{"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":"2026-09-16","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_treatment_planning","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_treatment_planning"}],"tags":["radiation-wave1"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["imrt-igrt","adaptive-radiotherapy","vmat"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"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/"}],"trial":[{"id":"eortc-22922","kind":"trial","name":"EORTC 22922/10925","route":"/trials/eortc-22922/"}]}}