Evaluation of the usefulness of radiotherapy

From the viewpoint of scientific sociology, we are going to discuss the usefulness of radiotherapy. And the following is the summary. 1) Radiation therapy, which is a relatively non-invasive type of treatment preserving appearance and function, is applied to up to 20% of cancer patients in Japan and about 30% of those who were undergoing radiation therapy are being irradiated radically. 2) Under current fee-for-service reimbursement system, payment for radiation therapy is unreasonably low. In this point must changes be seen. 3) Efforts to make the advantage of radiation therapy understood by specialists in co-relating departments are essential and well-balanced cancer therapy taking advantage of radiation therapy is strongly expected. 4) In order to appreciate the usefulness of radiation therapy, adding to aggrandizement of manpower, proper distribution and effective use of machinery of radiotherapy are indispensable. (author)