Purpose:Splenomegaly is a common manifestation in chronic lymphoid and myeloid malignancies. Although splenectomy is the preferred treatment for symptomatic splenomegaly, it carries significant risks. Radiation therapy (RT) has traditionally been considered a palliative option. This study explores the use of magnetic resonance guided radiation therapy(MRgRT) for splenic irradiation (SI) in patients with myelofibrosis (MFI) and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN). Methods:This single-center retrospective analysis includes patients with MFI and MDS/MPN who underwent MRgRT SI between 2018 and 2022. Ten 1 Gy fractions were delivered to the planning target volume (spleen + 3/5mm margin). An adaptive online/offline strategy has been used to reduce the dose to healthy organs. Dosimetric data and clinical outcomes, including pain relief, gastrointestinal symptoms, and hematological values, were assessed. Results:Twelve patients completed SI without interruption, with supportive transfusions as needed for cytopenias. Pain and gastrointestinal symptom relief was observed in most cases. The mean percentage reduction in spleen volume was 53.61%, with an average craniocaudal extension reduction of 77.78%. Twenty-nine (24.2%) of 120 fractions were online adapted, and 14 (11.7%) were replanned offline. Nonhematological toxicities were not reported. At a median follow-up of 12.9 months, 6 patients died, whereas 9 patients underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation, with 6 of them surviving. Conclusion:This study demonstrates MRgRT SI feasibility in MFI and MDS/MPN patients, offering symptom relief and significant spleen volume reduction. Real-time setup verification and adaptive planning allowed for tailored treatment with reduced margins, minimizing healthy tissue exposure. Larger prospective studies with longer follow-ups are needed to further validate its efficacy and safety.
Introduction: Advancements in MRI-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) enable clinical parallel workflows (CPW) for online adaptive planning (oART), allowing medical physicists (MPs), physicians (MDs), and radiation therapists (RTTs) to perform their tasks simultaneously. This study evaluates the impact of this upgrade on the total treatment time by analyzing each step of the current 0.35T-MRgRT workflow. Methods: The time process of the workflow steps for 254 treatment fractions in 0.35 MRgRT was examined. Patients have been grouped based on disease site, breathing modality (BM) (BHI or FB), and fractionation (stereotactic body RT [SBRT] or standard fractionated long course [LC]). The time spent for the following workflow steps in Adaptive Treatment (ADP) was analyzed: Patient Setup Time (PSt), MRI Acquisition and Matching (MRt), MR Re-contouring Time (RCt), Re-Planning Time (RPt), Treatment Delivery Time (TDt). Also analyzed was the timing of treatments that followed a Simple workflow (SMP), without the online re-planning (PSt + MRt + TDt.). Results: The time analysis revealed that the ADP workflow (median: 34 min) is significantly (p < 0.05) longer than the SMP workflow (19 min). The time required for ADP treatments is significantly influenced by TDt, constituting 40 % of the total time. The oART steps (RCt + RPt) took 11 min (median), representing 27 % of the entire procedure. Overall, 79.2 % of oART fractions were completed in less than 45 min, and 30.6 % were completed in less than 30 min. Conclusion: This preliminary analysis, along with the comparative assessment against existing literature, underscores the potential of CPW to diminish the overall treatment duration in MRgRT-oART. Additionally, it suggests the potential for CPW to promote a more integrated multidisciplinary approach in the execution of oART.
Introduction:Organ motion (OM) and volumetric changes pose challenges in radiotherapy (RT) for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). Magnetic Resonance-guided Radiotherapy (MRgRT) combines improved MRI contrast with adaptive RT plans for daily anatomical changes. Our goal was to analyze cervico-uterine structure (CUS) changes during RT to develop strategies for managing OM. Materials and methods:LACC patients received chemoradiation by MRIdian system with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) protocol. Prescription doses of 55-50.6 Gy at PTV1 and 45-39.6 Gy at PTV2 were given in 22 and 25 fractions. Daily MRI scans were co-registered with planning scans and CUS changes were assessed.Six PTVs were created by adding 0.5, 0.7, 1, 1.3, 1.5, and 2 cm margins to the CUS, based on the simulation MRI. Adequate margins were determined to include 95 % of the CUSs throughout the entire treatment in 95 % of patients. Results:Analysis of 15 LACC patients and 372 MR scans showed a 31 % median CUS volume decrease. Asymmetric margins of 2 cm cranially, 0.5 cm caudally, 1.5 cm posteriorly, 2 cm anteriorly, and 1.5 cm on both sides were optimal for PTV, adapting to CUS variations. Post-14th fraction, smaller margins of 0.7 cm cranially, 0.5 cm caudally, 1.3 cm posteriorly, 1.3 cm anteriorly, and 1.3 cm on both sides sufficed. Conclusion:CUS mobility varies during RT, suggesting reduced PTV margins after the third week. MRgRT with adaptive strategies optimizes dose delivery, emphasizing the importance of streamlined IGRT with reduced PTV margins using a tailored MRgRT workflow with hybrid MRI-guided systems.
