Treatment charts in radiation therapy

The radiotherapy treatment chart (dose prescription, set-up parameters, dose computation and daily dose recording form) represents an important working tool in radiotherapy, not only as a compilation of data, but also as a method of communication among physicians, physicists and technicians. In addition to administrative and medical data, physical and simulation data that are indispensable for the daily accurate reproduction of the therapy procedures should be recorded, as well as accurate daily entries of the fractional and cumulative absorbed doses. Moreover, any radiation therapy quality assurance programme must rely on the accessibility of the radiation treatment history and a correct record of the therapy protocol in order to be verifiable. We have analysed the treatment charts of 92 European Departments of Radiation Oncology, with the aim of identifying their salient characteristics and data recorded. The study shows strong differences among the charts analysed, not only in the amount of information recorded, but also in the kind of data and concepts used. (author) 6 refs., 1 fig