Quantifying the Dosimetric Trade-Offs When Using Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy to Treat Concave Targets Containing Normal Tissues

For targets with concavities, there are dosimetric consequences associated with reducing dose to normal tissue located within these concavities. There appears to be a trade-off between the heterogeneity in dose delivered to the target, the mean dose to the concavity, and the redistributed dose to other normal tissues. Understanding the interaction between these dosimetric factors can aid the planner in assessing the feasibility of a desired dose distribution.