3d conformal radiation therapy: clinical aspects

Purpose/Objective: The objectives of this course are: (1) present clinical rationale for 3D conformal radiotherapy: (2) site and disease selection for 3D CRT clinical trials: (3) practical utilization of the tools available on 3D CRT systems for clinicians: (4) clinical results of patients treated with 3D conformal radiotherapy, and (5) the potential of 3D conformal radiotherapy for studying radiation-induced normal tissue complications. Significant progress has been made in recent years in clinical implementation of 3D RTP, leading to the realization of conformal radiotherapy. This progress has been due to advancements in computer hardware and software and major research efforts in the areas of physics and computer science. Although clinical implementation of this new technology has been in full use at a few institutions that have invested a significant amount of resources, this is not so in the majority of radiation oncology departments. There is a significant amount of skepticism, as well as interest and caution, among radiation oncologists regarding the true clinical usefulness of this new technology. Caution has also been intensified by recent changes in the health care system. In this refresher course we will demonstrate use of clinical conformal radiotherapy by physicians, describe which disease sites have a higher potential to benefit from this methodology, and take a realistic look at the time and effort required from the radiation oncologist and nonmedical personnel in order to treat patients with 3D conformal radiotherapy. Available clinical results with this modality will be analyzed, and the enormous potential to gain knowledge on volumetric normal tissue tolerance to radiation in using this technology and finally current national collaborative effort on this issue will be reviewed