title: The benefit of using bladder sub-volume equivalent uniform dose constraints in prostate intensity-modulated radiotherapy planning.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To assess the benefits of bladder wall sub-volume equivalent uniform dose (EUD) constraints in prostate cancer intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) planning.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two IMRT plans, with and without EUD constraints on the bladder wall, were generated using beams that deliver 80 Gy to the prostate and 46 Gy to the seminal vesicles and were compared in 53 prostate cancer patients. The bladder wall was defined as the volume between the external manually delineated wall and a contraction of 7 mm apart from it. The bladder wall was then separated into two parts: the internal-bladder wall (bla-in) represented by the portion of the bladder wall that intersected with the planning target volume (PTV) plus 5 mm extension; the external-bladder wall (bla-ex) represented by the remaining part of the bladder wall. In the IMRT plan with EUD constraints, the values of "a" parameter for the EUD models were 10.0 for bla-in and 2.3 for bla-ex. The plans with and without EUD constraints were compared in terms of dose-volume histograms, 5-year bladder and rectum normal tissue complication probability values, as well as tumor control probability (TCP) values.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The use of bladder sub-volume EUD constraints decreased both the doses to the bladder wall (V70: 22.76% vs 19.65%,Dmean: 39.82 Gy vs 35.45 Gy) and the 5-year bladder complication probabilities (≥LENT/SOMA Grade 2: 20.35% vs 17.96%; bladder bleeding: 10.63% vs 8.64%). The doses to the rectum wall and the rectum complication probabilities were also slightly decreased by the EUD constraints compared to physical constraints only. The minimal dose and theV76Gyof PTVprostatewere, however, slightly decreased by EUD optimization, nevertheless without significant difference in TCP values between the two plans, and the PTV parameters finally respected the Groupe d'Etude des Tumeurs Uro-Génitales recommendations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Separating the bladder wall into two parts with appropriate EUD optimization may reduce bladder toxicity in prostate IMRT. Combining biological constraints with physical constraints in the organs at risk at the inverse planning step of IMRT may improve the dose distribution.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Image Science and Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu; Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital & Institute, Jinan; Centre de Recherche en Information Biomédicale Sino-français, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Information Biomédicale Sino-français, Nanjing, People's Republic of China; Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, U1099; Laboratory of Signal and Image Processing (LTSI), University of Rennes 1.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Information Biomédicale Sino-français, Nanjing, People's Republic of China; Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, U1099; Laboratory of Signal and Image Processing (LTSI), University of Rennes 1.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haigron
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, U1099; Laboratory of Signal and Image Processing (LTSI), University of Rennes 1; Department of Radiotherapy, Centre Eugène Marquis, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lafond
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, U1099; Laboratory of Signal and Image Processing (LTSI), University of Rennes 1.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Image Science and Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu; Centre de Recherche en Information Biomédicale Sino-français, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huazhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, U1099; Laboratory of Signal and Image Processing (LTSI), University of Rennes 1; Department of Radiotherapy, Centre Eugène Marquis, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castelli
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Image Science and Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu; Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital & Institute, Jinan; Centre de Recherche en Information Biomédicale Sino-français, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Baosheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Information Biomédicale Sino-français, Nanjing, People's Republic of China; Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, U1099; Laboratory of Signal and Image Processing (LTSI), University of Rennes 1; Department of Radiotherapy, Centre Eugène Marquis, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Crevoisier
keywords: IMRT; equivalent uniform dose; prostate