Adaptive radiation therapy: technical components and clinical applications

Cancer J. 2011 May-Jun;17(3):182-9. doi: 10.1097/PPO.0b013e31821da9d8.

Abstract

In current standard radiation therapy process, patient anatomy is represented by the snapshot of computed tomographic images at the simulation for treatment planning. However, patient anatomy during the treatment course is not static, and the changes can be in the order of centimeters. The goal of the adaptive radiation therapy (ART) is to measure and account these variations in the treatment process, so that the optimal planned dose distribution is the same as the final delivered dose distribution. The field of the ART is rapidly evolving. The implementation of the ART principle is built on technical components in 3 main areas: image guidance, dose verification, and plan adaptation. The purpose of this review was to present different ART methods currently developed and used by different investigators.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
  • Radiotherapy Dosage
  • Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted*
  • Radiotherapy, Conformal*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed