Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Radiation Oncology
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1445558

Hippocampus-sparing volume-modulated arc therapy (HS VMAT) in patients with World Health Organization grade II glioma: a feasibility study

Provisionally accepted
RenXian XIE RenXian XIE 1,2Hongxin Huang Hongxin Huang 1,2Qingxin Cai Qingxin Cai 1Jia-Yang Lu Jia-Yang Lu 1Tong Chen Tong Chen 1,2Keyan Xie Keyan Xie 1,2Jianzhou Chen Jianzhou Chen 1Chuangzhen Chen Chuangzhen Chen 1*
  • 1 Depatment of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, College of Medicine, Shantou University, Shantou, China
  • 2 Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Radiotherapy can improve the survival rates of patients with glioma; meanwhile, impaired cognitive functions have been brought to the forefront with the offending organ, the radiosensitive hippocampus. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of hippocampus-sparing volumetric-modulated arc therapy (HS VMAT) in patients with World Health Organization (WHO) grade II glioma.Methods: HS VMAT plans and non-hippocampus-sparing volumetric-modulated arc therapy (NHS VMAT) plans were generated using a computed tomography (CT) dataset of 10 patients who underwent postoperative radiotherapy. The dose volume histogram (DVH), homogeneity index (HI), conformity index (CI), and irradiated dose of the hippocampus and other organs at risk (OARs) were analyzed.Results: No significant differences were observed in HI and CI between the two plans.Regarding the protection of OARs, HS VMAT plans were equally capable and even lowered the radiation dosages to the brainstem (35.56 vs. 41.74 Gy, p = 0.017) and spinal cord (1.34 vs. 1.43 Gy, p = 0.006). Notably, HS VMAT plans markedly decreased doses to the ipsilateral hippocampus and the contralateral hippocampus, demonstrating its efficacy in hippocampal dose reduction.The HS VMAT plan can be used to efficiently lower the dosage delivered to the hippocampus and may, to some extent, help lessen the risk of cognitive damage. The encouraging results of our study need to be further validated by clinical trials to confirm the benefits of the HS VMAT plans in preserving cognitive functions in patients with glioma.

    Keywords: Hippocampus-sparing, Volumetric-modulated arc therapy, Glioma, Dosimetric feasibility, World Health Organization grade II

    Received: 07 Jun 2024; Accepted: 31 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 XIE, Huang, Cai, Lu, Chen, Xie, Chen and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Chuangzhen Chen, Depatment of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, College of Medicine, Shantou University, Shantou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.