title: What the diagnostic radiologist needs to know about radiation oncology.
abstract: Substantial technologic advances in radiation treatment planning and delivery have made possible exquisite tailoring of three-dimensional radiation dose distributions that conform to the tumor treatment volume while avoiding adjacent normal tissues. Although such highly precise treatment can increase the therapeutic ratio, it also introduces the potential that tumor extension outside the target is missed because it is unrecognized at the time of radiation treatment planning. As a result, accurate targeting of the tumor with radiation is of utmost importance to the radiation oncologist. Communication between diagnostic radiologists and radiation oncologists is essential, particularly given the subtleties that accompany image interpretation, to optimize the care of the cancer patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21231, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Terezakis
authors.forename: Dwight E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Heron
authors.forename: Ruth F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Lavigne
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diehn
authors.forename: Billy W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Loo
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D018787:Radiation Oncology; D011859:Radiography; D011871:Radiology