ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Head and Neck Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1628590
Evaluation of Hippocampus-Sparing VMAT Versus Conventional VMAT in Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Dosimetric and Biological Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Ganzhou Cancer Hospital, Jiang xi, China
- 2Department of Radiology,The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi an, China
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Background and purpose: Radiation-induced hippocampal damage poses a risk of cognitive decline following radiotherapy. Existing international guidelines for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) radiotherapy provide insufficient specific guidance on hippocampus sparing, which is critically needed, particularly for patients with locally advanced disease. This study was conducted to retrospectively evaluate the dosimetric feasibility and safety of a hippocampus-sparing VMAT technique for locally advanced NPC. Specifically, we assessed its ability to reduce hippocampal dose while ensuring target coverage and respecting dose limits for other organs at risk based on a comparative analysis of treatment plans. Materials and methods: This retrospective study included the clinical data and treatment plans of 60 patients previously treated for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. For all patients, target volumes and organs at risk (OARs) had been delineated according to international guidelines. Notably, for the purpose of this analysis, the left and right hippocampi were meticulously delineated as independent OARs. For this dosimetric comparison, the cohort was divided into two groups: the conventional group (n=30), consisting of patients treated with a conventional VMAT plan, and the hippocampus-sparing group (n=30), for whom HS-VMAT plans were retrospectively analyzed or generated. A systematic comparative analysis of dosimetric and biological data was subsequently conducted between the two groups.
Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, volumetric modulated arc therapy, hippocampus-sparing volumetric modulated arc therapy, EUD, NTCP
Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, liang, Weiwei, tan and lin. 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: songhuan lin, senggong@126.com
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