Abstract
The aim of curative radiotherapy is to deliver a high dose, as uniformly as possible, to a target volume (TV) which encompasses the tumour, any marginal spread of disease and perhaps a border of safety, whilst minimising the dose to radiosensitive structures lying nearby. The widespread availability of tomographic medical images including X-ray computed tomography and magnetic resonance tomography enables sensitive volumes (SV) and TV to be accurately determined in three-dimensions (e.g. Fraass et al. 1991). The goal of conformal radiotherapy is to tailor the treatment fields so that the differential between the high-dose TV and the low-dose SV is as wide as possible. Under these circumstances dose escalation may be appropriate, thus increasing the probability of local control. A recent review of conformal therapy sets out the issues (Tait and Nahum 1990).
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