Acute and Long-Term Side-Effects of Radiotherapy

Biologists and radiotherapists present their experimental work and clinical data in the field of radiation injuries of normal tissues and organs. Particular regard is payed to the relevance of biological mechanisms in clinical situations. Principles of radiation damage and combined treatment toxicity in radio-chemotherapy are being explained. The main topics discussed are the importance of microvasculature, time, doseand fractionation and factors modifying clinical radioresponse for early andlate radiation effects. Tissues and organs considered in this volume are mucosa and skin, lung and heart, bladder and muscle, CNS and eye. Special problems of pediatric radiotherapy, TBI, IORT and second malignacies are also mentioned.

Inhalt

I. Basic Principles.- Microvasculature and Radiation Damage.- The Time Factor for Late Reactions in Radiotherapy: Repopulation or Intracellular Repair?.- The Response of Tissues to Very Low Doses per Fraction: A Reflection of Induced Repair?.- Clinically Important Factors Modifying the Response of Tumors and Normal Tissue to Radiation Therapy.- II. Radiation Response of Mucosa and Skin, Muscle and Bladder.- Dose-Response Relationships for Late Effects on Skin and Mucosa.- Early and Late Normal Tissue Injury after Postmastectomy Radiotherapy.- Muscle Injury in Experimental Intraoperative Irradiation.- An Experimental In Vivo Model in Mice to Evaluate the Change in Reservoir Function of the Urinary Bladder due to Irradiation Alone or Combined with Chemotherapy.- Combined Chemo-Radiotherapy with Carboplatin, 5-Fluorouracil and Folinic Acid for Cancer of the Urinary Bladder: Acute and Late Side-Effects.- III. Radiation Effects on Lung and Heart.- Radiopathology of the Lung: Experimental and Clinical Observations.- Diagnosis of Radiation-Pneumonitis.- Lung Effects after Total Body Irradiation of Mice and Bone Marrow Transplant Patients: Comparison of Experimental and Preliminary Clinical Data.- Experimental Studies on the Pathogenesis of Damage in the Heart.- Myocardial Infarction after Irradiation in Hodgkin's Disease: A Review.- IV. Radiation Induced Sequelae of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Eye.- Experimental Radiation Damage of the Central Nervous System.- Myelopathy and Hyperfractionated Accelerated Radiotherapy: A Radiobiological Interpretation.- Irradiation-Induced Brain Dysfunction in Children.- Central Nervous System Injury from Implanted Isotopes.- Long-Term Cerebral Side-Effects of Total Body Irradiation and Quality of Life.- Eye Sequelae Following External Irradiation.- V. Particular Problems in Pediatric Radiotherapy.- Late Side Effects of Pediatric Radiotherapy.- Side-Effects After Combination Therapy for Ewing's Sarcoma.- Subclinical Impairment of Renal Function After Radiotherapy for Hodgkin's Disease in Children.- VI. Second Malignancies.- Incidence of Secondary Malignancies in Patients with Hodgkin's Disease: Preliminary Results.