Analytical modelling of regional radiotherapy dose response of lung

Knowledge of the dose-response of radiation-induced lung disease (RILD) is necessary for optimization of radiotherapy (RT) treatment plans involving thoracic cavity irradiation. This study models the time-dependent relationship between local radiation dose and post-treatment lung tissue damage measured by computed tomography (CT) imaging. Fifty-eight follow-up diagnostic CT scans from 21 non-small-cell lung cancer patients were examined. The extent of RILD was segmented on the follow-up CT images based on the increase of physical density relative to the pre-treatment CT image. The segmented RILD was locally correlated with dose distribution calculated by analytical anisotropic algorithm and the Monte Carlo method to generate the corresponding dose-response curves. The Lyman-Kutcher-Burman (LKB) model was fit to the dose-response curves at six post-RT time periods, and temporal change in the LKB parameters was recorded. In this study, we observed significant correlation between the probability of lung tissue damage and the local dose for 96% of the follow-up studies. Dose-injury correlation at the first three months after RT was significantly different from later follow-up periods in terms of steepness and threshold dose as estimated from the LKB model. Dependence of dose response on superior-inferior tumour position was also observed. The time-dependent analytical modelling of RILD might provide better understanding of the long-term behaviour of the disease and could potentially be applied to improve inverse treatment planning optimization.