Purpose: In radiotherapy it is often necessary to transfer a patient's DICOM (Digital Imaging and COmmunications in Medicine) dataset from one system to another for re-treatment, plan-summation or registration purposes. The aim of the study is to evaluate effects of dataset transfer between treatment planning systems. Materials and methods: Twenty-five patients treated in a 0.35T MR-Linac (MRidian, ViewRay) for locallyadvanced pancreatic cancer were enrolled. For each patient, a nominal dose distribution was optimized on the planning MRI. Each plan was daily re-optimized if needed to match the anatomy and exported from MRIdianTPS (ViewRay Inc.) to Eclipse-TPS (Siemens-Varian). A comparison between the two TPSs was performed considering the PTV and OARs volumes (cc), as well as dose coverages and clinical constraints. Results: From the twenty-five enrolled patients, 139 plans were included in the data comparison. The median values of percentage PTV volume variation are 10.8 % for each fraction, while percentage differences of PTV coverage have a mean value of -1.4 %. The median values of the percentage OARs volume variation are 16.0 %, 7.0 %, 10.4 % and 8.5 % for duodenum, stomach, small and large bowel, respectively. The percentage variations of the dose constraints are 41.0 %, 52.7 % and 49.8 % for duodenum, stomach and small bowel, respectively. Conclusions: This study has demonstrated a non-negligible variation in size and dosimetric parameters when datasets are transferred between TPSs. Such variations should be clinically considered. Investigations are focused on DICOM structure algorithm employed by the TPSs during the transfer to understand the cause of such variations.
BACKGROUND:The physical characterisation of FFF-beam profiles in the presence of a magnetic field requires a new standardization procedure and formulation.PURPOSE:The aim of this multicentric experience is to propose new normalisation factors to allow for the calculation of standard parameters typical of flattened beams, such as dosimetric field size and penumbra, for a 6 MV FFF beam from an MR-linac.METHODS:The measurements were carried out on three ViewRay-MRIdiansystems. An equal set of measurements was acquired using the same equipment. Transverse beam profiles were acquired at seven different depthsand for six beam dimensions.The inflection point was estimated as the position of the maximum of a Gaussian fit obtained from the first derivative of the profiles. The position of the minimum and maximum points of the second derivative of the above Gaussian described the fall-off region, and the external peaks of the third derivative were considered as the in-field and out-field points. The profile normalisation was determined by imposing a 55% dose level at the inflection point and the renormalisation factors were calculated.RESULTS:The position of the inflection point, and the second and third derivatives peaks were analysed,and the renormalisation factors as a function of field size and depth were determined. The values of the unflatness and the slope have been calculated for different depths and field sizes.CONCLUSION:This study represents the first multi-centric evaluation of the profiles on different low-field MR-Linac systems and theset of renormalisation parameters to analyse the FFF-beam on that system was effectively proposed.
