PURPOSE

To assess the dosimetric benefits of online MR-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) for esophageal cancer patients and to assess how these benefits could be translated into a local boosting strategy to improve future outcomes.

METHODS

Twenty-nine patients were in-silico treated with both a MRgRT regimen and a conventional image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) regimen using dose warping techniques. Here, the inter and intrafractional changes that occur over the course of treatment (as derived from 5 MRI scans that were acquired weekly during treatment) were incorporated to assess the total accumulated dose for each regimen.

RESULTS

A significant reduction in dose to the organs-at-risk (OARs) was observed for all dose-volume-histogram (DVH) parameters for the MRgRT regimen without concessions to target coverage compared to the IGRT regimen. The mean lung dose was reduced by 28%, from 7.9 to 5.7 Gy respectively and V20Gy of the lungs was reduced by 55% (6.3-2.8%). A reduction of 24% was seen in mean heart dose (14.8-11.2 Gy), while the V25Gy of the heart was decreased by 53% (14.3-6.7%) and the V40Gy of the heart was decreased by 69% (3.9-1.2%). In addition, MRgRT dose escalation regimens with a boost up to 66% of the prescription dose to the primary tumor yielded approximately the same dose levels to the OARs as from the conventional IGRT regimen.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed that MRgRT for esophageal cancer has the potential to significantly reduce the dose to heart and lungs. In addition, online high precision targeting of the primary tumor opens new perspectives for local boosting strategies to improve outcome of the local management of this disease.