Adaptive Radiation Therapy

Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART) offers the promise of highly individualized radiation treatment for cancer patients through customized planning and delivery. This comprehensive book, the first focused on this evolving therapy, explores ways to optimize radiation plans. This includes the use of patient-specific 3D and 4D morphological and biological information to help define targets and individualize post-treatment assessment. It brings together world-class experts who discuss technologies for the delivery of treatments across various modalities. They also review clinical examples that demonstrate modern applications of ART for various cancers.

Modern medical imaging and radiation therapy technologies are so complex and computer driven that it is difficult for physicians and technologists to know exactly what is happening at the point-of-care. Medical physicists responsible for filling this gap in knowledge must stay abreast of the latest advances at the intersection of medical imaging and radiation therapy. This book provides medical physicists and radiation oncologists current and relevant information on Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART), a state-of-the-art approach that uses a feedback process to account for patient-specific anatomic and/or biological changes, thus delivering highly individualized radiation therapy for cancer patients. The book should also benefit medical dosimetrists and radiation therapists.

Adaptive Radiation Therapy describes technological and methodological advances in the field of ART, as well as initial clinical experiences using ART for selected anatomic sites. Divided into three sections (radiobiological basis, current technologies, and clinical applications), the book covers:

• Morphological and biological biomarkers for patient-specific planning
• Design and optimization of treatment plans
• Delivery of IMRT and IGRT intervention methodologies of ART
• Management of intrafraction variations, particularly with respiratory motion
• Quality assurance needed to ensure the safe delivery of ART
• ART applications in several common cancer types / anatomic sites

The technology and methodology for ART have advanced significantly in the last few years and accumulated clinical data have demonstrated the need for ART in clinical settings, assisted by the wide application of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). This book shows the real potential for supplying every patient with individualized radiation therapy that is maximally accurate and precise.