Biological factors and therapeutic modulation in brain tumor radiotherapy

Diagnosticotherapeutic approaches aimed at the improvement of prognosis of the most aggressive brain tumors tend to include new tools of investigation. Functional imaging, biologic markers, radiosensitizers, the combination of different modalities of radiation therapy and chemotherapy are being experimented. These new approaches to the neoplastic metabolism require increased resources and a close follow-up during treatment to better define the biological target volume. More sophisticated and aggressive techniques as intensity modulated radiation therapy or brachycurietherapy can be suitably included in combined modality therapy.