Optimization of collimator parameters to reduce rectal dose in intensity-modulated prostate treatment planning

The inability to avoid rectal wall irradiation has been a limiting factor in prostate cancer treatment planning. Treatment planners must not only consider the maximum dose that the rectum receives throughout a course of treatment, but also the dose that any volume of the rectum receives. As treatment planning techniques have evolved and prescription doses have escalated, limitations of rectal dose have remained an area of focus. External pelvic immobilization devices have been incorporated to aid in daily reproducibility and lessen concern for daily patient motion. Internal immobilization devices (such as the intrarectal balloon) and visualization techniques (including daily ultrasound or placement of fiducial markers) have been utilized to reduce the uncertainty of intrafractional prostate positional variation, thus allowing for minimization of treatment volumes. Despite these efforts, prostate volumes continue to abut portions of the rectum, and the necessary volume expansions continue to include portions of the anterior rectal wall within high-dose regions. The addition of collimator parameter optimization (both collimator angle and primary jaw settings) to intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) allows greater rectal sparing compared to the use of IMRT alone. We use multiple patient examples to illustrate the positive effects seen when utilizing collimator parameter optimization in conjunction with IMRT to further reduce rectal doses.