BJR
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
First published online March 30, 2009
British Journal of Radiology (2009) 82, 585-594
© 2009 British Institute of Radiology
doi: 10.1259/bjr/31966505
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by CLARK, C H
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by CLARK, C H
British Journal of Radiology 82 (2009),585-594 ©2009 The British Institute of Radiology

Pre-trial quality assurance processes for an intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) trial: PARSPORT, a UK multicentre Phase III trial comparing conventional radiotherapy and parotid-sparing IMRT for locally advanced head and neck cancer

C H CLARK, PhD 1 E A MILES, MPhil 2 M T GUERRERO URBANO, MRCPI, FRCR 2 S A BHIDE, MRCP, FRCR 2 A M BIDMEAD, MSc 1 K J HARRINGTON, MRCP, FRCR, PhD 2 C M NUTTING, MD, MRCP, FRCR 2 on behalf of the UK PARSPORT Trial Management Group collaborators

Departments of 1 Physics and 2 Radiotherapy, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London and Sutton, Surrey, UK

Correspondence: Catharine Clark, Joint Department of Physics, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research, Downs Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5PT, UK. E-mail: catharine.clark{at}rmh.nhs.uk

The purpose of this study was to compare conventional radiotherapy with parotid gland-sparing intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) using the PARSPORT trial. The validity of such a trial depends on the radiotherapy planning and delivery meeting a defined standard across all centres. At the outset, many of the centres had little or no experience of delivering IMRT; therefore, quality assurance processes were devised to ensure consistency and standardisation of all processes for comparison within the trial. The pre-trial quality assurance (QA) programme and results are described. Each centre undertook exercises in target volume definition and treatment planning, completed a resource questionnaire and produced a process document. Additionally, the QA team visited each participating centre. Each exercise had to be accepted before patients could be recruited into the trial. 10 centres successfully completed the quality assurance exercises. A range of treatment planning systems, linear accelerators and delivery methods were used for the planning exercises, and all the plans created reached the standard required for participation in this multicentre trial. All 10 participating centres achieved implementation of a comprehensive and robust IMRT programme for treatment of head and neck cancer.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
BJR DMFR IMAGING  ALL BIR JOURNALS 
Copyright © 2009 by the British Institute of Radiology.