Grid therapy vs. conventional radiotherapy-18 MV treatments: Photoneutron contamination along the maze of a linac bunker

The present Monte Carlo study was devoted to the comparison of photoneutron contamination (per 1 Gy photon dose), along the maze of a radiotherapy bunker, between two 18-MV modalities: grid therapy (with grids made of brass, cerrobend, and lead) and conventional radiotherapy. It was turned out that both in grid therapy and in conventional radiotherapy, with increasing distance from the entrance of treatment hall (toward the maze entrance), fluence and ambient dose equivalent of neutrons decrease. Evidence also shows that in grid therapy, independent of materials used in the grid construction, photoneutron contamination along the maze is 45 +/- 6 % larger than conventional radiotherapy.