Study on the factors affecting the dose error of using I-125 seeds in the treatment of prostate cancer using the Monte Carlo method

NatuAt present, radioactive seed implantation is a common treatment for prostate cancer, the TPS (treatment planning system) calculates the dose by adding the dose attributed to each source. However, the interseed attenuation effect would result in a difference between the actual dose and the calculated dose. The aim of this study was to identify the factors influencing the interseed attenuation effect.

I-125 seed sources were selected, and MC (Monte Carlo) method was used to simulate the dose distribution around seed sources. The results obtained from the linear addition of a single-source dose were compared with those obtained considering the interseed attenuation effect. The effects of the medium, source arrangement and source number on the dose were evaluated.

The MC simulation results for multiple seed sources are lower than those for linear additive doses in most areas. In different medium, the mean error caused by interseed attenuation effect is the smallest in adipose tissue (0.52%) and the largest in bone (1.41%). Taking four sources as examples, the maximum error is 9.34%, appearing in the plane where the source is located. The error decreases to 1.3% when the source is located 2 mm away from the source plane. The more scattered the sources are in space, the smaller the error will be.

A high atomic number and high-density medium will cause a high error. The area with a high error is mainly observed in the plane where the sources are located, the edge error of the source distribution area is larger.