Yttrium-90 microsphere brachytherapy of the liver exploits the distinctive features of the liver anatomy to treat liver malignancies with beta radiation and is gaining more wide spread clinical use. This report provides a general overview of microsphere liver brachytherapy and assists the treatment team in creating local treatment practices to provide safe and efficient patient treatment. Suggestions for future improvements are incorporated with the basic rationale for the therapy and currently used procedures. Imaging modalities utilized and their respective quality assurance are discussed. General as well as vendor specific delivery procedures are reviewed. The current dosimetry models are reviewed and suggestions for dosimetry advancement are made. Beta activity standards are reviewed and vendor implementation strategies are discussed. Radioactive material licensing and radiation safety are discussed given the unique requirements of microsphere brachytherapy. A general, team-based quality assurance program is reviewed to provide guidance for the creation of the local procedures. Finally, recommendations are given on how to deliver the current state of the art treatments and directions for future improvements in the therapy.

a b s t r a c tPurpose: To investigate the relationship between abdominal chemoradiation (CRT) for locally advanced cancers and bone mineral density (BMD) reduction in the vertebral spine. Materials and methods: Data from 272 patients who underwent abdominal radiation therapy from January 1997 to May 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Forty-two patients received computed tomography (CT) scans of the abdomen prior to initiation and at least twice after radiation therapy. Bone attenuation (in Hounsfield unit) (HU) measurements were collected for each vertebral level from T7 to L5 using sagittal CT images. Radiation point dose was obtained at each mid-vertebral body from the radiation treatment plan. Percent change in bone attenuation (D%HU) between baseline and post-radiation therapy were computed for each vertebral body. The D%HU was compared against radiation dose using Pearson's linear correlation. Results: Abdominal radiotherapy caused significant reduction in vertebral BMD as measured by HU. Patients who received only chemotherapy did not show changes in their BMD in this study. The D%HU was significantly correlated with the radiation point dose to the vertebral body (R = À0.472, P < 0.001) within 4-8 months following RT. The same relationship persisted in subsequent follow up scans 9 months following RT (R = À0.578, P < 0.001). Based on the result of linear regression, 5 Gy, 15 Gy, 25 Gy, 35 Gy, and 45 Gy caused 21.7%, 31.1%, 40.5%, 49.9%, and 59.3% decrease in HU following RT, respectively. Our generalized linear model showed that pre-RT HU had a positive effect (b = 0.830) on determining post-RT HU, while number of months post RT (b = À0.213) and radiation point dose (b = À1.475) had a negative effect. A comparison of the predicted versus actual HU showed significant correlation (R = 0.883, P < 0.001) with the slope of the best linear fit = 0.81. Our model's predicted HU were within ±20 HU of the actual value in 53% of cases, 70% of the predictions were within ±30 HU, 81% were within ±40 HU, and 90% were within ±50 HU of the actual post-RT HU. Four of 42 patients were found to have vertebral body compression fractures in the field of radiation. Vertebral body insufficiency and compression fractures are most commonly caused by osteoporosis, an age-related and systemic skeletal disorder characterized by compromised bone strength and low bone mineral density [1]. Although, most fractures are asymptomatic, the degree of BMD loss, location of the fracture, and secondary osteoporosis from underlying medical condition including chemotherapy may make an asymptomatic, stable fracture more prone to progressive collapse causing pain, loss of mobility, and spinal cord compression [2]. The overall morbidity of vertebral body compression fractures is significant, and women diagnosed with compression fractures have a 15% higher mortality rate than matched controls [3].Irradiation of normal, non-malignant bone results in small vessel damage leading to microcirculatory occlusion, marrow hypocellularity from death of osteo...

Catheter-based radiation delivery systems employing both beta-particle and gamma-ray emitters are currently being investigated for their efficacy in addressing restenosis following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The dosimetric consequences of source centering within the arterial lumen and presence of residual plaque are potentially important issues for the uniform delivery of dose to the arterial tissue. In this study, we have examined the effect of source centering on the resulting dose to the arterial wall from clinical intravascular brachytherapy sources containing 32P and 90Sr/Y90. Monte Carlo simulations using the MCNP code were performed for these catheter-based sources with offsets of 0.5 mm and 1 mm from the center of the arterial lumen in homogenous water medium as well as in the presence of residual plaque. Three different positions were modeled and the resulting dose values were analyzed to assess their impact on the resulting dose distribution. The results indicate a variation ranging from -40% to +70% for 32P source and -30% to +50% for 90Sr/90Y at a radial distance of 2 mm from the center of the coronary artery, relative to the dose from a centered source, for a 0.5 mm offset. The variation for a 1 mm offset ranges from -65% to +182% for 32P source and to -50% to +140% for 90Sr/90Y. A concentric residual plaque layer was also modeled so as to assess the combined influence of offset and residual plaque on the dosimetry. Finally the effect of cardiac motion and its potential impact on catheter position and hence the dose distribution is also examined by considering two separate cases of catheter displacement. The results indicate that dose variations range between -28% to +91% when it is assumed that cardiac motion causes catheter movement during coronary lesion irradiation.

Spinal metastases are a common and serious manifestation of cancer, and are often treated with vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty followed by external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). As an alternative, we have introduced radioactive bone cement, i.e. bone cement incorporated with a radionuclide. In this study, we present a Monte Carlo radiation transport modeling method to calculate dose distributions within vertebrae containing radioactive cement. Model accuracy was evaluated by comparing model-predicted depth-dose curves to those measured experimentally in eight cadaveric vertebrae using radiochromic film. The high-gradient regions of the depth-dose curves differed by radial distances of 0.3-0.9 mm, an improvement over EBRT dosimetry accuracy. The low-gradient regions differed by 0.033-0.055 Gy/h/mCi, which may be important in situations involving prior spinal cord irradiation. Using a more rigorous evaluation of model accuracy, four models predicted the measured dose distribution within the experimental uncertainty, as represented by the 95% confidence interval of the measured log-linear depth-dose curve. The remaining four models required modification to account for marrow lost from the vertebrae during specimen preparation. However, the accuracy of the modified model results indicated that, when this source of uncertainty is accounted for, this modeling method can be used to predict dose distributions in vertebrae containing radioactive cement.

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