Early results of urethral dose reduction and small safety margin in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for localized prostate cancer using a real-time tumor-tracking radiotherapy (RTRT) system

BACKGROUND: We prospectively assessed the utility of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with urethral dose reduction and a small margin between the clinical target volume (CTV) and the planning target volume (PTV) for patients with localized prostate cancer. METHODS: The study population was 110 patients in low- (14.5%), intermediate- (41.8%), and high-risk (43.6%) categories. Three gold fiducial markers were inserted into the prostate. A soft guide-wire was used to identify the urethra when computed tomography (CT) scan for treatment planning was performed. A dose constraint of V70 < 10% was applied to the urethral region. Margins between the CTV-PTV were set at 3 mm in all directions. Patients were treated with 70 Gy IMRT in 30 fractions (D95 of PTV) over 7.5 weeks. The patient couch was adjusted to keep the gold markers within 2.0 mm from their planned positions with the use of frequent on-line verification. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 31.3 (3.2 to 82.1) months. The biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS) rates at 3 years were 100%, 93.8% and 89.5% for the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk patients, respectively. The incidences of acute adverse events (AEs) were 45.5% and 0.9% for grades 1 and 2, respectively. The late AEs were grade 1 cystitis in 10.0% of the patients, rectal bleeding in 7.3%, and urinary urgency in 6.4%. Only three patients (2.7%) developed grade 2 late AEs. CONCLUSIONS: On-line image guidance with precise correction of the table position during radiotherapy achieved one of the lowest AEs rates with a bRFS equal to the highest in the literature.