Department of Radiotherapy and Radiooncology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany,
Strahlenther Onkol. 2014 Oct;190(10):950-6. doi: 10.1007/s00066-014-0615-3. Epub 2014 Mar 22.
The technical progress in radiotherapy in recent years has been tremendous. This also implies a change of human and time resources. However, there is a lack of data on this topic. Therefore, the DEGRO initiated several studies in the QUIRO project on this subject. The present publication focuses on results for tomotherapy systems and compares them with other IMRT techniques.
Over a period of several months, time allocation was documented using a standard form at two university hospitals. The required time for individual steps in the treatment planning process was recorded for all involved professional groups (physicist, technician, and physician) by themselves. The time monitoring at the treatment machines was performed by auxiliary employees (student research assistants). Evaluation of the data was performed for all recorded data as well as by tumor site. A comparison was made between the two involved institutions.
A total of 1,691 records were analyzed: 148 from head and neck (H&N) tumors, 460 from prostate cancer, 136 from breast cancer, and 947 from other tumor entities. The mean value of all data from both centers for the definition of the target volumes for H&N tumors took a radiation oncology specialist 75 min, while a physicist needed for the physical treatment planning 214 min. For prostate carcinomas, the times were 60 and 147 min, respectively, and for the group of other entities 63 and 192 min, respectively. For the first radiation treatment, the occupancy time of the linear accelerator room was 31, 26, and 30 min for each entity (H&N, prostate, other entities, respectively). For routine treatments 22, 18, and 21 min were needed for the particular entities. Major differences in the time required for the individual steps were observed between the two centers.
This study gives an overview of the time and personnel requirements in radiation therapy using a tomotherapy system. The most representative analysis could be done for the room occupancy times during treatment in both centers. Due to the partly small amount of data and differing planning workflows between the two centers, it is problematic to draw a firm conclusion with regard to planning times. Overall, the time required for the tomotherapy treatment and planning is slightly higher compared to other IMRT techniques.
近年来，放射治疗技术取得了巨大的进步。这也意味着人力和时间资源的变化。然而，关于这个话题的数据却很缺乏。因此，德国肿瘤放射治疗学会（DEGRO）在 QUIRO 项目中启动了几项相关研究。本出版物重点介绍了适形调强放疗（tomotherapy）系统的结果，并将其与其他调强放疗技术进行了比较。
在几个月的时间里，我们在两家大学医院使用标准表格记录了时间分配情况。所有参与专业人员（物理学家、技术员和医生）都自行记录了治疗计划过程中各个步骤所需的时间。治疗机的时间监测由辅助员工（学生研究助理）完成。我们对所有记录的数据以及按肿瘤部位进行了评估。对两所参与机构的数据进行了比较。
共分析了 1691 份记录：头颈部肿瘤 148 份，前列腺癌 460 份，乳腺癌 136 份，其他肿瘤实体 947 份。来自两个中心的所有数据的平均值为，头颈部肿瘤的靶区定义需要放射肿瘤学专家 75 分钟，而物理治疗计划需要物理学家 214 分钟。前列腺癌分别需要 60 分钟和 147 分钟，其他实体组分别需要 63 分钟和 192 分钟。对于第一次放射治疗，线性加速器室的占用时间分别为每个实体 31、26 和 30 分钟（头颈部、前列腺、其他实体，分别）。对于常规治疗，每个实体需要 22、18 和 21 分钟。在两个中心之间，观察到个别步骤所需时间存在较大差异。
本研究概述了使用适形调强放疗系统进行放射治疗的时间和人员需求。可以对两个中心的治疗过程中的房间占用时间进行最具代表性的分析。由于两个中心的数据量部分较小，且计划工作流程不同，因此难以就规划时间得出明确的结论。总体而言，与其他调强放疗技术相比，适形调强放疗治疗和计划所需的时间略高。
