Biological modeling in thermoradiotherapy: present status and ongoing developments toward routine clinical use

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biophysics
• Mathematical Biology

Background:

• Biological modeling provides crucial insights into cellular responses to cancer therapies.
• Mathematical models are increasingly used to predict, evaluate, and optimize anti-cancer treatment efficacy.
• Hyperthermia combined with radiotherapy (thermoradiotherapy) is a complex treatment modality requiring sophisticated modeling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current state of biological modeling for thermoradiotherapy.
• To explore various modeling approaches, from hyperthermia alone to combined treatments.
• To discuss the progression towards predicting treatment outcomes using advanced models.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on biological modeling for thermoradiotherapy.
• Focus on models extending the linear-quadratic (LQ) model for radiotherapy.
• Incorporation of temperature-dependent parameters for enhanced predictive capabilities.

Main Results:

• Models have evolved from basic cell survival predictions to 3D equivalent dose calculations.
• The linear-quadratic (LQ) model extension is commonly used for thermoradiotherapy.
• Temperature-dependent parameters enable theoretical evaluation of treatment strategies.

Conclusions:

• Significant progress has been made in biological modeling for thermoradiotherapy.
• Future availability of temperature-dependent LQ parameters will be key for clinical application.
• Biological modeling is expected to become clinically important for optimizing combined treatments and guiding studies.