Quantifying the effect of eccentric ruthenium plaque placement on tumor volume dose

Purpose: Ruthenium-106 brachytherapy is a common treatment for small to medium-sized uveal melanomas. In certain clinical contexts, plaques may be placed eccentrically to tumor center. The effect of plaque decentration, a common radiation dose measurement in radiotherapy: D_98%, the percentage of the tumor volume receiving at least 98% of the prescribed dose (a commonly used term in radiation oncology), is unknown. We investigated this using two commonly used plaques (CCA and CCB; Eckert & Ziegler, BEBIG GmbH) in silico.

Material and methods: Using a Plaque Simulator™ (Eye Physics) plaque modelling software, treatment time required to deliver 100 Gy D_98% with central plaque placement was calculated for both plaque models, treating tumors with basal dimensions of 10 mm (CCB plaque only) and 7 mm (CCA and CCB plaques), and a range of thicknesses. D_98% was calculated for plaque-tumor edge distances of 0-5 mm. Additionally, we defined minimum plaque-tumor edge distances, at which D_98% fell by 10% and 5% (safety margins).

Results: D_98% decreased as plaque-tumor edge distance decreased, i.e. as plaque eccentricity increased. Minor (< 1 mm) plaque decentration caused minimal D_98% changes across tumor thicknesses. Safety margins did not follow a consistent pattern.

Conclusions: Eccentric plaque placement reduces the radiation dose delivered to choroidal tumors. Both tumor (thickness, diameter) and plaque (size, location) characteristics are important D_98% modulators. Further investigation of the effect of these characteristics and dose to organs at risk is essential.