Recently, there has been interest in the use of highly advanced treatment approaches, such as intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), to treat locally advanced rectal cancer especially for some particular cases that do not meet dose constraints with 3DCRT, or in previously treated patients with recurrent disease requiring re-irradiation. In neoadjuvant setting, both conventional and short course radiotherapy protocols are accepted.Nonetheless, there are only a few dosimetric studies that aimed to compare the two radiotherapy techniques (3DCRT and IMRT), in terms of planning target volume coverage and organs at risk sparing, for both conventional and short course protocols.
Aim of the Work:
The aim of this study was to compare the dosimetric parameters of two radiotherapy techniques, three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) technique and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) technique, in terms of PTV coverage and OARs avoidance, for patients who received radiotherapy in neoadjuvant setting for locally advanced (stage II & III) rectal cancer.