Despite the increasing use of the rectal balloon in prostate cancer radiotherapy, many issues still remain to be verified objectively including its positional reproducibility and relevance to treatment morbidity. We have developed a custom rectal balloon that has a scale indicating the depth of insertion and dilates symmetrically ensuring positional reproducibility. Fifty patients with prostate...

We present one of the first cases of a prostate cancer (PCa) patient with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and a hydrogel rectal spacer. A 73-year-old male with a past medical history significant for Crohn's disease (CD) and the recent diagnosis of T1cN0M0 high-risk PCa was referred for definitive radiotherapy. Given the patient's history of ...

BACKGROUND To evaluate the risk of rectal, bladder and small bowel toxicity in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) of the prostate only compared to additional irradiation of the pelvic lymphatic region. METHODS For ten patients with localized prostate cancer, IMRT plans with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) were generated for treatment of the prostate only (plan-PO) and for addi...

BACKGROUND The dose distribution to the rectum, delineated as solid organ, rectal wall and rectal surface, in 3D conformal (3D-CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy treatment (IMRT) planning for localized prostate cancer was evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a retrospective planning study 3-field, 4-field and IMRT treatment plans were analyzed for ten patients with localized prostate ca...

tion proctitis (CRP) is due to the increas− ing use of radiotherapy in prostate cancer. The incidence ranges between 2 % and 20 % in various retrospective studies. Me− dian time to clinical symptoms ranges from 8 to 13 months [1]. Argon plasma coagulation (APC) has now been estab− lished as an effective, safe, and well−toler− ated endoscopic therapy, with success rates between 80% and 100 % [2]...

background: in order to improve the evaluation of possible rectal toxicity based on the rectal normal tissue complication probability (ntcp), we consider the fractional dependence of the ntcp on the wall thickness (tw) and rectal displacement (rm). materials and methods: the two-dimensional ntcp model (ntcp2d) was developed using radiotherapy plans of ten randomly selected patients with prostat...

BACKGROUND A strong dose-volume relationship exists between the amount of small bowel receiving low- to intermediate-doses of radiation and the rates of acute, severe gastrointestinal toxicity, principally diarrhea. There is considerable interest in the application of highly conformal treatment approaches, such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), to reduce dose to adjacent organs-a...

Purpose Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has been rapidly incorporated into clinical practice because of its technological advantages over 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (CRT). We characterized trends in IMRT utilization in trimodality treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer at National Comprehensive Cancer Network cancer centers between 2005 and 2011. Methods and m...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival outcomes and toxicity of postoperative chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine and concurrent intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) or three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) in patients with stage II and III rectal cancer. PATIENTS We recruited 184 patients with pathologically proven, stage II or III rectal cancer. Followi...

PURPOSE To compare toxicity profiles and biochemical tumor control outcomes between patients treated with image-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IG-IMRT) and non-IGRT intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for clinically localized prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between 2009 and 2012, 65 patients with localized prostate cancer were treated with IG-IMRT. This group of patients ...