A mathematical programming approach to the fractionation problem in chemoradiotherapy

Abstract

In concurrent chemoradiotherapy, chemotherapeutic agents are administered during the course of radiotherapy to enhance the primary tumor control. However, this treatment often comes at the expense of increased risk of normal-tissue complications. The additional biological damage is mainly attributed to two mechanisms of action, which are the independent cytotoxic activity of chemotherapeutic agents and their interactive cooperation with radiation. The goal of this study is to develop a mathematical framework to obtain drug and radiation administration schedules that maximize the therapeutic gain for concurrent chemoradiotherapy. In particular, we analyze the impact of incorporating these two mechanisms into the radiation fractionation problem. Considering each mechanism individually, we first derive closed-form expressions for the optimal radiation fractionation regimen and the corresponding drug administration schedule. We next study the case in which both mechanisms are simultaneously present and develop a dynamic programming framework to determine optimal treatment regimens. Results show that those chemotherapeutic agents that interact with radiation may change optimal radiation fractionation regimens. Moreover, administration of chemotherapeutic agents possessing both mechanisms may give rise to optimal non-stationary fractionation schemes.