RADIATION THERAPY

PREPARED BY: ROSENDO R. DACUYAN JR., RRT, MSRT

COURSE OBJECTIVES
●INTRODUCTION OF
RADIATION THERAPY
●HISTORY OF RADIATION
THERAPY
●RADIATION THERAPY, IS ONE OF THE
PRINCIPAL MODALITIES IN
TREATMENT OF CANCER
○SURGERY
○CHEMOTHERAPY
●TUMORS OR LESIONS ARE TREATED
USING CANCERICIDAL DOSES OF
RADIATION AS PRESCRIBED BY A
RADIATION ONCOLOGIST
● GOAL OF RADIATION THERAPY
○ CURATIVE – TO ERADICATE AND
KILL CANCER CELLS
○ PALLIATIVE – SYMPTOMATIC
RELIEF
○ ADJUVANT – COMBINATION
WITH OTHER THERAPY (NEO/AD)
RADIATION ONCOLOGY
TEAM
●RADIATION ONCOLOGIST
●MEDICAL PHYSICIST
●ONCOLOGY NURSE
●RADIATION THERAPIST
●MEDICAL DOSIMETRIST
HISTORY OF RADIATION
THERAPY
●1895 NOVEMBER 8 : WILHELM CONRAD
ROENTGEN DISCOVERED THE INVISIBLE
RAYS.

●1896 JANUARY : THE FIRST X-RAY

TREATMENT OF A CANCER PATIENT WAS
DELIVERED. ANTOINE HENRI
●1897 JOSEPH JOHN THOMSON
ANNOUNCED THAT FINDING A
NEGATIVELY CHARGED PARTICLES,
WHICH HE CALLED ELECTRONS

●1898 DECEMBER : MARIE AND PIERRE

CURIE DISCOVERED RADIUM

●1906 H. GEIGER AND ERNEST

RUTHERFORD DEVELOPED AN
INSTRUMENT TO COUNT ALPHA
PARTICLES. WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF W.
●1928: GEIGER AND MUELLER
DEVELOPED AND IMPROVED GEIGER-
COUNTER TUBE

●1932 E.O LAWRENCE INVENTED THE

CYCLOTRON

●1939 THE TREATMENT OF CANCER

PATIENTS WITH A NEUTRON BEAM
FROM A CYCLOTRON WAS BEGUN.
APPLICATION
●JANUARY 29, 1896- IONIZING
RADIATION WAS FIRST APPLIED FOR
THE TREATMENT OF A MORE IN-
DEPTH LESION WHEN DR. EMILE H.
GRUBBE IS REPORTED TO HAVE
IRRADIATED A WOMAN WITH
CARCINOMA OF THE LEFT BREAST.
THIS EVENT OCCURRED ONLY 3
MONTHS AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF
●JANUARY, 1902- THE FIRST REPORTED
CURATIVE TREATMENT USING IONIZING
RADIATION WAS PERFORMED BY DR.
CLARENCE E. SKINNER. HE TREATED A
WOMAN WHO HAD A DIAGNOSED
MALIGNANT FIBROSARCOMA. OVER THE
NEXT 2 YEARS AND 3 MONTHS THE
WOMAN RECEIVED A TOTAL OF 136
●APRIL, 1909- 7 YEARS AFTER INITIAL
APPLICATIONS OF THE X-RAYS.
APPLICATION OF THE RADIATION, THE
WOMAN WAS FREE OF DISEASE AND
CONSIDERED "CURED.“
TECHNICHAL DEVELOPMENTS
• 1920-1940 : THE EQUIPMENT USED IN
THE TREATMENT OF MALIGNANT
DISEASE DURING THE FIRST YEARS OF
RADIATION THERAPY WAS PRIMITIVE
AND TEMPERAMENTAL: IT ALSO HAD
VERY LOW PENETRATING POWER.
• 1940 – 1960: THE FIRST USE OF
“SUPERVOLTAGE” RADIATION THERAPY
EQUIPMENT, THEN CONSIDERED TO BE
ANYTHING OPERATING AT GREATER THAN 1
MILLION VOLTS(MV), OCCURRED IN 1937 ST
DT. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL IN LONDON.

• MACHINES USING REACTOR-PRODUCED

SOURCES OF COBALT 60, BECAME AVAILABLE
AT THE SAME TIME
• SKIN SPARRING EFFECT ALLOWED
DELIVERY OF HIGH DOSES EVEN TO DEEP
SEATED TUMORS WITHOUT CAUSING
SKIN ERYTHEMA.

• AS PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENTS TO THE

BEAM WERE MADE, ALONG WITH
ADVANCES IN THE DESIGN AND
VERSATILITY OF TREATMENT MACHINES.
AND AS SIMULATORS BECAME
• THE NEED FOR WEDGES TO PRODUCE THE
DESIRED DOSE DISTRIBUTION WAS
RECOGNIZED. AND A RENEWED INTEREST
IN TISSUE COMPENSATORS EMERGED.

• TREATMENT-PLANNING COMPUTERS
BEGAN TO APPEAR IN THE HORIZON, AND
THE DEVELOPMENTS THAT FOLLOWED
HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMING IN TERMS OF
TREATMENT TECHNIQUES AND
• 1960 – PRESENT: MODERN DEVELOPMENTS
IN ELECTRONICS AND COMPUTERS HAVE
LED TO AN UNBELIEVABLE BONANZA OF
EQUIPMENT TO DIAGNOSE AND TREAT
PATIENTS WITH CANCER, VISUALIZE THE
RELATIONSHIP OF THE TUMOR TO NORMAL
GLANDS, ALIGN AND POSITION THE
PATIENT, MEASURE AND CALCULATE DOSE.

• THE DEVELOPMENT OF CT AND MRI TO

DEFINE THE TARGET VOLUME AND MAP
● EXTERNAL CONTOUR- AS WELL AS INTERNAL
ORGANS AND TARGET VOLUMES.

● CALCULATING THE EFFECT OF TISSUE

INHOMOGENETIES HAS IMPROVED THE
ACCURACY AND WHICH THE DOSE CAN BE
CALCULATED.

● THE USE OF CT IMAGES AS AN AID IN THE

DEVELOPMENT OF CUSTOMIZED SHIELDING
BLOCKS, THE REPRODUCIBILITY OF THE
ABBREVIATIONS

BEV – BEAMS EYE VIEW

CCCT – COMPUTER-CONTROLLED CONFORMAL
THERAPY
CO – COBALT
COPD – CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY
DISEASE
CT – COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
CTV – CLINICAL TARGET VOLUME
%DD – PERCENTAGE DEPTH DOSE
D – DEPTH
DMAX – MAXIMUM DOSE
DMAX – DEPTH OF MAXIMUM DOSE
DPS – DISINTEGRATION PER SECOND
DRR – DIGITALLY RECONSTRUCTED RADIOGRAPH
EPID – ELECTRONIC PORTAL IMAGING DEVICE
FL – FIELD LENGTH
FS – FIELD SIZE
GTV – GROSS TUMOR VOLUME
HBB – HALF BEAM BLOCK
HVL – HALF VALUE LAYER
HVT – HALF VALUE THICKNESS
I – IODINE
ICRU – INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON
RADIATION UNITS
MLC – MULTILEAF COLLIMATOR
MU – MONITOR UNIT
PTV – PLANNING TARGET VOLUME
TBI – TOTAL BODY IRRADIATION
TD – TUMOR DOSE