Biological effects and equivalent doses in radiotherapy: a software solution

TL;DR

This paper introduces a software tool that calculates biological and equivalent doses in radiotherapy, integrating multiple models to aid medical professionals in treatment planning and dose interpretation.

Contribution

It presents a novel, open-source calculation interface combining various models for dose equivalence and complication probability in radiotherapy.

Findings

The software provides fast, reliable dose calculations.

Validation against French centers shows high accuracy.

The tool supports treatment optimization and planning.

Abstract

The limits of TDF (time, dose, and fractionation) and linear quadratic models have been known for a long time. Medical physicists and physicians are required to provide fast and reliable interpretations regarding the delivered doses or any future prescriptions relating to treatment changes. We therefore propose a calculation interface under the GNU license to be used for equivalent doses, biological doses, and normal tumor complication probability (Lyman model). The methodology used draws from several sources: the linear-quadratic-linear model of Astrahan, the repopulation effects of Dale, and the prediction of multi-fractionated treatments of Thames. The results are obtained from an algorithm that minimizes an ad-hoc cost function, and then compared to the equivalent dose computed using standard calculators in seven French radiotherapy centers.