Treatment of liver metastases using an internal target volume method for stereotactic body radiotherapy

The prognosis of patients with metastatic cancers has improved in the past decades due to effective chemotherapy and oligometastatic surgery. For inoperable patients, local ablation therapies, such as stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), can provide effective local tumor control with minimal toxicity. Because of its high precision and accuracy, SBRT delivers a higher radiation dose per fraction, is more effective, and targets smaller irradiation volumes than does conventional radiotherapy. In addition, steep dose gradients from target lesions to surrounding normal tissues are achieved using SBRT; thus, SBRT provides more effective tumor control and exhibits fewer side effects than conventional radiotherapy. The use of SBRT is prevalent for treating intracranial lesions (known as stereotactic radiosurgery); however, it is now also used for treating spinal and adrenal metastases. Because of advancements in image-guided assistance and respiratory motion management, several studies have investigated the use of SBRT for treating lung or liver tumors, which move as a patient breathes. The results of these studies have suggested that SBRT favorably controls tumors in the case of moving lesions. Four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) with an abdominal compressor (AC) is clinically convenient for effective respiratory motion management. Because this method is noninvasive and allows free breathing, its use reduces complications. Furthermore, patients consider this method convenient. Moreover, it is considered more efficient than other methods of respiratory motion management by physicians and therapists. The use of 4D-CT with an AC for treating pulmonary lesions has also been widely investigated, and the technique is gaining acceptance for treating hepatic lesions. However, the protocols for using 4D-CT with an AC for treating hepatic lesions are different from those used for treating pulmonary lesions. In this article, we describe a new protocol for SBRT with 4D-CT and an AC for treating liver metastases.