How quality influences the clinical outcome of external beam radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer.

For the delivery of good-quality external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in localized prostate cancer, under-dosage to the peripheral zone (tumour) is one likely cause of poor results. The quality is improved by daily verification of the position of the prostate, and the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in delineation. Currently these are demands on quality that should be incorporated in each radiotherapy department. The use of MRI in staging is also expected to improve patient selection for EBRT. Furthermore, an adequate radiation dose should be delivered. In this overview we describe what the urologist should expect from radiation oncologists to obtain the optimum results for the patients.