Improving Head and Neck Cancer Treatments Using Dynamic Collimation in Spot Scanning Proton Therapy

Abstract Purpose: Interest in using collimation for spot scanning proton therapy has recently increased in an attempt to improve the lateral penumbra. To investigate the advantages of such an approach for complex targets, a plan comparison between uncollimated and collimated beam spots was performed for patients with head and neck cancer. Patients and Methods: For 10 patients with head and neck cancer, previously treated with spot scanning proton therapy, uncollimated and collimated treatment plans were created using an in-house treatment-planning system capable of modeling asymmetric-beamlet dose distributions resulting from the use of a dynamic collimation system. Both uncollimated and collimated plans reproduced clinically delivered plans in terms of target coverage. A relative plan comparison was performed using both physical and radiobiological metrics on the organs at risk. Results: The dynamic collimation system improved dose-distribution conformity while preserving target coverage. The median redu...