Effect of different treatment plans on irradiated small-bowel volume in gynecologic patients undergoing whole-pelvic irradiation

The different dose-volume effects of normal tissue complication probability using LASSO for acute small-bowel toxicity during radiotherapy in gynecological patients with or without prior abdominal surgery

Purpose. To develop normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) model with least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) to analyze dose-volume effects that influence the incidence of acute diarrhea among gynecological patients with/without prior abdominal surgery. Methods and Materials. Ninety-five patients receiving gynecologic radiotherapy (RT) were enrolled. The endpoint was defined as the grade 2⁺ acute diarrhea toxicity during treatment. We obtained the range of small-bowel volume in V4 Gy to V40 Gy of dose. Results. The number of patients experiencing grade 2⁺ acute diarrhea toxicity was 23/61 (38%) in the group without abdominal surgery (group 0) and 17/34 (50%) patients with abdominal surgery (group 1). The most significant predictor was found for the logistic NTCP model with V16 Gy as the cutoff dose for group 0 and V40 Gy for group 1. Logistic regression NTCP model parameters were TV₁₀ ≈ 290 cc for V16 Gy and TV₁₀ ≈ 75 cc for V40 Gy, respectively. Conclusion. To keep the incidence of grade 2⁺ acute small-bowel toxicity below 10%, we suggest that small-bowel volume above the prescription dose (V16 Gy) should be held to <290 cc for patients without abdominal surgery, and the prescription dose (V40 Gy) should be maintained <75 cc for patients with abdominal surgery.