Abstract Background Oligo-progression or further recurrence is an open issue in the multi-integrated management of oligometastatic disease (OMD). Re-irradiation with stereotactic body radiotherapy (re-SBRT) technique could represent a valuable treatment option to improve OMD clinical outcomes. MRI-guided allows real-time visualization of the target volumes and online adaptive radiotherapy (oART). The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity profile of MRI-guided repeated SBRT (MRIg-reSBRT) in the OMD setting and propose a re-SBRT classification. Methods We retrospectively analyzed patients (pts) with recurrent liver metastases or abdominal metastatic lesions between 1 and 5 centimeters from liver candidate to MRIg-reSBRT showing geometric overlap between the different SBRT courses and assessing whether they were in field (type 1) or not (type 2). Results Eighteen pts completed MRIg-reSBRT course for 25 metastatic hepatic/perihepatic lesions from July 2019 to January 2020. A total of 20 SBRT courses: 15 Type 1 re-SBRT (75%) and 5 Type 2 re-SBRT (25%) was delivered. Mean interval between the first SBRT and MRIg-reSBRT was 8,6 months. Mean prescribed dose for the first treatment was 43 Gy (range 24–50 Gy, mean BEDα/β10=93), while 41 Gy (range 16–50 Gy, mean BEDα/β10=92) for MRIg-reSBRT. Average liver dose was 3,9 Gy (range 1–10 Gy) and 3,7 Gy (range 1,6–8 Gy) for the first SBRT and MRIg-reSBRT, respectively. No acute or late toxicities were reported at a median follow-up of 10,7 months. The 1-year OS and PFS was 73,08% and 50%, respectively. Overall Clinical Benefit was 54%. Conclusions MRIg-reSBRT could be considered an effective and safe option in the multi-integrated treatment of OMD.
(1) Background: In 90Y-TARE treatments, lung-absorbed doses should be calculated according to the manufacturer’s instructions, using the MIRD-scheme. This scheme is derived from the assumption that 90Y-microspheres deliver the dose in a water-equivalent medium. Since the density of the lungs is quite different from that of the liver, the absorbed dose to the lungs could vary considerably, especially at the liver/lungs interface. The aim of this work is to compare the dosimetric results obtained by two dedicated software packages implementing a water-equivalent dose calculation and a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, respectively. (2) Methods: An anthropomorphic IEC phantom and a retrospective selection of 24 patients with a diagnosis of HCC were taken into account. In the phantom study, starting from a 90Y-PET/CT acquisition, the liver cavity was manually fixed with a uniform activity concentration on PET series, while the lung compartment was manually expanded on a CT series to simulate a realistic situation in which the liver and lungs are adjacent. These steps were performed by using MIM 90Y SurePlan. Then, a first simulation was carried out with only the liver cavity filled, while a second one was carried out, in which the lung compartment was also manually fixed with a uniform activity concentration corresponding to 10% lung shunt fraction. MIM 90Y SurePlan was used to obtain Voxel S-Value (VSV) approach dose values; instead, Torch was used to obtain MC approach dose values for both the phantom and the patients. (3) Results: In the phantom study, the percentage mean dose differences (∆D%) between VSV and MC in the first and second simulation, respectively were found to be 1.2 and 0.5% (absolute dose variation, ∆D, of 0.7 and 0.3 Gy) for the liver, −56 and 70% (∆D of −0.3 and −16.2 Gy) for the lungs, and −48 and −60% (∆D of −4.3 and −16.5 Gy) for the Liver/Lungs Edge region. The patient study reports similar results with ∆D% between VSV and MC of 7.0%, 4.1% and 6.7% for the whole liver, healthy liver, and tumor, respectively, while the result was −61.2% for the left lung and −61.1% for both the right lung and lungs. (4) Conclusion: Both VSV and MC allowed accurate radiation dose estimation with small differences (<7%) in regions of uniform water-equivalent density (i.e., within the liver). Larger differences between the two methods (>50%) were observed for air-equivalent regions in the phantom simulation and the patient study.
Stereotactic body radiotherapy is increasingly used for the treatment of oligometastatic disease. Magnetic resonance-guided stereotactic radiotherapy (MRgSBRT) offers the opportunity to perform dose escalation protocols while reducing the unnecessary irradiation of the surrounding organs at risk. The aim of this retrospective, monoinstitutional study is to evaluate the feasibility and clinical benefit (CB) of MRgSBRT in the setting of oligometastatic patients. Data from oligometastatic patients treated with MRgSBRT were collected. The primary objectives were to define the 12-month progression-free survival (PFS) and local progression-free survival (LPFS) and 24-month overall survival (OS) rate. The objective response rate (ORR) included complete response (CR) and partial response (PR). CB was defined as the achievement of ORR and stable disease (SD). Toxicities were also assessed according to the CTCAE version 5.0 scale. From February 2017 to March 2021, 59 consecutive patients with a total of 80 lesions were treated by MRgSBRT on a 0.35 T hybrid unit. CR and PR as well as SD were observed in 30 (37.5