Dose assessment in moving targets and organs at risk during carbon ion therapy for pancreatic cancer with respiratory gating

Abstract

Background and purpose

Carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) has demonstrated promising treatment outcomes for pancreatic cancer. However, breathing-induced organ motion can compromise the efficacy of the treatment, leading to under- or over-dosage within the target and organs at risk (OARs). In this work, the dose during CIRT was simultaneously measured at the target and OARs using an anthropomorphic phantom to evaluate the effectiveness of respiratory gating for compensating breathing motion.

Materials and methods

The Pancreas Phantom for Ion beam Therapy (PPIeT) was irradiated with carbon ions. The phantom features a pancreas with a virtual tumour and OARs including a duodenum, kidneys, a spine and a spinal cord. Breathing-induced organ motion was imitated with amplitudes of 0 mm (control), 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm while irradiating with and without gating. Dose measurements were performed using an ionisation chamber and passive detectors.

Results

The prescribed uniform dose of 1.37 Gy in the virtual tumour was experimentally validated for the control. Breathing-induced motion of 20 mm led to a 75 % dose coverage at the target improving to 91 % with gating. For the OARs, the mean dose varied according to the organ, with gating showing no significant differences.

Conclusions

Accurate CIRT dosimetry with variable breathing-induced motions can be conducted with PPIeT for a pancreatic tumour and the OARs. Gating mitigated the effects of breathing-induced motion in the tumour.