Short description
This book deals with the biological aspects of radiotherapy. It seeks to present, in a concise and interesting way, the main ideas and significant scientific developments that underlie current attempts to improve the radiotherapeutic management of cancer.
Long description
This concise but comprehensive textbook sets out the essentials of the science and clinical application of radiobiology for those seeking accreditation in radiation oncology, clinical radiation physics and radiation technology. Fully revised and updated to keep abreast of current developments in radiation biology and radiation oncology, the fourth edition continues to present in an interesting way the biological basis of radiation therapy, discussing the basic principles and significant developments that underlie the latest attempts to improve the radiotherapeutic management of cancer. New topics for the fourth edition include chapters on the mechanisms of cell death, biological response modifiers, and biological image guided radiotherapy, with major revisions to sections on the molecular basis of the radiation response, tumour hypoxia and the dose-rate effect. A variety of new authors have contributed to this revision, who, together with the new Editorial team, have used their significant international teaching experience to ensure the content remains clear and comprehensive, and as valuable to the trainee as it is to the established radiation oncologist. With the fourth edition we will see the most radical change so far - as Professor Gordon Steel has retired as Editor and has been replaced by Bert van der Kogel, the current current course director for the above-mentioned course, plus Michael Joiner, who is the head of the Radiation Biology Program at the Wayne State University and is the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Radiation Biology.
Review
This is a well written, concise yet comprehensive work covering all important topics in radiobiology. Dooty's
Table of contents
- 1. Introduction: the significance of radiobiology and radiotherapy for cancer treatment 2. Irradiation-induced damage and the DNA damage response 3. Cell death after irradiation -- how, when and why cells die 4. Quantitating cell kill and cell survival 5. Models of radiation response 5. Dose-response relationships in radiotherapy 6. LET and RBE 7. Tumour growth and response to radiation 8. Fractionation: the L-Q approach 9. The L-Q approach in clinical practice 10. Modified fractionation 11. Time factors in normal-tissue response to radiation 12. The dose-rate effect 13. Pathogenesis of normal-tissue side-effects 14. The volume effect in radiotherapy 15. The oxygen effect and fractionated radiotherapy 16. The tumour microenvironment and cellular hypoxia responses 17. Therapeutic approaches to tumor hypoxia 18. Combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy 19. Retreatment tolerance of normal tissues 20. Molecular image-guided radiotherapy with positron emission tomography 21. Molecular-targeted agents for enhancing tumour response 22. Biological response modifiers in the clinic: tumor 22. Biological response modifiers: normal tissue 23. Molecular targeting and patient individualization 24. Protons and other ions in radiotherapy 25. Second cancers after radiotherapy