ICRU Releases Report About Brachytherapy for Cervical Cancer

The International Commission on Radiation Units & Measurements (ICRU) recently released Report 89, which provides comprehensive recommendations on prescribing, recording and reporting brachytherapy, focusing on volumetric imaging in cervix cancer brachytherapy as current advanced standard.

A key element is the introduction of the 4-D adaptive target concept at certain treatment time points based upon clinical examination and imaging. For the rectum, bladder, sigmoid, adjacent bowel and vagina, in addition to contours including the entire organ, the report emphasizes the presence of different morbidity endpoints and related substructures within the organ.

Specific concepts and terminology are developed, comparable to the Groupe Européen de Curiethérapie (GEC) and the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) recommendations for selecting and contouring the various tumor-related (adaptive) volumes, together with the delineation of the adjacent organs at risk. Detailed contouring of these structures and volumes based on repetitive imaging and gynecologic examination requires a comprehensive understanding of tumor spread and tumor response.

The report was prepared in collaboration with GEC ESTRO, highlighting the intensive and effective collaboration on cervix cancer brachytherapy during the last two decades.

Web Extras

• Access ICRU Report 89 via Oxford University Press at: jicru.oxfordjournals.org/