Multidimensional correlation among plan complexity, quality and deliverability parameters for volumetric-modulated arc therapy using canonical correlation analysis

A multidimensional exploratory statistical method, canonical correlation analysis (CCA), was applied to evaluate the impact of complexity parameters on the plan quality and deliverability of volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and to determine parameters in the generation of an ideal VMAT plan. Canonical correlations among complexity, quality and deliverability parameters of VMAT, as well as the contribution weights of different parameters were investigated with 71 two-arc VMAT nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients, and further verified with 28 one-arc VMAT prostate cancer patients. The average MU and MU per control point (MU/CP) for two-arc VMAT plans were 702.6 +/- 55.7 and 3.9 +/- 0.3 versus 504.6 +/- 99.2 and 5.6 +/- 1.1 for one-arc VMAT plans, respectively. The individual volume-based 3D gamma passing rates of clinical target volume (gamma CTV) and planning target volume (gamma PTV) for NPC and prostate cancer patients were 85.7% +/- 9.0% vs 92.6% +/- 7.8%, and 88.0% +/- 7.6% vs 91.2% +/- 7.7%, respectively. Plan complexity parameters of NPC patients were correlated with plan quality (P = 0.047) and individual volume-based 3D gamma indices.(IV) (P = 0.01), in which, MU/CP and segment area (SA) per control point (SA/CP) were weighted highly in correlation with gamma(IV), and SA/CP, percentage of CPs with SA < 5 x 5 cm(2) (% SA < 5 x 5 cm(2)) and PTV volume were weighted highly in correlation with plan quality with coefficients of 0.98, 0.68 and -0.99, respectively. Further verification with one-arc VMAT plans demonstrated similar results. In conclusion, MU, SA-related parameters and PTV volume were found to have strong effects on the plan quality and deliverability.