Effective method to reduce the normal brain dose in single-isocenter hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy for multiple brain metastases

Background and purpose Island blocking and dose leakage problems will lead to unnecessary irradiation to normal brain tissue (NBT) in hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (HSRT) for multiple brain metastases (BM) with single-isocenter volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). The present study aimed at investigating whether reducing the number of metastases irradiated by each arc beam could minimize these two problems. Materials and methods A total of 32 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with multiple BM received HSRT (24-36 Gy/3 fractions) with single-isocenter VMAT, where each arc beam only irradiated partial metastases (pm-VMAT), were enrolled in this retrospective study. Conventional single-isocenter VMAT plans, where each arc beam irradiated whole metastases (wm-VMAT), was regenerated and compared with pm-VMAT plans. Furthermore, the clinical efficacy and toxicities were evaluated. Results Pm-VMAT achieved similar target coverage as that with wm-VMAT, with better dose fall-off (P < 0.001) and NBT sparing (P < 0.001). However, pm-VMAT resulted in more monitor units (MU) and longer beam-on time (P < 0.001). The intracranial objective response rate and disease control rate for all patients were 75% and 100%, respectively. The local control rates at 1 year and 2 year were 96.2% and 60.2%, respectively. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 10.3 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.8-13.2) and 18.5 months (95% CI 15.9-20.1), respectively. All treatment-related adverse events were grade 1 or 2, and 3 lesions (2.31%) from 2 patients (6.25%) demonstrated radiation necrosis after HSRT. Conclusion HSRT with pm-VMAT is effective and has limited toxicities for NSCLC patients with multiple BM. Pm-VMAT could provide better NBT sparing while maintaining target dose coverage.