Abstract
Purpose: The purpose was to evaluate impact of heterogeneity corrections on dose distributions for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the lung.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted with the treatment plans of 28 cases in which we performed SBRT for solitary lung tumors with 48 Gy in 12-Gy fractions at the isocenter. The treatment plans were recalculated under three conditions of heterogeneity correction as follows: pencil beam convolution with Batho power law correction (PBC-BPL), pencil beam convolution with no correction (PBC-NC), and anisotropic analytical algorithm with heterogeneity correction (AAA). Dose-volumetric data were compared among the three conditions.
Results: Heterogeneity corrections had a significant impact on all dose-volumetric parameters. Means of isocenter dose were 48.0 Gy, 44.6 Gy, and 48.4 Gy in PBC-BPL, PBC-NC, and AAA, respectively. PTV D95 were 45.2 Gy, 41.1 Gy, and 42.1 Gy, and V20 of the lung were 4.1%, 3.7%, and 3.9%, respectively.
Conclusion: Significant differences in dose distribution were observed among heterogeneity corrections. Attention needs to be paid to the differences.
