Innovations in image-guided radiotherapy

• Published in: Nature reviews. Cancer Vol. 7; no. 12; pp. 949 - 960
• Main Authors: Verellen, Dirk, Ridder, Mark De, Linthout, Nadine, Tournel, Koen, Soete, Guy, Storme, Guy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01-12-2007
• Subjects: Care and treatment; Diagnosis; Diagnostic imaging; Equipment Design; Humans; Innovations; Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Radiation Dosage; Radiation Oncology - instrumentation; Radiation Oncology - methods; Radiation Oncology - trends; Radiotherapy; Radiotherapy, Conformal - instrumentation; Radiotherapy, Conformal - methods; Radiotherapy, Conformal - trends; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated - instrumentation; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated - methods; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - instrumentation; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; Tumors; United States
• ISSN: 1474-175X; 1474-1768
• DOI: 10.1038/nrc2288

The limited ability to control for the location of a tumour compromises the accuracy with which radiation can be delivered to tumour-bearing tissue. The resultant requirement for larger treatment volumes to accommodate target uncertainty restricts the radiation dose because more surrounding normal tissue is exposed. With image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) these volumes can be optimized and tumoricidal doses can be delivered, achieving maximal tumour control with minimal complications. Moreover, with the ability of high-precision dose delivery and real-time knowledge of the target volume location, IGRT has initiated the exploration of new indications for radiotherapy, some of which were previously considered infeasible.