[Radiotherapy in the combined modality treatment of patients with malignant tumors]

Proceeding from an analysis of their own experience in the combined treatment of over 4000 patients with malignant tumors of the main sites, the authors evaluate the importance of the methodological aspects of pre- and post-operative radiation therapy: levels of total absorbed doses, techniques of their fractionation, object and volume to be irradiated, and values of an interval between modalities of combined therapy. Their improvement on the basis of the latest advances in oncology, clinical radiology and radiobiology is one of the realistic ways for improving therapeutic results. The prospects of such improvement are associated with the development of uncommon dose fractionation schemes and the use of various modifiers in preoperative irradiation and extended indications for post-operative irradiation.