In a radiation therapy prescription, the elements that are essential include the total dose, fractionation, and target volumes.
The total dose specifies how much radiation will be delivered to the tumor, ensuring that the treatment is effective in targeting the cancerous tissue. Fractionation outlines how the total dose is divided into smaller doses, typically administered over several sessions, which is crucial for maximizing tumor control while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissues.
Target volumes detail the specific areas that need to be treated, including the gross tumor volume and margins, ensuring that the radiation precisely targets the cancer and spares healthy tissues as much as possible.
While elapsed calendar days may be a useful piece of information for scheduling and planning purposes, it is not a mandatory component of the prescription itself. The prescription primarily focuses on the specifics of the dose and the areas being treated, rather than the timeline within which the treatment should occur. Therefore, this element is not required in a patient’s radiation therapy prescription.