Dose prescription, reporting and recording in intensity-modulated radiation therapy: a digest of the ICRU Report 83

Rapid development in imaging techniques, including functional imaging, have fueled the drive to implement new methods of delivering 3D radiation therapy, such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy, with unprecedented accuracy. The International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) Report 83 provides the information necessary to standardize techniques and procedures and to harmonize the prescribing, recording and reporting of intensity-modulated radiation therapy. Applicable concepts and recommendations in other International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements reports concerning radiation therapy were adopted, and new concepts and recommendations were elaborated. In particular, additional recommendations were given on the selection and delineation of the target volumes and the organs at risk; concepts of dose prescription and dose-volume reporting have also been refined.