Treating locally advanced lung cancer with a 1.5 T MR-Linac – Effects of the magnetic field and irradiation geometry on conventionally fractionated and isotoxic dose-escalated radiotherapy

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates the feasibility and potential benefits of radiotherapy with a 1.5 T MR-Linac for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA NSCLC) patients.
Material and methods: Ten patients with LA NSCLC were retrospectively re-planned six times: three treatment plans were created according to a protocol for conventionally fractionated radiotherapy and three treatment plans following guidelines for isotoxic target dose escalation. In each case, two plans were designed for the MR-Linac, either with standard (~7 mm) or reduced (~3 mm) planning target volume (PTV) margins, while one conventional linac plan was created with standard margins. Treatment plan quality was evaluated using dose–volume metrics or by quantifying dose escalation potential.
Results: All generated treatment plans fulfilled their respective planning constraints. For conventionally fractionated treatments, MR-Linac plans with standard margins had slightly increased skin dose when compared to conventional linac plans. Using reduced margins alleviated this issue and decreased exposure of several other organs-at-risk (OAR). Reduced margins also enabled increased isotoxic target dose escalation.
Conclusions: It is feasible to generate treatment plans for LA NSCLC patients on a 1.5 T MR-Linac. Margin reduction, facilitated by an envisioned MRI-guided workflow, enables increased OAR sparing and isotoxic target dose escalation for the respective treatment approaches.