Bestrahlung

Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, is a common oncologic treatment modality utilizing ionizing radiation to control or eliminate malignant cells. Radiotherapy plays a role in primary curative treatment (eg. head and neck cancer), adjuvant therapy (e.g. reducing recurrence rate after local breast cancer surgery) and palliation of cancer symptoms (e.g. reducing pain from bone metastases). Radiotherapy may be used alone, or synergistically with chemotherapy or immunotherapy, e.g. "chemoradiotherapy" etc.

Radiotherapy is also used to treat non-malignant disease, e.g. Graves thyroiditis, keloid scarring etc.

Techniques

Radiotherapy is customarily divided into three main categories:

• external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) where a medical linear accelerator (linac) directs ionizing radiation at the tumor from outside the body
  • conventional radiation therapy
  • three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT)
  • intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
  • stereotactic radiosurgery
    • stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SBRT/SABR)
    • CyberKnife
    • Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS)
  • electron therapy
  • particle (hadronic) therapy
    • proton therapy
    • neutron therapy
    • heavy charged particle therapy
    • pion therapy
• sealed source radiotherapy (brachytherapy) where a radiation source(s) is placed inside or next to the tissue requiring treatment
• unsealed source radiotherapy (systemic radioisotope therapy) where a radioisotope is delivered through infusion (e.g. 177Lu-DOTATATE for neuroendocrine tumors) or ingestion (e.g. I-131 for thyroid cancer)

Related Radiopaedia articles

Radiation therapy

• radiation therapy
  • external beam radiation therapy (EBRT)
    • conventional (2D) radiation therapy
    • 3D conformal radiation therapy
    • intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
      • rotational/helical/arc IMRT
    • stereotactic radiosurgery
      • stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SBRT or SABR)
      • CyberKnife
      • Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS)
    • electron therapy
    • particle (hadronic) therapy
      • proton therapy
      • neutron therapy
      • heavy charged particle therapy
      • pion therapy
  • sealed source radiation therapy (brachytherapy)
    • balloon breast brachytherapy (BBB)
  • unsealed source radiation therapy
    • selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT)
    • iodine (I-131)
• complications related to radiation therapy  
  • acute radiation syndrome
  • complications of cranial radiation therapy
    • radiation-induced cerebral vasculopathy
    • radiation-induced brain tumors
      • radiation-induced meningioma
      • radiation-induced glioma
      • radiation-induced sarcomas
    • SMART syndrome
    • radiation-induced cataract
  • radiation-induced thyroid cancer
  • radiation-induced neuritis
  • complications of thoracic radiation therapy
    • lungs
      • radiation-induced lung disease
        • radiation pneumonitis
        • radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis
      • radiation-induced lung cancer
      • brachytherapy seed migration to the lung
    • mediastinum
      • radiation-induced heart disease
      • thymic cyst
      • radiation-induced esophagitis
    • soft tissues
      • radiation-induced breast changes
        • radiation-induced breast cancer
        • radiation-induced sarcomas (in particular, malignant fibrous histiocytoma)
    • bony thoracic cage
      • radiation-induced bone marrow MRI signal changes
      • osteoradionecrosis
      • radiation-induced rib fracture
      • radiation-induced sarcomas (in particular, osteosarcoma)
  • complications of abdominopelvic radiation therapy
    • radiation-induced cystitis
    • radiation-induced enteritis
    • radiation-induced liver disease
  • radiation-induced bone marrow signal changes - MRI

Siehe auch:

• Nebenwirkungen nach Bestrahlung

und weiter:

• Strahlung
• Transposition des Ovars vor Bestrahlung
• HSI-Feld (Hals-Supra-Infraclaviculär-Feld)