A Fast Voxel-based 3D Dose Convolution Method for Personalized Targeted Radionuclide Therapy of Prostate Cancer Patients

Chidera Opara, The University of Western Ontario

Abstract

Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) is an effective treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. This thesis develops a convolution-based dosimetric method for TRT and validates its performance against a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation method, egs_mird, developed in our laboratory.

The research completed includes: 1) validating egs_mird by generating dose point kernels (DPKs) for ⁹⁰Y, ¹³¹I and ¹⁷⁷Lu and comparing them with MCNP4C, PENELOPE and GEANT4 DPK in literature, and 2) comparing TRT dosimetry of prostate cancer patients obtained using the convolution method and egs_mird.

egs_mird DPKs for ⁹⁰Y and ¹³¹I agreed with those from other MC codes. The discrepancy between ¹⁷⁷Lu DPK and literature was due to differences in emission spectra used in the MC simulation. The mean doses in the prostate and critical organs as evaluated by the convolution method were 5-7% lower than egs_mird due to density inhomogeneities.