A Dosimetric Evaluation of VMAT versus IMRT for Unilateral Lung Cancer Treatment
Abstract
Background: A very effective treatment for lung cancer is radiation therapy. The goal of this study was to find a better way to treat lung cancer with radiation, and it did so by combining three different types of radiation: conventional radiation treatment, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).
Patients and methods: Thirty people with a diagnosis of unilateral lung cancer participated in this study. Patients were treated using ELEKTA's linear accelerator with 6 MV or 10 MV energy x-ray photon beams. To plan their therapies, the patients underwent a CT simulation using MONACO version 5.1.
Results: In the comparison of VMAT with IMRT, the former demonstrates superiority in several aspects, including enhanced protection of the heart and spinal cord, reduced segments and monitoring units, and more comprehensive coverage of the projected target volume (PTV).
Conclusion: VMAT demonstrates superior results compared to IMRT in administering radiation to lung tumors while preserving the heart and spinal cord.
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