Past and present of radiotherapy in management of malignancies

REVIEWS , , ,

O.P. Trofimova, S.I. Tkachev, and T.V. Yuryeva

N.N. Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Center, RAMS, Moscow, Russian Federation

ABSTRACT

The article describes the stages of emergence and development of radiotherapy in management of malignancies of various locations, covering the period from the discovery of X-rays to the use of 60Co artificial isotope and development of the linear electron accelerator. Currently, radiotherapy is required for 70 % of cancer patients at some stage of tumor treatment. Improvements in radiotherapy technologies and development of new irradiation techniques made possible to solve the main task of radiotherapy, i.e. tumor destruction with minimal radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissues, at the time being. This paper describes the radiotherapy techniques and explains in detail the differences between conventional and conformal radiotherapy. Also, preparation of patients for radiotherapy and the features of various conformal radiotherapy technologies are included.

Keywords: irradiation, radiotherapy, preparation for radiotherapy, linear electron accelerator.

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