BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To delineate the clinical target volume (CTV) in low dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy for prostate cancer, American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) recommends a CTV = prostate.
ESTRO advocates a CTV = prostate + 3 mm excluding rectum and many authors use and recommend other different CTVs. This study aims to: (1) evaluate the appropriateness of these recommendations and (2) test the applicability of seed distributions on the different CTVs and contrast the dosimetric differences.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-eight patients treated with 125I seeds (dose 145 Gy; CTV = prostate) were studied. We established for every patient: (1) risk of extraprostatic extension (EPE), (2) adequacy of original plan to an extended CTV with 3 mm-margin (3) a new planning and seed distribution for this CTV and (4) comparison of dosimetry of both plans.
RESULTS: Mean risk of EPE was 28.46 %. Original plan, when applied to the extended CTV, resulted in unsatisfactory dosimetry. A plan was generated for the 98 extended CTVs meeting all dosimetric specifications.
CONCLUSIONS: The risk of EPE is high enough to consider a 3 mm-margin around prostate necessary for all cases. A CTV = prostate + 3 mm except rectum as ESTRO recommends is feasible and would adjust planning to the most probable extension of the tumor.
Written by:
Oton CA, Blanco L, Oton LF, Moral S. Are you the author?
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of La Laguna Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
Reference: Clin Transl Oncol. 2014 Oct 29. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1007/s12094-014-1245-z
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25351173