Physics in medicine and biology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A feasibility study of using conventional jaws to deliver IMRT plans in the treatment of prostate cancer.
The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using conventional jaws to deliver inverse planned intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans for patients with prostate cancer. For ten patients, each had one three-dimensional conformal plan (3D plan) and seven inverse IMRT plans using direct aperture optimization. For IMRT plans using conventional jaws (JO plans), the number of apertures per beam angle was set from two to seven while three apertures per beam angle were set for the multi-leaf collimator (MLC) plans. ⋯ Based on the average DVHs, no difference was found among 3D, JO-4A and MLC plans with regard to the planning target volume and rectum, but the DVHs for the bladder and penile bulb were significantly better with inverse IMRT plans than those with 3D plans. When compared with the plan conformity, the average COIN values for 3D, JO-4A and MLC plans were 0.61 +/- 0.07, 0.73 +/- 0.05 and 0.83 +/- 0.05, respectively. In conclusion, inverse IMRT plans using conventional jaws are clinically feasible, achieving better plan quality than 3D-CRT plans.