Comparison of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional conformal treatment plans in gastric cancer radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND Postoperative chemoradiotherapy is accepted as standard treatment for stage IB-IV, M0 gastric cancer. Radiotherapy (RT) planning of gastric cancer is important because of the low radiation tolerance of surrounding critical organs. The purpose of this study was to compare the dosimetric aspects of 2-dimensional (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) treatment plans, with the twin aims of evaluating the adequacy of 2D planning fields on coverage of planning target volume (PTV) and 3D conformal plans for both covering PTV and reducing the normal tissue doses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-six patients with stage II-IV gastric adenocarcinoma were treated with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy using 3DRT. For each patient, a second 2D treatment plan was generated. The two techniques were compared for target volume coverage and dose to normal tissues using dose volume histogram (DVH) analysis. RESULTS 3DRT provides more adequate coverage of the target volume. Comparative DVHs for the left kidney and spinal cord demonstrate lower radiation doses with the 3D technique. CONCLUSIONS 3DRT produced better dose distributions and reduced radiation doses to left kidney and spinal cord compared to the 2D technique. For this reason it can be predicted that 3DRT will result in better tumor control and less normal tissue complications.