Validation of Delivery Consistency for Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy and Volumetric-Modulated Arc Therapy Plans

The delivery consistency of a Varian Edge linear accelerator over the entire course of treatment for nasopharynx carcinoma (NPC) and prostate cancer intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatment plans was investigated using four different approaches. Three NPCs and three prostate plans were delivered in 34 and 29 consecutive days, respectively, using a Varian Edge equipped with a 120 high-definition (HD) multileaf collimator (MLC). All deliveries were measured with an electronic portal imaging device (EPID), and MapCheck2 and ArcCheck commercial systems with gamma analysis used to compare the results of all daily measurements against the pretreatment patient-specific quality assurance. The daily log files generated were also assessed for differences between the actual and planned doses using an in-house program to replace the original values in the DICOM plan files with the delivered parameter values from the log file, and then exporting the plans back to the treatment planning system for reconstruction of the actual dose delivered. The trajectory log file and EPID methods showed very good agreement, with minimal deviations between the daily delivered and reference doses. However, comparisons of the MapCheck2 and ArcCheck with the EPID revealed statistically significant differences (P < 0.001, one-tailed) with greater daily fluctuations, raising concerns over the performance, and reliability of the MapCheck2 and ArcCheck systems when being used to identify IMRT and VMAT plans with poor dosimetric accuracy. We conclude that the Varian Edge linear accelerator equipped with a 120 HD MLC can consistently deliver IMRT and VMAT plans over the entire treatment course.