UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Quantification of the uncertainties within the radiotherapy dosimetry chain and their impact on tumour control

Bolt, M; Clark, CH; Nisbet, A; Chen, T; (2021) Quantification of the uncertainties within the radiotherapy dosimetry chain and their impact on tumour control. Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology , 19 pp. 33-38. 10.1016/j.phro.2021.06.004. Green open access

[thumbnail of 1-s2.0-S240563162100035X-main.pdf]
Preview
Text
1-s2.0-S240563162100035X-main.pdf - Published Version

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Dose delivered during radiotherapy has uncertainty arising from a number of sources including machine calibration, treatment planning and delivery and can impact outcomes. Any systematic uncertainties will impact all patients and can continue for extended periods. The impact on tumour control probability (TCP) of the uncertainties within the radiotherapy calibration process has been assessed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The linear-quadratic model was used to simulate the TCP from two prostate cancer and a head and neck (H&N) clinical trial. The uncertainty was separated into four components; 1) initial calibration, 2) systematic shift due to output drift, 3) drift during treatment and 4) daily fluctuations. Simulations were performed for each clinical case to model the variation in TCP present at the end of treatment arising from the different components. RESULTS: Overall uncertainty in delivered dose was +/−2.1% (95% confidence interval (CI)), consisting of uncertainty standard deviations of 0.7% in initial calibration, 0.8% due to subsequent calibration shift due to output drift, 0.1% due to drift during treatment, and 0.2% from daily variations. The overall uncertainty of TCP (95% CI) for a population of patients treated on different machines was +/−3%, +/−5%, and +/−3% for simulations based on the two prostate trials and H&N trial respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The greatest variation in delivered target volume dose arose from calibration shift due to output drift. Careful monitoring of beam output following initial calibration remains vital and may have a significant impact on clinical outcomes.

Type: Article
Title: Quantification of the uncertainties within the radiotherapy dosimetry chain and their impact on tumour control
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.phro.2021.06.004
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phro.2021.06.004
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Society of Radiotherapy & Oncology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords: Radiotherapy Radiotherapy Planning Intensity-modulated radiotherapy, Conformal radiotherapy, Quality control, Radiation dose-response relationship, Radiobiology, Radiotherapy dosage
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Med Phys and Biomedical Eng
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10130782
Downloads since deposit
49Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item