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Multicenter Study
. 2017 Oct;193(10):780-790.
doi: 10.1007/s00066-017-1151-8. Epub 2017 May 31.

Planning benchmark study for SBRT of early stage NSCLC : Results of the DEGRO Working Group Stereotactic Radiotherapy

Christos Moustakis  1   2 , Oliver Blanck  3   4 , Fatemeh Ebrahimi Tazehmahalleh  5   6 , Mark Ka Heng Chan  3 , Iris Ernst  5   7 , Thomas Krieger  8 , Marciana-Nona Duma  9 , Markus Oechsner  9 , Ute Ganswindt  10 , Christian Heinz  10 , Horst Alheit  11 , Hilbert Blank  11 , Ursula Nestle  12 , Rolf Wiehle  12 , Christine Kornhuber  13 , Christian Ostheimer  13 , Cordula Petersen  14 , Gerhard Pollul  15 , Wolfgang Baus  16 , Georg Altenstein  16 , Eric Beckers  17 , Katrin Jurianz  17 , Florian Sterzing  18 , Matthias Kretschmer  19 , Heinrich Seegenschmiedt  20 , Torsten Maass  20 , Stefan Droege  21 , Ulrich Wolf  22 , Juergen Schoeffler  23 , Uwe Haverkamp  5   7 , Hans Theodor Eich  5   7 , Matthias Guckenberger  24
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Planning benchmark study for SBRT of early stage NSCLC : Results of the DEGRO Working Group Stereotactic Radiotherapy

Christos Moustakis et al. Strahlenther Onkol. 2017 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim was to evaluate stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatment planning variability for early stage nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with respect to the published guidelines of the Stereotactic Radiotherapy Working Group of the German Society for Radiation Oncology (DEGRO).

Materials and methods: Planning computed tomography (CT) scan and the structure sets (planning target volume, PTV; organs at risk, OARs) of 3 patients with early stage NSCLC were sent to 22 radiotherapy departments with SBRT experience: each department was asked to prepare a treatment plan according to the DEGRO guidelines. The prescription dose was 3 fractions of 15 Gy to the 65% isodose.

Results: In all, 87 plans were generated: 36 used intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT), 21 used three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT), 6 used static field intensity-modulated radiation therapy (SF-IMRT), 9 used helical radiotherapy and 15 used robotic radiosurgery. PTV dose coverage and simultaneously kept OARs doses were within the clinical limits published in the DEGRO guidelines. However, mean PTV dose (mean 58.0 Gy, range 52.8-66.4 Gy) and dose conformity indices (mean 0.75, range 0.60-1.00) varied between institutions and techniques (p ≤ 0.02). OARs doses varied substantially between institutions, but appeared to be technique independent (p = 0.21).

Conclusion: All studied treatment techniques are well suited for SBRT of early stage NSCLC according to the DEGRO guidelines. Homogenization of SBRT practice in Germany is possible through the guidelines; however, detailed treatment plan characteristics varied between techniques and institutions and further homogenization is warranted in future studies and recommendations. Optimized treatment planning should always follow the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle.

Keywords: Nonsmall cell lung cancer; Organs at risk; Planning benchmark study; Quality assurance; Stereotactic radiation therapy.

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Comment in

  • Time for crowd knowledge-based approach in SBRT planning.
    Mancosu P, Esposito M, Giglioli F, Stasi M; Italian medical physicist SBRT working group. Mancosu P, et al. Strahlenther Onkol. 2017 Dec;193(12):1066-1067. doi: 10.1007/s00066-017-1214-x. Epub 2017 Sep 13. Strahlenther Onkol. 2017. PMID: 28905198 English. No abstract available.
  • Time for standardization of SBRT planning through large scale clinical data and guideline-based approaches.
    Moustakis C, Blanck O, Ebrahimi F, Ka Heng Chan M, Ernst I, Krieger T, Duma MN, Oechsner M, Ganswindt U, Heinz C, Alheit H, Blank H, Nestle U, Wiehle R, Kornhuber C, Ostheimer C, Petersen C, Pollul G, Baus W, Altenstein G, Beckers E, Jurianz K, Sterzing F, Kretschmer M, Seegenschmiedt H, Maass T, Droege S, Wolf U, Schoeffler J, Haverkamp U, Eich H, Guckenberger M. Moustakis C, et al. Strahlenther Onkol. 2017 Dec;193(12):1068-1069. doi: 10.1007/s00066-017-1216-8. Epub 2017 Sep 15. Strahlenther Onkol. 2017. PMID: 28916902 English. No abstract available.

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