[The clinical application of intensity-modulated radiation therapy]

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) represents one of the greatest technical innovations in modern radiotherapy. Its capacity of achieving treatments with the dose conforming largely to the irradiated area makes it possible to treat volumes close to organs at risk with great safety These characteristics make it an ideal technique for studies, whether for reducing toxicity in organs at risk, or for intensifying dosages to improve the control of the disease. The first part of the article considers what is understood by IMRT and its peculiar dosimetric characteristics, as well the types of IMRT; the second part deals with the clinical evidence in some localisations such as tumours of the head and neck, prostate and breast.