This book reports the majority of lectures given during the NATO Advanced Study Institute ASI-982996, which was held at the European Scientific Institute of Archamps (ESI, Archamps – France) from November 15 to November 27, 2007. The ASI course was structured in two parts: the first was dedicated to what is often called “teletherapy”, i. e. radiotherapy with external beams, while the second focused on internal radiotherapy, also called “brachytherapy” or “curietherapy” in honour of Madame Curie who initiated the technique about a century ago. This ASI took place after the European School of Medical Physics, which devoted a 3 week period to medical imaging, a subject complementary to the topics of this book. Courses devoted to nuclear medicine and digital imaging techniques are collected in two volumes of the NATO Science Series entitled “Physics for Medical Imaging Applications” (ISBN 978-1-4020-5650-5) and “Molecular imaging: computer reconstruction and practice” (ISBN 978-1-4020- 8751-6). Every year in autumn ESI organises the European School of Medical Physics, which covers a large spectrum of topics ranging from Medical Imaging to Radiotherapy, over a period of 5 weeks. Thanks to the Cooperative Science and Technology sub-programme of the NATO Science Division, weeks four and five were replaced this year by the ASI course dedicated to “Physics of Modern Radiotherapy & Brachytherapy”. This allowed the participation of experts and students from 20 different countries, with diverse cultural background and p- fessional experience.

This text is a concise handbook designed to assist the clinician in the implementation of Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI). It includes a review of the principles that underlie APBI, a practical and detailed description of each technique for APBI, a review of current clinical results of APBI, and a review of the incidence and management of treatment related complications. The book encompasses a number of different techniques and approaches that include brachytherapy, intraoperative, and external beam techniques. There is currently no single source that describes these techniques and their clinical implementation.

This book provides practical guidance on the use of brachytherapy. Each chapter gives the reader a solid background in the physics and dosimetry of the technique, followed by practical information on its use in common disease sites.

Written by the foremost experts in the field, this volume is a comprehensive text and practical reference on contemporary brachytherapy. The book provides detailed, site-specific information on applications and techniques of brachytherapy in the head and neck, central nervous system, breast, thorax, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract, as well as on gynecologic brachytherapy, low dose rate and high dose rate sarcoma brachytherapy, vascular brachytherapy, and pediatric applications. The book thoroughly describes and compares the four major techniques used in brachytherapy—intracavity, interstitial, surface-dose or mold therapy, and transluminal. Chapters detail particular techniques that are appropriate in specific clinical situations.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has emerged as an important innovative treatment for various primary and metastatic cancers. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the physical/technological, biological, and clinical aspects of SBRT. It will serve as a detailed resource for this rapidly developing treatment modality. The organ sites covered include lung, liver, spine, pancreas, prostate, adrenal, head and neck, and female reproductive tract. Retrospective studies and prospective clinical trials on SBRT for various organ sites from around the world are examined, and toxicities and normal tissue constraints are discussed. This book features unique insights from world-renowned experts in SBRT from North America, Asia, and Europe. It will be necessary reading for radiation oncologists, radiation oncology residents and fellows, medical physicists, medical physics residents, medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, and cancer scientists.

This volume is the first truly international text to take the practitioner from the history, the physical basis, and the rationale of brachytherapy through to the techniques, the results, and the management of complications. It is also the first truly comprehensive and complete textbook of brachytherapy. The chapters on the physics of brachytherapy and the technical planning of internal and surface radiotherapy are designed to enhance the practitioner’s knowledge base and capabilities in this demanding specialty field. Disease site-specific chapters cover a wide range of applications, including ocular tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, cancers of the head and neck, skin, breast, lung, esophagus, and prostate, and gynecologic and anorectal malignancies. Each chapter incorporates the American and European guidelines and the text has been written from both perspectives by many of the most noted global experts in the field. A concluding chapter is devoted to brachytherapy quality assurance.

This handbook provides a clinically relevant, succinct, and comprehensive overview of image-guided brachytherapy. Throughout the last decade, the utility of image guidance in brachytherapy has increased to enhance procedural development, treatment planning, and radiation delivery in an effort to optimize safety and clinical outcomes. Organized into two parts, the book discusses physics and radiobiology principles of brachytherapy as well as clinical applications of image-guided brachytherapy for various disease sites (central nervous system, eye, head and neck, breast, lung, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologic, sarcoma, and skin). It also describes the incorporation of imaging techniques such as CT, MRI, and ultrasound into brachytherapy procedures and planning. Featuring procedural and anesthesia care, extensive images, contouring examples, treatment planning techniques, and dosimetry for the comprehensive treatment for each disease site, Handbook of Image-Guided Brachytherapy is a valuable resource for practicing radiation oncologists, physicists, dosimetrists, residents, and medical students.