Nuclear Medicine & Radiation Therapy

Special Issue: Radiation Oncology and Radiobiology

Radiation therapy is one of the most commonly used treatments for cancer. Radiation Therapy is done using high-energy particles or waves, such as x-rays, gamma rays, electron beams, or protons, to destroy or damage cancer cells.

Radiation therapy may be delivered externally or internally. External radiation delivers high-energy rays directly to the cancer from a machine outside the body. Internal radiation, or brachytherapy, is the implantation of a small amount of radioactive material (seeds) in or near the cancer. Radiation can also be delivered as an isotope into a vein, as in the use of radioactive iodine for the treatment of thyroid cancer.

Radiation can be given individually or along with other treatments, such as surgery or chemotherapy. In fact, certain drugs are known to be radiosensitizers. This means they can actually make the cancer cells more sensitive to radiation, which helps the radiation to better kill cancer cells. The major techniques used in Radiation Therapy are External Beam Radiation Therapy, Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image-guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), Brachytherapy, Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS).

Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Radiation oncology is a medical speciality that involves the controlled use of radiation to treat cancer either for cure, or to reduce pain and other symptoms caused by cancer.

Radiobiology (also known as radiation biology) is a field of clinical and basic medical sciences that involves the study of the action of ionizing radiation on living things, especially health effects of radiation. Ionizing radiation is generally harmful and potentially lethal to living things but can have health benefits in radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer and thyrotoxicosis. Its most common impact is the induction of cancer with a latent period of years or decades after exposure. High doses can cause visually dramatic radiation burns, and/or rapid fatality through acute radiation syndrome. Controlled doses are used for medical imaging and radiotherapy. We are pleased to inform that authors can submit original research, review, case report or others for publication. Submissions are processed which deals with all the topics under the mentioned theme Radiation Oncology and Radiobiology.

This Special issue is being edited by

Aruna Turaka, MD

Department of Radiation Oncology
Fox Chase Cancer Center
USA

Richard Maximus Fleming

Director and Chair FHHI
The Camelot Foundation
USA