Finding dose–volume constraints to reduce late rectal toxicity following 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) of prostate cancer

Background and purpose: The rectum is known to display a dose–volume effect following high-dose 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT). The aim of the study is to search for significant dose–volume combinations with the specific treatment technique and patient set-up currently used in our institution. Patients and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the dose–volume histograms (DVH) of 135 patients with stage T1b–T3b prostate cancer treated...