Basics of Anatomy, Planning and Treatment
         Delivery for Brain Tumors




                         John H. Suh, M.D.
       Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Radiation Oncology
          Associate Director of the Gamma Knife Center
    Rose Ella Burkhardt Brain Tumor and Neuro-oncology Center
                     Taussig Cancer Institute
Conflict of interest

• Abbott Oncology      Consultant
• Varian               Travel funds
Objectives

• Provide overview of brain anatomy
• Review advances in treatment planning and delivery
 oncology that have allowed optimization of radiation
 therapy of brain tumors.
• Discuss methods to direct dose to the tumor while
 minimizing dose to the normal neural tissues.
• Review advances in stereotactic radiosurgery.
Brain anatomy
Structures that are contoured

• Lenses
• Eyes (retina)
• Optic nerves and chiasm
• Brain stem
• Spinal cord
• Cochlea
• Temporal lobes and hippocampus
• T2/FLAIR and T1 changes for gliomas
Cranial Anatomy
• Brainstem = midbrain + pons + medulla




                  Cerebral Aqueduct
      Chiasm
                         Midbrain
                         Pons
                         Medulla
          C1
               Foramen Magnum
Cranial Anatomy Motor Strip




        “Omega” Sign
                              Motor Strip
Cochlea
Optic Chiasm
• Chiasm is always above the sella




  Chiasm


   Pituitary
Visual Cortex




Variability of visual cortex
                          fMRI Visually Evoked Potentia
RTOG Atlas
Red: Hippocampus Green: Hippocampal Avoidance Zone




       Hippocampal
       1)Hippocampal
          Tail
         1) Tail
       2) Body
       3)2) Body
          Head
         3) Head




    The hippocampus has three anatomic subdivisions: the head, body, and tail; note that the head
    is inferior or caudad, the body is superoposterior and the tail is most cephalad (superior) and
    posterior, and an overall “banana” shape emerges on sagittal images, located in the plane of the
    lateral ventricle.


    MR Images courtesy of: Holmes CJ, Hoge R, Collins L, et al. "Enhancement of MR Images Using Registration for Signal
    Averaging" Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography 22, 324-333 (1998)
Radiation Therapy in 1990s
Dose distribution for WBRT
Linear accelerator
Conventional Radiotherapy
                  Conventional
                  Beam Shaper




     Desired            Actual
      Dose               Dose
   Distribution       Distribution
CT simulator use in radiation oncology
Provides cross sectional anatomical information


1) Target volume delineation
2) Relative geometry of critical structures
3) Beam placement and field shaping
4) Dose distribution calculation and analysis
Beam’s Eye View (BEV)
What are the Best Beam Directions?
Fusion of MRI to CT
Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)

                           Intensity
Transmitted                Modulator
Beamlets




          Desired Dose           Actual Dose
           Distribution          Distribution
IMRT using Rotational Arc (Peacock)- 1996
3D Multileaf Collimator




                     Photo courtesy of Siemens Medical Solutions
TransitionRADIATION Guided Radiation
           to Image ONCOLOGY
              Therapy




Elekta Synergy
Therapeutic Index
                     100
 Tumor control (%)




                           Control
                      5
                      0

                                                 Complications

                     0

                                     Dose (Gy)
                                                                 95002052-01
On Board Imager (OBI)–
     KV/MV-Cone Beam CT




Elekta KV-OBI   Varian KV-OBI   Siemens MV-OBI
Daily CT Prior to Treatment




                   Tomotherapy Units
Siemens CTvision
Image guided radiation therapy (IGRT)
    Novalis Shaped Beam Therapy
Cranial Patient Positioning




ExacTrac             CBCT
Glioblastoma of right temporal region
Sequential Planning
                      Six static IMRT
                      beams were used
                      with 3 non-planar
                      beams.

                      The beam was on for
                      11 minutes.
Dose Constraints for RTOG 0825

• Lenses           7 Gy
• Retina           50 Gy
• Optic nerves     55 Gy
• Optic chiasm     56 Gy
• Brainstem        60 Gy
Conventional   Dose Painting



                               63.0
                               59.4
                               50.4
                               45.0
                               30.0
Simultaneous Integrated Boost Delivery

                       Four partial arcs are used
                       for the plan.

                       Estimated beam
                       time was about 4 minutes
Beam arrangement for meningioma
Coronal isodose distribution
RTOG 0933
Phase II Trial of Hippocampal Avoidance During Whole
Brain Radiotherapy for brain metastases

                                  • Fused planning MRI CT
                                  image set
                                  • Hippocampal avoidance
                                  regions will 3D expansion of
                                  hippocampal contours by 5
                                  mm.
Hippocampal sparing
Importance of optimizing image performance to
achieve fundamental objectives of radiation therapy




         Dawson LA et al. The Oncologist 15:338-349, 2010
Stereotactic Radiosurgery
“Replace the needle by narrow
beams of radiation energy and
thereby produce a local
destruction of the tissue”

Lars Leksell
The stereotaxic method and
radiosurgery of the brain
Acta Chirurgica Scandinavia Vol 102,
Fasc 4, 1952
Early days of Stereotactic Radiosurgery
Therapeutic Index
                     100
 Tumor control (%)




                           Control
                      5
                      0

                                                 Complications

                     0

                                     Dose (Gy)
                                                                 95002052-01
Stereotactic radiosurgery

• Small, well-defined target < 4 cm diameter
• Single fraction
• Steep dose gradient
• Intersection of multiple beams of radiation at
 isocenter
Clinical uses of stereotactic radiosurgery

