Guidelines for primary radiotherapy of patients with prostate cancer

The appropriate application of 3-D conformal radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy or image guided radiotherapy for patients undergoing radiotherapy for prostate cancer requires a standardisation of target delineation as well as clinical quality assurance procedures. Pathological and imaging studies provide valuable information on tumour extension. In addition, clinical investigations on patient positioning and immobilisation as well as treatment verification data offer an abundance of information. Target volume definitions for different risk groups of prostate cancer patients based on pathological and imaging studies are provided. Available imaging modalities, patient positioning and treatment preparation studies as well as verification procedures are collected from literature studies. These studies are summarised and recommendations are given where appropriate. On behalf of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Radiation Oncology Group this article presents a common set of recommendations for external beam radiotherapy of patients with prostate cancer.