Ebook: Radiotherapy and Brachytherapy

This book reports the majority of lectures given during the NATO Advanced Study Institute ASI-982996, which was held at the European Scientific Institute of Archamps (ESI, Archamps – France) from November 15 to November 27, 2007. The ASI course was structured in two parts: the first was dedicated to what is often called “teletherapy”, i. e. radiotherapy with external beams, while the second focused on internal radiotherapy, also called “brachytherapy” or “curietherapy” in honour of Madame Curie who initiated the technique about a century ago. This ASI took place after the European School of Medical Physics, which devoted a 3 week period to medical imaging, a subject complementary to the topics of this book. Courses devoted to nuclear medicine and digital imaging techniques are collected in two volumes of the NATO Science Series entitled “Physics for Medical Imaging Applications” (ISBN 978-1-4020-5650-5) and “Molecular imaging: computer reconstruction and practice” (ISBN 978-1-4020- 8751-6). Every year in autumn ESI organises the European School of Medical Physics, which covers a large spectrum of topics ranging from Medical Imaging to Radiotherapy, over a period of 5 weeks. Thanks to the Cooperative Science and Technology sub-programme of the NATO Science Division, weeks four and five were replaced this year by the ASI course dedicated to “Physics of Modern Radiotherapy & Brachytherapy”. This allowed the participation of experts and students from 20 different countries, with diverse cultural background and p- fessional experience.

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This volume collects a series of lectures presented at the tenth ESI School held at Archamps (FR) in November 2007 and dedicated to radiotherapy and brachytherapy. The lectures focus on the multiple facets of radiotherapy in general, including external radiotherapy (often called teletherapy) as well as internal radiotherapy (called brachytherapy). Radiotherapy strategy and dose management as well as the decisive role of digital imaging in the associated clinical practice are developed in several articles. Grouped under the discipline of Conformal Radiotherapy (CRT), numerous modern techniques, from Multi-Leaf Collimators (MLC) to Intensity Modulated RadioTherapy (IMRT), are explained in detail. The importance of treatment planning based upon patient data from digital imaging (Computed Tomography) is also underlined. Finally, despite the quasi- totality of patients being presently treated with gamma and X-rays, novel powerful tools are emerging using proton and light ions (like carbon ions) beams, bound to become more and more important in patient treatment. These technological developments, going under the comprehensive name of "Hadrontherapy", are presented here with special focus on the rational and state of the art of the field. All topics are presented with didactical language and styles, making this book an appropriate reference for students and professionals seeking a comprehensive introduction to the field as well as a reliable outlook on the most recent developments.

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This volume collects a series of lectures presented at the tenth ESI School held at Archamps (FR) in November 2007 and dedicated to radiotherapy and brachytherapy. The lectures focus on the multiple facets of radiotherapy in general, including external radiotherapy (often called teletherapy) as well as internal radiotherapy (called brachytherapy). Radiotherapy strategy and dose management as well as the decisive role of digital imaging in the associated clinical practice are developed in several articles. Grouped under the discipline of Conformal Radiotherapy (CRT), numerous modern techniques, from Multi-Leaf Collimators (MLC) to Intensity Modulated RadioTherapy (IMRT), are explained in detail. The importance of treatment planning based upon patient data from digital imaging (Computed Tomography) is also underlined. Finally, despite the quasi- totality of patients being presently treated with gamma and X-rays, novel powerful tools are emerging using proton and light ions (like carbon ions) beams, bound to become more and more important in patient treatment. These technological developments, going under the comprehensive name of "Hadrontherapy", are presented here with special focus on the rational and state of the art of the field. All topics are presented with didactical language and styles, making this book an appropriate reference for students and professionals seeking a comprehensive introduction to the field as well as a reliable outlook on the most recent developments.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xviii
Fundamental Radiobiology and its Application to Radiation Oncology....Pages 3-9
Accuracy Strategies in Radiotherapy....Pages 11-27
Dosimetry for Photon and Electron Radiation....Pages 31-55
Nomenclature in Radiotherapy....Pages 57-70
Quality Assurance in Radiotherapy....Pages 71-79
Radiotherapy Accidents....Pages 81-85
Clinical Applications of 3-D Conformal Radiotherapy....Pages 87-94
Treatment Planning: IMRT Optimization — Basic and Advanced Techniques....Pages 95-106
Treatment Planning: Stereotactic Treatment Techniques....Pages 107-112
Image Guided Radiotherapy....Pages 113-125
Clinical Use of 3-D Image Registration....Pages 127-133
Geometrical Uncertainties in Radiotherapy....Pages 135-140
Delivery of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Including Compensation for Organ Motion....Pages 141-161
Hadrontherapy: Cancer Treatment With Proton and Carbon Beams....Pages 165-171
Proton Therapy....Pages 173-181
Photon Sources for Brachytherapy....Pages 185-193
Calibration of Photon Sources for Brachytherapy....Pages 195-208
Cancer of the Cervix: Examples of BT Treatment Techniques....Pages 209-218
Paris System for Interstitial Brachytherapy....Pages 219-225
Solid State Detectors for Quality Assurance in Brachytherapy....Pages 227-237
Back Matter....Pages 251-256
Monte Carlo Application in Brachytherapy Dosimetry....Pages 239-250

