Impact of CT-Based Treatment Planning on Radiation Therapy of Carcinoma of the Bladder

Computed tomography (CT) has been an integrated step in the treatment planning of radiation therapy of carcinoma of the bladder in stages T1-T3 in 49 consecutive patients referred to Radiumstationen in Aarhus. The introduction of this technique has led to a considerable increase (26±4%) in the mean effective target volume of these patients compared with that of 51 conventionally simulated patients. The largest field expansions have been performed in the cranial and ventral directions. The field margins to the bladder have been correlated with the position of the tumour mass. The findings are compared with previously published results on CT-based treatment planning of patients with bladder carcinoma.