Assessment of the anatomical position of point B and the relationship between point B dose and the dose delivered to pelvic lymph nodes in CT-based high-dose-rate brachytherapy for uterine cervical cancer

PURPOSE: To examine the anatomical position of point B and the relationship between the dose at point B and the dose delivered to the pelvic lymph nodes in computed tomography (CT)-based brachytherapy for cervical cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-nine cervical cancer patients were treated at Kyushu University Hospital. For all cases, planning CT images obtained after the applicator insertion were imported to an Oncentra Brachy (Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden), and points A (dose prescription, 6 Gy) and points B were set according to the Manchester method. The pelvic lymph node regions (external iliac, internal iliac, and obturator) were contoured, and the anatomic positions of 98 points B in 49 patients were examined. Dose volume histogram (DVH) parameters (D(100), D(90), D(50), D(2cc), D(1cc), and D(0.1cc)) were calculated for each lymph node region and compared with the point B dose. RESULTS: The mean bilateral dose to point B was 1.70 ±0.18 Gy, and 26 (27%) of 98 points B were not located in any pelvic lymph node regions. The DVH analysis indicated a low degree of correlation overall, and all values were significantly different from point B doses (p < 0.05), except for D(0.1cc) of the external iliac node (p = 0.0594) and D(1cc) of the internal iliac node (p = 0.0711). CONCLUSIONS: We investigated the anatomical location of point B in patients with cervical cancer who underwent brachytherapy, and the DVH analysis revealed that the point B dose was a poor surrogate for the dose delivered to the pelvic lymph nodes.