La radiothérapie thoracique: au-delà des limites !

Lung cancer represents one of the most difficult malignancies to be irradiated associating ballistic complications due to respiratory movements, the number and low tolerance of surrounding healthy organs and dosimetric difficulties due to the heterogeneity of the tissues traversed. Today, the emergence of thoracic radiotherapy integrating new techniques in the treatment procedure, the latest technological developments in medical imaging and dosimetry and treatment devices, raise new hopes for the treatment of thoracic malignancies. Three techniques seem particularly promising: conformal radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy and irradiation with respiratory gating. These various innovations are designed to achieve a high precision radiotherapy to better adapt the irradiation fields to the tumor and thus to protect certain organs (lung, heart…). They are beginning to be used routinely in several centers worldwide. Early results are encouraging. This article describes these techniques now available in thoracic radiotherapy.