Medical Dosimetry
Volume 32, Issue 3 , Pages 151-156, Autumn 2007

Monte Carlo Calculation of Rectal Dose When Using an Intrarectal Balloon During Prostate Radiation Therapy

  • Jun S. Song, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to: Dr. Jun S. Song, Ph.D., Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Biostatistics, Mail Stop LW225, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115.
    • ,
  • Laurence E. Court, Ph.D.
    • ,
  • Robert A. Cormack, Ph.D.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA

Received 6 November 2006; accepted 15 November 2006.

Abstract 

Air-filled intrarectal balloons can be used to localize and immobilize the prostate for radiation therapy, allowing dose escalation to the prostate and reducing the probability of radiation proctitis, but also introducing potentially significant heterogeneity. We compare the Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS) with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations for 5 patients to assess how well a conventional TPS includes the effect of the balloon on doses near the rectum. The MC results show that, for a 27-Gy prescription to the 95% isodose line, Eclipse overestimates the volume of the rectum receiving more than 26 Gy (96%) by 2∼10 cc and the volume of the rectum receiving between 12∼15 Gy by 10∼20 cc. Differential dose volume histograms are also computed and compared for individual fields in the anterior expansion of the rectum, and the TPS is again shown to predict higher mean dose in the region by 0.3∼1.0 Gy.

Key Words: Monte Carlo, DVH, Balloon, Prostate cancer

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PII: S0958-3947(06)00172-5

doi:10.1016/j.meddos.2006.11.002

Medical Dosimetry
Volume 32, Issue 3 , Pages 151-156, Autumn 2007

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