Back
Sep 29
Education

EDU 18 - Radiotherapy for the Management of Non-Oncologic Diseases: How to Treat and Why It Works

10:45am - 12:00pm PT
Nonmalignant Disease
Radiation and Cancer Biology

MODERATOR(S)

Kathryn Dusenbery, MD - University of Minnesota Medical School

session DESCRIPTION

Although radiotherapy is a well-established treatment modality for both solid and liquid tumors, its utility in the management of benign diseases remains poorly elucidated. In general, oncologists and non-oncologic specialists in the U.S. are quite unfamiliar with the potential indications of radiotherapy for managing benign etiologies. While radiation has been used in the prophylaxis of heterotopic ossification since the 1980s, its benefit has been recently explored for other benign conditions[1-7]. The anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative and immunomodulatory effects of ionizing radiation may serve as an effective treatment modality for benign soft tissue disorders such as hypertrophic scar tissue (keloids), Dupuytrens contractures, osteoarthritis and fibromatosis. Radiation therapy has demonstrated a role in the treatment of various neurological disorders to relieve pain (i.e., trigeminal neuralgia), and even to modify structural abnormalities (i.e., obliterate brain arteriovenous malformations). In epileptic patients who have exhausted pharmacologic and surgical options for controlling their seizures, radiation has proven to be an effective noninvasive therapeutic option. SBRT is a noninvasive technique that has gained traction for its efficacy in patients with ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation who are refractory to antiarrhythmic drugs and/or ablation. More studies are needed to better understand the indications for radiotherapy in benign conditions, as well as the dose and fractionation, treatment targets and organs at risk, and potential long-term toxicities. With widespread adoption of hypofractionated radiation regimens in the academic and community setting, a broader patient population may derive benefit.

learning objectives

  1. 1. Identify specific clinical situations where radiotherapy is an effective treatment for benign diseases.
  2. 2. Define therapeutic radiation doses and fractionation schedules, organs at risk, and sequencing with surgery (when indicated).
  3. 3. Discuss the pathophysiology of these benign conditions, and the biologic mechanisms that lead to an effective response from radiotherapy.

Credits

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits: 1.25

Presentations