INTRODUCTION High rectal doses are associated with increased toxicity. A rectal displacement device (RDD) reduces rectal dose in prostate stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). This study investigates any dosimetric difference between two methods of rectal displacement (Rectafix and SpaceOAR) for prostate SBRT. METHODS Rectal dosimetry of 45 men who received SBRT within the PROMETHEUS tr...

Heterogeneities existing in the patient during treatment are neglected, as the treated subject is considered homogeneous in most of the commercially-available treatment planning systems (TPSs) used for high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. The choice of a suitable dosimeter for experimental dosimetry near the HDR source is crucial, mainly due to existence of steep dose gradients. The present work...

Verification of dose to the anterior rectal wall in helical tomotherapy to the prostate is important due to the close proximity of the rectal wall to the treatment field. The steep dose gradient makes these measurements challenging. A phantom-based study was completed, aimed at developing a system for measurement of anterior rectal wall doses during hypofractionated prostate stereotactic body r...

AIMS AND BACKGROUND To evaluate whether doses or dose rates at International Commission on Radiation Units (ICRU) reference points are of value for predicting risks of late rectal and bladder morbidity in patients with uterine cervical cancer who have undergone external beam radiotherapy and intracavitary irradiation. METHODS Late rectal complications and late bladder complications were evalu...

INTRODUCTION Rectal bleeding after radiotherapy impacts the quality of life of long-term surviving prostate cancer patients. We sought to identify factors associated with late rectal bleeding following intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) using TomoTherapy for prostate cancer. METHODS We retrospectively analysed 82 patients with localised prostate cancer treated with TomoTherapy. Most...

PURPOSE Groupe Européen de Curiethérapie (GEC) and European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) has proposed a rectal dose constraint of the most exposed 2-cc volume (D2cc of ≤ 75 Gy EQD2α/β = 3) during external-beam plus high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) in localized prostate cancer patients. This study aimed to evaluate D2cc for rectal contouring via interobserver variability. M...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a spacer inserted in the prerectal space could reduce modeled rectal dose and toxicity rates for patients with prostate cancer treated in silico with pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy. A total of 20 patients were included in this study who received photon therapy (12 with rectal spacer (DuraSeal™ gel) and 8 without). Two PBS treatment pl...

PURPOSE Radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer is effective but dose limited because of the proximity of normal tissues. Comprehensive dose-volume analysis of the incidence of clinically relevant late rectal toxicities could indicate how the dose to the rectum should be constrained. Previous emphasis has been on constraining the mid-to-high dose range (>/=50 Gy). Evidence is emerging that low...

Introduction: Rectal and bladder cancer are the most common disease among young man. Although External Radiotherapy (EBRT) is one of the most effective treatment options introduced so far, the testis undesired radiation dose increases the risk of infertility and hormonal malfunctioning. The testicles are usually outside of the radiation field, but they can be exposed either to ...

BACKGROUND To evaluate the impact of four different rectum contouring techniques and rectal toxicities in patients with treated with 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). METHODS Clinical and dosimetric data were evaluated for 94 patients who received a total dose 3DCRT of 70 Gy, and rectal doses were compared in four different rectal contouring techniques: the prostate-containing CT sections (m...