Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Tracking daily bladder movement in dogs during radiation therapy
By Nieset, Jessica R et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2011·Department of Environmental & Radiological Health Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Use of cone-beam computed tomography to characterize daily urinary bladder variations during fractionated radiotherapy for canine bladder cancer.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog with bladder cancer undergoing radiation therapy was studied to see how the position of the bladder changes daily during treatment. The researchers found that the bladder's position varied significantly depending on whether the dog was lying on its back, stomach, or side. They discovered that keeping the dog on its side (lateral recumbency) resulted in the least movement of the bladder and reduced radiation exposure to the rectum. By using a 10 mm safety margin during treatment planning, they could effectively target the bladder while protecting nearby healthy tissues.
People also search for: dog bladder cancer treatment · radiation therapy for dogs · canine bladder cancer positioning · how does radiation therapy work for dogs
Abstract
Urinary bladder cancer is difficult to treat accurately with fractionated radiation therapy (RT) due to daily positional changes of the bladder and surrounding soft-tissue structures. We quantified the daily motion experienced by the canine bladder with patients in dorsal vs. sternal vs. lateral recumbency. We also described the dose distribution for three different planning target volume expansions (5, 10, and 15 mm) for each of the three positions to ensure adequate bladder dose and minimize irradiation of nearby healthy tissues. Analysis was based on data from retrospective daily cone-beam computed tomography (CT) (CBCT) images obtained for positioning of canine patients undergoing routine RT. Organs of interest were contoured on each CBCT data set and the images, along with the contours, were registered to the original planning CT. All measurements were made relative to the planning CT and dosimetric data for the organs of interest was determined using a dose volume histogram generated from sample parallel-opposed beam configuration. There was a wide range in bladder position throughout treatment. The least amount of bladder variation and the lowest rectal dose was with dogs in lateral recumbency. It was also determined that a margin of 10 mm would allow for sufficient dose to be delivered to the bladder while minimizing rectal dose.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21699616/