Tarragona, Spain

Hansen, CR:
 Odense Univ Hosp, Lab Radiat Phys, Odense, Denmark

 Univ Southern Denmark, Inst Clin Res, Odense, Denmark

 Aarhus Univ Hosp, Danish Ctr Particle Therapy, Aarhus, Denmark

Widesott, L:
 APSS, Ctr Protonterapia, Trento, Italy

Back, A:
 Sahlgrens Univ Hosp, Dept Therapeut Radiat Phys Med Phys & Biomed Engn, Gothenburg, Sweden

 Univ Gothenburg, Inst Clin Sci, Dept Radiat Phys, Sahlgrenska Acad, Gothenburg, Sweden

Canters, R:
 Maastricht Univ, GROW Sch Oncol, Dept Radiat Oncol Maastro, Med Ctr, Maastricht, Netherlands

Fusella, M:
 Veneto Inst Oncol IOV IRCCS, Med Phys Dept, Padua, Italy

Gotstedt, J:
 Univ Gothenburg, Dept Radiat Phys, Gothenburg, Sweden

Jurado-Bruggeman, D:
 Inst Catala Oncol, Med Phys & Radiat Protect Dept, Girona, Spain

Mukumoto, N:
 Kyoto Univ, Grad Sch Med, Dept Radiat Oncol & Image Appl Therapy, Kyoto, Japan

Kaplan, LP:
 Aarhus Univ Hosp, Dept Oncol, Aarhus, Denmark

Koniarova, I:
 Natl Radiat Protect Inst, Prague, Czech Republic

Piotrowski, T:
 Poznan Univ Med Sci, Dept Electroradiol, Poznan, Poland

 Greater Poland Canc Ctr, Dept Med Phys, Poznan, Poland

Placidi, L:
 Fdn Policlin Univ A Gemelli IRCCS, Dipartimento Diagnost Immagini Radioterapia Oncol, UOC Radioterapia Oncol, Rome, Italy

Vaniqui, A:
 Maastricht Univ, GROW Sch Oncol, Dept Radiat Oncol Maastro, Med Ctr, Maastricht, Netherlands

Jornet, N:
 Hosp Santa Creu & Sant Pau, Serv Radiofis & Radioproteccio, Barcelona, Spain
ISSN: 01678140





RADIOTHERAPY AND ONCOLOGY
Editorial
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD, ELSEVIER HOUSE, BROOKVALE PLAZA, EAST PARK SHANNON, CO, CLARE, 00000, IRELAND, Países Bajos
Tipo de documento: Article
Volumen: 153 Número:
Páginas: 26-33
WOS Id: 000600731700005
ID de PubMed: 32987045
imagen Green Published, Hybrid Gold

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