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Three Discipline Collaborative Radiation Therapy (3DCRT) special debate: In the future, at least 20% of NIH funding for radiotherapy research should be allocated to non‐oncologic applications

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Radiation oncology is a highly multidisciplinary medical specialty, drawing significantly from three scientific disciplinesmedicine, physics, and biology.As a result, discussion of controversies or changes in practice within radiation oncology involves input from all three disciplines.For this reason, significant effort has been expended recently to foster collaborative multidisciplinary research in radiation oncology, with substantial demonstrated benefit.1,2 In light of these results, we endeavor here to adopt this "team-science" approach to the traditional debates featured in this journal.This article is part of a series of special debates entitled "Three Discipline Collaborative Radiation Therapy (3DCRT)" in which each debate team will include a radiation oncologist, medical physicist, and radiobiologist.We hope that this format will not only be engaging for the readership but will also foster further collaboration in the science and clinical practice of radiation oncology. | INTRODUCTIONCurative intent indications for radiation therapy (RT) exist outside of the standard paradigm of definitive or adjuvant therapy in oncology.Historically, definitive radiation treatments have included a diverse list of conditions such as acne, ankylosing spondylitis, and tinea capitis to name just a few.Initially, unintended consequences garnered little concern, in part because the slow onset of symptoms made them difficult to detect.3 Once toxicities from radiation exposure became evident and better understood, however, therapeutic radiation was largely relegated to malignant conditions.Within the field of oncology, the risk of radiation damage was balanced against the potential for controlling the malignancy.4 However, there is evidence supporting the therapeutic use of ionizing radiation for the treatment of a range of specific indications.This raises the question of whether we are appropriately investing in research toward the broader application of radiotherapy to medicine.Perhaps some significant portion, for example, ~20%, of our NIH expenditures on radiotherapy research should be directed toward non-oncologic applications.This is the subject of this month's 3DCRT debate.

Source: Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics

DOI: 10.1002/acm2.12729