A survey of practice patterns for adaptive particle therapy for interfractional changes

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Petra Trnkova - , Medical University of Vienna (Author)
  • Ye Zhang - , Paul Scherrer Institute (Author)
  • Toshiyuki Toshito - , Nagoya City University (Author)
  • Ben Heijmen - , Erasmus University Rotterdam (Author)
  • Christian Richter - , OncoRay ZIC - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology (Partners: UKD, HZDR), Department of Radiation Oncology, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Author)
  • Marianne C. Aznar - , University of Manchester (Author)
  • Francesca Albertini - , Paul Scherrer Institute (Author)
  • Alessandra Bolsi - , Paul Scherrer Institute (Author)
  • Juliane Daartz - , Harvard University (Author)
  • Antje C. Knopf - , Paul Scherrer Institute, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (Author)
  • Jenny Bertholet - , University of Bern (Author)

Abstract

Background and purpose: Anatomical changes may compromise the planned target coverage and organs-at-risk dose in particle therapy. This study reports on the practice patterns for adaptive particle therapy (APT) to evaluate current clinical practice and wishes and barriers to further implementation. Materials and methods: An institutional questionnaire was distributed to PT centres worldwide (7/2020–6/2021) asking which type of APT was used, details of the workflow, and what the wishes and barriers to implementation were. Seventy centres from 17 countries participated. A three-round Delphi consensus analysis (10/2022) among the authors followed to define recommendations on required actions and future vision. Results: Out of the 68 clinically operational centres, 84% were users of APT for at least one treatment site with head and neck being most common. APT was mostly performed offline with only two online APT users (plan-library). No centre used online daily re-planning. Daily 3D imaging was used for APT by 19% of users. Sixty-eight percent of users had plans to increase their use or change their technique for APT. The main barrier was “lack of integrated and efficient workflows”. Automation and speed, reliable dose deformation for dose accumulation and higher quality of in-room volumetric imaging were identified as the most urgent task for clinical implementation of online daily APT. Conclusion: Offline APT was implemented by the majority of PT centres. Joint efforts between industry research and clinics are needed to translate innovations into efficient and clinically feasible workflows for broad-scale implementation of online APT.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number100442
JournalPhysics and imaging in radiation oncology
Volume26
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-4261-4214/work/146644857

Keywords

Keywords

  • Adaptive radiotherapy (ART), Adaptive treatment planning, Image guided particle therapy, Interfraction anatomical variation, Particle/proton therapy