Primary tumor volume delineation in head and neck cancer: missing the tip of the iceberg?

The aim was to evaluate the geometric and corresponding dosimetric differences between two delineation strategies for head and neck tumors neighboring air cavities. Primary gross and clinical tumor volumes (GTV and CTV) of 14 patients with oropharynx or larynx tumors were contoured using a soft tissue window (S). In a second strategy, the same volumes were contoured with an extension to include the parts which became visible on lung window (L). For the calculation of Hausdorff-distances (HD) between contoured volumes of the two strategies, triangular meshes were exported. Two radiotherapy plans with identical goals and optimization parameters were generated for each case. Plan_S were optimized on CTV_S, and Plan_L on CTV_L. The dose coverages of CTV_L and CTV_Δ (CTV_L minus CTV_S) were evaluated in Plan_S. OAR doses were compared among Plan_S and Plan_L. Median three-dimensional HD for GTVs and CTVs were 5.7 (±2.6) and 9.3 (±2.8) mm, respectively. The median volume differences between structures contoured using L and S windows were 9% (±5%) and 9% (±4%) for GTV and CTV, respectively. In 13 out of 14 cases, Plan_S met the plan acceptance criteria for CTV_L. In 8 cases CTV_Δ was covered insufficiently in Plan_S. Mean and median differences in OAR dose-volume histogram parameters between Plan_S and Plan_L were within 3%. For the current practice in radiotherapy planning for head and neck cancer, the delineation of L-based volumes seems unnecessary. However, in special settings, where smaller or no PTV margins are used, this approach may play an important role for local control. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13014-017-0838-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.