Program Information
A Quick Dose Calculation Check for Accuboost Breast Treatment
A Sen*, Cancer Treatment Center of America, Tulsa, OK
Presentations
SU-F-T-60 (Sunday, July 31, 2016) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose:Accuboost treatment planning uses dwell times from a nomogram designed with Monte Carlo calculations for round and D-shaped applicators. A quick dose calculation method has been developed for verification of the HDR Brachytherapy dose as a second check.
Methods:Accuboost breast treatment uses several round and D-shaped applicators to be used non-invasively with an Ir-192 source from a HDR Brachytherapy afterloader after the breast is compressed in a mammographic unit for localization. The breast thickness, source activity, the prescription dose and the applicator size are entered into a nomogram spreadsheet which gives the dwell times to be manually entered into the delivery computer. Approximating the HDR Ir-192 as a point source, and knowing the geometry of the round and D-applicators, the distances from the source positions to the midpoint of the central plane are calculated. Using the exposure constant of Ir-192 and medium as human tissue, the dose at a point is calculated as: D(cGy) = 1.254 x A x t/R2, where A is the activity in Ci, t is the dwell time in sec and R is the distance in cm. The dose from each dwell position is added to get the total dose.
Results:: Each fraction is delivered in two compressions: cranio-caudally and medial-laterally. A typical APBI treatment in 10 fractions requires 20 compressions. For a patient treated with D45 applicators and an average of 5.22 cm thickness, this calculation was 1.63 % higher than the prescription. For another patient using D53 applicators in the CC direction and 7 cm SDO applicators in the ML direction, this calculation was 1.31 % lower than the prescription.
Conclusion:This is a simple and quick method to double check the dose on the central plane for Accuboost treatment.
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