ABSTRACT

Intense and rapid technological advances in computer software, imaging and engineering projected to radiotherapy over the past decades. As the main objective of radiotherapy is sterilization of tumor cells at a defined target with adequate safety margins, treatment planning and dose delivery systems allowed the precise radiation dose to the target volume, sparing the adjacent structures. The breakthrough development of computer-controlled multileaf collimators and adaptation of computer tomography-based planning enabled three-dimensional conformal therapy. Intensity- modulated radiotherapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, image-guided radiotherapy, adaptive radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, intraoperative radiotherapy, brachytherapy, charged particle radiotherapy, and hyperthermia are the technological reflection of these improvements. As radiotherapy is one of the most technology-driven treatment modalities in the management of cancer, future innovations and knowledge gained from clinical trials will help to improve new treatment strategies.