Optimising radiation therapy delivery for cancer patients using daily image guidance to maximise cure and reduce normal tissue side effects

Abstract

Cancer patients treated with radiotherapy are generally treated with a large number of small daily doses of radiation to the tumour region. The displacement of the tumour relative to its expected position each day prior to treatment can be modelled mathematically to determine the required width of the safety margin required such that tumours receive high enough radiation dose to kill the tumour, without overdosing surrounding healthy tissue. In this PhD a new, more sophisticated method of calculating radiotherapy margins is developed, which considers more realistic displacement patterns than has been the case previously