ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the advances in treatment planning techniques for lung cancer in the image-guided radiation therapy era. Lung cancer, with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounting for 80% of these cases, is the leading cause of cancer death all over the world. F. M. Kong et al. have shown that the accuracy of radiation dose significantly impacts the local control and overall survival for NSCLC. Proton therapy has been clinically used in both early- and advanced-stage NSCLC, and there are numerous ongoing trials exploring the role of proton therapy in NSCLC. Favorable results using proton therapy were reported compared with conventionally fractionated radiotherapy. Radiation therapy, (RT) which is an important treatment modality, has a potential role in all stages of NSCLC, as either definitive or palliative therapy. Monte Carlo–based dose calculation is a statistical method capable of accurately modeling the tissue density inhomogeneity and thus desirable for high-precision lung RT.
