Updated radiation guidelines published

An updated set of guidelines aimed at making radiation treatment of 16 different organs safer have been published as a supplement to the current issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics.

The publication represents the first update of the Quantitative Analysis of Normal Tissue Effects in Clinic, or QUANTEC, Review since it was first published in 1991, according to a news release. The new version incorporates recommendations for a number of techniques for further minimizing radiation's effects on normal tissue surrounding tumors, said Randall K. Ten Haken, a guest editor of the Quantec Review and a professor at the University of Michigan Department of Radiation Oncology in Ann Arbor. Many of the updates were made possible by advances in computed-tomography technology that allows doctors to better target tumors.

The Quantec Review also provides radiation dose and volume guidance for cancer diagnosed in the 16 covered organs. They include brain, heart, lungs and the esophagus.

The updated guidelines were developed over two years by a group of 24 radiation oncologists, medical physicists and radiologists from around the world.

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