Quantifying decreased radiation exposure from modern CT scan surveillance programs of germ cell tumors.
478 Background: Active surveillance (AS) is increasingly used to manage clinical stage I testicular cancer (CS1TC,) but has the risk of radiation exposure from CT scans. Modern CT scanners with iterative reconstruction techniques (IRT) produce equivalent image quality with less radiation dose compared with traditional filtered back projection (FBP). Data examining timing of CS1TC relapses on AS have suggested it is safe to decrease CT scanning of abdomen and pelvis from the NCCN 2009 guideline of approximately 16 scans over 5 years to 7 scans. We examine the impact of the CT upgrade and decreased scans on radiation dose and associated risks. Methods: This IRB-approved study enrolled 24 CS1TC patients who had CT scans on the same Toshiba Aquilion 64 CT before and after IRT software installation. Dose-length product and CT dose index volume were recorded. A medical physicist calculated effective doses. Radiation doses were compared using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Median effective dose per scan was multiplied by scan number based on 16 and 7 scan 5 year AS protocols to calculate an estimated cumulative dose (ECD). Lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of dying of a radiation-associated solid tumor was estimated for a single exposure at age 35 using the excess absolute risk transport model from the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII analysis of long-term atomic bomb survivors. Results: Median pre and post upgrade doses were 12.5 mSv and 7.7 mSv respectively (p < 0.0001). A linear regression model with a constrained zero intercept fit to the data found that IRT dose was best estimated as 61% of FBP dose (95% CI 0.56 – 0.66). Table 1 lists ECD and LAR data for both AS regimens pre and post upgrade. Conclusions: IRT, as part of an integrated approach to optimize patient outcome, should reduce CT-related risks by about 39%. This reduction, combined with the scan reduction of newer AS regimens, further significantly lowers the already small potential mortality of imaging associated cancers. [Table: see text]