New Radiation Treatment Guidelines for Safer Radiotherapy Procedures

These guidelines replace standards established almost 20 years ago, before the widespread use of three-dimensional (3D) imaging technology that allows more accurate targeting of radiation to cancerous lesions.

"The new standards have resulted from a systematic review of radiation therapy dose/volume/outcome data on 16 organs. The new data were made possible by the more general use of 3D imaging during radiation planning. These new standards provide a logical framework to assess the risks of complex 3D doses that we now routinely consider,” said Lawrence B. Marks, M.D., chair of the UNC department of radiation oncology and coeditor of the QUANTEC study.

Noting the overall trend in the United States toward improved practice through evidence-based medicine, Dr. Marks added, "Our goal is to make the practice of radiation oncology more standardized and efficient, less open to interpretation and ultimately as safe and effective as it can be, using state-of-the-art technology to treat cancer.”

Teams of physicians, physicists, and statisticians/modelers reviewed the available literature for each organ to compile general dose/volume/outcome data, and make recommendations on the selection of dose/volume prescriptions. "We are pleased that UNC physician investigators played pivotal roles in this important analysis, which establishes new standards for this vital cancer treatment technology,” said Richard M. Goldberg, M.D., physician-in-chief of the NC Cancer Hospital (Chapel Hill, USA). "It is a privilege to treat patients with these outstanding experts on our multidisciplinary teams.”

David Morris, M.D., clinical associate professor of radiation oncology and member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, was part of the American Society for Radiation Oncology's Health Services Research Committee, which originally recommended a review of the standards in light of new research and clinical experience. He helped to jump-start and obtain funding for the effort.

Dr. Marks, who is also a member of UNC Lineberger, served as a coeditor and provided oversight to the entire project in addition to leading the group that established guidelines for radiation therapy to the lung.

The study was published in the March 1, 2010, issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics.

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