Knowledge-Based RapidPlan Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Model in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Purpose: RapidPlan^TM (RP) Eclipse^@, a commercial knowledge-based planning software, predicts radiation doses, enhancing treatment planning efficiency and quality. This study developed a nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) volumetric modulated arc therapy RP model and assessed its quality and efficiency against manual plans. Methods and Materials: The existing plans for 160 patients with NPC constituted the RP model training cohort. An additional 33 patients formed a testing cohort to compare RP and manual plans based on dose-volume histograms, isodose curves, physician plan scores, and selection. Results: The RP plan could be completed within 1 hour. RP plans demonstrated superior conformity compared with manual plans in planning target volume 70. RP plans outperformed manual plans in reducing organs-at-risks (OARs) doses. For advanced T3/4 tumors, chiasma and optic nerve doses remained similar to manual plans. RP plans had higher physician-rated scores in dose-volume histograms of targets, OARs, isodose curves, and holistic scores. Clinical plan acceptance rates of RP plans reached 100%. Physicians chose RP plans over manual plans for 31, 30, and 28 patients for doctors A, B, and C, mainly because of superior OAR sparing and higher conformity. Conclusions: The RP plan efficiently generates high-quality NPC volumetric modulated arc therapy plans. Further applications of RP Eclipse in single-institutional clinical flows and multi-institutional collaborations or clinical trials are warranted.