{"entity":{"id":"planning-target-volume","kind":"term","name":"GTV, CTV and PTV (target volumes)","aka":[],"tldr":"The nested outlines a radiation plan is built on: the visible tumour (GTV), the tumour plus the tissue likely to hold microscopic spread (CTV), and a further margin for daily movement and setup error (PTV).","summary":"The gross tumour volume is what imaging and examination show; the clinical target volume adds the margin of suspected microscopic disease and, in many cancers, the lymph node regions at risk; the planning target volume adds a geometric margin so that the CTV receives the dose despite setup and organ motion. Image guidance, motion management and adaptive radiotherapy all work by allowing the PTV margin to shrink.","asOf":"2026-09-17","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_treatment_planning","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_treatment_planning"}],"tags":["radiation-wave1","precision"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["imrt-igrt","adaptive-radiotherapy","vmat"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Treatment jargon"},"route":"/terms/planning-target-volume/","neighbours":{"technology":[{"id":"adaptive-radiotherapy","kind":"technology","name":"Adaptive radiotherapy (online replanning)","route":"/technologies/adaptive-radiotherapy/"},{"id":"imrt-igrt","kind":"technology","name":"IMRT / IGRT (modern external beam)","route":"/technologies/imrt-igrt/"},{"id":"vmat","kind":"technology","name":"Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT)","route":"/technologies/vmat/"}],"term":[{"id":"proton-range-uncertainty","kind":"term","name":"Proton range uncertainty and the range margin","route":"/terms/proton-range-uncertainty/"},{"id":"target-delineation-variability","kind":"term","name":"Variation between clinicians in drawing the radiotherapy target","route":"/terms/target-delineation-variability/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-de-crevoisier-daily-weekly-igrt-ijrobp-2018","kind":"paper","name":"Daily versus weekly prostate cancer image guided radiation therapy: phase 3 multicenter randomized trial","route":"/key-papers/paper-de-crevoisier-daily-weekly-igrt-ijrobp-2018/"},{"id":"paper-kirkpatrick-srs-margin-trial-ijrobp-2015","kind":"paper","name":"Defining the optimal planning target volume in image-guided stereotactic radiosurgery of brain metastases: results of a randomized trial","route":"/key-papers/paper-kirkpatrick-srs-margin-trial-ijrobp-2015/"},{"id":"paper-van-herk-ptv-margin-recipe-ijrobp-2000","kind":"paper","name":"The probability of correct target dosage: dose-population histograms for deriving treatment margins in radiotherapy","route":"/key-papers/paper-van-herk-ptv-margin-recipe-ijrobp-2000/"},{"id":"paper-vinod-delineation-uncertainty-review-radiother-oncol-2016","kind":"paper","name":"Uncertainties in volume delineation in radiation oncology: a systematic review and recommendations for future studies","route":"/key-papers/paper-vinod-delineation-uncertainty-review-radiother-oncol-2016/"}],"trial":[{"id":"eortc-22922","kind":"trial","name":"EORTC 22922/10925","route":"/trials/eortc-22922/"}]}}