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Generalizable Deep Learning Framework for Radiotherapy Dose Prediction Across Cancer Sites, Prescriptions and Treatment Modalities

Chang, H.-h.; Cardan, R.; Nedunoori, R.; Fiveash, J.; Popple, R.; Bodduluri, S.; Stanley, D. N.; Harms, J.; Cardenas, C.

2026-04-22 radiology and imaging
10.64898/2026.04.17.26350770 medRxiv
Show abstract

Optimizing radiotherapy dose distributions remain a resource-intensive bottleneck. Existing AI-based dose prediction methods often have limited generalizability because they rely on small, heterogeneous datasets. We present nnDoseNetv2, an auto-configured, end-to-end framework for dose prediction across diverse disease sites (head and neck, prostate, breast, and lung), prescription levels (1.5-84 Gy), and treatment modalities (IMRT, VMAT, and 3D-CRT). By integrating machine-specific beam geometry with 3D structural information, the framework is designed to generalize across varied clinical scenarios. A single multi-site model was trained on 1,000 clinical plans. On sites seen during training, performance was comparable to specialized site-specific models. On unseen sites (liver and whole brain), the model outperformed site-specific models, with mean absolute errors of 2.46% and 6.97% of prescription, respectively. These results suggest that geometric awareness can bridge disparate anatomical domains while eliminating the need for site-specific model maintenance, providing a scalable and high-fidelity approach for personalized radiotherapy planning.

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