A comparative treatment planning study of intensity modulated radiotherapy and 3-D conformal radiotherapy for head & neck cancer

2nd International Conference on Radiation and Dosimetry in Various Fields of Research, RAD 2014 --27 May 2014 through 30 May 2014 -- --The purpose of this study was to investigate the main differences and the advantages of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) in comparison to 3D Conformal Radiotherapy (3DCRT) for head&neck (h&n) patients. In this work, treatment plans of 20 h&n patients treated between 01.01.2011 - 01.01.2012 in Radiation Oncology Department at Cukurova University were prepared for both two treatment techniques and compared statistically. Target volumes described by radiation oncologists were classified according to the taken doses and the defined area planning target volume (PTV) as PTV1, PTV2 and PTV3. Dose values of minimum, maximum and V95% of the target volumes were determined as percentage for each specific definitions and the dose values of organ at risk (OAR) were determined as Gray (Gy). Each result for these two techniques was compared in Eclipse Treatment Planning System (TPS) and the results were discussed according to the p values with using Student's t-test. Additionally, factor of Compatibility Index (Conformity Index, CI) was used to determine the extent which high dose region was compatible with PTV. Radiotherapy compatibility index is a very useful method to quantitatively determine the quality of radiotherapy treatment plans and to show the relationship between isodose distributions and the target volume. © 2014 RAD Conference Proceedings. All rights reserved