Open AccessTechnological Advancements in External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT): An Indispensable Tool for Cancer Treatment
Author(s) -
Krishna Koka,
Amit Verma,
Bilikere S. Dwarakanath,
Rao Papineni
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
cancer management and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.024
H-Index - 40
ISSN - 1179-1322
DOI - 10.2147/cmar.s351744
Subject(s) - radiation therapy , external beam radiotherapy , medicine , multileaf collimator , head and neck cancer , radiation treatment planning , positron emission tomography , medical physics , cancer research , nuclear medicine , brachytherapy , radiology
Recent technological advancements have increased the efficacy of radiotherapy, leading to effective management of cancer patients with enhanced patient survival and improved quality of life. Several important developments like multileaf collimator, integration of imaging techniques like positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT), involvement of advanced dose calculation algorithms, and delivery techniques have increased tumor dose distribution and decreased normal tissue toxicity. Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiotherapy, image-guided radiotherapy (IGT), and particle therapy have facilitated the planning procedures, accurate tumor delineation, and dose estimation for effective personalized treatment. In this review, we present the technological advancements in various types of EBRT methods and discuss their clinical utility and associated limitations. We also reveal novel approaches of using biocompatible yttrium oxide scintillator-photosensitizer complex (YSM) that can generate X-ray induced cytotoxic reactive oxygen species, facilitating X-ray activated photodynamic therapy (XPDT (external beam) and/or iXPDT (internal X-ray source)) and azido-derivatives of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) as agents for site-specific radiation-induced DNA damage.