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This volume collects a series of lectures presented at the tenth ESI School held at Archamps (FR) in November 2007 and dedicated to radiotherapy and brachytherapy. The lectures focus on the multiple facets of radiotherapy in general, including external radiotherapy (often called teletherapy) as well as internal radiotherapy (called brachytherapy). Radiotherapy strategy and dose management as well as the decisive role of digital imaging in the associated clinical practice are developed in several articles. Grouped under the discipline of Conformal Radiotherapy (CRT), numerous modern techniques, from Multi-Leaf Collimators (MLC) to Intensity Modulated RadioTherapy (IMRT), are explained in detail. The importance of treatment planning based upon patient data from digital imaging (Computed Tomography) is also underlined. Finally, despite the quasi- totality of patients being presently treated with gamma and X-rays, novel powerful tools are emerging using proton and light ions (like carbon ions) beams, bound to become more and more important in patient treatment. These technological developments, going under the comprehensive name of "Hadrontherapy", are presented here with special focus on the rational and state of the art of the field. All topics are presented with didactical language and styles, making this book an appropriate reference for students and professionals seeking a comprehensive introduction to the field as well as a reliable outlook on the most recent developments.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xviii
Fundamental Radiobiology and its Application to Radiation Oncology....Pages 3-9
Accuracy Strategies in Radiotherapy....Pages 11-27
Dosimetry for Photon and Electron Radiation....Pages 31-55
Nomenclature in Radiotherapy....Pages 57-70
Quality Assurance in Radiotherapy....Pages 71-79
Radiotherapy Accidents....Pages 81-85
Clinical Applications of 3-D Conformal Radiotherapy....Pages 87-94
Treatment Planning: IMRT Optimization — Basic and Advanced Techniques....Pages 95-106
Treatment Planning: Stereotactic Treatment Techniques....Pages 107-112
Image Guided Radiotherapy....Pages 113-125
Clinical Use of 3-D Image Registration....Pages 127-133
Geometrical Uncertainties in Radiotherapy....Pages 135-140
Delivery of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Including Compensation for Organ Motion....Pages 141-161
Hadrontherapy: Cancer Treatment With Proton and Carbon Beams....Pages 165-171
Proton Therapy....Pages 173-181
Photon Sources for Brachytherapy....Pages 185-193
Calibration of Photon Sources for Brachytherapy....Pages 195-208
Cancer of the Cervix: Examples of BT Treatment Techniques....Pages 209-218
Paris System for Interstitial Brachytherapy....Pages 219-225
Solid State Detectors for Quality Assurance in Brachytherapy....Pages 227-237
Back Matter....Pages 251-256
Monte Carlo Application in Brachytherapy Dosimetry....Pages 239-250
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