Radiotherapy & Oncology
Volume 81, Issue 2 , Pages 179-183, November 2006

Prostate volume determination: Differential volume measurements comparing CT and TRUS

  • Karl Mikael Kälkner

      Affiliations

    • Department of Oncology, and
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Karl Mikael Kälkner, Department of Oncology, Radiumhemmet, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
    • ,
  • Gregory Kubicek

      Affiliations

    • Department of Therapeutic Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
    • ,
  • Josef Nilsson

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Physics, Radiumhemmet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
    • ,
  • Marie Lundell

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Physics, Radiumhemmet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
    • ,
  • Seymour Levitt

      Affiliations

    • Department of Oncology, and
    • Department of Therapeutic Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
    • ,
  • Sten Nilsson

      Affiliations

    • Department of Oncology, and

Received 18 April 2006; received in revised form 5 October 2006; accepted 6 October 2006. published online 30 October 2006.

Abstract 

Purpose

To compare the differences in prostate volume assessed by computerized tomography (CT), step-section transrectal ultrasound (TRUS-step), and TRUS with ellipsoid-formula volume calculation (TRUS-ellipsoid).

Methods and materials

Thirty-one patients with localized prostate cancer treated with combined external conformal radiotherapy and high dose rate brachytherapy, who had prostate volumes evaluated using CT, TRUS-step and TRUS-ellipsoid according to our clinical routine for dose planning. The measurements were collected retrospectively based on actual dose-plans.

Results

The prostate volume was on average 34cc (range 18–60cc) according to CT, 28cc (range 12–57cc) and 24cc (range 13–44cc) according to TRUS-step and TRUS-ellipsoid, respectively. The differences between the lengths measured were most pronounced with a mean length of 4.5cm (range 3.0–6.0cm) defined by CT as compared to 3.6cm (range 3.0–5.0cm) and 3.6cm (range 2.8–5.0cm) when defined by TRUS-step and TRUS-ellipsoid, respectively.

Conclusion

CT defined volumes are 30% larger than volumes defined with TRUS-step. This is probably due to uncertainty in defining the apex of the prostate and thereby the length of the prostate using CT. When defining target in radiotherapy, it is important to be aware of the differences in volumes depending on the technique used.

Keywords: Prostate volume, Computerised tomography (CT), Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), Brachytherapy

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PII: S0167-8140(06)00533-0

doi:10.1016/j.radonc.2006.10.003

Radiotherapy & Oncology
Volume 81, Issue 2 , Pages 179-183, November 2006

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