Comparison between Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (۳DCRT) and Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for Radiotherapy of Cervical Carcinoma: A Heterogeneous Phantom Study

Background: Radiotherapy plays a major role in the treatment of the cervical cancer.Objective: Dosimetric comparison of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (۳DCRT) in cervical cancer treatment was performed by modifying the beams arrangements to achieve better organ at risk (OAR) sparing.Material and Methods: The analytical evaluation study was made by modifying the IMRT plan, subtracting the rectal volume from planning target volume (PTV), and applying the field-in-field technique in ۳DCRT. Eight patients in various cervical cancer stages, from I‒III, were inducted for this investigation. The prescribed dose was ۵۰۰۰ cGy in ۲۵ fractions. For all cases, both IMRT and ۳DCRT plans were generated. For PTV and OARs, dose volume histogram (DVH) comparative analysis was carried out. For safety checks and quality control, pre-treatment verification of all the plans was performed using an indigenously developed pelvic phantom (for IMRT and ۳DCRT) and gamma analysis with Delta۴ phantom (for IMRT).Results: This study indicated that IMRT can treat cervical cancer more efficiently with less damage to OARs as compare to ۳DCRT. Conclusion: In this study, we observe that the IMRT plans with subtracting rectal volume achieve better OAR sparing.

Keywords:

Intensity-modulated , Radiotherapy , Conformal , Phantoms , Imaging , Homogeneity Index , Conformity Index