9 Reporting in Brachytherapy: Dose and Volume Specification

182 Reporting in Brachytherapy

Fig 6.15 : Dose gradient in intraluminal brachytherapy. The dose variation is expressed relative to the dose at 10 mm from the source axis.

Fig 6.16 : Dose gradient in intraluminal brachytherapy. Influence of the applicator diameter on the dose variation for three particular types of clinical situations. Dose variation between the applicator surface and at 5 mm depth in the tissue is indicated. Because of the steep dose gradient, there is no obvious choice for a reference point for reporting based (at least partly) on dose distribution (as in external beam therapy). Therefore, it is recommended that two sets of reference points should be selected related (1) to the source(s) and (2) to the tissues/organs. These two sets of information should be clearly distinguished from one another.