Stereotactic radiotherapy of appropriately selected meningiomas and metastatic brain tumor beds with gamma knife icon versus volumetric modulated arc therapy

PURPOSE: To determine if the gamma knife icon (GKI) can provide superior stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) dose distributions for appropriately selected meningioma and post‐resection brain tumor bed treatments to volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Appropriately selected targets were not proximal to great vessels, did not have sensitive soft tissue including organs‐at‐risk (OARs) within the planning target volume (PTV), and did not have concave tumors containing excessive normal brain tissue. Four of fourteen candidate meningioma patients and six of six candidate patients with brain tumor cavities were considered for this treatment planning comparison study. PTVs were generated for GKI and VMAT by adding 1 mm and 3 mm margins, respectively, to the GTVs. Identical PTV V(100%)‐values were obtained for the GKI and VMAT plans for each patient. Meningioma and tumor bed prescription doses were 52.7–54.0 in 1.7–1.8 Gy fractions and 25 Gy in 5 Gy fractions, respectively. GKI dose rate was 3.735 Gy/min for 16 mm collimators. RESULTS: PTV radical dose homogeneity index was 3.03 ± 0.35 for GKI and 1.27 ± 0.19 for VMAT. Normal brain D (1%), D (5%), and D (10%) were lower for GKI than VMAT by 45.8 ± 10.9%, 38.9 ± 11.5%, and 35.4 ± 16.5% respectively. All OARs considered received lower maximum doses for GKI than VMAT. GKI and VMAT treatment times for meningioma plans were 12.1 ± 4.13 min and 6.2 ± 0.32 min, respectively, and, for tumor cavities, were 18.1 ± 5.1 min and 11.0 ± 0.56 min, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriately selected meningioma and brain tumor bed patients may benefit from GKI‐based SRT due to the decreased normal brain and OAR doses relative to VMAT enabled by smaller margins. Care must be taken in meningioma patient selection for SRT with the GKI, even if they are clinically appropriate for VMAT.