Poster — Thur Eve — 62: A Retrospective Assessment of the Prevalence and Dosimetric Effect of Lateral Electron Disequilibrium in a Population of Lung Cancer Patients Treated by Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) is a treatment option for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). SBRT uses tightly conformed megavoltage (MV) x-ray beams to ablate the tumour. However, small MV x-ray fields may produce lateral electron disequilibrium (LED) within lung tissue, which can reduce the dose to tumour. The goal of this work is to estimate the prevalence of LED in NSCLC patients treated with SBRT, and determine dose effects for patients prone or averse to LED. Thirty NSCLC patients were randomly selected for analysis. 4-dimensional CT lung images were segmented into the right and left upper and lower lobes (RUL, RLL, LUL, LLL), and the right middle lobe. Dose calculations were performed using volume-modulated arc therapy in the Pinnacle3 TPS. Most tumours were located in the upper lobes (RUL 53%, LUL 27%) where density was significantly lower (RUL −808±46 HU vs. RLL −743±71 HU; LUL −808 ±56 HU vs. LLL −746±70 HU; p<0.001). In general, the prevalence of LED increased with higher beam energy. Using 6MV photons, patients with a RUL tumour experienced moderate (81 %), and mild (19%) levels of LED. At 18MV, LED became more prominent with severe (50%) and moderate (50%) LED exhibited. Dosimetrically, for patients prone to LED, poorer target coverage (i.e. increased R100 by 20%) and improved lung sparing (i.e. reduced V20 by −46%) was observed. The common location of lung cancers in the upper lobes, coupled with lower lung density, results in the potential occurrence of LED, which may underdose the tumour.