Fetus absorbed dose evaluation in head and neck radiotherapy procedures of pregnant patients

• Head and neck radiotherapy simulation.
• Head and neck radiotherapy procedures for pregnant patients.
• Shielded and unshielded fetus absorbed dose evaluation.

In this work the head and neck cancer treatment of a pregnant patient was experimentally simulated. A female anthropomorphic Alderson phantom was used and the absorbed dose to the fetus was evaluated protecting the patient's abdomen with a 7 cm lead layer and using no abdomen shielding. The target volume dose was 50 Gy. The fetus doses evaluated with and without the lead shielding were, respectively, 0.52±0.039 and 0.88±0.052 cGy.