Prospective Study to Quantify Expansion Volumes Around the Involved Pelvic Lymph Nodes to Plan Simultaneous Integrated Boost in Patients With Cervical Cancer Undergoing Pelvic Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy.

Abstract

This study aimed to calculate the expansion margins around enlarged pelvic lymph nodes to encompass internal motion and setup errors during intensity modulated radiation therapy with simultaneous integrated boost for cervical cancer. Four-dimensional computed tomography scans were obtained for 19 patients with cervical cancer, and 32 fluorodeoxyglucose-avid pelvic lymph nodes were delineated in different respiratory phases to calculate respiratory displacement. Setup variations during daily treatments were estimated from on-board imaging. Descriptive statistics were used to quantify the expansion margins using Mc Kenzie and Van Herk formulas separately. An analysis of variance was used to analyze the volumetric impact of the margins. Based on the McKenzie formula, an internal margin (internal target volume) of 3 mm and setup margin (planning target volume) of 5 mm was required to adequately encompass respiratory and setup uncertainties, respectively. Although the use of the Van Herk formula necessitated a single 6 mm expansion margin for all uncertainties, which resulted in a significant reduction in boost volume, inherent limitations in our methodology might pose a higher risk of target miss with such smaller margins. An isotropic expansion margin of 3 mm for the internal target volume and 5 mm for the planning target volume is necessary for enlarged pelvic lymph nodes while planning intensity modulated radiation therapy with simultaneous integrated boost for cervical cancer.