An Overview of Hypofractionation and Introduction to This Issue of Seminars in Radiation Oncology

Stereotactic body radiation therapy has been proposed as a salvage treatment for recurrent prostate cancer after irradiation. One crucial issue is choosing appropriate dose-volume constraints (DVCs) during planning. The objectives of this study were to (1) quantify the proportion of patients respecting the DVCs according to the Urogenital Tumor Study Group GETUG-31 trial, testing 36 Gy in six fractions, (2) explain geometrically why the DVCs could not be respected, and (3) propose the most suitable DVCs.This retrospective dosimetric analysis included 141 patients treated for recurrent prostate cancer with Cyberknife (Accuray), according to GETUG-31 DVCs: V95% ≥ 95% for the planning target volume (PTV), V12Gy < 20% and V27Gy < 2 cc for the rectum, and V12Gy < 15% and V27Gy < 5 cc for the bladder. The percentage of patients not respecting the DVCs was quantified. Correlations between the DVCs and anatomic structures were examined. New DVCs were proposed.Only 19% of patients respected all DVCs, with a mean PTV of 18.5 cc (range, 3-48 cc), although the mean PTV was 40.5 cc (range, 3-174 cc) in the whole series. A total of 98% of the patients with a clinical target volume (CTV)/prostate ratio >0.5 could not respect the DVCs in the organs at risk. The target coverage and organ-at-risk sparing decreased significantly with increase in the values of PTV, CTV, CTV/prostate ratio, the overlapping volume between the PTV and bladder wall and between the PTV and rectal wall. Threshold values of PTV, >20 cc and 40 cc, allowed for the PTV and bladder DVCs, respectively. To improve DVC respect in case of large target volume, we proposed the following new DVCs: V12Gy < 25% and 25% and V27Gy < 2 cc and 5 cc for the rectum and bladder, respectively.GETUG-31 DVCs are achievable only for small target volumes (CTV more than half of the prostate). For a larger target volume, new DVCs have been proposed.