J Korean Med Assoc.  2008 Jul;51(7):604-611. 10.5124/jkma.2008.51.7.604.

Evolution of Radiotherapy: High-precision Radiotherapy

• Kim YB
• Suh CO

• KMID: 2185910
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2008.51.7.604

Abstract

Technological advances that have been achieved over the last two decades in the area of treatment planning and sophisticated and complicated hardware capabilities, such as computer-controlled treatments, multileaf collimators, and incorporating imaging devices into treatment machines, enable clinical implementation of high-precision radiotherapy in field of radiation oncology. High-precision radiotherapy allows the delivery of increased tumor doses with relative sparing of normal tissues compared to 3 -dimensional radiotherapy and conventional techniques. Preliminary clinical experiences of high precision radiation therapy have been encouraging by high rates of local control and decrease of toxicity. This article provides an overview of high precision radiotherapy such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy, stereotactic radiation therapy, image-guided radiotherapy, and charged particle therapy.

Keyword

High-precision radiotherapy; Intensity modulated radiotherapy; Stereotactic radiation therapy; Image-guided radiotherapy; Proton therapy

MeSH Terms

Proton Therapy
Radiation Oncology
Radiotherapy, Image-Guided
Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated

Figure

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  Figure 1 Plan Comparison of 2-Dimensional Radiotherapy (2DRT), 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy (3DCRT) and Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) for Prostate Irradiation. Isodose curves (→) in 2DRT, 3DCRT plans, and in IMRT plan surrounded by intensity maps.

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  Figure 2 Classification of current available technologies in field of radiation oncology according to prescribed tumor dose and number of fraction.

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