Some of the major changes in radiotherapy over the last years are reviewed in this paper. Radiotherapy has played a role in the changes in oncological practice including an increase in organ-sparing treatment and achieving good local control and improving survival. About half of all breast cancer patients are now treated with breast conserving therapy. Organ preservation, usually with multimodality therapy, has also been further developed in the treatment of cancers in the head and neck, anus, bladder and soft tissue sarcomas. Developments in radiobiology have led to the development of new fractionation schedules. Hyperfractionation allows an increase in the tumour dose whilst sparing normal tissues and accelerated fractionation combats accelerated tumour proliferation during treatment. Advances in accelerator technology and computerized treatment planning have enabled the development of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. This gives the oportunity to spare normal tissues and escalate the dose to the tumour. Quality control and standardization of dosimetry and treatment delivery at departmental and international level has also improved treatment results.
Copyright 1999 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.