A note on the Radiation Treatment Planning for the Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Radiation therapy has been one of the major treatment modalities for the prostate cancer over the past few decades. Treatment planning system (TPS) is an integral component in radiation therapy in order to ensure the accurate estimation of radiation dose to the tumor. However, due to the variability in optimization techniques and beam modeling among various TPS, the current literature on radiation treatment planning have shown disagreement on the dosimetric findings, especially for the intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated radiation therapy (VMAT). This may create a confusion for the cancer centers who are debating whether to implement IMRT or VMAT as the primary treatment modality for the cancer treatment in their institution. The purpose of this article is to provide the brief review on the IMRT and VMAT for the prostate cancer treatment.