Dosimetric Advantages of Silicone-Filled Vaginal Spacers in Pediatric Proton Therapy

Abstract

We introduce a custom-made silicone-filled vaginal spacer for use during treatment of female patients receiving pelvic proton radiation therapy. Commercially available vaginal dilators can be purchased as hollow objects; when filled with a media, they can act as a beam stopper and/or tissue spacer while pushing uninvolved vaginal wall away from a high-dose region. Dosimetric advantages of these specifically constructed silicone-filled vaginal spacers were investigated when compared to the unaltered commercially available product or no vaginal spacer in pediatric proton therapy.