[Current situation and future prospects of radiotherapy for malignant gliomas]

Prognosis of malignant gliomas remains poor, although adjuvant radiotherapy increases survival time. To improve treatment outcomes, high-precision radiotherapy techniques such as three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, stereotactic irradiation, intensity modulated radiotherapy, and charged particle radiotherapy have been developed for dose distribution optimization and dose escalation. Improvements in clinical outcomes with these new treatment strategies have been reported; however, the efficacy of these treatment strategies has not yet been verified in randomized trials. Further development of radiation delivery techniques, including boron neutron capture therapy, and ways of achieving more adequate target volume delineation using modern multimodality imaging technology are currently being intensively investigated to further improve patient outcomes.