Arthur J. Olch, PhD

Arthur J. Olch is Professor of Radiation Oncology and Clinical Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. He is also Chief of Physics for the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles Radiation Oncology Program, one of only a few radiotherapy centers in the US that treat exclusively children. Dr. Olch received his BS degree in Engineering and his PhD in Medical Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the American Association of Physics in Medicine (AAPM). Dr. Olch has served as the Chair of the Physics Subcommittee of the Children’s Oncology Group Radiation Oncology Committee and of the AAPM Subcommittee on Quality Assurance and Outcome Improvement as well as serving as chair or member of various AAPM Task Groups. He has been a radiation therapy physicist for over 30 years and has authored or co-authored 50 journal articles and book chapters and written the book on pediatric radiotherapy treatment planning.

• American Association of Physicists in Medicine: Fellow of the AAPM, 2011

• Predictive Factors Associated With Radiation Myelopathy in Pediatric Patients With Cancer: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2024 Feb 06. . View in PubMed
• PENTEC Organ-Specific Report: Brain and Brain Stem Necrosis After Reirradiation for Recurrent Childhood Primary Central Nervous System Tumors: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2024 Feb 01. . View in PubMed
• Comparison of Risks of Late Effects From Radiation Therapy in Children Versus Adults: Insights From the QUANTEC, HyTEC, and PENTEC Efforts Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Dec 07. . View in PubMed
• A User’s Guide and Summary of Pediatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic (PENTEC): Radiation Dose-Volume Response for Adverse Effects After Childhood Cancer Therapy and Future Directions Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Nov 23. . View in PubMed
• Modeling the Risk of Hearing Loss From Radiation Therapy in Childhood Cancer Survivors: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Oct 19. . View in PubMed
• Testicular Dysfunction in Male Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated With Radiation Therapy: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Oct 03. . View in PubMed
• Risk of Subsequent Neoplasms in Childhood Cancer Survivors After Radiation Therapy: A Comprehensive PENTEC Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Sep 29. . View in PubMed
• Retinopathy, Optic Neuropathy, and Cataract in Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated With Radiation Therapy: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Aug 11. . View in PubMed
• AAPM Task Group Report 307: Use of EPIDs for Patient-Specific IMRT and VMAT QA Med Phys. 2023 Aug; 50(8):e865-e903. . View in PubMed
• Kidney Disease in Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated With Radiation Therapy: A Comprehensive PENTEC Genitourinary Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Jul 14. . View in PubMed
• Toward Systematic Assessment and Improvement of Radiation Therapy Plan Quality of Cooperative Group Trial Submissions: A Report From the Children’s Oncology Group Pract Radiat Oncol. 2023 Jul-Aug; 13(4):e374-e382. . View in PubMed
• Physics Considerations for Evaluation of Dose for Dose-Response Models of Pediatric Late Effects From Radiation Therapy Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Mar 30. . View in PubMed
• A comprehensive review of 30 years of pediatric clinical trial radiotherapy dose constraints Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 05; 70(5):e30270. . View in PubMed
• Impact of Volumetric Dosimetry on the Projected Cost of Radiation-Related Late Effects Screening After Childhood Cancer: A Real-World Cohort Analysis Oncologist. 2023 09 07; 28(9):e784-e792. . View in PubMed
• Risk of Cerebrovascular Events Among Childhood and Adolescent Patients Receiving Cranial Radiation Therapy: A Pediatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic Normal Tissue Outcomes Comprehensive Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2022 Sep 01. . View in PubMed
• Acute and Late Pulmonary Effects After Radiation Therapy in Childhood Cancer Survivors: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2022 May 04. . View in PubMed
