title: Biological, physical factors in clinical assessment of outcome of cancer therapy.
abstract: Complex molecular and cellular biological phenomena influence the response of tumor and normal cell to cytotoxic agents, including irradiation. Innovative 3-D treatment planning and IGRT techniques allow more quantitative optmization of irradiation dose distribution in target volumes and OAR. More detailed reporting on radiation doses is required with incorporation of biological parameters in treatment planning and dose specification. TCP and NTCP models should be validate with actual clinical data. Quality assurance in radiation oncology is mandatory. Because of increasing concerns with health care costs, technology assessment and cost benefit studies should be an integral component of clinical outcome reporting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Siteman Cancer Center Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Perez
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000639:trends*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical