Bone marrow-sparing intensity-modulated radiation therapy for Stage I seminoma

Abstract Background. A direct association between radiotherapy dose, side-effects and secondary cancers has been described in patients with seminoma. A treatment planning study was performed in order to compare computed tomography-based traditional radiotherapy (CT-tRT) versus bone marrow-sparing intensity-modulated radiation therapy (BMS-IMRT) in patients with Stage I seminoma. Material and methods. We optimized in 10 patients a CT-tRT and a BMS-IMRT treatment plan to deliver 20 Gy to the para-aortic nodes. CT-tRT and IMRT consisted of anteroposterior-posterioranterior parallel-opposed and seven non-opposed coplanar fields using 16 and 6-MV photon energies, respectively. Dose-Volume Histograms for clinical target volume (CTV), planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) were compared for both techniques using Wilcoxon matched-pair signed rank-test. Results. Dmean to CTV and PTV were similar for both techniques, even if CT-tRT showed a slightly improved target coverage in terms of PTV-D95% (19.7 vs. 19.5 Gy, p = 0.005) and PTV-V95% (100 vs. 99.7%, p = 0.011) compared to BMS-IMRT. BMS-IMRT resulted in a significant reduction (5.2 Gy, p = 0.005) in the Dmean to the active bone marrow (ABM). The V100% and V75% of the OARs were reduced with BMS-IMRT by: ABM-V100% = 51.7% and ABM-V75% = 42.3%; bowel-V100% = 15.7% and bowel-V75% = 16.8%; stomach-V100% = 22% and stomach-V75% = 27.7%; pancreas-V100% = 37.1% and pancreas-V75% = 35.9% (p = 0.005 for all variables). Conclusions. BMS-IMRT reduces markedly the dose to the OARs compared to CT-tRT. This should translate into a reduction in acute and long-term toxicity, as well as into the risk of secondary solid and hematological cancers.