• Erratum to: Cohen-Cutler S, Wong K, Mena V, et alHearing Loss Risk in Pediatric Patients Treated with Cranial Irradiation and Cisplatin-Based Chemotherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2021:110(5);1488-1495. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2022 Mar 01; 112(3):838-839. . View in PubMed
• AAPM MEDICAL PHYSICS PRACTICE GUIDELINE 2b. : Commissioning and quality assurance of X-ray-based image-guided radiotherapy systems. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2021 Sep; 22(9):73-81. . View in PubMed
• Pediatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic (PENTEC): An International Collaboration to Assess Normal Tissue Radiation Dose-Volume-Response Relationships for Children With Cancer Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021 Mar 16. . View in PubMed
• Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Whole Ventricular Irradiation for Pure Intracranial Germinoma: A Comparison of Three Brain-Sparing Techniques Cureus. 2021 Mar 03; 13(3):e13670. . View in PubMed
• J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2021 Feb; 22(2):85-89. . View in PubMed
• Late effects of radiation therapy in pediatric patients and survivorship Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2021 05; 68 Suppl 2:e28349. . View in PubMed
• Surveillance for radiation-related late effects in childhood cancer survivors: The impact of using volumetric dosimetry Cancer Med. 2021 02; 10(3):905-913. . View in PubMed
• Practice Patterns of Pediatric Total Body Irradiation Techniques: A Children’s Oncology Group Survey Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021 12 01; 111(5):1155-1164. . View in PubMed
• Hearing Loss Risk in Pediatric Patients Treated with Cranial Irradiation and Cisplatin-Based Chemotherapy Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021 08 01; 110(5):1488-1495. . View in PubMed
• Creating a treatment plan report should be mandated as a minimum standard practice for patient care and QA documentation J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2020 Oct; 21(10):6-9. . View in PubMed
• Scalp and Cranium Radiation Therapy Using Modulation (SCRUM) and Bolus Adv Radiat Oncol. 2020 Sep-Oct; 5(5):936-942. . View in PubMed
• A practical method for the reuse of nanoDot OSLDs and predicting sensitivities up to at least 7000 cGy Med Phys. 2020 Apr; 47(4):1481-1488. . View in PubMed
• Practice patterns and recommendations for pediatric image-guided radiotherapy: A Children’s Oncology Group report Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2020 10; 67(10):e28629. . View in PubMed
• First Report of the Clinical Use of a Commercial Automated System for Daily Patient QA Using EPID Exit Images Adv Radiat Oncol. 2019 Oct-Dec; 4(4):722-728. . View in PubMed
• The relationship between ventricular volume and whole-brain irradiation dose in central nervous system germ cell tumors Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2019 12; 66(12):e28005. . View in PubMed
• Pediatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic (PENTEC): An International Collaboration to Analyse Normal Tissue Radiation Dose-Volume Response Relationships for Paediatric Cancer Patients Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol). 2019 03; 31(3):199-207. . View in PubMed
• Eliminating Daily Shifts, Tattoos, and Skin Marks: Streamlining Isocenter Localization With Treatment Plan Embedded Couch Values for External Beam Radiation Therapy Pract Radiat Oncol. 2019 Jan; 9(1):e110-e117. . View in PubMed
• Lens Dose-Response Prediction Modeling and Cataract Incidence in Patients With Retinoblastoma After Lens-Sparing or Whole-Eye Radiation Therapy Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2019 04 01; 103(5):1143-1150. . View in PubMed
• Collision Risk Mitigation of Varian TrueBeam Linear Accelerator With Supplemental Live-View Cameras Pract Radiat Oncol. 2019 Jan; 9(1):e103-e109. . View in PubMed
• Executive summary of AAPM Report Task Group 113: Guidance for the physics aspects of clinical trials J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2018 Sep; 19(5):335-346. . View in PubMed
• Sensitivity study of an automated system for daily patient QA using EPID exit dose images J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2018 May; 19(3):114-124. . View in PubMed
• Tolerance limits and methodologies for IMRT measurement-based verification QA: Recommendations of AAPM Task Group No218. Med Phys. 2018 Apr; 45(4):e53-e83. . View in PubMed
