QUANTEC Dose Constraints
Organ-specific dose/volume topics covered by the QUANTEC reviews, each routing to the paper behind it.
How to use this page
The dose/volume tolerance guidance on this site comes from the original QUANTEC reviews, published as a special issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics. This page routes you to them: find the organ system, then follow it to the review that carries the constraint.
The constraint values themselves are quoted from the papers rather than restated here, so that what you plan from is the peer-reviewed source rather than a second-hand summary of it.
By organ system
Central Nervous System
- Spinal cord dose-volume effects
- Brain necrosis and cognitive decline
- Brainstem injury
- Optic nerves and chiasm dose-volume-response
Head and Neck
- Parotid gland salivary function preservation
- Cochlear dose thresholds
- Larynx/Pharynx dose-volume-response
Cardiovascular System
- Heart dose constraints
- Pericarditis
- Cardiac mortality
- Cardiac toxicity models
Respiratory System
- Lung V20/V30 constraints
- Mean lung dose limits
- Pneumonitis risk models
- Trachea/bronchi guidelines
Trachea and bronchi were not covered by the original QUANTEC reviews, so that topic has no paper to link to.
Gastrointestinal System
- Small bowel constraints
- Liver dose limits
- Kidney function preservation
- Gastric dose thresholds
- Rectal toxicity
- Esophageal dose-volume correlates
These reviews sit under Abdomen, Pelvis and Thorax on the Publications page — each topic links to its own.
NTCP Models
Normal tissue complication probability models are described in the introductory QUANTEC paper, Use of Normal Tissue Complication Probability Models in the Clinic, which presents a clinician's view on applying QUANTEC information alongside a description of the most commonly used NTCP models.
Read: Use of Normal Tissue Complication Probability Models in the Clinic
Questions or Corrections?
For the underlying clinical evidence, the original QUANTEC papers on our Publications page are the best reference. If you spot an error on this site or have a suggestion, we'd love to hear from you.