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Radiobiological models of tissue response to radiation in treatment planning systems
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114, USA. niemierko@hadron.mgh.harvard.edu
Aims:
To present several biological concepts and models of tissue response to fractionated radiotherapy. To describe practical implementation of these models in three-dimensional treatment planning systems.
Methods:
Models of cell survival, Equivalent Uniform Dose (EUD) and Tumor Control Probability (TCP) are discussed. These models are based on the target-cell hypothesis which assumes that response of organs and tissues to radiation therapy can be explained and mathematically described in terms of survival of the specific target-cells.
Results:
Several formulae for deriving and calculating EUD and TCP for a given three-dimensional dose distribution are presented and discussed.
Conclusions:
Biological models of tissue response to radiation, when used wisely, have a potential to be useful in radiation therapy treatment planning. The models can advance our understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms, and may help in designing new and better treatment strategies. They should be particularly useful in modern conformal radiotherapy where treatment strategy for each patient can be individualized and optimized according to patient characteristics and available technology of delivering sophisticated treatment plans.