Haematology 2018

QUANTEC: Use of NTCP models in the clinic

• Historically, radiation therapy (RT) fields/doses were selected empirically, based largely on experience

• Physicians relied on clinical intuition to select field sizes/doses. They understood that these empiric guidelines were imprecise and did not fully reflect the underlying anatomy, physiology, and dosimetry • For most cases, modern treatments will redistribute, not eliminate, the dose to normal tissue. The fundamental problem of treatment planning is how to balance exposure of one organ against that of another