Highlights
- •The current status of SBRT technology and QA in Italy has been surveyed.
- •The most available delivery system for SBRT was linac with VMAT modality.
- •CBCT was the most used IGRT technique.
- •40% of centers adopted respiratory motion management during treatment delivery.
- •This survey is a first step towards the harmonization in SBRT dosimetry and QA procedures.
Abstract
Purpose
Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for early stage solid tumors and metastases
is increasing worldwide. In 2013, the Italian Association of Medical Physicists (AIFM)
created a working group in order to standardize the SBRT dosimetric aspects (AIFM/SBRT-WG).
The aim of this study was to investigate the current status of technology and quality
assurance (QA) as regards SBRT in Italy. Clinical evaluation of SBRT was beyond the
scope of the present study.
Methods
A pre-questionnaire was designed by three medical physicists expert in SBRT. It contained
questions on 4 main aspects: technology, image-guidance solutions (IGRT), treatment
planning system commissioning and QA. In early 2018, all the centers involved in the
AIFM/SBRT-WG were invited to complete the online questionnaire.
Results
The survey was undertaken by 45 centres (83% of them involved in the AIFM/SBRT-WG).
The most available delivery system was conventional linacs with VMAT modality; 6MV
and 6MV-FFF were the most common energies; robotic couch was available in 56% of centers;
CBCT/MVCT was the most used IGRT technique (58% of centers) and 40% of centers adopted
respiratory management during treatment delivery. The smallest measured field size
for lateral beam profiles was ≤1 × 1 cm2 in 79% of linac-based centers. Great heterogeneity in terms of protocols and guidelines
for QA were found. A large number of centers (51%) felt the need to upgrade their
dosimetric QA devices dedicated to SBRT.
Conclusion
This survey on SBRT is a starting point in standardizing the dosimetry of SBRT verification
and to improve the QA procedure.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 05, 2019
Accepted:
July 30,
2019
Received in revised form:
July 26,
2019
Received:
March 29,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
