title: Principles of radiation therapy.
abstract: Although resection remains the mainstay in the treatment of gliomas, microscopically complete resection of most central nervous system tumors remains challenging, and is, in fact, rarely accomplished. Considering their invasive nature, gross total resections to clearly negative margins often do or would require removal or transection of functional brain, with likely serious neurologic deficits. Consequently, radiotherapy has emerged as an indispensable component of therapy. It is delivered primarily by external-beam radiotherapy or brachytherapy techniques. Herein, we present the biologic principles, techniques, and applications of radiotherapy in glioma treatment today.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Snider
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: mmehta@umm.edu.
authors.forename: Minesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mehta
mesh_terms: D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000379:methods*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005910:Glioma / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans
keywords: glioblastoma; glioma; low-grade glioma; radiation therapy; radiotherapy