Developing and validating a bi-polar gated respiratory motion management strategy for improved lung stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment

Background

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an effective treatment for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. However, patient breathing can affect treatment accuracy. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a bi-polar (BP) gated motion management strategy for SBRT and evaluate its feasibility geometrically and dosimetrically.

Methods

The BP strategy involved instructing patients to hold their breath briefly at the end of both inhalation (EI) and exhalation (EE), with radiation delivered only during these breath-holding periods. Eight volunteers were included to evaluate breathing stability, repeatability, and patient comfort. Additionally, 15 patients were retrospectively studied to evaluate the geometric and dosimetric efficiency of BP in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) modes. BP plans were compared with four common breathing strategies: free breathing (FB), gating at the end of inhalation (GI), gating at the end of exhalation (GE), and real-time tracking (RT).

Results

Volunteers could comfortably hold their breath for >3 minutes, demonstrating good stability and repeatability. Geometrically, the ratio of BP's internal target volume (ITV) to GI's ITV was the smallest at 0.65, compared to 1.89 for FB, 1.05 for GE, and 0.68 for RT. In the dosimetric evaluation of IMRT plans, the lung V_20Gy ratio for BP to GI was the smallest at 0.89. Similar trends were observed for VMAT plans.

Conclusions

The BP strategy is a feasible option for lung SBRT, offering reduced treatment volumes and normal tissue toxicity, with a high duty cycle and less technical complexity than other RT-based methods.