The Effect of Beam Energy on the Quality of IMRT Plans for Prostate Conformal Radiotherapy

Three dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) for prostate cancer is most commonly delivered with high-energy photons, typically in the range of 10–21 MV. With the advent of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), an increase in the number of monitor units (MU) relative to 3DCRT has lead to a concern about secondary malignancies. This risk becomes more relevant at higher photon energies where there is a greater neutron contribution. Subsequently, the majority of IMRT prostate treatments being delivered today are with 6–10 MV photons where neutron production is negligible. However, the absolute risk is small [Hall, E. J. Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, Protons, and the Risk of Second Cancers. Int J Radiat Oncol Bio Phys 65, 1–7 (2006); Kry, F. S., Salehpour, M., Followill, D. S., Stovall, M., Kuban, D. A., White, R. A., and Rosen, I. I. The Calculated Risk of Fatal Secondary Malignancies From Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Bio Phys 62, 1195–1203 (2005).] and therefore it has been suggested that the use of an 18MV IMRT may achieve better target coverage and normal tissue sparing such that this benefit outweighs the risks. This paper investigates whether 18MV IMRT offer better target coverage and normal tissue sparing. Computed Tomography (CT) image sets of ten prostate cancer patients were acquired and two separate IMRT plans were created for each patient. One plan used 6 MV beams, and the other used 18 MV, both in a coplanar, non-opposed beam geometry. Beam arrangements and optimization constraints were the same for all plans. This work includes a comparison and discussion of the total integral dose, neutron dose conformity index, and total number of MU for plans generated with both energies.