Exploring beamline momentum acceptance for tracking respiratory variability in lung cancer proton therapy: a simulation study

Abstract

Abstract Objective. Investigating the aspects of proton beam delivery to track organ motion with pencil beam scanning therapy. Considering current systems as a reference, specify requirements for next-generation units aiming at real-time image-guided treatments. Approach. Proton treatments for six non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were simulated using repeated 4DCTs to model respiratory motion variability. Energy corrections required for this treatment site were evaluated for different approaches to tumour tracking, focusing on the potential for energy adjustment within beamline momentum acceptance (dp/p). A respiration-synchronised tracking, taking into account realistic machine delivery limits, was compared to ideal tracking scenarios, in which unconstrained energy corrections are possible. Rescanning and the use of multiple fields to mitigate residual interplay effects and dose degradation have also been investigated. Main results. Energy correction requirements increased with motion amplitudes, for all patients and tracking scenarios. Higher dose degradation was found for larger motion amplitudes, rescanning has beneficial effects and helped to improve dosimetry metrics for the investigated limited dp/p of 1.2% (realistic) and 2.4%. The median differences between ideal and respiratory-synchronised tracking show minimal discrepancies, 1% and 5% respectively for dose coverage (CTV V95) and homogeneity (D5-D95). Multiple-field planning improves D5-D95 up to 50% in the most extreme cases while it does not show a significant effect on V95. Significance. This work shows the potential of implementing tumour tracking in current proton therapy units and outlines design requirements for future developments. Energy regulation within momentum acceptance was investigated to tracking tumour motion with respiratory-synchronisation, achieving results in line with the performance of ideal tracking scenarios. ±5% Δp/p would allow to compensate for all range offsets in our NSCLC patient cohort, including breathing variability. However, the realistic momentum of 1.2% dp/p representative of existing medical units limitations, has been shown to preserve plan quality.