Quantification of prostate and seminal vesicle interfraction variation during IMRT.

PURPOSE

To quantify the interfraction variability in prostate and seminal vesicle (SV) positions during a course of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) using an integrated computed tomography (CT)-linear accelerator system and to assess the impact of rectal and bladder volume changes.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

We studied 15 patients who had undergone IMRT for prostate carcinoma. Patients had one pretreatment planning CT scan followed by three in-room CT scans per week using a CT-on-rails system. The prostate, bladder, rectum, and pelvic bony anatomy were contoured in 369 CT scans. Using the planning CT scan as a reference, the volumetric and positional changes were analyzed in the subsequent CT scans.

RESULTS

For all 15 patients, the mean systematic internal prostate and SV variation was 0.1 +/- 4.1 mm and 1.2 +/- 7.3 mm in the anteroposterior axis, -0.5 +/- 2.9 mm and -0.7 +/- 4.5 mm in the superoinferior axis, and 0.2 +/- 0.9 mm and -0.9 +/- 1.9 mm in the lateral axis, respectively. The mean magnitude of the three-dimensional displacement vector was 4.6 +/- 3.5 mm for the prostate and 7.6 +/- 4.7 mm for the SVs. The rectal and bladder volume changes during treatment correlated with the anterior and superior displacement of the prostate and SVs.

CONCLUSION

The dominant prostate and SV variations occurred in the anteroposterior and superoinferior directions. The systematic prostate and SV variation between the treatment planning CT and daily therapy as a result of the rectal and bladder volume changes emphasizes the need for daily directed target localization and/or immobilization techniques.