Dose-Volume Constraints for Thoracic, Abdominal, and Pelvic Carbon Ion Radiotherapy: A Literature Review.

BACKGROUND

Applying dose-volume constraints is extremely important in ensuring the safe use of radiotherapy. However, constraints for carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) have not been established yet. This review aims to summarize dose-volume constraints for thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic CIRT that have been identified through previous research based on the Japanese models for relative biological effectiveness (RBE).

RESULTS

Constraints are reported for the lungs, liver, stomach, gastrointestinal tract, rectum, sigmoid, bladder, nerves, rib, femoral head, sacrum, and skin. The constraints are classified into hard and soft to aid in determining whether priority should be given to the target coverage or organ-at-risk (OAR) sparing during treatment planning.

CONCLUSIONS

Further research is necessary to verify the applicability of the reported constraints and to identify constraints for the OARs that have not been investigated yet.