Innovations en radiothérapie

Radiotherapy is a major treatment for cancer curability. During recent years, radiotherapy has gained in precision and reproducibility using major technological advances. Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy has been implemented into routine practice with the delineation of tumor volumes and organs at risk and the use of dosimetry (integrating dose constraints and dose-volume histograms). Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) can "sculpt" the dose around treatment volumes to spare normal tissues more efficiently. Imageguided radiation therapy is now widely used to control the position of the target during a treatment course. Dynamic arctherapy is a way to optimize IMRT using arctherapy, an old concept that makes IMRT delivery quicker and accessible for a larger patient load. Concepts in radiotherapy are strong and will be deployed on all radiotherapy units. Radiation oncology is probably only at its dawn. These innovations open a promising future for improvements in the cure of cancer.