There are radiobiological rationales supporting hypofractionated radiotherapy for prostate cancer. The recent advancements in treatment planning and delivery allow sophisticated radiation treatments to take advantage of the differences in radiobiology of prostate cancer and the surrounding normal tissues. The preliminary results from clinical studies indicate that abbreviated fractionation prog...

"Biological optimization" (BIOP) means planning treatments using (radio)biological criteria and models, that is, tumour control probability and normal-tissue complication probability. Four different levels of BIOP are identified: Level I is "isotoxic" individualization of prescription dose D(presc) at fixed fraction number. D(presc) is varied to keep the NTCP of the organ at risk constant. Sign...

Since the inception of radiotherapy soon after the discovery of X rays by Roentgen in 1895, the technology of X ray production has first been aimed towards ever higher photon and electron beam energies and intensities, and more recently towards computerization and intensity modulated beam delivery. During the first 50 years of radiotherapy the technological progress was relatively slow and main...

'Quality assurance' is all those planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy the given requirements for quality (ISO 9000:1994). As such it is wide ranging, covering all relevant procedures, activities and actions, and hence all groups of staff involved in the process under consideration. 12.1.1.2. Quality assurance in radiother...

procedures, but between procedures in which more, and procedures in which less, is at stake. In this regard, external-beam radiotherapy does not differ relevantly from technically more invasive procedures such as brachytherapy. The authors reject the argument that implicit consent has been obtained simply because a “patient attends for consultation and follows through on all of the multiple ste...

For the first time in their history, the 2 medical organizations most responsible for the treatment of prostate cancer in the United States—the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the American Urological Association (AUA)—have issued a joint guideline, a series of 9 major statements on the use of radiation therapy (either adjuvant or salvage) after prostatectomy. The statements ...

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to investigate treatment efficacy and side effects of concomitant Aisu® (docetaxel) with three-dimensional conformal external beam radiotherapy for the treatment of inoperable patients with esophageal cancer. METHODS Inoperable patients were treated with three-dimensional conformal external beam radiotherapy (5/week, 2 GY/day, and total dose 60GY) plus doceta...