Doses to organs at risk in conformational and stereotactic body radiation therapy: Liver

The liver is an essential organ that ensures many vital functions such as metabolism of bilirubin, glucose, lipids, synthesis of coagulation factors, destruction of many toxins, etc. The hepatic parenchyma can be irradiated during the management of digestive tumors, right basithoracic, esophagus, abdomen in toto or TBI. In addition, radiotherapy of the hepatic area, which is mainly stereotactic, now occupies a central place in the management of primary or secondary hepatic tumors. Irradiation of the whole liver, or part of it, may be complicated by radiation-induced hepatitis. It is therefore necessary to respect strict dosimetric constraints both in stereotactic and in conformational irradiation in order to limit the undesired irradiation of the hepatic parenchyma which may vary according to the treatment techniques, the basic hepatic function or the lesion size. The liver is an organ with a parallel architecture, so the average tolerable dose in the whole liver should be considered rather than the maximum tolerable dose at one point. The purpose of this article is to propose a development of dose recommendations during conformation or stereotactic radiotherapy of the liver.