• Acute toxicity of craniospinal irradiation with volumetric-modulated arc therapy in children with solid tumors Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2018 07; 65(7):e27050. . View in PubMed
• Dose Sculpting Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Vertebral Body Sparing in Children With Neuroblastoma Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2018 07 01; 101(3):550-557. . View in PubMed
• The Children’s Oncology Group Radiation Oncology Discipline: 15 Years of Contributions to the Treatment of Childhood Cancer Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2018 07 15; 101(4):860-874. . View in PubMed
• Radiotherapy after high-dose chemotherapy with autologous hematopoietic cell rescue: Quality assessment of Head Start III Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2017 Oct; 64(10). . View in PubMed
• A Dosimetric Comparison of Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy, Volumetric-Modulated Arc Therapy, and 4p Non-Coplanar Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for a Patient with Parameningeal Rhabdomyosarcoma Cureus. 2017 Sep 10; 9(9):e1673. . View in PubMed
• Palliative Care Options for a Young Adult Patient with a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma Cureus. 2017 Aug 18; 9(8):e1580. . View in PubMed
• Palliative radiation therapy for superior vena cava syndrome in metastatic Wilms tumor using 10XFFF and 3D surface imaging to avoid anesthesia in a pediatric patient-a teaching case Adv Radiat Oncol. 2017 Jan-Mar; 2(1):101-104. . View in PubMed
• A quantitative analysis of craniopharyngioma cyst expansion during and after radiation therapy and surgical implications Neurosurg Focus. 2016 Dec; 41(6):E15. . View in PubMed
• Adaptation of vacuum-assisted mouthpiece head immobilization system for precision infant brain radiation therapy Pract Radiat Oncol. 2016 Nov – Dec; 6(6):425-428. . View in PubMed
• Re-irradiation of Recurrent Pineal Germ Cell Tumors with Radiosurgery: Report of Two Cases and Review of Literature Cureus. 2016 Apr 25; 8(4):e585. . View in PubMed
• Correlation of pulmonary function abnormalities with dose volume histograms in children treated with lung irradiation Pediatr Pulmonol. 2015 Jun; 50(6):596-603. . View in PubMed
• Comment on “Monte Carlo evaluations of the absorbed dose and quality dependence of Al2O3 in radiotherapy photon beams” [MedPhys. 36(10), 4421-4424 (2009)]. Med Phys. 2015 May; 42(5):2648-9. . View in PubMed
• Clinical outcomes of radiation therapy in the management of Langerhans cell histiocytosis Am J Clin Oncol. 2014 Dec; 37(6):592-6. . View in PubMed
• Validation of OSLD and a treatment planning system for surface dose determination in IMRT treatments Med Phys. 2014 Aug; 41(8):081720. . View in PubMed
• Pulmonary outcomes in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma treated with involved field radiation Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2014 Jul; 61(7):1277-81. . View in PubMed
• A retrospective analysis of recurrent intracranial ependymoma Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2014 Jul; 61(7):1195-201. . View in PubMed
• Dosimetric effects caused by couch tops and immobilization devices: report of AAPM Task Group 176 Med Phys. 2014 Jun; 41(6):061501. . View in PubMed
• AAPM Medical Physics Practice Guideline 2a: Commissioning and quality assurance of X-ray-based image-guided radiotherapy systems. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2014 Jan 06; 15(1):4528. . View in PubMed
• Correlation of clinical and dosimetric factors with adverse pulmonary outcomes in children after lung irradiation Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2013 Aug 01; 86(5):942-8. . View in PubMed
• Correlation of long-term pulmonary injury with radiation dose distribution in childhood cancer survivors Pract Radiat Oncol. 2012 Jul-Sep; 2(3):237-240. . View in PubMed
• TU-F-BRCD-01: Tolerance Levels and Methodologies for IMRT Verification QA Med Phys. 2012 Jun; 39(6Part24):3917. . View in PubMed
• A case of spontaneous hip dislocation that occurred during radiation therapy J Pediatr Orthop B. 2012 Mar; 21(2):170-3. . View in PubMed
• Evaluation of the accuracy of 3DVH software estimates of dose to virtual ion chamber and film in composite IMRT QA Med Phys. 2012 Jan; 39(1):81-6. . View in PubMed
