62. The Radiotherapy of IMRT

Abstract

Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) is going to revolutionise treatment planning and delivery of radiotherapy in the next few years. Although there are still technological constraints, IMRT allows delivery of a specified dose-distribution that is superior to what is realistically achievable with 3D conformal radiotherapy using standard techniques. This forces a re-think of the whole process of delivering radiotherapy. With our current technology, the physics has overtaken the biology and it appears that to realise the full potential of IMRT, a major research effort on the biological aspects of radiotherapy is needed. This goes far beyond traditional cellular radiobiology. New powerful assays in molecular biology and bioimaging will be key elements in the biological optimisation of radiotherapy. In this lecture, I will try to identify some of the research areas that will need to be further developed in order to get the full therapeutic benefit from IMRT.