How many Gray needed IMRT

My theory, she meant to say 38 sessions.

Standard amount is 66 gray to the prostate bed. If they do whole pelvic, it may be in the 70's. 38 does not sound right.

Good luck.

Deros my friend,
Friendly fire 2 this is friendly fire 1...As a "seasoned" vet who wears hearing aids and can read lips also, I can assure you that you misunderstood her. For each session I had to remove my glasses and hearing aids and read lips..If you wear aids and had them removed when you asked the question, you should have had your eyes on her lips instead of elsewhere..If not, the next time you go to the VA have them check your hearing--LOL...I'm glad that you have started with your treatments and can assure you that Purg , the Lieutenant, and all vets on this forum are "pulling" for you. Don't forget, drink plenty of fluids before each session! I mentioned to my wife that I may fly down South to be present when you get your diploma..Keep us (me) informed as to your progress!
Bill
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Age 70 now--dx'd Sept 2010--psa 4.89--5 g8's and 4 g7's out of 10 cores with ece.
IMRT-79.2 g's completed in Feb 2010--initial casodex-now discontinued and lupron for 3 years--1 year to go!!!!!!!!!

deros -

142 in his comment above about cumulative dosage may be on to the answer.

IMRT was my primary treatment. The way it worked for me was that they started me out at a low dose (sorry, I don't remember exactly what it was offhand), then at each session gradually increased the dosage a little, session by session, until at the end I reached the dosage they had originally assigned for me to reach (in my case 81Gy). This gradual increase over multiple sessions allows the body to adjust to the radiation over time, and lets the RO observe any SEs just as they are developing.

Is it possible the number the tech gave you was just the initial dose, the dose they were going to start you on? That first dose would likely be the one listed on the paper or clipboard she could have been looking at, and she just read off to you what she saw on that paper when you asked her about it?

I think what you need to do is ask your RO what your initial dosage was to be, increment pattern they intend to follow, and what dosage you are scheduled to finish with.

As I recall, the doctor said 66.6 Gray for my prostate bed. (I could have mentally added the point six since it makes me hopeful that we have found the number of the beast). But I am sure about the 66 part. I can't make any sense of your 38. My per-session exposure is 1.8 Gray.

Sessions=fractions.

Gray is total exposure spread across fractions.

Typically 68 Gray for men doing post prostatectomy across 38-39 fractions

Also typically 78-80 gray across 44-45 fractions for primary IMRT...

Tony

I am begining to understand. I did not understand the way it worked. I thought like 70 gray was a daily dose and not cumulative dosage. I have been thinking and she said it was 38 gray then 36 gray. The 38 gray was to prostate, sem. vessels and lymph node. Then she said 36 gray to prostate only. Total then is 74 gray to prostate. Total sessions is 41. The RO said last Monday had said they were going to hit that node heavy first. We doing 31 tx that is the 38 gray and then finishing with 10 prostate only of 36 gray. Prostate gets 74 gray and node gets 38 gray. Thanks alot group . I have been worried for nothing the past two days because I did not understand the number was a cumulative. My number is 74 gray.

Friendly fire 1, I was just an enlisted soldier and we were not suppose to think and understand. Just follow orders and not ask questions. Charge up that hill.

Deros,

I hope this will be of use to you in asking questions...

RADIATION TREATMENT: The patient was treated to his pelvis using intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with 6 MV photons with VMAT. The patient's pelvic lymph nodes were treated to 46 Gy in 2 Gy fractions. The lymph nodes which were enlarged before hormone ablation therapy were treated to 60 Gy. The patient's prostate and seminal vesicles were treated to 78 Gy in 2 Gy fractions. The patient was treated using custom multileaf collimators to shape the fields and minimize dose to normal structures including the rectum, bladder, femoral heads/necks, and small bowel. All of these normal tissue structures were contoured into the treatment planning computer for planning purposes. The patient had his legs immobilized during the treatment using a Medtec cradle and underwent daily kV imaging with fiducials for prostate localization. The patient was treated with a rectal balloon daily with 80 cc of water.

On 6/14/12 the patient received one fraction of 10 Gy to the right breast using an RAO technique with 6MV electrons. He also received one fraction of 10 Gy to the left breast using an LAO technique with 6MV electrons