BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Radiotherapy is effective in treating nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study evaluated the treatment efficacy, toxicity, and prognostic factors of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in the treatment NPC. METHODS Between September 2003 and September 2006, 305 patients with NPC were treated with IMRT in Fujian Provincial Cancer Hospital. IMRT was delivered as f...

OBJECTIVE To compare the inverse planning optimization based on total dose constraints versus conventional treatment plan (point A planning method) for cervical carcinoma, and evaluate the benefit of CT-based image-guided brachytherapy. METHODS We prospectively analyzed data of 10 consecutive patients with cervical cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy to the whole pelvis (45 Gy in 2...

PURPOSE To evaluate the differences between three methods of classification of recurrences in patients with head and neck tumours treated with Radiation Therapy (RT). MATERIALS AND METHODS 367 patients with head and neck tumours were included in the study. Tumour recurrences were delineated in the CT images taken during patient follow-up and deformable registration was used to transfer this v...

PURPOSE To assess clinical outcomes and patterns of loco-regional failure (LRF) in relation to clinical target volumes (CTV) in patients with locally advanced hypopharyngeal and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HL-SCC) treated with definitive intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and concurrent systemic therapy. METHODS Data from HL-SCC patients treated from 2007 to 2010 were retrospectiv...

PURPOSE To evaluate conventional brachytherapy (BT) plans using dose-volume parameters and high resolution (3 Tesla) MRI datasets, and to quantify dosimetric benefits and limitations when MRI-guided, conformal BT (MRIG-CBT) plans are generated. MATERIAL AND METHODS Fifty-five clinical high-dose-rate BT plans from 14 cervical cancer patients were retrospectively studied. All conventional plans...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To compare partial-breast clinical target volumes generated using a standard 15 mm margin (CTV(standard)) with those generated using three-dimensional surgical excision margins (CTV(tailored 30)) in women who have undergone wide local excision (WLE) for breast cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-five women underwent WLE with placement of clips in the anterior, deep and ...

Radiotherapy is a tumor treatment process using high dose of radiation. Hence, it is essential that radiotherapy is carefully planned with a Treatment Planning System (TPS). The first step in TPS is delineation that aims to get a better picture of the tumor and the target volume value. This research investigated volume target delineation for brain tumor against the MRI image of the head in axia...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes among patients treated by intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with daily image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) for head and neck cancer according to the margins used to expand the clinical target volume (CTV) to create a planning target volume (PTV). METHODS Three hundred sixty-seven consecutive patients were treated with IMRT for sq...

PURPOSE To compare the short-term toxicity and dosimetry of tandem and ring (TR), and tandem and ovoid (TO) applicators in treatment of gynecologic malignancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Following pelvic external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), a total of 52 computed tomography-based plans from 13 patients with cervical cancer (FIGO IB2-IIIB) were evaluated for HDR brachytherapy. Prescription was 7 ...

BACKGROUND Intermediate- to-high-risk prostate cancer can locally invade seminal vesicle (SV). It is recommended that anatomic proximal 1-cm to 2-cm SV be included in the clinical target volume (CTV) for definitive radiotherapy based on pathology studies. However, it remains unclear whether the pathology indicated SV extent is included into the CTV defined by current guidelines. The purpose of ...