• Effects of sublethal irradiation on patterns of engraftment after murine bone marrow transplantation Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2011 May; 17(5):608-19. . View in PubMed
• Pediatric dosimetry for intrapleural lung injections of (32)P chromic phosphate Phys Med Biol. 2010 Oct 07; 55(19):5735-51. . View in PubMed
• Validation of a treatment plan-based calibration method for 2D detectors used for treatment delivery quality assurance Med Phys. 2010 Aug; 37(8):4485-94. . View in PubMed
• Treatment of primary CNS germinomatous germ cell tumors with chemotherapy prior to reduced dose whole ventricular and local boost irradiation Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2010 Jul 15; 55(1):42-6. . View in PubMed
• (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys Epub October 27, 2009). Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 Jun 01; 77(2):638-9; author reply 639. . View in PubMed
• Re: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy dose prescription, recording, and delivery: patterns of variability among institutions and treatment planning systems J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008 Sep 03; 100(17):1263; author reply 1265-7. . View in PubMed
• TG-69: radiographic film for megavoltage beam dosimetry Med Phys. 2007 Jun; 34(6):2228-58. . View in PubMed
• Portal imaging practice patterns of children’s oncology group institutions: Dosimetric assessment and recommendations for minimizing unnecessary exposure Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2007 Feb 01; 67(2):594-600. . View in PubMed
• Evaluation of a computed radiography system for megavoltage photon beam dosimetry Med Phys. 2005 Sep; 32(9):2987-99. . View in PubMed
• In regard to Urie et al: current calibration treatment, and treatment planning techniques among institutions participating in the Children’s Oncology Group. IJROBP 2003;55:245-260. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2003 Jul 15; 56(4):1209-10. . View in PubMed
• Range spectra in electron penetration problems Med Phys. 1998 Jan; 25(1):43-55. . View in PubMed
• Code of practice for brachytherapy physics: report of the AAPM Radiation Therapy Committee Task Group No56. American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Med Phys. 1997 Oct; 24(10):1557-98. . View in PubMed
• The need for individualized dosimetry for tangential breast treatment Med Dosim. 1997; 22(4):315-8. . View in PubMed
• Application of the ICRU Report 38 reference volume concept to the radiotherapeutic management of recurrent endometrial and cervical carcinoma Radiother Oncol. 1993 Mar; 26(3):254-9. . View in PubMed
• Conversion from Cs-137 to Ir-192 for high dose rate remote afterloading: practical considerations Med Phys. 1992 Mar-Apr; 19(2):377-83. . View in PubMed
• External beam electron therapy: pitfalls in treatment planning and deliverance Front Radiat Ther Oncol. 1991; 25:64-79. . View in PubMed
• The CT scanner as a therapy machine Radiother Oncol. 1990 Dec; 19(4):337-43. . View in PubMed
• Critique of “Stereotactic radiosurgery for intracranial arteriovenous malformations using a standard linear accelerator” Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1990 Jun; 18(6):1535-6. . View in PubMed
• Optimization of arc angles in rotational therapy Med Dosim. 1990; 15(3):141-6. . View in PubMed
• Radiotherapy planning for simulation of prostate cancer: computerized tomographic scanning vsconventional radiographic localization. Med Dosim. 1989 Dec; 14(4):277-84. . View in PubMed
• Comments on “Reference Dose Rates for Single- and Double-Plane 192Ir Implants” Med Phys. 1989 Jan-Feb; 16(1):143-4. . View in PubMed
• Treatment planning of esophagus, stomach, rectum and pancreas Front Radiat Ther Oncol. 1987; 21:236-46. . View in PubMed
• Variability of heating patterns in animals by magnetic induction hyperthermia J Surg Oncol. 1985 Jun; 29(2):82-8. . View in PubMed
• The pharmacologic manipulation of blood flow in hyperthermia therapy J Surg Oncol. 1983 Dec; 24(4):292-7. . View in PubMed
• Single- and double-plane iridium-192 interstitial implants: implantation guidelines and dosimetry Med Phys. 1983 Jul-Aug; 10(4):456-61. . View in PubMed
• Blood flow in human tumors during hyperthermia therapy: demonstration of vasoregulation and an applicable physiological model J Surg Oncol. 1983 Jun; 23(2):125-32. . View in PubMed

• Chang, Eric