  • Vascular malformations
  • Benign brain tumors
  • Malignant brain tumors
  • Functional disorders
Model B unit
Plugging helmets to shape dose
Perfexion Gamma Knife
Leksell Gamma Knife®
Treatable volume
Leksell Gamma Knife C   Leksell Gamma Knife PERFEXION
Collimator system 8-16-8-16-   Collimator system 8-16-8-
16-16-16-16                    16-8-16-8-16
Treatment plan with composite shots
Discordance caused by loose frame
Artifact caused by dental work
Different radiosurgery units
Novalis Radiosurgery System
Micro Multileaf Collimators (mMLC)
Different linac approaches for brain SRS




                                               Dynamic Conformal Arc
                       Conformal Beam
 Circular Arc




                IMRT
                                        HybridArc
Frameless Cranial Stereotaxy
• Upper palate based immobilization
   – Good dentition helpful
   – Must be able to tolerate the mouthpiece
• Mask based
   – More uncertainty
• Relocatable
   – Hypofractionation
      – Larger lesions
      – Near dose sensitive structures
      – Post op cavity
      – Prior RT
   – Image guided
      – Skull is an excellent fiducial marker
   – Reusable
• Not restricted by physical limitations
Radiation oncology team
•   Therapists
•   Nurses and nurse practitioners
•   Dosimetrists
•   Medical physicists
•   Clinical engineers
•   Schedulers
•   Secretaries
•   Radiation oncologists


Strong teamwork and q/a program helps ensure proper and
  safe radiation delivery
Conclusions

• Understanding brain anatomy and dose
 constraints are essential.
• Technical advances in radiation oncology have
 allowed optimization of radiation delivery for brain
 tumors.
• Dose painting, dose sculpting, and conformal
 avoidance for brain tumors can be achieved given
 the advances in technology, imaging and
 treatment planning.
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01 suh brain anatomy, planning and delivery hyderabad 2013 (cancer ci 2013) john h. suh

Editor's Notes

  • #28 The goal of radiation therapy is to maximize tumor control while minimizing complications. This axes of this graph represent Dose on the X-axis and tumor control or complications to normal tissues on the Y-axis. With respect to tumor control, as dose increases, the chance of tumor control increases. Likewise as dose increases, so does the probability of complication (represented by the red curve). Both these curves are sigmoidal in shape. Initially with low doses, there is little cell kill, and hence little tumor control. At a certain dose, the probability of cell kill increases dramatically, and hence high tumor control. However, beyond a certain dose, the curve again flattens so that increases in dose (while still toxic to tumor), does not increase the probability of further cell killing beyond what a lower dose can achieve. The risk of complication follows this same paradigm. Low dose has little chance of causing complication. However, at certain doses, the complication rate climbs sharply. These curves tend to be parallel, and the goal of radiation oncology is to maximize the potential for tumor killing (or tumor control) while minimizing the potential for normal tissue complications. The white vertical dashed line represents this compromise in therapeutic efficacy to achieve maximal tumor control with minimal normal tissue complication.
  • #42 Diagram depicting the importance of optimizing imaging performance based on the fundamental objectives of radiotherapy (outer circle). Trade-offs among geometric integrity, tissue contrast, and spatial resolution must be considered when designing time-efficient image acquisition protocols.
  • #45 The goal of radiation therapy is to maximize tumor control while minimizing complications. This axes of this graph represent Dose on the X-axis and tumor control or complications to normal tissues on the Y-axis. With respect to tumor control, as dose increases, the chance of tumor control increases. Likewise as dose increases, so does the probability of complication (represented by the red curve). Both these curves are sigmoidal in shape. Initially with low doses, there is little cell kill, and hence little tumor control. At a certain dose, the probability of cell kill increases dramatically, and hence high tumor control. However, beyond a certain dose, the curve again flattens so that increases in dose (while still toxic to tumor), does not increase the probability of further cell killing beyond what a lower dose can achieve. The risk of complication follows this same paradigm. Low dose has little chance of causing complication. However, at certain doses, the complication rate climbs sharply. These curves tend to be parallel, and the goal of radiation oncology is to maximize the potential for tumor killing (or tumor control) while minimizing the potential for normal tissue complications. The white vertical dashed line represents this compromise in therapeutic efficacy to achieve maximal tumor control with minimal normal tissue complication.
  • #60 Due to its complete integration Novalis is the only SRS/SRT machine in the market that can safely deliver Dynamic Shaped Beam Surgery (dynamic arc). Please save the AVI file “mlc 400x300 Cinepak 12fps 300kbs.avi” in the same folder as this powerpoint for animation.
  • #61 iPlan RT Dose offers a wide range of tools for treating various indications. Circular arc treatments utilize conical collimators to deliver a spherical dose with a sharp dose fall off, ideal for small spherical mets or functional indications such as trigeminal neuralgia. Conformal beam treatments consist of multiple static beams each with a fixed MLC position based on the shape of the target, ideal for wedged tumors where arcs would hit too many critical structures or for some extracranial targets. Dynamic conformal arcs provide a treatment in which the gantry rotates about the patient and as the gantry rotates, the MLC shapes to the target dynamically. Dynamic arc treatments are used in most cranial treatments with the benefit of normal tissue sparing and increased conformity to the target. IMRT treatments have static beams with dynamically moving MLCs which are used to selectively block dose or deliver dose in particular areas based on the prescription constraints. IMRT is used when you are concerned with sparing adjacent critical structures such as the spinal cord. Finally, our newest delivery technique is HybridArc. HybridArc is an automated blending of enhanced Dynamic Conformal Arcs (modulated arcs) and static IMRT fields.